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Ala-ud-din Khilji (real name Juna Khan) (d. 1316), second and greatest Indian ruler of the Khilji dynasty. He reigned from 1296–1316 and was the first Muslim to rule the entirety of what is today India.

Ala-ud-din was the nephew and son in law of Jalal-ud-din. In first, Jalal-ud-din appointed Ala-ud-Din as the governor of Kara. In 1296 Ala-ud-Din killed his uncle. But Malika Jahan, the widow of Jalal-ud-din, put her younger son Rukun ud din Khilji to the throne. Ala-ud-din quickly marched on Delhi from Kara. He entered Delhi with his uncle's head on a pike and on October 3, 1296, proclaimed himself the King of Delhi. Arkali Khan, Jalal-ud-din older son, and Rukun ud din were blinded. Malika Jahan was imprisoned. A few months later his general Zafar Khan defeated invading Mongols near Jalandhar in 1297 to secure his throne.

Very soon he went about despoiling the wealth of nobles, frequently blinding, imprisoning or killing them. In 1297 Allauddin sent an army to plunder Gujarat, under the generalship of Ulugh Khan and Nusrat Khan. This army looted the temple of Somnath and Shivalinga was broken into pieces and was being carried back to Delhi. Kanhad Dev Songara, ruler of Jalore attacked and defeated Ulugh Khan and captured the broken Shivalinga which was washed in Ganga-jal and the fragments were established in various temples in Jalore. Muhammad Shah a neo-muslim helped Kanhad Dev Songara. Muhammad was a general in Khilji's army. Muhammad Shah after this war went and stayed with Hammir at Ranthambore. Ulugh Khan went and apprised Allauddin who ordered him and Nusrat Khan to conquer Ranthambore. In 1299 they started out with 80,000 cavalry and a large infantry to attack Hammir. Hammir's army repulsed the attack and killed Nusrat Khan. Ulugh Khan escaped and reached Delhi. Khilji was taken aback by this defeat and wanted revenge. He finally came himself in 1301, and there was a long siege. Hammir was very well prepared. When the fort would not fall after repeated bloody skirmishes khilji resorted to diplomacy. Hammir was very suspicious but he heeded to his councillors who told him that sword is not always the best recourse. Ratipal and Ranmal, who were close confidants of Hammir, were sent to the khilji camp. Ranmal's father was hung by Hammir for treachery and his property was confiscated. Ranmal earned the trust of Hammir by being brave in battles that Hammir fought but perfidy was in his blood. Khilji bribed these two generals of Hammir's army and consequently Ranthambore fell. After the annexation of Gujarat, he took to the practice of making the innocent families of rebels against the government suffer. In 1299, a horde of 200,000 Mongols entered India with the intention of conquest. His general Zafar Khan showed desperate valor in battle. The Mongols were defeated, but Khan did not survive.

Sack of Chittor

In 1303, Khilji wanted to win Chittor because sisodiyas of Chittor never accepted the rule of Islam. Another reason was Rani Padmini. He laid a siege but Chittor would not fall. Then he requested Rana Ratan Singh, husband of Rani Padmini, that if he is allowed a glimpse of Rani he would leave. By this time the situation inside the fort was getting bad. Rana discussed this with his advisers and they agreed that they can show Padmini's face in a mirror to the sultan. The meeting took place and afterwards out of courtesy when Rana was walking Khilji out of the palace, Khilji's men captured Rana Ratan Singh. Khilji sent a message to the fort that Rana can be spared by exchanging Rani Padmini. Padmini discussed this with Gorah, her maternal uncle, who was a Chauhan rajput. Gora told her not to worry and that he would go and bring back Rana Ratan Singh and Sultan is not brave enough to stop him. Padmini's nephew Badal who was just sixteen also assured her. A messsage was sent from the fort to Khilji that Padmini would come with 700 of her servants in "palanquins" (palki in hindi) and that no muslim soldier should peek inside the palki to outrage the modesty of the women. Letter also said that before Padmini meets khilji she would like to talk to Rana. Khilji agreed. All the palki's had the best rajput warriors with two swords each. When Padmini's palki, which was occupied by Gora, reached Rana's tent he asked Rana to mount the horse and go back to the fort. Then Gora gave a signal and every rajput came out of the palki and attacked the muslims who were cut to pieces. Gora reached Khilji's tent and was about to kill the sultan when khilji moved his concubine in front of himself. Gora, being a rajput could not kill an innocent women and these few seconds were enough for Khilji's guards to kill Gora from behind.

Ala-ud-din Khilji described himself as the Second Alexander on his own coinage and dreamt of founding a world-wide religion. Though not a man of learning himself, one of the great Persian poets of Indian history, Amir Khusro, was his poet laureate.

He died in January, 1316 of edema. It is believed that his lieutenant Malik Naib hastened his death.

Template:Succession box two to two

External links

The Megalomania of Ala-ud-Din Khilji from IndiaNest.com
Ala-ud-din and His Eunuch General from IndiaNest.com
The Khilji Dynasty: Ala-ud-Din Khilji from www.AmritWorld.com, written by Amrit Pal Singh 'Amrit'.

This Indian biographical article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

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 ==Sack of Chittor==
-In 1303, Khilji wanted to win Chittor because sisodiyas of Chittor never accepted the rule of Islam. Another reason was [[Rani Padmini]]. He laid a siege but Chittor would not fall. Then he requested Rana Ratan Singh, husband of Rani Padmini, that if he is allowed a glimpse of Rani he would leave. By this time the situation inside the fort was getting bad. Rana discussed this with his advisers and they agreed that they can show Padmini's face in a mirror to the sultan. The meeting took place and afterwards out of courtesy when Rana was walking Khilji out of the palace, Khilji's men captured Rana Ratan Singh. Khilji sent a message to the fort that Rana can be spared by exchanging Rani Padmini. Padmini discussed this with Gorah, her maternal uncle, who was a [[Chauhan]] rajput. Gora told her not to worry and that he would go and bring back Rana Ratan Singh and Sultan is not brave enough to stop him. Padmini's nephew Badal who was just sixteen also assured her. A messsage was sent from the fort to Khilji that Padmini would come with 700 of her servants in "palanquins" (palki in [[hindi]]) and that no muslim soldier should peek inside the palki to outrage the modesty of the women. Letter also said that before Padmini meets khilji she would like to talk to Rana. Khilji agreed. All the palki's had the best rajput warriors with two swords each. When Padmini's palki, which was occupied by Gora, reached Rana's tent he asked Rana to mount the horse and go back to the fort. Then Gora gave a signal and every rajput came out of the palki and attacked the muslims who were cut to pieces. Gora reached Khilji's tent and was about to kill the sultan when khilji moved his concubine in front of himself. Gora, being a rajput and wedded to the ancient code of war followed by rajput warriors, could not kill an innocent women. These few seconds were enough for Khilji's guards to kill Gora from behind.
+In 1303, Khilji wanted to win Chittor because sisodiyas of Chittor never accepted the rule of Islam. Another reason was [[Rani Padmini]]. He laid a siege but Chittor would not fall. Then he requested Rana Ratan Singh, husband of Rani Padmini, that if he is allowed a glimpse of Rani he would leave. By this time the situation inside the fort was getting bad. Rana discussed this with his advisers and they agreed that they can show Padmini's face in a mirror to the sultan. The meeting took place and afterwards out of courtesy when Rana was walking Khilji out of the palace, Khilji's men captured Rana Ratan Singh. Khilji sent a message to the fort that Rana can be spared by exchanging Rani Padmini. Padmini discussed this with Gorah, her maternal uncle, who was a [[Chauhan]] rajput. Gora told her not to worry and that he would go and bring back Rana Ratan Singh and Sultan is not brave enough to stop him. Padmini's nephew Badal who was just sixteen also assured her. A messsage was sent from the fort to Khilji that Padmini would come with 700 of her servants in "palanquins" (palki in [[hindi]]) and that no muslim soldier should peek inside the palki to outrage the modesty of the women. Letter also said that before Padmini meets khilji she would like to talk to Rana. Khilji agreed. All the palki's had the best rajput warriors with two swords each. When Padmini's palki, which was occupied by Gora, reached Rana's tent he asked Rana to mount the horse and go back to the fort. Then Gora gave a signal and every rajput came out of the palki and attacked the muslims who were cut to pieces. Gora reached Khilji's tent and was about to kill the sultan when khilji moved his concubine in front of himself. Gora, being a rajput could not kill an innocent women and these few seconds were enough for Khilji's guards to kill Gora from behind.
+Ala-ud-din Khilji described himself as the ''Second Alexander'' on his own coinage and dreamt of founding a world-wide religion. Though not a man of learning himself, one of the great Persian poets of Indian history, [[Amir Khusro]], was his poet laureate.
-His sack of Kambayat is described in Abdulla Wassafs 'Tazjiyat-ul-Amsar wa Tajriyat':
-He killed the adult male Hindu inhabitants for the glory of Islam, set flowing rivers of blood, sent the women of the country with all their gold, silver, and jewels, to his own home, and made about twenty thousand maidens his private slaves.
-Khilji was notorious for the harsh treatment of his hindu subjects. The ulema advised him as to the treatment of hindus. One such advice has been recorded:
-Hindus are like the mud; if silver is demanded from them, they must with the greatest humility offer gold. If a Mohammadan desire to spit into a Hindu's mouth, the Hindu should open it wide for the purpose. God created the Hindus to be slaves of the Mohammadans. The Prophet hath ordained that, if the Hindus do not accept Islam, they should be imprisoned, tortured, finally put to death, and their property confiscated.
-Ala-ud-din Khilji described himself as the ''Second Alexander'' on his own coinage and dreamt of founding a world-wide Caliphate under Islam. Though not a man of learning himself, one of the great Persian poets of Indian history, [[Amir Khusro]], was his poet laureate.
 He died in January, [[1316]] of [[edema]]. It is believed that his lieutenant Malik Naib hastened his death.