Telugu Historyతెలుగు చరిత్ర

Qutb-ud-din Mubarak Shah

Qutb-ud-din Mubarak Shah, a son of Ala-ud-din Khalji, was sultan of Delhi from 1316 to 1320. After his Deccan campaign of 1317–18 he sent his favourite Khusrau Khan against Warangal. In Amir Khusrau's poem the Nuh Sipihr, Khusrau Khan took part of the outer wall, and the Kakatiya king gave up five districts and promised a yearly tribute of more than a hundred elephants and twelve thousand horses. Isami, as reported by the editors of the Vilasa grant, tells the story without any fighting. Mubarak was murdered in his palace by Khusrau Khan's men in April 1320.

Qutb-ud-din Mubarak Shah was sultan of Delhi from 1316 to 1320.12 He was a son of Ala-ud-din Khalji.1 After his Deccan campaign of 1317–18 he sent his favourite, Khusrau Khan, against Warangal, the capital of the Kakatiya king Prataparudra.34 The court poet Amir Khusrau told this campaign in his poem Nuh Sipihr (“The Nine Heavens”), written in Mubarak’s reign.5 See the Delhi Sultanate in the Telugu country.

Who he was

Thirty-five days after Ala-ud-din died in 1316, his general Malik Naib was killed.1 The nobles then accepted Mubarak as regent for his infant brother.1 Two months later Mubarak blinded the child and took the throne.1 In 1317 he marched to the Deccan and put down a rising at Devagiri.3 He stayed there through the rains of 1318.3

Khusrau Khan at Warangal

Amir Khusrau places the campaign against Warangal after the conquest of Devagiri.54 Part of Khusrau Khan’s army was made up of Hindu soldiers.4 Amir Khusrau says the king told Khusrau Khan: “Turn your face to Tilang to demand jizya” (a tax on non-Muslims).4 The poem notes that Warangal had two walls, the outer one of mud and the inner one of stone.4 The army camped three bow-shots from the city, among gardens of mangoes, plantains and jack fruit.6

Khusrau Khan attacked the outer wall and seized its main bastion.6 Among the prisoners was Antil Mahta, the commander of the king’s army.6 When the besiegers began to dig a mine under the inner fort, the king offered his wealth if his life was spared.7 He sent a hundred elephants and twelve thousand horses, with gold and jewels.7

Khusrau Khan wanted more.7 The king gave hostages and a written promise, “stamped with the seal of Mahadeo”.7 He gave up five districts and agreed to a yearly tribute of more than a hundred elephants and twelve thousand horses.8 Khusrau Khan then handed back the land, except “Badrkot, a fort as high as heaven”.8 Then, the poem says, the king bowed from the rampart towards the royal tent for three days.8

After Warangal

Wolseley Haig wrote that Mubarak sent Khusrau Khan on an expedition to Madurai (then Madura).3 On his way back, Haig says, Khusrau Khan was held up in Telangana by the rains, and there he talked of ruling the south for himself.2 His officers took him back to Delhi.2 On the night of 14 April 1320 Khusrau Khan’s men entered the palace and killed Mubarak.29

Where the sources disagree

  • Fighting at Warangal. Amir Khusrau describes a siege and an assault on the outer wall.6 The historian Isami, as the editors of the Vilasa grant report him, tells it without any fighting.10 In his account Prataparudra received Khusrau Khan with respect and paid readily.10 Elliot and Dowson noted that Ferishta has no account of this campaign at all.4
  • The day of Mubarak’s accession. Amir Khusrau gives 24 Muharram AH 716 (18 April 1316; AH is the Islamic way of counting years).5 Ferishta gives the 7th of that month.5 Haig gives 1 April 1316.1

Footnotes

  1. Wolseley Haig (ed.), The Cambridge History of India, Vol. III (1928), p. 120 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6

  2. Haig, Cambridge History of India, Vol. III (1928), p. 123 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  3. Haig, Cambridge History of India, Vol. III (1928), p. 121 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  4. Elliot and Dowson, Vol. III (1871), p. 558 and note 1 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6

  5. H. M. Elliot and John Dowson, The History of India as Told by Its Own Historians, Vol. III (1871), p. 557 and notes, Amir Khusrau, Nuh Sipihr (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  6. Elliot and Dowson, Vol. III (1871), p. 559 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  7. Elliot and Dowson, Vol. III (1871), p. 560 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  8. Elliot and Dowson, Vol. III (1871), p. 561 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  9. Haig, Cambridge History of India, Vol. III (1928), p. 124 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩

  10. N. Venkataramanayya and M. Somasekhara Sarma, “Vilasa Grant of Prolaya-nayaka”, Epigraphia Indica XXXII (1957–58), p. 243 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). Paraphrased. ↩ ↩2

Dynasties

Delhi Sultanate in the Telugu country

c. 1303–1344 CE

The Khalji and Tughluq sultans of Delhi sent five armies against the Kakatiya capital Warangal between 1303 and 1323. Malik Kafur's siege of 1309–10 and Khusrau Khan's of 1318 ended in tribute. Ulugh Khan, who later became Muhammad bin Tughluq, took the city at his second attempt. He sent Prataparudra towards Delhi and renamed Warangal Sultanpur. For a little over a decade Telingana (Tilang) was a province of the sultanate. The Telugu convert Malik Maqbul governed it for a time. Then a revolt under Kapaya Nayaka, called Kanya Naik by Barani, drove the Delhi officers out.

References

Sources (3)
  1. H. M. Elliot and John Dowson (eds.), The History of India as Told by Its Own Historians: The Muhammadan Period, Vol. III (opens in a new tab), Trübner and Co., London, 1871, pp. 557–561. Amir Khusrau, Nuh Sipihr, in abstract. [Public domain]
  2. Wolseley Haig (ed.), The Cambridge History of India, Vol. III: Turks and Afghans (opens in a new tab), Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1928, pp. 120–124. [Public domain]
  3. D. C. Sircar and B. Ch. Chhabra (eds.), Epigraphia Indica, Vol. XXXII (1957–58) (opens in a new tab), Archaeological Survey of India, 1959, pp. 243. N. Venkataramanayya and M. Somasekhara Sarma, Vilasa grant of Prolaya-nayaka, introduction. Paraphrased. [Public domain in India]

Spotted an error on this page? Tell us

Last updated: