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The founder of the Khalji Dynasty in South Asia, Malik Firuz, was originally
the Ariz-i-Mumalik appointed by Kaiqubad during the days of decline of the Slave
Dynasty. He took advantage of the political vacuum that was created due to the
incompetence of the successors of Balban. To occupy the throne, he only had to
remove the infant Sultan Kaimurs. On June 13 1290, Malik Firuz ascended the
throne of Delhi as Jalal-ud-din Firuz Shah. Khaljis were basically Central
Asians but had lived in Afghanistan for so long that they had become different
from the Turks in terms of customs and manners. Thus the coming of Khaljis to
power was more than a dynastic change. As majority of the Muslim population of
Delhi was Turk, the arrival of a Khalji ruler was not much welcomed. Yet
Jalal-ud-din managed to win the hearts of the people through his mildness and
generosity. He retained most of the officers holding key positions in the Slave
Dynasty. His own nephew and son-in-law Alauddin Khalji, killed Jalal-ud-din and
took over as the new ruler. Alauddin's reign is marked by innovative
administrative and revenue reforms, market control regulations and a whirlwind
period of conquests. It is considered the golden period of the Khalji rule.
However, before the death of Alauddin, his house was divided into two camps.
This resulted in the ultimate collapse of the Khalji dynasty. On one side were
Khizar Khan (Alauddin's son and the nominated hair to the throne), Alp Khan (Khizar's
father in law and the governor of Gujrat) and Malika-i-Jehan (wife of Alauddin
and sister of Alp Khan). Malik Kafur led the other camp, who was one of
Alauddin's most trusted nobles. Malik Kafur managed to win the battle of
politics and succeeded in making Shahab-ud-din Umar, a young prince of six years
old, as the successor of Alauddin and himself became his regent. However, later
his own agents killed Malik Kafur.
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