Ulugh Khan

Not to be confused with Muhammad bin Tughluq, who was known as Ulugh Khan before ascending the throne.

Ulugh Khan or Almas Beg or Ulugh Khan Khalji was one of the brothers of Sultan Alauddin Khilji. Almas Beg was made 'Barbeg' and entitled as Ulugh Khan on his brother's accession (1296). Later he defeated a large Mongol invading horde in the Punjab in February 1298. Ulugh Khan successfully defended the Khilji dynasty from the Mongol invasion. He improved the border's fortifications and established garrisons. He defeated the Mongol armies at the battles of Jalandhar (1298), Kili (1299), Amroha (1305) and Ravi (1306).

During his 20-year-long reign Ala al-Din Khalji conducted a number of campaigns that greatly expanded his authority. [...] Threatened by the Mongol expansion from Central Asia, he successfully repelled several Mongol attacks on northwestern India between 1296 and 1308. [...] The Mongol invasions in 1305 were also defeated, first at Amroha and then on the banks of Ravi River, allowing Ala al-Din to launch punitive expeditions into Mongol-controlled territories in Afghanistan.^[1]

In 1297, Alauddin Khilji sent an army under the command of Ulugh Khan and Nusrat Khan to conquer Gujarat. Ulugh Khan was appointed to the prestigious iqta' of Bayana. In 1301, Ulugh Khan was appointed to the newly acquired Ranthambhor, which he continued to command until the time of his sudden death, possibly from poisoning, in 1315.

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