Malik Kafur

Malik Kafur

The last act of Malik Naib Kafur, 1316 CE.
Died 1316 CE
Rank General

Malik Kafur (died 1316) was a prominent general of Alauddin Khilji. He was a handsome Hindu slave of Gujarat named Manik,[1] who was captured and later converted to Islam.[2] After being captured, he became the favourite of Alauddin Khilji.[3] He led three campaigns in Southern India from 1294 to 1316 AD, and set the stage for the consequent arrival of the Madurai Sultanate.[4][5]

Early life

Malik Kafur was a eunuch slave who became a general in the army of Alauddin Khilji, ruler of the Delhi Sultanate from 1296 to 1316 A.D. He was originally seized by Alauddin’s army after the army conquered the city of Khambhat. It is theorized that Alauddin Khilji fell in love with the effeminate beauty of Malik Kafur, castrated him and converted him to Islam.[6] Kafur was also called "Thousand Dinar Kafur", probably the amount paid by sultan for his possession.

Wars and conquests

Kafur quickly came to play an important role in the Khilji dynasty, and was consequently made a general, earning the title "Malik Naib" —an honorific title for a military commander as noted by Ziauddin Barani.[7]

Between 1309 and 1311 Malik Kafur led two successful campaigns in South India. The first was against the Kakatiyas of Warangal and the second against the Hoysalas of Halebidu. Kafur defeated the Kakatiyas, winning an indemnity and making the Kakatiya a vassal of the Sultanate.[8] The booty from Warangal included the famous Koh-i-Noor diamond.[9] During the course of the attack on Halebidu, he laid siege to the famous Hoysaleswara Temple in Halebidu and defeated Veera Ballala III.

Later, Kafur made a third attempt in the South, where he tried to enter the Tamil kingdoms. He defeated the exhausted Pandyan army which lost its prime water source, the Kaveri river, in the hot summer of 1311. He captured emperor Sundara Pandyan and laid siege to the capital of Madurai. Kafur's siege on Madurai continued for weeks, but the attempt was futile as his army lacked any ballistas or trebuchets and relied on battering rams of inferior quality. On the other hand, continuous archery attacks by Pandyan soldiers and surprise cavalry attacks on the Sultanate infantry at night caused heavy casualties, with Kafur losing about half of his army. Kafur negotiated with Veera Pandiyan, who agreed to give all the wealth in the treasury, half of the rations and all elephants in exchange for leaving Meenakshi Temple and releasing his brother Sundara Pandiyan.[10][11] Kafur was made Malik Naib, the senior commander of the army, after the southern campaigns.[12] In 1318, Malik Kafur killed Raja Harapal, the last king of Yadavas.[13]

Death

After Kafur masterminded the death of Alauddin Khilji in 1316, he blinded the heir apparent Khizr Khan and Shadi Khan. He installed Umar Khan, Khilji's 3-year-old son on the throne. Mubarak Khan, Khilji's third son, escaped the blinding attempt and later Malik was assassinated by his soldiers whom he sent to blind Mubarak. He told all the soldiers that he has killed other people the same as him and wanted to take the rule by himself, so he told them to kill him at night.[14][15]

Legacy

For the first time in the recorded history of India, a part of South India came under Delhi's rule after Malik Kafur's expeditions in the Deccan. Kafur's campaigns paved the way for the establishment of Delhi Sultanate rule over parts of the Andhra and Karnataka and laid the foundation for the short-lived Madurai Sultanate.[16]

References

  1. ↑ Love's Subtle Magic: An Indian Islamic Literary Tradition, 1379-154, Aditya Behl, Ed. Wendy Doniger, OUP USA, 2012 p. 184
  2. ↑ The Muntakhabu-’rukh, Volume 1, chpt. 59
  3. ↑ "Is Sanjay Leela Bhansali ignoring the most interesting love story of Alauddin Khilji?".
  4. ↑ Keay, J. India, 2001, p. 257, Grove Press, ISBN 0-8021-3797-0
  5. ↑ The history of India, By John McLeod, p. 36
  6. ↑ The history of India, By John McLeod, pg. 36
  7. ↑ Kidnapped castrated boy
  8. ↑ Studies in Islamic History and Civilization, David Ayalon, BRILL, 1986, p. 271;ISBN 965-264-014-X
  9. ↑ A History of India, Hermann Kulke and Dietmar Rothermund, Edition: 3, Routledge, 1998, p. 160; ISBN 0-415-15482-0
  10. ↑ A Comprehensive History of India: Comprehensive history of medieval India by B.N. Puri, M.N. Das p.42
  11. ↑ A military history of medieval India by Gurcharn Singh Sandhu p.236
  12. ↑ Khilji's Commander
  13. ↑ Famous Monuments of India; Anu Sharma ; Pinnacle Technology, 2011; ISBN 9781618205452
  14. ↑ Sen, Sailendra (2013). A Textbook of Medieval Indian History. Primus Books. p. 88. ISBN 978-9-38060-734-4.
  15. ↑ Gopal, Madan (1990). K. S. Gautam, ed. India through the ages. Publication Division, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India. p. 217.
  16. ↑ Nilakanta Sastri, p. 213
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