Alauddin Khalji

Ala-ud-din Khalji (died 1316), was the second ruler of the Khalji dynasty. He was the most powerful ruler of the Khalji Dynasty. He ruled from 1296 to 1316.Radhey Shyam Chaurasia, History of Medieval India: From 1000 A.D. to 1707 A.D. (New Delhi: Atlantic Publ., 2002), p. 31 He was the nephew (and son-in-law) of Jalal-ud-din Khalji. His son was Khusrau Malik. He wished to become the second Alexander. He took the title ‘Sikander-i-Sani’. He banned drinking of alcohol in open in his kingdom. He is considered as one of the most ruthless emperors of India after he repulsed several mongol invasions In India.

 Military Campaigns 
Ala-ud-din Khalji first conquered Gujarat and Malwa. In 1301 he conquered Ranthambore. In 1303 he captured Chittor. Then he sent a large army headed by his general Malik Kafur to South India. Malik Kafur defeated the Yadavas, Kakatiyas, Hoysalas and the Pandyas. He sacked the cities of Madurai, Rameswaram, Tirunelveli and Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu and captured whole south. He also took away a lot of wealth and returned to Delhi in a grand ceremony.

 Economic Measures 
Khalji needed money to keep a large army. The main sources were taxes. The land tax was fixed according to the fertility of the land. The land tax in the fertile Ganga-Yamuna doab was one-half of the produce. He kept a strict check on the nobles. A group of officers were kept to discourage corruption. He introduced a system of auditing accounts.

He introduced a market control policy in which he reduced the price of day to day items such as sugar, oil, cloth etc. Shop owners had to pay the amount fixed by Ala-ud-din Khalji. Officials were appointed to check the shop owners. Whoever was caught cheating, was punished. This allowed Khalji to pay a low salary to the soldiers.

 Army Reforms 
With money available to him he maintained a large army. He paid his soldiers in cash.Ghulam Sarwar Khan Niazi, The Life and Works of Sultan Alauddin Khalji (New Delhi: Atlantic, 1992), p. 48 He even started branding horses (Dagh). This was to prevent the substitution of good horses with low quality horses. He even kept a description of all soldiers in his army (Chehra). He posted spies throughout the empire to prevent rebellions.

 Related pages 
 Khalji dynasty

 References 

 Other websites 
 Interesting facts and history of Alauddin Khalji:the second Alexander 
 Allauddin Khalji Biography

Category:Indian monarchs
Category:Khalji dynasty
Category:1316 deaths