SLAVE DYNASTY

(120690), line of sultans at Delhi, India, that lasted for nearly a century. Its family name was Mui'zzi. The Slave dynasty was founded by Qutb-ud-Din Aybak, a favourite slave of the Muslim general and later sultan Muhammad of Ghur. Qutb-ud-Din had been among Muhammad's most trusted Turkish officers and had overseen his master's Indian conquests. When Muhammad was assassinated in 1206, Qutb took power in Lahore. He managed to consolidate his position in a seesawing war with a rival Slave ruler, Taj-ud-Din Yildiz, during which he captured and lost Ghazna. He was eventually confined to being a purely Indian sovereign. He died in 1210 as a result of a polo accident, and the crown shortly passed to Iltutmish, his son-in-law. By the time of Iltutmish's accession, the family's holdings had been severely reduced. Iltutmish, the greatest of the Slave kings, defeated and put to death Yildiz (1216), restored the Bengal governor to obedience, and added considerable new territory to the empire, including the Lower Sindh. After the death of Iltutmish, his able daughter Raziyya attempted to serve as sultan but was defeated by opposing Turkish Slave nobles. After 1246 the sultanate was controlled by Ghiyas-ud-Din Balban, who was to be sultan himself from 1266 to 1287. Under Balban the Delhi sultanate fought off several Mongol invasions. The Slave dynasty ended when Jalal-ud-Din Firuz Khalji staged a successful coup on June 13, 1290, and brought the Khaljis to power.