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Ala-ud-din Khalji facts for kids

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Ala-ud-din Khalji
Sultan
Sikander Sani
Portrait of Sultan 'Ala-ud-Din, Padshah of Delhi.jpg
A 17th century painting of Alauddin Khalji
Sultan of Delhi
Reign 19 July 1296–4 January 1316
Coronation 21 October 1296
Predecessor Jalaluddin Firuz Khalji
Successor Shihabuddin Omar
Governor of Awadh
Tenure c. 1296–19 July 1296
Governor of Kara
Tenure c. 1291–1296
Predecessor Malik Chajju
Successor ʿAlāʾ ul-Mulk
Amir-i-Tuzuk (equivalent to Master of ceremonies)
Tenure c. 1290–1291
Born Ali Gurshasp
c.1266–1267
Died 4 January 1316
Delhi, India
House Khalji dynasty

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. 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.

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 also took away a lot of wealth. Around the end of his reign, his empire was as large as that of Ashoka the Great (274 BC–232 BC).

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. 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.

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Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Alaudín para niños

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