(Amrit Pal Singh ‘Amrit)

Jalal-ud-Din Feroze Khilji ruled as a king for six years. In the very beginning, people were against him. It was natural, because he became the king only after bloodshed. But he could succeed to remove the hatred of the people by some of his actions.

Jalal-ud-Din Khilji had already proved himself a warrior and a man of iron will before becoming the king, but after getting the throne, he adopted a soft policy. It becomes, sometimes, necessary to take a hard stance in the field of politics. Otherwise, failure is sure. Jalal-ud-Din Khilji was a failed ruler, though he was, generally, a kind man.

Revolt of Malik Chhajju

Some of the relatives of Balban were still alive. Malik Chhajju, a landlord of Kara, was one of them. He was a nephew of Balban. He wanted to overthrow Jalal-ud-Din Khilji.

In 1291, Malik Chhajju revolted against him. He marched towards Delhi. Jalal-ud-Din Khilji sent his son, Arkali Khan, against Malik Chhajju. Near Badaon, he defeated Chhajju and captured him. Chhajju was brought before the king Jalal-ud-Din Khilji. Instead of punishing them, the king pardoned him and fed him from the royal kitchen, though many chiefs were against this policy.

Chhajju was sent to Multan. The king made arrangements for his comforts. Kara was given to Ala-ud-Din, son-in-law of the king.

Policy for Thieves and Robbers

Jalal-ud-Din followed same policy while dealing with thieves and robbers. Once, a number of thieves were arrested, but he delivered a lecture on the evils of stealing before them and released.

Once, thousands of murderers and robbers were sent to Bengal in boats down the Ganges and they were set free there.

Taj-ud-Din Kutchi

Many chiefs were not happy with the mild policy of Jalal-ud-Din Khilji. They began to discuss openly plans to overthrow him.

In a party given by Taj-ud-Din Kutchi, a chief said, “I will the king with my knife”. Another chief said, “I will cut him into small pieces”.

The king came to know of this. He threw his sword before them and challenged any one of them to have the courage to use the same against him. No one dared. Jalal-ud-Din pardoned all the chiefs after giving them a warning.

Attack on Ranthambhor

Jalal-ud-Din led his expedition against Ranthambhor in 1290. It was his first expedition. Ranthambhor was a very famous fort. Even Balban could not occupy it.

Jalal-ud-Din saw the fort from a distant and thought that he could not occupy it by force. Jalal-ud-Din decided to give up. He said to his men, “I do not value this fort so much as the hair of one Muslim”.

And he came back to Delhi.

Mongol invasion

The Mongols invaded India once again during the reign of Jalal-ud-Din Khilji. This time, the Mongols attacked under leadership of Abdulla, grandson of Halaku.

Though, Jalal-ud-Din was an old man, he went in person to oppose them. He succeeded to defeat Mongols. But this time again, the King made a big mistake. He allowed some of the Mongols to settle near Delhi. These Mongols became Muslims. Their descendants of those Mongols came to be known as New Mussalmans (Muslims).

The New Mussalmans proved turbulent neighbours of the Delhi Government and caused it much anxiety.

Ala-ud-Din’s expeditions

Ala-ud-Din was the nephew and son-in-law of King Jalal-ud-Din Khilji. When he was the governor of Kara, an expedition was undertaken against Mandawar. In 1292, Ala-ud-Din captured it. In the same year, he captured the town of Bhilsa also.

Jalal-ud-Din Khilji now made him the Governor of Avadh in addition to that of Kara.

Ala-ud-Din heard of the wealth of King Ram Chandra, the King of Devgiri. He wanted to get all this wealth. So, in 1294, he attacked on Devgiri and defeated the king, Ram Chandra. He brought a lot of wealth from Devgiri.

Siddi Maula

Jalal-ud-Din usually followed a mild policy, but there was one time, when he discarded this policy. It was in case of Siddi Maula, a saint.

Siddi Maula was a disciple of Sheikh Farid-ud-Din of Pak-Pattan. He used to run a very big Khangah, where thousands of poor people were fed daily.

There was an allegation that some chiefs formed a plot to murder the King Jalal-ud-Din Khilji with the help of Siddi Maula. When Jalal-ud-Din was talking to Siddi Maula, he lost his temper and had Siddi Maula put to death by an elephant.

Jalal-ud-Din Khilji pardoned many thieves, robbers and murderers, but a saint was killed by his order, though Siddi’s fault had yet to be established.

It is said that after the death of Siddi Maula, there was a huge storm. Darkness spread everywhere. There were no rains in that year. Many people died. It was attributed to the great injustice done to Siddi Maula.

Murder of Jalal-ud-Din Khilji

Jalal-ud-Din Khilji’s nephew and son-in-law, Ala-ud-Din was a very ambitious person. The advisers of Jalal-ud-Din Khilji knew this fact. When Ala-ud-Din was leading an expedition against Devgiri, the advisers of the King Jalal-ud-Din Khilji tried to impress upon him that Ala-ud-Din had his eye on the throne and timely action should be taken against him. The King did not agree to them.

Disregarding the warnings of his advisers, he went to welcome his son-in-law Ala-ud-Din in Kara, who was returning after capturing Devgiri. When Jalal-ud-Din Khilji embraced Ala-ud-Din, the latter gave a signal to one of his men, who gave two sword-blows to the King. Jalal-ud-Din Khilji tried to escape, but in vain. Another man of Ala-ud-Din cut the head of the King from his body. Other men of the King were also killed. The head of Jalal-ud-Din Khilji was put on a spear and paraded through the provinces of Kara, Manikpur and Avadh.

One of the cowardly murders in history was perpetrated.