Notwithstanding the various measures, Alauddin Khilji had taken for strengthening his state and notwithstanding the brilliant victories was achieving in the South as late as 1313, the government of Alauddin Khilji was gradually losing in strength and ability.

During his last months, Alauddin had centralized power in his own hands and would listen to no advice and would tolerate no opposition. Unlike his early years, he was now surrounded by only flatterers and scoundrels. It is thus, not surprising that the horrible massacre of Neo- Muslims took place during his last days.

Alauddin Khilji's over-centralization and conversion of jagirs into crown lands (Khalisa) had left many Mongol nobles destitute. They accused the Sultan of tyrannizing the people and unjustly imposing high taxes. They were also unsatisfied at the execution of Abaji Mughal after an expedition to Mabar. Confident of the support of the Neo-Muslims in the army and the approval of the general public, they plot to assassinate Sultan.

The plot was discovered and Alauddin Khilji ordered a general massacre of Neo-Muslims. They were to be killed wherever they are found.

Some 20,000 to 30,000 Mongols were killed and most of them had no knowledge of the plot. Such tyranny on the one hand and Alauddin Khilji's disgraceful attachment to Kafur affected Sultan’s prestige. With the dismissal of Malik Hamiduddin and A’izuddin and the assassination of Sharaf Qayani, the offices of Diwan-i-Wizarat, Diwan-i-Rasalat and Diwan- i-Insha were ruined.

All the men of respect and integrity like Malik Qiran, Amir-i-Shikar and Malik Qira Beg were dismissed from service. Malik Kafur committed innumerable crimes behind his Sultan’s back. As long as Alauddin Khilji was young and enjoyed good health, his iron hand and will steer the course of the government well but as soon as his health began to decline, trouble brewed up on all sides.

In 1312, Khizr Khan Shamsul Haq was married to the daughter of , the governor of and the brother of Malika-i-Jahan. But Khizr Khan had already fallen in love with , the daughter of Raja Karan Dev. But since Mahru Malika-i-Jahan was adamant to marry Khizr Khan to the daughter of her brother, Deval Rani was sent away to Qasr-i-Lal.

Khizr Khan’s health began to deteriorate and Mahru finally obtained Alauddin Khilji’s permission to marry Khizr Khan to Deval Rani.

Raja Ramchandra of Devagiri died in 1311. His successor and son Simahan III rebelled and repudiated Alauddin Khilji’s sovereignty. Malik Kafur was sent to crush the rebellion. During his absence, the influence of Alp Khan and Malika-i-Jahan began to increase and the latter began preparation for the marriage of her second son Shadi Khan with the second daughter of her brother. Alauddin Khilji remained indifferent because of his bad health.

Malik Kafur and all the other nobles from far off-places were also invited. On this occasion, Deval Devi was also married to Khizr Khan. Meanwhile, Sultan Alauddin Khilji’s health began to take a turn for worse. The last three years of his life were full of bitterness and anguish. His strenuous work habits, hard labor, and irregular habits had severely told upon his body. Naturally, he began to lose grip of the administration. Meanwhile, Malik Kafur and Alp Khan were ranged in opposition. Alp Khan had administered the province of Gujarat and was very popular with the army and people there. He was the real brother of Mallika-i-Jahan and was in the good looks of Alauddin Khilji. Malik Kafur felt alarmed at this state of affairs.

Since his capture in Gujarat n 1299, he had long enjoyed the confidence and affection of the Sultan Alauddin Khilji. He was even made the commander of the Deccan forces several times between 1308 to 1313. Impressed by his victories, Alauddin Khilji had made him the governor of Deccan with headquarters at Devagiri.

A shrewd man like Malik Kafur, who had been the only guiding spirit of the Sultan Alauddin Khilji, did not take time to realize that he was lost if he did not stir betimes.

The malady of the Sultan was getting more and more serious. He was suffering from dropsy and other physical disorder. On account of his declining health, he had become suspicious and peevish. When Malik Kafur returned from Deccan, the Sultan related to him the tale of his woes – the indifference of his wife and sons.

This was a golden opportunity for Malik Kafur who was as mean as he was talented. One day when Kafur was in a private audience with the Alauddin Khilji, the former accused Alp Khan of being the source of all the trouble.

Isami has written that Alauddin Khilji had refused to listen to the false accusations against his faithful minister and commander. But Malik Kafur knew how to deal with Alp Khan since the Sultan Alauddin Khilji was now bed-ridden. One day, Alp Khan was entering the royal apartments, Malik Naib and Malik Kamauddin Gurg seized him and murdered him in cold blood.

Alp Khan’s death cleared the way for the rise of Malik Naib Malik Kafur. The Sultan Alauddin Khilji was now seriously ill and the Naib himself transacted all the business of the state in his name. The worsening condition of Alauddin had alarmed everybody in the palace. In spite of regular treatment, he was not showing any signs of improvement.

Thus, his loving son Khizr Khan took a vow to go on foot to a pilgrimage to Hastinapur when his father recovered from his malady. Malik Kafur cunningly misinterpreted the intentions of the young prince and told Alauddin Khilji while he was lying ill, Khizr Khan was going on pleasure trips. He also issued a farman in the name of Alauddin Khilji that the young prince should proceed to Amroha and should not return to until asked to do so. He should also surrender all the insignias of royalty. Khizr Khan could not understand why his father was angry with him so much. He traveled day and night to reach the capital. Khizr Khan was born with a silver spoon in his mouth and naturally, could not understand the tricks of Malik Kafur. Once more he began to poison the ears of Alauddin Khilji. He accused Khizr Khan of coming back from Amroha without orders and plotting with Malikka-i-Jahan to seize the throne. Khizr Khan was sent as a prisoner to Gwalior where his beloved Deval Rani joined him to share his distress. Alauddin’s beloved Mallika-i-Jahan Maharu was imprisoned in the Red Palace of Delhi.

The last months of Alauddin were characterized by frequent revolts in various provinces. At the news of the murder of their favorite commander Alp Khan, Gujarat garrison unfurled the standard of revolt. A revolt broke out in Chittor also where Maldeva, the puppet of Alauddin was constantly harassed by Hammir Sisodia.

Harpal Deva assumed independence at Devagiri. Alauddin’s life-work seemed to be undone. The Sultan had lived an extremely tiresome and busy life and from the disorders of dropsy and from the fatal effects of the poison administered by Malik Kafur, Alauddin found refuge in a silent death on 6 January 1316. Ascending the throne at the age of 30, Alauddin had reached the apogee of power at 45 through unrivaled skill, studied tact and phenomenal energy. It is widely believed that Alauddin was without any literary education, though like Akbar and Ranjit Singh after him, he confirmed by example the Tennysonian dictum.

But though unlettered, Alauddin possessed sufficient common sense, experience, and wisdom which multiplied with age. Learned scholars, nobles and talented military commanders like , Qazi Mughisuddin, , Nusrat Khan, and Zafar Khan were always ready to tender advice to him on important matters.

In his later years, he was influenced by the evil genius of Malik Kafur but there is no reason to think that the Sultan was under the influence of anyone. Alauddin was a self-willed man who would not care for anybody’s advice when he was determined on something.

Every sentiment of kindness and clemency became extinct in the Sultan’s heart when anything harmful for the state was done. His punishment of the families of the mutineers at Jalor filled the heart of even a medieval chronicler like Barani with shame and disgust. Alauddin’s barbarous punishment of traders, the atrocities of Nusrat Khan on the people of Delhi and the callousness of the Sultan in killing his kith and kin are simply appalling.

The Sultan also possessed a vindictive nature. If once he became prejudiced against anybody, he spared no efforts to destroy him. If once he incarcerated anybody, he never thought of releasing him and a large number of innocent men used to be punished simply because the Sultan thought them to be guilty.

Such a man of iron-will must be free from all sentiments of conjugal love. Although he had a number of wives, yet he does not seem to have been under the feminine influence as such. In medieval times, when women, wine and music were the order of the day, Alauddin led a life free from unbridled debauchery.

Alauddin was perhaps the only Sultan of the Sultanate who never went to the Friday prayers and did not permit religious considerations to interfere with the state administration, yet he was a good Muslim. He had great faith in religion and never allowed any irreligious thing to be said or heard.

During his last days, he had become greatly devoted to Sheikh Nizamuddin. Almost all the members of the palace were the disciples of Sheikh Nizamuddin. When Alauddin came to know of the departure of Maulana Shamsuddin Turk without meeting him, he was sorely disappointed.

Isami has written that the Sultan worked on the principles of Shariat and exhibited Islam in his actions. A thorough study of the Sultan’s character proves that his suppression of the had nothing to do with religion.

Under his vigorous administration, merchants, money lenders, landholders, and intriguing nobility all suffered terribly. If the bulk of the population, as well as most of the landholders and peasants, were Hindus, it was but natural that Hindus would suffer the most from his revenue and market regulations.

Alauddin’s regulations about prohibitions are praiseworthy.

But the ruling passion of the Sultan was unbridled ambition. He thirsted for immortality. To transcend the victories of Alexander the Great and to found a new religion like the Prophet of Islam were the two burning desires of his soul.

But luckily, his almost mad schemes were toned down by his faithful counselor Malik Ala-ul- Mulk. Besides all his mad ambitions, nature had crammed the Sultan with a sense of practicability. Without blinding him to reality, the ambitions had made him an astute diplomat. The precautions he took to see that the news of his raid into Devgiri did not reach the imperial court compels admiration.

A few scholars have alleged that Alauddin himself was not an able general and his victories were due to able commanders like Alp Khan, Nusrat Khan, Ulugh Khan, and Malik Kafur. But this view is not correct. While yet an unknown figure, Alauddin had distinguished himself in the fight against Malik Chhaju in his raids on Vidhisa. His astounding success against the Maratha army of Devagiri established his reputation as a brilliant commander. After his accession, Alauddin could not immediately leave the capital for reasons of security and therefore sent Ulugh Khan and Nusrat Khan to occupy and conquer and Gujarat. In 1299, he defeated Qutulugh Khwaja and in 1303 repulsed a powerful Mongol army from the outskirts of Delhi. The way in which he argued with Malik Alaulmulk before marching against the Mongols deserves praise. The most formidable battles were fought either against the Mongols or against the Rajputs and in most of the campaigns, Sultan was present personally. When Ulugh Khan was compelled to retreat during the siege of Ranthambhore, Alauddin himself marched against it and reduced it simply through his persistent exertion and superior military genius. The Sultan successfully reduced Chittor in 1303 which had not taken by any previous Sultan and which put an edge on the teeth of even a strong Emperor like Akbar. After 1303, Alauddin became busy in economic and marketing reform. Malik Kafur marched into the south in 1308 and Alauddin marched into Sevana. a Sanskrit inscription at Jodhpur, dated in Alauddin’s reign, the Hindu author paid tribute to Alauddin through whose “god-like valor the earth was rid of all tyranny.” Kakka Suri, the author of Nabhinandana- jinodhara-prabhanda writes about Alauddin: It is as an administrator than anything else that Alauddin stands head and shoulder above his predecessors or successors in the Sultanate. Direct recruitment of soldiers, the system of branding of horses and the cash payment to the soldiers, the control of the market, rationing and issue of permits, the enrollment of merchants and the dozens of other measures prove beyond doubt the ingenuity of the King's mind. Alauddin Khilji was an administrative entrepreneur. While Muhammad Bin Tughlaq failed in most of his experiments, Alauddin succeeded in all his novel schemes. As pointed out before, his counselors like Zafar Khan, Nusrat Khan, Ulugh Khan, and Ala-ul Mulk all died before 1302 while Alp Khan was staying away in Gujarat until about 1314. It was surely the inventive genius of Alauddin which struck at the idea of the so many measures cited above. Alauddin was an imperialist though and though, but notwithstanding his desire for incessant conquest and extension of his dominion, he was well aware of the dangers of thoughtless expansionism. He defeated the Deccan princes, levied rich tributes upon them, but at the same time left them with their possessions. By this policy, he made friends of foes. His policy left a number of faithful allies in the South who not only remained loyal and obedient to him but also helped him in many of his military enterprises. It is generally believed that Alauddin left nothing of permanence. According to Sheikh Bashir Diwana, Alauddin's government had no stable foundations and the Khilji dynasty was easily supplanted because of the inherent weakness of the Alai rule. There is no doubt that Alauddin's administrative system had its defects. His government was a military despot's rule and as Jadunath Sarkar had aptly remarked. But despite all its defects, Alauddin had achieved much. His imperialistic policy had turned the small kingdom into an Empire comprising almost the whole of India. He was the first ruler whose political hegemony extended over the Deccan peninsula.