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1. Form an estimate of the reign of Iltutmish.

Ans: Iltutmish was one of the remarkable rulers of sultanate. He became the after defeating Aram shah who ascended the throne at the demise of Qutubuddin Aibak. Iltutmish ruled from 1210 C.E. to 1236 C.E. Notable that the newly founded empire was full of disturbances which he had to face-

1. Rise of ambitious nobles: Right after ascending the throne of Delhi many amirs or ministers objected agionst Iltutmish; Nasiruddin Qubacha and Tajuddin Yaldaj were the prominent ones. Nasiruddin Qubacha occupied . On the other hand as a senior employee of Md. Ghori Tajuddin Yaldaz claimed the throne of Delhi. However Iltutmish had both of them defeated without much difficulty. 2. Subjugation of Bengal and Bihar: ensuring the safety of north western frontier, Iltutmish turned his attention towards Bengal and Bihar where a noble, named Hasanuddin Iwaj Khilji started to rule independently. Notable that Bengal was a rich province and for this this reason Iltutmish determined to bring the province under his sword. He sent two expeditions and finally Bengal and Bihar were brought under control of , 3. Dominition iof the rebellion of the Rajputs: The Rajputs could regain their lost independence after Qutubuddin Aibak was dead. When it came to Iltutmish it was impossible to campaign against them for his initial fifteen years were spent in subduing the rebellions of the nobles. He started campaigning from 1226 A.D. and reconquered the states like Ranthanbhor, Jallore, Bayana, thangir, Ajmer Jodhpur, , Kalinjar etc.one after another. 4. Mongol Attack: Delhi sultanate was threatened by the Mongols from the northwest. They appeared under Chenghiz khan in pursuit of Jalaluddin, a prince of Khwarizm. He was refused asylum by Iltutmish and thus saved the Turkish Empire from the wrath of the Mongol.

Administrative measures: iltutmish was the first Muslim ruler who paid attention to the administrative system of Delhi Sultanate. The earlier two rulers, Aibak and Aram Shah, could not pay attention towards it; hence evil cropped up. First of all, in order to crush the power of opponent nobles he organized a group of forty slaves, “Chahalgani”. He was the first Muslim ruler to introduce the silver coin “Tanka” and the copper “Jital”, the two basic coins of the Sultanate. He introduced “Iqta” system where the Iqtadars retained a part of the revenue from the Iqta rendering military service.

Iltutmish was also a patron of art and literature, the scholars like Minhaj-us- Siraj and Malik-taj-ud-din Rejbak got his patronage. The construction of Qutub Minar was completed during his reign.

Iltutmish was the real founder of Delhi Sultanate who gave birth to dynastic monarchy system and strengthened the political structure of the Sultanate.to sum up, we may quote Dr. R. P. Tripathi, “the history of Muslim sovereignty in begins with him.”