Slave Dynasty

In the history of the Indian dynasty among the rulers from various kingdoms is very common. One of the significant examples of the dynasty ruling system was represented by the Mughal sultanate. The sultanate is termed because the empire or the Kingdom was ruled by the Sultans of that time. However, the slave dynasty includes some more detail to the dynasty system in history. 

History has witnessed many incidents where the king was murdered or somehow executed by any of his family members or enemies. Further, the kingdom was controlled by the executor. Simultaneously Slave dynasty also refers to the incidents where the king or the ruler was executed and further the kingdom was under-controlled by any of the slaves belonging to the same empire. In further context, the history of the slave dynasty in India is discussed for better understanding. 

A brief view of the slave dynasty 

In history, the word dynasty is similar to what nepotism means today. In history, the royal heritage of India has witnessed several kingdoms where the rules are crowned sequentially after their ancestors. The slave dynasty has started in the year 1206 and lasts up to 1290. The Slave dynasty was founded by the Mughal emperors or the Mughalians during their kingdom. From the view of history, the slave dynasty refers to the first or the front line rulers from the Mughal Sultanate. 

The history of the slave dynasty started with the kingdom of a Turkish slave ‘Quṭb al-Dīn Aibak’, one of the great Sultans from the Mughal Sultanate of that Era. ‘Quṭb al-Dīn Aibak’ served the Mughal Sultanate as a ruler from 1206 up to 1210 and later his inheritance was crowned as the ruler of the sultanate sequentially. 

Founder of slave dynasty 

Generally, the founder of the slave dynasty was the Mughalians, later which turns into the great  Mughal Sultanate that rules from Delhi. More specifically the slave dynasty was started from ‘Quṭb al-Dīn Aibak’, who was the slave to serve the Muslim General. ‘Quṭb al-Dīn Aibak’ was later appointed to serve as a slave to the ‘Sultan Muḥammad of Ghūr’. 

In history ‘Quṭb al-Dīn Aibak’ was the most trustworthy Turkish officer of ‘Sultan Muḥammad of Ghūr’, who appointed ‘Quṭb al-Dīn Aibak” as the administrator of the territory of Northern India named Ghurid. When Sultan Ghur was executed, Qutb took control of Lahore in 1206. From this time ‘Quṭb al-Dīn Aibak’ established oneself as the independent ruler of the Delhi Sultanate. Historians believe it was the starting point of the slave dynasty in the sultanate of Delhi. 

The reason behind the terminology of the Slave dynasty 

The term ‘slave dynasty’ generally formed in such a way because at the very beginning of the slave dynasty, the earlier emperors were either slaves themselves or they were the inheritance of the slaves. The dynasty was continued by the slaves of the sultanates; hence it was termed the slave dynasty. 

Forty Amirs and their roles under the Slave dynasty 

The forty Amirs under the slave dynasty also known as the ‘Corps of Forty’ were appointed by the ruler of the Delhi sultanate at that time to perform several administrative activities. These forty Amirs were mainly Turkish slaves also called the ‘Dal Chalisa’. The Amirs were appointed to fulfill the wishes of the Sultan and simultaneously balance the ruling system between the Sultan and the empire. The forty Amirs have a major significance in the history of India as it was the ecclesiastical body in the history of India. Although the Amirs were only to assist the Sultan in various ruling activities, the power of imposing any decision regarding the states, commanding the armies of the Sultan was controlled by only the Sultan. 

Last ruler of the slave dynasty 

The slave dynasty was in rule in the Mughal sultanate for 84 years. There were several names in the slave dynasty that ruled the Delhi sultanate for a long period of time. According to history ‘Muiz ud din Qaiqabad’ was the last ruler under the slave dynasty. ‘Muiz ud din Qaiqabad’ was the tenth ruler of the Mughal Sultanate who ruled the sultanate for 21 years from 1269 to 1290. ‘Muiz ud din Qaiqabad’ belonged to Bughra Khan who was the independent ruler of the Sultanate based in Bengal. Apart from this ‘Muiz ud din Qaiqabad’ was also the inheritance of ‘Ghiyas ud din Balban’ who is another ruler of the Mughal sultanate who belonged to the slave dynasty. 

Conclusion   

In the history of India, different dynasties were found that had a great contribution to the rich heritage of India. Among them, the all slave dynasty is one of the major dynasties as the Mughal sultanate was under the ruler established from the slave dynasty for 84 years. The slave dynasty includes many popular names of the sultanate rulers, which also includes the name of the first feminist ruler of the Mughal Sultanate, Razia Sultan. While talking about history most often we only determine the role and contribution of the great rulers. However, the chronology of their dynasty and the fact behind the dynasty is often avoided.