When Aram did match the standards of a competent ruler, a group of forty Turkic nobles called ‘ Chihalgani’ – who opposed Aram’s rule – invited Iltutmish to succeed him as the Sultan of Delhi. Sultan Qutb-ud-din died an unfortunate death in a chaugan (a game like polo) accident in 1210, leading his heir-apparent son, Aram Baksh, take over the throne. The ruler trusted him enough to have offered his daughter, Qutub Begum’s hand, in marriage to Iltutmish.
He himself was sold as a young slave and climbed the ladder to succeed his predecessor, the Muhammad of Ghor.Īs Quṭb al-Dīn Aibak’s confidante, Iltutmish displayed bravery and honesty to earn the position of a provincial governor. It was Aibak who laid the foundation of the Mamluk dynasty or Slave dynasty. Her father and late ruler Iltutmish originally arrived in Delhi as a slave, under ruler Quṭb al-Dīn Aibak. In fact, her ancestral roots trace back to Turkish Seljuk slaves! As one of the leading rulers of the Slave Dynasty, her reign challenged the very foundation of societal class and shook power structures. Source: Wikimedia Commonsīorn to Sultan Iltutmish and Qutub Begum, Razia’s family did not belong to the class of nobles. The fifth Mamluk dynasty ruler, history deems Razia Sultan as one of the very few female rulers in the history of Islamic civilizations across the world.ĭuring her reign, she ordered coins be minted with her title as “Pillar of Women, Queen of the Times, Sultan Razia, daughter of Shamsuddin Iltumish.” The Mamluk Dynasty (Slave Dynasty) leading to the rule of Razia Coin of Razia Sultan. Her justification was, Sultana meant “wife or mistress of a Sultan (ruler).” And she proudly proclaimed she be addressed as “Sultan”, as she herself was second to none. Razia refused to be addressed as ‘Sultana,’ the term that would be used to address her according to her gender.
She adopted a gender-neutral attire instead, more like the male rulers before her.
When she took over the throne on 10 November 1236, with the official name of Jalâlat-ud-Dîn Raziyâ, she made a conscious decision to give up her traditional Muslim woman attire, including the pardah, which invited the fury of conservative Muslims. Never in the history of the Mamluk dynasty, had the title of ‘Sultan’ bestowed upon or used to address a woman, because a woman had never ruled before. Renowned as the first Muslim female ruler of the Delhi Sultanate, Razia Sultan ruled Delhi from 1236 to 1240.