Shams ud-Din Iltutmish was earlier the governor of Badaun and the slave of Qutubuddin Aibak. Just as Qutbuddin Aibak was bought by Muhammad Ghori and made his slave, similarly Qutbuddin Aibak bought Iltutmish and made him his slave. Iltutmish was a Turk of the Ilbari tribe. In 1205 AD, Iltutmish, together with Muhammad Ghori and Qutubuddin Aibak, suppressed the Khokhars. Muhammad Ghori was greatly impressed by the courage and fighting skills of Iltutmish in this campaign against the Khokhars. Muhammad Ghori ordered Qutbuddin Aibak to free Iltutmish from slavery. In this way Iltutmish had obtained the emancipation letter even before his master Qutubuddin Aibak. Qutbuddin Aibak himself was also greatly influenced by Iltutmish. He also got his daughter married to Iltutmish. For this reason Iltutmish was also the son-in-law of Qutubuddin Aibak. In 1210 AD, Qutubuddin Aibak died after falling from a horse while playing polo.

Shams ud-Din Iltutmish

Early life of Iltutmish

Iltutmish's father's name was Eelam Khan. Because of Iltutmish's charming personality and excellent nature, his brothers and relatives used to envy him. One day in the absence of his father, his brothers sold him to a slave trader. Thus he was separated from his family since childhood. The merchant brought Iltutmish to Bukhara and here he sold Iltutmish to a Qazi. After some time the sons of Qazi sold it to a slave trader named Jamaluddin Muhammad Chutqaba. This merchant brought him to the slave market of Ghazni, after which he brought him to the slave market of Delhi, where Qutubuddin Aibak bought it from the merchant by paying 1 lakh Jital.

Iltutmish's accession

In 1211 AD, Iltutmish captured the Delhi Sultanate by killing Aramshah, the controversial son of Qutbuddin Aibak. Here the disputed son is said because according to some historians Qutbuddin Aibak was sonless, he had only three daughters, two of whom were married to Kuchaba and one to Iltutmish.

During the reign of Aramshah, the ambition of independent rule was born among the Turkic nobles in different parts of the Sultanate. In Bengal, Ali Mardan had separated himself from Delhi. On the other hand, Kuchaba also started to dominate Multan, Kutch and Bathinda. In view of this crisis, Amir Ali Ismail, the general of Delhi, invited Iltutmish, the Subedar of Budaun, with the consent of some Turkish officers, and advised him to take over Delhi as soon as possible. Many officers of the Delhi Sultanate were greatly impressed by Iltutmish's personal ability and prudent administrative tact. After reaching Delhi, Iltutmish declared himself the Sultan of Delhi Sultanate. At that time the capital of the Delhi Sultanate was Lahore. When the news of Iltutmish's authority over Delhi reached Aramshah, he became very angry. He reached to attack Delhi with a large army. There was a conflict between Iltutmish and Aramshah in which Aramshah was defeated. Aramshah was taken prisoner and later he was murdered. He was the real and first legal ruler of Delhi Sultanate.

Suppression of rebels by Iltutmish

However, when he took the throne of India in 1211 AD, he had to face many internal and external difficulties in the beginning. After becoming the ruler, Iltutmish first suppressed the Kutubi and Muizzi rebels. Qutub nobles of Lahore was opposing Iltutmish on getting the throne of Delhi.

The ruler of Delhi Sultanate, Qutbuddin Aibak had died suddenly, so he did not announce any successor before his death. The Turk nobles of Lahore (slaves and supporters of Qutbuddin Aibak / Qutub nobles) and Muizzi nobles of Delhi (slaves of Muhammad Ghori) were supporting Qutbuddin Aibak's son Aramshah for the throne of Delhi.

Iltutmish suppressed all these rebels. At that time there were three powerful overlords who were challenging the Delhi Sultanate – Yaldauj in Ghazni, Kuchaba in Multan and Ali Mardan Khilji in Lakhnauti (Bengal).

Repression of Yaldauj

In 1214 AD, the Shah of Khawarism expelled Yaldauj from Ghazni and occupied it. Yaldauj fled to Lahore where he defeated Kuchaba and captured Lahore.

According to Farishta, Yaldauj had annexed the area up to Thaneshwar. Yaldauj wanted to take over Delhi. Therefore, a war between the two became inevitable. In 1215 AD, in the third battle of Tarain, Tajuddin Yaldauj was defeated and taken prisoner, later he had been killed in the fort of Budaun.

Suppression of kuchaba

Kuchaba was a slave of Qutbuddin Aibak. Qutubuddin Aibak also got his two daughters married to Kuchaba. Qutbuddin Aibak appointed him as the Governor of Kutch during his reign. Kuchaba had always been loyal to his master Aibak, but after the death of Aibak, many rivals arose in the Sultanate. Kuchaba had captured many areas of Lahore, Multan, Sindh and Punjab by his own ability. Taking advantage of Yaldauj's defeat in Tarain, he again took control of Lahore. In 1225 AD, Iltutmish defeated Kuchaba at a place called Mansoura near Chenab. Kuchaba died by drowning in the Sindh river. Thus ended Iltutmish's two formidable rivals. He appointed his eldest son Nasuruddin Mahmud in Lahore.

Defense of Delhi Sultanate from Mongol invasion

Along with these two rivals, the crisis of Mongol invasion on the kingdom of Iltutmish was deepening. In 1221, Mongolian invader Genghis Khan (Timuchin) started plundering the Muslim empire located in Central Asia. Genghis Khan had captured a large area in Central Asia. He attacked Iran and destroyed the Khawarism kingdom there. Khawarism Crown Prince Jalaluddin Mangbarani fled from Iran and went towards Punjab and upon reaching here he sought refuge from Iltutmish. Genghis Khan had reached the Indus Valley in pursuit of Jalaluddin Mangbarani. Genghis Khan looted and destroyed all the villages and cities behind him. Iltutmish, showing intelligence, refused to give shelter to Jalaluddin Mangbarani. Iltutmish knew that if he gave shelter to Jalaluddin Mangbarani, then Genghis Khan could enter India and destroy the Delhi Sultanate. This was the reason that neither he gave refuge to Mangbarni nor did he conduct any military campaign in Sindh until Genghis Khan remained in Sindh (till 1227 AD).

In Bengal, the Khalji chiefs had killed Ali Mardan and appointed Hisamuddin Iwaz. Hisamuddin Iwaz had also established his authority over Bihar. He wanted to keep Bengal separate from the Delhi Sultanate, so he also refused to pay the annual tax. Iltutmish  moved towards Bengal with his army. He occupied Bihar without any resistance. After this he proceeded to attack Lakhnauti. A conflict took place between the two near Teliagarhi, in which Hisamuddin Iwaz had to make a treaty with Iltutmish after being defeated. He appointed Malik Allauddin Jani as the Governor of Bihar. However, after a few years, Hisamuddin Iwaz recaptured Malik Allauddin Jani by driving him out of Bihar. Due to the possible threat of Mongol invasion, Iltutmish for some time turned his attention away from Bengal and waited for the right opportunity.

In 1226 AD Iltutmish sent his son Nasuruddin Mahmud to Bengal. In the struggle Hisamuddin Iwaz was killed after being defeated at the hands of Nasuruddin Mahmud. The capital Lakhnauti again became the possession of the Delhi Sultanate. Nasuruddin Mahmud was appointed as the Governor of Lakhnauti. Due to the death of Nasuruddin Mahmud in March 1229, unrest started spreading again in Bengal. Taking advantage of this unrest, a Khilji chieftain Malik Ikhtiyaruddin Balka revolted. Iltutmish made a military campaign against Balka in 1231 AD and made him a prisoner and again established peace in Bengal. After appointing Malik Allauddin Jani as the Governor of Bengal, he came to Delhi.

Other Military Campaigns of Iltutmish

He reconquered the Doab region and annexed Kannauj, Varanasi, Bahraich and Oudh to the Delhi Sultanate. After the death of Qutbuddin Aibak in 1206 AD, the Ottoman Empire had slackened, taking advantage of which many Rajput states became independent. Now Iltutmish wanted to bring these states again under the Delhi Sultanate. In this sequence, he first attacked Ranthambore in 1226 AD and captured it. The Chauhan rulers of Jalore also accepted the suzerainty of Iltutmish. After this, Iltutmish annexed Bayana, Sambhar, Ajmer and Nagaur states one by one in his empire.

In 1231 AD, Iltutmish attacked Gwalior and defeated the Parihar ruler Mangal Dev and appointed Rashiduddin as the subedar there. In 1233 AD, Iltutmish sent Nusratuddin Taisai to attack Kalinjar. Taisai plundered a lot in Bundelkhand but he failed to win the fort of Kalinjar. After this he attacked Malwa, Bhilsa and looted the temples there. He destroyed the temple of Mahakal in Ujjain. He brought the idol of Vikramajit and many relics to Delhi to commemorate his victory. On his way to the Banyan expedition, he fell ill and died on 30 April 1236. Iltutmish ruled from 1211 AD to 1236 AD (for 26 years).
Iltutmish re-established the Delhi Sultanate through his victories. In view of this achievement, on 18 February 1229 AD, Caliph Al-Mustgir-Billah of Baghdad granted Iltutmish the recognition of being the legal sultan of the Delhi Sultanate and Khilat in his honor.

Iltutmish's evaluation

Iltutmish shifted his capital from Lahore to Delhi. He first formed a group of his forty confidant slaves who helped him in administrative work. Iltutmish appointed them to important and high posts of administration. This group was known as Chalisa or Turkan-i-Chahargan. Muhammad Junaidi was the vizier of Iltutmish. Qualified persons like Malik Qutbuddin Hasan Ghori, Fakhrul Mulk Nizami were in his court. He gave the title of 'Rawat-e-Arz' to a slave named Arije Mamalik Imadul Mulk. Iltutmish adopted the Iranian monarchical traditions and adapted them to the Indian environment. The first Indian Muslim treatise on his political theory and the art of state organization was written by his court scholar, Aabad-ul-Harb. Iltutmish was hesitant to sit before his court officials.

Iltutmish built Madrasa-i-Nasiri in memory of his eldest son Nasuruddin Mahmud and Madrasa-e-Muizzi in memory of Muhammad Ghori in Delhi. He got the construction work of Qutub Minar built by Qutubuddin Aibak completed. Apart from this, he got the construction of Jama Masjid in Badaun and Atarkin's gate in Nagaur.

Iltutmish started the system of Iqta in 1226 AD. In this system, soldiers were given land in lieu of salary. Iltutmish introduced silver tanks (175 grains) and copper jitals, which were India's first pure Arabic coins. He started the tradition of writing the name of the mint on the coins. He also got the name of his daughter Razia inscribed on the silver tanks.

Before his death, Iltutmish chose his daughter Razia Sultan as his successor. But after the death of Iltutmish, the Turkic nobles placed Iltutmish's second son, Ruknuddin Firoz Shah, on the throne. Ruknuddin proved ineligible. The people of the state opposed Ruknuddin and deposed him and made Razia the Sultan of the Sultanate. Razia Sultan was the first Muslim woman ruler of India.