Bughra Khan

   Second son of Sultan Ghiyas al-Din Balban whose original name was Mahmud. He was entitled Bughra Khan after Balban's rise to kingship (1266). Along with his elder brother, Muhammad, he was deputed by Balban to guard the northwest frontier against Mongol raids. Bughra Khan was stationed at Samana. In 1281, he was deputed to govern Bengal virtually as a sovereign. After his brother Muhammad was killed in a skirmish with a Mongol raiding party in 1286, Bughra Khan was recalled to Delhi and his father offered him the throne, but instead Bughra Khan quietly left for Bengal. On Balban's death (1286), the nobles — going against the choice of the deceased sultan — placed Bughra Khan's son Kaiqubad on the throne. From this time onward, Bughra Khan assumed royal status in Bengal with the title Nasir al-Din Muhammad Bughra Khan.

   Near the end of Kaiqubad's short reign (1287-1290), Bughra Khan proceeded toward Delhi purportedly with an aim to warn Kaiqubad of the evil designs of some of his ministers. Kaiqubad left Delhi to meet his father in Awadh. The two met on the bank of the Sarju River in Awadh. Amir Khusrau's earliest narrative poem Qiran al-sa'dayn recounted this meeting of father and son. Some time after the over-throw of Kaiqubad by the Khalji officers in 1290, Bughra Khan abdicated at Lakhnauti in favor of his son Rukn al-Din Kaikaus, who died around 1300. Bengal continued to be ruled by the progeny of Bughra Khan until 1324.