Iltutmish, Sultan Shams al-Din

(?-1236)

   A scion of an Il-bari noble family of Central Asia, Iltutmish was reportedly sold away by his jealous brothers to a slave merchant who in turn sold him to Qutb al-Din Aibek, then a slave officer of Muizz al-Din Muhammad Ghauri. Having distinguished himself in a skirmish with Khokhar tribesmen, Iltutmish earned manumission from his master. On Qutb al-Din Aibek's death (1210), Iltutmish, then muqti' of Baran (modern Bu-landshahr), was proclaimed sultan at Delhi. In 1216, he defeated Yildiz who, because he controlled Ghazni, claimed to be the inheritor of Muizz al-Din Muhammad Ghauri's imperial legacy. A decade later (1227), another rival claimant of royal authority, Qubacha, who con-trolled Sind, was eliminated. In 1229, the caliph of Baghdad recog-nized him as the sultan of Delhi. Besides reasserting his authority in provinces, Iltutmish also subjugated the Hindu chieftains of Ranthambhor (1226), Mandu (1227), and Ujjain (1234). Iltutmish had the distinction of saving northwestern parts of India from Chingez Khan's savagery by resorting to clever diplomacy.