'Ala al-Din Jani

   A Turkish noble of Qutb al-Din Aibak (1206-1210) who belonged to a ruling family of Central Asia and who sided with Iltutmish (1211-1236) in the latter's tussle with Aibek's son Aram Shah for succession. Iltutmish assigned him Lakhnauti with quasi royal status in 1230. Having been expelled from Lakhnauti by the Khalji officers, 'Ala al-Din Jani diminished in Iltutmish's favor and was subsequently made to serve in a distinctly less glamorous capacity at Lahore in the northwest. He figured prominently on the side of the powerful slave officers (chihilganis) in the factional tussle among nobles during the reigns of Rukn al-Din Firuz (1236) and Raziya Sultan (1236-1240). 'Ala al-Din Jani's son Qilich Khan Mas'ud was promoted to the rulership of Lakhnauti during the time Balban ran the central administration as viceroy (na'ib) of Sultan Nasir al-Din Mahmud Shah (1246-1266) and remained in that position until 1252.