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Conquest of Ala-ud-din Khilji
Alauddin Khilji the ruler of Khilji dynasty annexed many parts of India and fought for beautiful Rani Padmini of Chittor

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Conquest of Ala-ud-din KhiljiAla-ud-din was a very ambitious and a shrewd warrior. To materialize his vision to rule most territories of the country, he set out a conquest. During his conquest he looted many states in the north. His strong support during his conquest were his brother Ulugh Khan, Nusrat Khan, Zafar Khan and his brother-in-law, Alp Khan.

In 1297, Ala-ud-Din sent a huge army under the command of Ulugh Khan and Nusrat Khan to conquer Gujarat. Rai Karan Dev second was the ruler of Gujarat. He fought for sometimes and then ran away. Ala-ud-Din`s army captured the capital Anhilwara. The beautiful queen of Karan Dev second was made prisoner. She was taken away to Delhi. Ala-ud-Din married her. Ala-ud-Din`s army plundered Gujarat and took away a large amount of booty. But, the greatest prize of all bagged in `Hazar Dinari` slave, Malik Kafur, who became the prime minister of the King later.

Alauddin`s second conquest was Ranthambhor a very famous fort of Rajputana. Qutb-ud-Din and Iltutmish conquered it, but now it was being ruled by a Rajput king, Hamir Dev. In 1299, Ala-ud-Din sent an army under Ulugh Khan and Nusrat Khan to capture the fort of Ranthambhor, but the Rajputs defeated them. Even Nusrat Khan was killed in the battlefield. When Ala-ud-Din heard of this, he personally proceeded against Ranthambhor in 1301. The Rajputs fought bravely. It took a few months to capture Ranthambhor.

The most famous conquest in the Khilijian history was the conquest of Chittor by Ala-ud-din. The King of Chittor ,Rana Bhim Singh was captivated on Monday, Aug. 26, 1303 and Chittor fell. Thousands of Rajput women with Rani Padmini inside had entered a cellar and burnt themselves to ashes preferring a fiery death and unsullied honor to the lecherous hell of Islamic torture and venery. Discomfited Alauddin in impotent anger massacred thousands of children and old men found in the fort. In 1305 Alauddin Khilji captured Malwa and annexed Ujjain, Mandu, Dhar and Chanderi. Alauddin Khilji`s expedition to Bengal was not successful and it remained independent.

The next in line for Ala-ud-din`s conquest was Malwa which was under the rule of Rai Mahlak Dev. In 1305, Ala-ud-Din Khilji sent an army to Malwa under Ain-ul-Mulk Multani. The Rajput King Rai Mahlak Dev opposed the invaders, but he was killed in the battlefield. This victory helped the Delhi Army to occupy Ujjain, Mandu, Dhar and Chanderi. By the end of 1306 A.D. practically the whole of Northern India came into the hands of Ala-ud-Din.

Now, Ala-ud-Din directed his attention towards the conquest of the South. He was the first Muslim king, who tried to invade the South. After the North had been brought under his control, it was natural for Ala-ud-Din to try for the extension of his influence over the South. Ram Chandra Deva was the king of Devgiri. He gave refuge to Rai Karan Dev second, the fugitive ruler of Gujarat. Rai Karan Dev second made arrangements to marry Deval Devi, his daughter, to a Prince named Shankar. Shankar was the eldest son of Ram Chandra Deva, the King of Devgiri. At that time, there were four main kingdoms in the South, Devgir, Telangana, Hoysala and Pandya kingdom.

In 1307, Ala-ud-Din sent an expedition against Devgiri under Malik Kafur, a slave. The King Ram Chandra Deva was defeated and was brought to Delhi. Ala-ud-Din treated Ram Chandra Deva with all honours. He even gave him a royal canopy and the style of King of kings. Ram Chandra Deva continued to rule Devgiri As a vassal of Ala-ud-Din Khilji. The daughter of Kamla Devi, Deval Devi also was sent to Delhi, where she was married to Khizar Khan, son of Ala-ud-Din. Kamla Devi already was a wife of Ala-ud-Din. In 1310, Ala-ud-Din`s army under Malik Kafur besieged Warangal, the capital of Telangana. Ram Chandra Deva of Devgiri gave all assistance to Malik Kafur. The King of Telangana, Pratap Rudra Deva was sued for peace. He gave Kafur 100 elephants, 7,000 horses and large quantities of jewels and coined money. He also agreed to send tribute to Delhi every year. Then Malik Kafur was sent to Dwarsamudra, the capital of King Vir Vallabh, the Hoysala ruler. Vir Vallabh was defeated and made prisoner. The rich temples of the city were plundered and Malik Kafur got a lot of gold, silver, jewel and pearls from these temples. Vir Vallabh was brought to Delhi. Later, he could rule over Dwarsamudra only as a vassal of Delhi.

From Dwarsamudra, Malik Kafur marched towards Madura. Madura was the capital of Pandya Kingdom. Vir Pandya, the King of Madura abandoned his capital and ran away with his queens. Malik Kafur plundered the city. The main temple was destroyed and a mosque was built there. He got many elephants, 20,000 horses, 2,750 pounds of gold and lots of jewels. No such treasure had been brought to Delhi ever before. In 1312, Malik Kafur attacked Devgiri again, because Shankar Deva, the successor of Ram Chandra, withheld the tribute promised by his father and tried to regain his independence. Shankar Deva was killed. His kingdom was captured.


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