High Middle Ages · South Asia · Politics

1296

Alauddin Khalji seizes the Delhi throne

1296

After murdering his uncle and father-in-law Jalaluddin at Kara, Alauddin Khalji rode south to Delhi with a war chest taken from a raid on Devagiri. He bribed nobles and ascended the Sultanate throne, beginning a reign of extraordinary conquests and equally extraordinary cruelty. His price controls and market regulations, enforced by a network of spies, created a command economy unique in medieval India.