Razia Sultan: the only woman to sit on the throne of Delhi

In the 13th century CE, the Delhi Sultanate had become the largest political power in northern India. Its rulers descended from Turkic slave commanders, and powerful Turkic nobles had great influence at court. In this setting, a woman took the throne of Delhi in 1236 and ruled for about four years. She was Razia (Razia Sultan), daughter of Sultan Shamsuddin Iltutmish, and the first and only woman ruler of the Delhi Sultanate. The most important source on her reign is the Tabaqat-i Nasiri by the historian Minhaj Siraj Juzjani, who was himself attached to her court.

Early life

According to the World History Encyclopedia, Razia was born in Badaun around 1205. Her father, Iltutmish, was a slave of Qutbuddin Aibak who rose to become Sultan of Delhi. According to Juzjani, Razia’s mother was the sultan’s chief wife and lived in the royal palace, Kushk-i Firozi. Razia was skilled in horse riding and hunting, and also received training in the running of government.

Juzjani writes that Razia exercised authority “with great dignity” even in her father’s time. According to modern historians, when Iltutmish went on the Gwalior campaign, he put Razia in charge of running Delhi.

The decision on succession

According to Juzjani, on returning from the conquest of Gwalior, Iltutmish ordered his minister Taj-ul-Mulk Mahmud to record Razia’s name as heir apparent. Courtiers objected that the sultan had adult sons, and asked what wisdom there was in making a woman his successor. According to Juzjani, the sultan replied that his sons were absorbed in the pleasures of youth, and that after him no one would be more capable of running the government than his daughter.

Some modern historians treat this account with caution, because its only near-contemporary source is Juzjani, who was then in Gwalior, not Delhi.

Rise to the throne

When Iltutmish died in 1236, the nobles placed his son Ruknuddin Firoz on the throne. According to Juzjani, the new sultan was busy with pleasure and luxury, and power in practice remained in the hands of his mother, Shah Turkan. Rebellions broke out across the country, and Ruknuddin left Delhi to march against the rebels.

Meanwhile, Shah Turkan tried to have Razia arrested and killed. According to Juzjani, the people of Delhi rose up, Razia seized the royal palace and Shah Turkan was imprisoned. The army and the Turkic nobles pledged allegiance to Razia and seated her on the throne. Ruknuddin was arrested and died in prison. These events took place in Rabi al-Awwal 634 AH, that is, November 1236. According to modern historians, the support of ordinary people in Delhi was decisive in bringing Razia to the throne.

Rule and challenges

At the very start, the wazir Nizam-ul-Mulk Junaidi and four powerful nobles refused to accept Razia’s rule and arrived at the gates of Delhi. Razia left the city and pitched her tents on the bank of the Yamuna. According to Juzjani, with “great skill and wisdom” she split the rebels: two nobles secretly joined her, and the rest dispersed. Juzjani then writes that all the nobles, from Lakhnauti (Bengal) to Debal (Sindh), accepted her authority.

Razia appointed a new wazir and army chiefs, and sent an army to rescue Muslim troops besieged in the fort of Ranthambore. In 1238, after the Gwalior campaign, she herself appointed Juzjani as Qazi of Gwalior and head of the Nasiriyah madrasa in Delhi. According to the World History Encyclopedia, she preferred merit to lineage in making appointments.

At one stage Razia gave up the veil and women’s dress. According to Juzjani, she appeared before the public wearing a tunic and cap, and when she rode out on an elephant, everyone could see her. At first coins were issued in her father’s name, but later coins were minted in her own name.

One interesting point about her title is that Juzjani always calls her “Sultan”, not “Sultana”. H. M. Elliot and the World History Encyclopedia both explain that in the usage of the time, “Sultana” was used for the wife of a sultan, whereas Razia was herself the ruler.

Decline and end

According to Juzjani, Turkic commanders and nobles grew jealous when Razia made Jamaluddin Yaqut, an Abyssinian who was superintendent of the royal stables, her special companion. According to modern historians, the real problem was that important posts were going to non-Turkic people, so the Turkic nobles felt their influence shrinking. They had expected Razia to be a puppet ruler.

In 1239, Kabir Khan, governor of Lahore, rebelled. Razia led an army herself, Kabir Khan submitted, and he was given Multan instead of Lahore. In April 1240, when Razia returned to Delhi, she received news that Malik Altunia, governor of Tabarhinda, had rebelled. She set out against him, but on reaching Tabarhinda, the Turkic nobles of her own army killed Yaqut, arrested Razia and imprisoned her in the fort. In Delhi, the nobles made another of Iltutmish’s sons, Muizuddin Bahram Shah, sultan.

The nobles in Delhi divided the offices among themselves and Altunia received nothing. He therefore formed a political alliance with Razia and married her, and together they marched on Delhi to regain the throne. According to Juzjani, in Rabi al-Awwal 638 AH (October 1240), Bahram Shah’s army defeated them. On reaching Kaithal, their remaining supporters also deserted them, and the next day both were killed. According to Juzjani, Razia ruled for three years and six days.

Legacy

Razia’s grave is said to be in the Bulbuli Khana neighbourhood of Old Delhi, near Turkman Gate. According to the World History Encyclopedia, this simple grave is in a neglected state today. After her, Turkic nobles dominated the court for many years, until Ghiyasuddin Balban (Balban) took power.

Juzjani wrote of her that she was a wise, just and generous ruler who possessed all the qualities of a king, but that in the eyes of the people of her time, her being a woman outweighed all these qualities.

Razia’s reign was short, but in the history of the subcontinent she is remembered as a ruler who departed from the traditions of her age, governed in her own right and led her army on the battlefield.