Originally named Firuz, Jalal-ud-Din started his career as an officer of the Mamluk dynasty, and rose to an important position under Sultan Muizzuddin Qaiqabad.

After Qaiqabad was paralyzed, a group of nobles appointed his infant son Shamsuddin Kayumars as the new Sultan, and subsequently tried to kill Jalal-ud-Din.

He meted out lenient punishments to the rebels, except in case of a dervish Sidi Maula, who was executed for allegedly conspiring to dethrone him.

According to Tabaqat-i Nasiri (1260 CE), the son of Amir Yughrush - probably Jalaluddin - visited Delhi with a Mongol embassy in 1260.

According to the Ilkhanate chronicler Wassaf, Jalaluddin served the Mongols as the commander (shahna) of Binban, located just west of the Indus River.

[13][14] After Nizamuddin was poisoned by some rival officers, Qaiqabad summoned Jalal-ud-din from Samana to Delhi, gave him the title "Shaista Khan", appointed him as the ariz-i-mumalik, and made him the governor of Baran.

One faction, led by Malik Aytemur Surkha, sought to maintain the power of the old Turkic nobility, and wanted to retain Balban's family on the throne.

[15] Shortly after, Jalal-ud-din received an order summoning him to the royal court in Delhi, and realized that this was part of a plot to kill him.

[19] Because of his unpopularity, he decided not to move to Balban's palace at Delhi, and lived at Kilokhri, an Afghan enclave which served as the de facto capital.

[19] Jalal-ud-din avoided making any radical changes to the administrative set-up, and retained the old Turkic nobles in the offices that they held during Balban's reign.

[18] He appointed his brother Yaghrash Khan as the head of the army ministry (ariz-i-mamalik), and his nephew Ahmad Chap as naib-i barbek.

In August 1290, Balban's nephew Malik Chajju Kashli Khan, who now headed the former royal family, staged a revolt against Jalal-ud-din at Kara.

Chajju seems to have opted for the governorship of the easternmost province of Kara-Manikpur to remain away from imperial control, and possibly, because he hoped to seek support from his cousin Bughra Khan (father of Qaiqabad), who had become an independent ruler of the eastern Bengal region in 1287.

[23] Chajju was also supported by a number of Hindu chiefs of the Gangetic plains, who had not paid their tribute for some years, and who swore allegiance to Balban's family.

[27] Jalal-ud-din set out to crush the revolt after appointing his eldest son, who held the title Khan-i Khanan, in-charge of Delhi.

[28] Aakali Khan then joined Jalal-ud-din, and the combined imperial army marched to the eastern districts to punish the chiefs who had supported Chajju.

[21] When Ahmad Chhap objected to such leniency, Jalal-ud-din declared that he was not habituated to killing Muslims,[26] and argued that the pardoned nobles would be grateful to him and remain loyal to him.

[30] A group of Mongols, led by Ulghu (another grandson of Hulagu), decided to embrace Islam, and sought Jalal-ud-din's permission to settle in India.

Hammira's expansionist policy had threatened the Ajmer and Haryana frontiers of the Delhi Sultanate, which prompted Jalal-ud-din to invade his kingdom.

[36] Three days after this, the Shah entered Jhain at midday and occupied the private apartment of the rai He then visited the temples, which were ornamented with elaborate work in gold and silver.

These were broken into pieces and the fragments distributed amongst the officers, with orders to throw them down at the gates of the masjid on their return.The Miftah al-Futuh, written by his courtier Amir Khusrau, claims that thousands of defenders were killed in the siege of Jhain, while the Delhi army lost only one Turkic soldier.

What is our defense of the faith, that we suffer these Hindus, who are the greatest enemies to god (Allah) and of the religion of Mustafa, to live in comfort and do not flow streams of their blood[39]After conquering Jhain, Jalal-ud-din ordered his army to besiege the Ranthambore Fort, which was situated on a steep hill, and was reputed to be impregnable.

He issued orders for the construction of siege engines such as maghrabis (catapults), sabats, gargajes, and a pasheb (mound to reach the hilltop).

These conditions resulted in a severe famine, during which the prices of foodgrains became exorbitant, and a number of people committed suicide by jumping into the Yamuna River.

[41] After deposing Malik Chajju, Jalal-ud-din had appointed his nephew Ali Gurshasp (later Sultan Alauddin Khalji) as the governor of Kara (on the banks of Ganges, 69 km west of the city of Allahabad in present Kaushambi district in Uttar Pradesh).

Ali's domestic life was miserable, as he was not on good terms with his wife and his mother-in-law, and he wanted to end his dependence on Jalal-ud-din's family.

[42] During his stay in Bhilsa, he learned about the immense wealth of the southern Yadava kingdom, as well as the routes leading to their capital Devagiri (present-day Daulatabad in Maharashtra).

He shrewdly surrendered the loot from Bhilsa to Jalal-ud-din to win the Sultan's confidence, but withheld the information on the Yadava kingdom.

He also granted Ali's request to use the surplus revenue for enlisting additional troops to raid the other wealthy but weakly-defended territories beyond Chanderi.

He directed his commander Ahmad Chap to take the major part of the army to Kara by land, while he himself journeyed down the Ganges River with 1,000 soldiers.