Malik Kafur

Malik Kafur (died February 1316), also known as Taj al-Din Izz al-Dawla, was a prominent general of the Delhi Sultanate ruler Alauddin Khalji.

Subsequently, he led a series of expeditions in the southern part of India, against the Yadavas (1308), the Kakatiyas (1310), the Hoysalas (1311), and the Pandyas (1311).

When Alauddin fell seriously ill in 1315, Kafur was recalled to Delhi, where he exercised power as Na'ib (viceroy).

Alauddin's elder son, Mubarak Shah, succeeded him as regent, and usurped power shortly afterward.

[1] Kafur was captured from the port city of Khambhat by Alauddin's general Nusrat Khan, during the 1299 invasion of Gujarat,[8] and converted to Islam.

This may be the origin of his name Malik Na'ib, although some historians believe this relates instead to his later, and more important, role of Na'ib-i Sultan.

[1] The 16th-century chronicler `Abd al-Qadir Bada'uni also credits Kafur with leading Alauddin's army in the 1305 Battle of Amroha.

[17][18] Kafur was then sent to the Deccan Plateau, as the commander of a series of great military raids that laid the foundations of Muslim power in that region.

[1] In 1307,[1] Alauddin decided to invade the Yadava kingdom of Devagiri, whose king, Ramachandra, had discontinued tribute payments to Delhi for three or four years.

[19] Alauddin had originally intended to select another slave to lead this invasion: Malik Shahin, who was the governor of Chittor Fort.

Along with rich spoils, Kafur brought Ramachandra back to Delhi, where the Yadava king acknowledged Alauddin's suzerainty.

[23] Kafur's army reached the Kakatiya capital, Warangal, in January 1310, and breached its outer fort after a month-long siege.

[28] The Hoysala king, Ballala, surrendered vast wealth as part of a truce negotiation, and agreed to pay an annual tribute to the Delhi Sultanate.

[29] From Dwarasamudra, Kafur proceeded to the Pandya kingdom, where he raided several places, obtaining much treasure, elephants and horses.

[1][32] In 1313, probably at his own request,[1][32] Kafur led another expedition to Devagiri, when Ramachandra's successor Singhana (or Shankaradeva) refused to continue the tribute payments.

Kafur remained in Devagiri as governor of the newly annexed territory for two years, until he was urgently summoned to Delhi when Alauddin's health began deteriorating.

[39] Regarding the time when Alauddin was ill, the chronicler Ziauddin Barani (1285–1357) states:[7] In those four or five years when the Sultan was losing his memory and his senses, he had fallen deeply and madly in love with the Malik Naib.

He had entrusted the responsibility of the government and the control of the servants to this useless, ungrateful, ingratiate, sodomite.Based on Barani's description, several scholars including Ruth Vanita and Saleem Kidwai among others believe that Alauddin and Kafur were in a homosexual relationship.

[40][41][42] Historian Banarsi Prasad Saksena states that Alauddin was infatuated with Kafur during the last years of his reign, but believes that the closeness between the two was not sexual.

He ordered the ministries of revenue, secretariat, war, and commerce to maintain the laws and regulations established by Alauddin.

[12] Kafur deprived Alauddin's senior queen, who bore the title Malika-i Jahan, of all her property, and later imprisoned her at Gwalior fort.

[1][35] Alp Khan's murder had led to a rebellion in Gujarat, and Kafur had sent Kamal al-Din "Gurg" to suppress it.

Mubashshir, who had been permitted to carry arms in the royal quarters since Alauddin's day, wounded Kafur with his sword.

[11] Kafur's killers claimed credit for making him king, and began demanding high positions in the royal court.

[35] Firuz Shah's autobiography Futuhat-i-Firuzshahi states:[56] Tomb of Malik Taj-ul-Mulk Kafur, the great wazir of Sultan Ala-ud-din.

He was a most wise and intelligent minister, and acquired many countries, on which the horses of former sovereigns had never placed their hoofs, and he caused the Khutba of Sultan Ala-ud-din to be repeated there.

I caused his tomb to be entirely renewed, for he was a devoted and faithful subject.In the 2018 Bollywood film Padmaavat, Malik Kafur is portrayed by Jim Sarbh.