In the winter of 1297, Kadar, a noyan of the Mongol Chagatai Khanate invaded the Delhi Sultanate ruled by Alauddin Khalji.

[3] When Alauddin learned about the havoc caused by the Mongols, he directed his brother and general Ulugh Khan to march against the invaders.

[3] (Zafar Khan's name was omitted in the dynasty's official chronicles because Alauddin was unhappy with his reckless disobedience during the Battle of Kili).

[3] According to the contemporary chronicler Amir Khusrau's Dawal Rani, the battle was fought at a place called Jaran Manjur on the banks of the Sutlej River.

[5] The name of the place appears as "Jadwa o Manjur" and "Jurat Mahud" in the various manuscripts of Tarikh-i-Firuz Shahi, a work by the near-contemporary chronicler Ziauddin Barani.

Henry Miers Elliot, who translated Barani's text into English, identified the site of the battle as modern Jalandhar (which lies to the north-west of the Sutlej river).