Sultan Razia succeeded her half-brother Ruknuddin Firuz Shah as the Sultan of Delhi. She was a highly educated lady of courage and foresight. She was brought up by Iltutmish like a son; she received training in horse-riding, shooting, and swordsmanship. Free from all social prejudices of her day, Razia used to attend the court of her father like other princes and acquired sufficient experience in statecraft in her youth. She possessed all the qualities befitting a ruler; and her father, unmindful of the Islamic traditions and ridicule of the orthodox ulama, nominated her to succeed him to the throne. The Turkish nobility, however, thought it beneath their dignity to be governed by a woman. After the death of Iltutmish, Razia's claim to the throne was brushed aside, albeit the unpopularity and incompetence of Ruknuddin afforded her an opportunity to emerge from behind the veil.
Accession and Early Problems
Razia's accession to the throne was almost dramatic. The prestige of the sultanate had sunk very low because of internal disorder and the insubordinate conduct of the provincial governors. The Indus Valley, including Sind, was overrun by Saifuddin Hasan Qarlugh of Ghazni. The capital was under attack from the four governors of Lahore, Multan, Hansi, and Badaun—they were the ringleaders of the Shamsi nobles. Nizamul Mulk Junaidi, the wazir, also joined hands with them.
Ruknuddin, in the face of desertions among his troops, moved out of the capital half-heartedly to battle the rebels. There was widespread discontent among the populace of Delhi against him for the misconduct of state affairs. The people publicly condemned him and expressed doubts about his competence to suppress the rebellious nobles.
Under these circumstances, Razia picked up the courage to face the audience and stop the tide from turning against the entire family of her illustrious father. She had a brainwave; on the occasion of Friday prayers, she appeared in the Jama Masjid in red garments and aroused the 'pious' congregation in her favor through a forceful speech. She pleaded for protection against the cruel treatment of Shah Turkan, suggested that the audience exercise their sovereign right to remove a worthless ruler like Ruknuddin, and reminded them that by her father's will, the crown should have actually gone to her.
She held out a promise to abdicate the throne and face any penalty imposed by the public, including death, if she failed to fulfill their expectations as a ruler. Fully excited, the mob attacked the royal palace and put Shah Turkan to death, and a handful of military officers in charge of the town proclaimed Razia to be the Sultan. Ruknuddin rushed to Delhi to save the situation but was thrown behind bars and put to death soon after. The khutba was read, and coins were struck in Razia's name as Sultan Raziat al-Dunia wa'l Din bint al-Sultan.
Razia's reign lasted about three and a half years. She proved to be the first and the last female Sultan of Delhi. In fact, the accession of a woman to the throne was against Islamic tradition. The ulama of Delhi were hypnotized under the momentary spell of public excitement caused by the dramatic and unusual situation created by Razia. As a class, the Muslim theologians did not give their assent to her assumption of royal authority. The same was the case with most of the Forty—the powerful Shamsi nobles, the grandees of the sultanate, who held high offices and provincial governorships. The military junta of Delhi had not obtained their approval before declaring Razia the Sultan. They were, however, too perplexed to take immediate action against her; they preferred "to wait and see." Razia thus got the opportunity to play the Sultan as best as she could.
Once on the throne, Razia gave a good account of herself as a shrewd diplomat and strategist. The four provincial governors had encamped their forces in the vicinity of Delhi; they were yet undecided regarding their future course of action. Razia had a few thousand soldiers and meager resources at her command. Albeit, she moved out of the fort of Delhi with a show of force and wide publicity to boost the morale of the soldiers and the populace alike. Working on the diplomatic principle of "divide and rule," she won over two of the rebel governors to her side and then carried out extensive propaganda that the other rebels would soon be brought in chains to the capital without a fight. This unnerved the rebels, who fled for their lives, each in distrust of the other. They were pursued by Razia's supporters and liquidated; Junaidi, the ex-wazir, died a fugitive in the Sirmur hills. The prestige of Razia soared high; all the other provincial governors hastened to offer their submission to her, and she became the Sultan in name as well as in fact.
Razia's State Policy
Razia strengthened her position as an independent ruler; she refused to fall under the dominating influence of the Shamsi nobles. She richly rewarded those who had stood by her and gave rapid promotions to her favorites. Khwaja Muhazzabuddin, previously the naib wazir under Ruknuddin, was promoted to be the wazir. In order to break the monopoly of power held by the Turkish nobles, she began to offer high offices to capable non-Turks as well. She reshuffled many provincial governors and sent new officers to take charge of the important iqtas.
Razia obtained public acclaim for a short while by discharging her functions with great enthusiasm. She discarded the purdah, adorned male attire, and held an open court. She supervised various departments of administration and issued orders to the governors to restore law and order in their iqtas. She listened to public grievances and administered even-handed justice. The fort of Ranthambhor had been recovered by the Chauhans after the death of Iltutmish. Razia sent the newly appointed naib-i-lashkar, Malik Qutubuddin Hasan Ghori, for its reconquest. The fort was recaptured and razed to the ground, lest the Rajputs might recover and garrison it once again.
Razia proved herself to be a very intelligent, noble, and just ruler. Kind-hearted, liberal in religious outlook, and unconventional in social habits, she was far ahead of her times in her mental makeup. It was, however, her misfortune that she was a woman, and the orthodox Muslim society, particularly the fanatic mullahs of those days, did not like that she deviated from traditional social norms. The proud Turkish nobles thought it beneath their dignity to be governed by a woman, especially one who did not allow them to have a say in state affairs. No wonder a whispering campaign started against her, intending to malign her in the eyes of the public.
Rumors were spread, casting aspersions on her character. One such rumor was about her romance with the erstwhile Abyssinian slave, Jalaluddin Yakut, whom she had promoted to amir-i-akhur (master of the royal stables). Minhaj-us-Siraj states that considerable "familiarity" existed between them, "so much so that when she rode, he always lifted her onto the horse by raising her up under the arms." Ibn Battuta writes that she was accused of having illicit "connections" with Yakut. Anyway, such rumors were enough to cloud the real issue. Having failed to defeat Razia on the administrative and military fronts, the Shamsi nobles and orthodox mullahs resorted to a character assassination campaign against her.
Razia's only weakness seemed to be her sex, and even the best of her talents and virtues were insufficient to protect her from that "single weakness."
Razia also apprehended trouble and made security arrangements in the royal household and the court. She had a strong and loyal army at her command and was immensely popular with the people of the capital. Accordingly, none could harm her while in Delhi. A conspiracy was, therefore, hatched to entice her away from the capital and get rid of her. A number of courtiers and provincial governors were a party to it; Ikhtiyaruddin Aitigin, the lord chamberlain (amir-i-hajib), was the ringleader. Ziauddin Junaidi, the governor of Gwalior, was suspected of rebellion; he was called to the court in 1238 and liquidated. It spread consternation among the Shamsi nobles, who charged that Razia had started organizing "political murders" on mere suspicion. It sparked off simultaneous revolts in various parts of the empire.
Kabir Khan Ayaz, the governor of Lahore and Multan, raised a standard of revolt merely on the issue of the alleged intimacy between Razia and Yakut, which was "derogatory to the pride of the Turks." Razia marched upon Lahore with lightning speed and gave a crushing defeat to the rebel. The latter, however, apologized and was given back the governorship of Multan, albeit the province of Lahore was taken out of his control. Within a fortnight of this incident, Razia received the news that Altunia, the governor of Bhatinda, had also revolted. Razia moved straight towards Bhatinda but was defeated and taken prisoner by Altunia.
Yakut fell into the hands of the conspirators within the royal camp while the battle was going on and was put to death. The conspirators at Delhi, led by the traitor Aitigin, raised Razia's brother Behram, the third son of Iltutmish, to the throne and appointed themselves to all the high offices of the state. The people of Delhi, in spite of their love for Razia, could do nothing against the selfish Turkish nobles because there was none to lead the public movement; the people's voice was drowned under the clatter of arms.
While helping themselves to the spoils of victory, the Shamsi nobles of Delhi forgot to assign a place of authority and prestige to Altunia, who still held the key to their success at Bhatinda. Being away from Delhi, none seemed to have remembered him; Altunia was naturally antagonized towards them. It provided an opportunity for Razia to befriend him; she married Altunia, and both of them made a last bid to recover Delhi from the hands of the rebels. They were deserted by most of their followers. They gave a heroic fight to the enemy near Kaithal but were defeated and taken prisoner on October 13, 1240; both of them were beheaded the next day.
An Estimate
Razia was the ablest of all the five successors of Iltutmish; as a person of character and capabilities, she was "better than a man." Her elevation to the throne vindicated the choice of Iltutmish; her recognition as the sultan was based on the popular support of the people of Delhi. Such unqualified support was never enjoyed by any other sultan of Delhi. Given the opportunity, she would have proved to be a very capable ruler like her illustrious father; unfortunately, her career was cut short by the non-cooperation of the self-seeking Shamsi nobles and the hostility of the orthodox mullahs, who failed to see her virtues as a sovereign.
She refused to play second fiddle to them; this was the main reason why they turned against her. Her sex was, of course, the next important factor which led to her fall. The consolidation and stability of the infant Turkish state needed the emergence of a strong and absolute monarchy that could hold the distant provincial governors under its firm control and take a bold stand against the rival Rajput chiefs, who were ever eager to recover their lost territories.
Razia made an attempt to establish such an absolute monarchy and was amply qualified to play the role of the savior of the Turkish state in India, but she was not permitted to do so. Being a woman, she could not effectively counter the conspirators and rumor-mongers. She sacrificed her life for having displayed the finest virtues of head and heart and remarkably forward-looking socio-political views. Had she had a reasonable time to rule the state, she might have generated new socio-political forces for the betterment and healthier growth and development of the Turkish polity, in particular, and the Indo-Muslim society, in general.
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