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DESTRUCTION BY ALLA-UD-DIN KHILJI |
| By A. D. 1290 a change came
over the Sultanate of Delhi. So far it was the military camp of foreign
Turks, from where they carried fire and sword to all parts of the country.
But conversion and kidnapping of women had brought into existence an
Indian party among the supporters of the Sultanate. This party, headed by
the Khiljis under Jalal-ud-din, overthrew the foreign Turks and
captured the Sultanate.
In A.D. 1292 Alla-ud-din,1 a nephew of JaIal-ud-din,2 invaded Malwa, captured the town of Bhilsa, plundered the country-side and took a large booty to Delhi. When in Malwa, this ambitious and irrepressible young man heard of Devagiri, then ruled by Ramchandra, the Yadava (A.D. 1271-1304), and of Warangal ruled by Rudrammadevi, the daughter of Ganapati of the Kakatia dynasty, under the title of Rudradeva Maharaja (A.D. 1261-1295). He set out from Delhi in A.D. 1294, marched on Devagiri, plundered the Yadava's dominions and brought back an immense treasure.By simulating humility he induced his uncle to come to meet him. On his arrival, however, Jalal-ud-din was treacherously killed by Alla-ud-din. The murderer then took over the Sultanate in A.D. 1296. A little before this time, Sarangadeva was succeeded on the throne of Gujarat by Karnadeva (A.D. 1294-1304) who, in spite of popular legends, was neither weak nor wicked. Legends that have collected round his name are malicious accretions which failure always brings in its wake. The inscription of A.D. 1293 describes him as 'protecting his people in accordance with the Vedas and the Shastras.’4Karna was new to his kingdom and so was Alla-uddin. The Sultan, however, was one of the most brutal and unscrupulous rulers known to history. On coming to the throne, he arrested the Moghul inroads from the north-west and turned his attention to the fertile plains and wealthy ports of Gujarat 5 which had defied Delhi for a century, and ordered Alaf Khan and Nusrat Khan to march against it.There is a persistent legend that Karna's Mahamatya Madhava, a Nagar Brahmin, invited Alla-ud-din to Gujarat. Merutunga, the author of the Prabhandhachintamani, and Jinaprabha Suri, the author of the Tirthakalpataru, both contemporaries, refer to this incident. The subsequent authorities are unanimous about it. The Dharnmaranya composed between A.D. 1300 and 1450 describes how the wicked, graceless, and sinful minister Madhava, the blot on his family and the foe of his country, destroyed the rule of the Kshatriyas and established the rule of the mlechchhas. Whether Madhava betrayed his country to redress a private wrong or for personal benefit is difficult to say.The reason for this betrayal, first given by the Kanha-dade-prabandha, was that Madhava wanted to revenge himself on Kama who, enamoured of his brother's wife, had killed the husband and appropriated the wife. Though this was accepted by later writers, it sounds too much like the usual legendary way of attributing a personal motive to kings and ministers, and is consistent neither with the character of Karna as disclosed by unimpeachable testimony, nor with the version given by the three earliest authorities.The betrayal of Gujarat by a Brahmin of culture and position, however, indicates not only the lack of any consciousness that it was an unforgivable sin to betray one's land to a foreigner but, worse still, complete unawareness of what the Turkish conquest involved. Padmanabha, the author of Kanhadade-prabandha, has given a detailed description of the invasion of Gujarat by Alla-ud-din's generals.Alla-ud-din wanted to bribe the Chahamana Kanhadade of Jhalor to let him pass through his country; he declined the bribe. Samarasimha of Chitore, however, let the army pass through his territory. Pillaging, burning, destroying, the army of Delhi marched towards Patan. "The Mussalmans, with Madhava at their head, invested the city. The ex-Minister, traitor to the last, advised Karna to escape with his wife. The king takes the advice; the queen flees on foot; and the capital falls into the hands of Alaf Khan, the general of Alla-ud-din. And from what once were temples was sounded the muezzin's call to prayers."The army then started on a further campaign of destruction to the south. It carried carnage right up to Surat, Rander, and the sea. It returned to Saurashtra, destroyed many of its towns, and proceeded to Prabhasa. The Rajputs mobilised their strength to protect the shrine of Somanatha, and valiantly fought the enemy. But the fortress fell, and in front of the temple, which they had vainly sought to protect, the heroic warriors, after ceremonial bathing and anointment, fell fighting, and surrendered themselves to Somanatha. Madhava, the cause of this evil, was also killed there.8The temple fell into the hands of the enemy. Alaf Khan broke open the shrine, shattered the idol to pieces and carried away the fragments in a cart to Delhi. "We shall make chunam out of it," he said. The poet indignantly asks: Thus ended the Glory that was Gurjaradesha. |