Qutb-ud-din Aibak

Qutb-ud-din Aibak (Eurasian steppe, ca. 1150 - near Lahore, Punjab, 1210) was a ruler in medieval India, and the first sultan of Delhi as well as the founder of the "slave dynasty" (also known as the "Mamluk dynasty"). He was sultan between 1206 and 1210.

Qutb-ud-din was from the Cuman Turkic (Kipchak) tribe of the Aibak and was born in the steppes north of the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea or in central Asia. As a child he was captured and sold as a (Mamluke) slave, just as his Cuman compatriots Baibars and Qalawun (future fourth and seventh Mamluk sultans of Egypt, respectively) would later be. He was bought by the chief qazi of Nishapur, who treated him as if he were his own son. Aibak received a good education and was trained in archery and as a horseman. When his master died, the son of the Qazi chief sold him again to a merchant. Qutb-ud-din was again purchased, this time by the sultan of the Gurid Empire Mu'izz al-Din Muhammad Guri, who had conquered the present-day territories of Afghanistan, Pakistan, Turkestan and northern India. Qutb-ud-din, a member of the Sultan's army, rose to become the best general in his troops.

He was commissioned to direct the military campaigns of Sultan Muhammad Guri and the administration of his possessions in India. He was one of the main people responsible for the success of Muhammad's military conquests. After the death of the sultan, Qubd-ud-din succeeded him in office and proclaimed himself sultan of a territory that included Afghanistan, Pakistan and part of India (the Turkestan area had meanwhile been conquered by the Mongol leader Genghis Khan).

Although his reign lasted only four years, he managed to establish a solid administrative system. He restored peace and prosperity to the areas under his control and cleared the roads of thieves and raiders. He was also a faithful Muslim.

Qutb-ud-din moved the capital of the empire from the city of Ghazni to Lahore (current capital of Pakistan) and later to Delhi. He is considered the first Muslim ruler of South Asia. He initiated the construction of the Quwwat-ul-Islam mosque and the Qutab Minar minaret, both in the Qutb complex.

Under his orders, the Mamluk general of Turkmen origin Muhammad Bakhtiyar Jalyi destroyed the "magnificent fortress" of Nalanda, and killed all his "shaven soldiers" (actually the Buddhist university and monastery, with peaceful students and unarmed monks) and conquered the region of Bengal, incorporating it into the Delhi Sultanate.

Qutb-ud-din died accidentally in 1210 when his horse fell while playing a polo match. Aibak fell on the wooden knob of his chair, impaled himself, and bled to death. He was buried in the city of Lahore (Pakistan). His successor was the Mamluk general of Turkish origin Shams-ud-din Iltutmish, who completed the architectural works of Aibak.

His tomb was destroyed in 1241 when the Mongols attacked the city. In 1970 a new tomb was built in the same place.