After the Civil Wars of the mid-thirteenth century, the Mongol Empire was split into
four independent Khanates, with the least known being the Chagatai Khanate. Hemmed in
by the Golden Horde, Ilkhanate and Yuan, the only direction the Chagatais could expand
not at the expense of their fellow Mongols was south, towards the Indian subcontinent,
at that time ruled by the Delhi Sultanate. In this video, we will look at the Mongol
invasions of India.
The Delhi Sultanate arose from the ruins of the Ghurid Empire, which had stretched from
Afghanistan to Bengal. Upon the death of Muhammad of Ghor in 1206, his ghulams broke apart his
empire, and the Ghurid Indian territory was consolidated under the long reign of Shams-ud-Din
Iltutmish, based in Delhi. Over the next three centuries, the Sultanate was ruled by five
separate Turko-Afghan Dynasties, whose foreign policy on their northern borders came to be
defined by the Mongol Empire.
Relations between the Delhi Sultanate and Mongols began in the 1220s, when Chinggis
Khan himself rode to their borders chasing the Khwarezmian Prince Jalal ad-Din Mingburnu,
son of the late Khwarezm-Shah Muhammad II. There is disagreement over why the Great Khan
chose to halt at the borders of India, but it seems that Chinggis simply may not have
had an interest in expanding into a new, unknown territory while already dealing with Iran,
Central Asia and China. Chinggis returned to the east, and died while on campaign against
the Tanguts in 1227.
Under the steady hand of Iltutmish, the Delhi Sultanate came to be the most powerful state
in northern India. Over the following decades, Mongol presence on Delhi’s borders increased,
with raids into the Punjab and Sind beginning in the late 1230 and 40s. The Delhi sultans
sought to appease the Mongols through diplomacy and gifts. In 1241 a Mongol force under Bahadur
Tair took Lahore, and Multan was captured in 1245. By the 1250s Punjab was largely under
Mongol control.
Sultan Mahmud Shah, was overshadowed by his vizier and eventual successor Balban, who
changed Delhi policy on the Mongols. Under Balban, the Sultanate became much more aggressive,
retaking Multan and Lahore by force. Balban worked to fortify India’s mountainous border
through building forts garrisoned by Afghans. Further, Balban welcomed Mongol, Persian and
Central Asian refugees fleeing the Mongol Civil Wars in the 1260s, and gave many of
them military positions, which provided the Delhi Sultans’ with knowledge of Mongolian
military tactics.
Beginning in the 1260s, the source of the Mongol incursions into India changed. With
the outbreak of war between the Ilkhanate and Golden Horde, the Ilkhan Hulagu had attacked
the Jochid forces who had been a part of his army. Many fled to southern Afghanistan under
their general Neguder, becoming a local power the Ilkhan and Chagatai princes sought to
control. From then on, the Neguderis undertook nearly annual raids into Punjab.
Balban consolidated Delhi’s hold on much of northern India, expanded southwards, and
gained valuable experience with Mongol tactics, preventing the Sultanate from being overwhelmed.
However, in 1285 he received a great shock when his favourite son and heir, the governor
of Lahore, Multan and Debalpur, Muhammad Shah, was killed in a vicious Mongol attack on Multan.
Balban spent the rest of his life in shock and died in 1287, succeeded by an inept grandson
named Kayqubad.
To the north a major shift was happening in the Mongol territory. A grandson of Ogedai
Khan, Kaidu, became a major power broker and sworn enemy of Kublai Khan. In 1282, in an
effort to stabilize the Khanate and assert his power, Kaidu appointed a descendant of
Chagatai, Duwa, as Khan, and together split rule of Central Asia between them. Duwa and
his favourite son Qutlugh Khwaja consolidated their power, and in the late 1290s were able
to assert control over the fearsome Neguderis, with Qutlugh Khwaja taking command of them.
In 1290 Kayqubad was murdered and the throne was seized by the founder of the famed Delhi
Khalji dynasty, Jalal al-Din Khalji. Around 70 years old when he became Sultan, Jalal
al-Din rose through the military, becoming a lead general for Balban and regent for his
grandson Kayqubad before seizing power. Militarily he was quite capable, defeating a Mongol army
at Bar-Ram in 1292.
Jalal al-Din Khalji’s reign was notable for his benevolence and generosity, in addition
to his military ability, but this kindness made him appear weak to his ambitious nephew,
Ala al-Din. In 1296 Ala al-Din Khalji killed his Uncle and usurped power. Ala al-Din Khalji
was cunning and ruthless, and had an exceptional military ability. His reign began with a large
Neguderi incursion, attacking Multan, Sind and Lahore. Ala al-Din’s commanders Ulugh
Khan and Zafar Khan were mobilized with a larger army than the Mongols, and at Jaran-Manjur
defeated them.
Ala al-Din Khalji initiated a number of reforms to strengthen his control and prepare against
Mongol invasions. His army and officers were paid in cash, and the Sultan had personal
control over the army, rather than leaving it in the hands of his amirs. Economic reforms
were undertaken as well, with high taxes, up to 50% of each crop, and efforts were made
to prevent hoarding to keep prices low, making it cheaper to feed his men. His position was
strengthened by a strong spy network and his loyal eunuch and possible lover, Malik Kefar,
who secured him from court intrigues.
While conflict continued on and off with the other Mongol Khanates, and Kaidu’s energies
were focused on harassing Kublai’s northwestern territories, the attention of the Chagatai
Mongols turned to India in the closing years of the thirteenth century. India was famously
wealthy and largely untouched by the Mongols, and was the only direction the Chagatai Khanate
could expand that would not conflict with other Mongol Khanates.
While generally the Mongol attacks on India are considered raids, intended for plunder,
the most serious invasions which threatened the Delhi Sultanate occurred in Duwa’s reign.
In 1298 another Mongol force was sent into India. Ala al-Din Khalji’s army under Ulugh
Khan was campaigning in Gujarat when the Mongols attacked. The commander left in Delhi, Zafar
Khan, was able to raise a large army and defeat the Mongols, once more driving them back across
the border. Zafar Khan became very popular after his victory, which may have given the
always suspicious Sultan Ala al-Din concern over his loyalty.
In 1299 on the orders of Duwa Khan, his sons Qutlugh Khwaja and Temur Buqa marched with
50-60,000 Neguderi and Chagatai horsemen over the border. The numbers of the Mongols prove
that this was an invasion with conquest as its purpose.
Sources describe Qutlugh Khwaja as bypassing villages to maximize speed, intending to strike
directly at the city of Delhi itself while the Sultanate’s army was once again in Gujarat.
At the River Jumna, Zafar Khan confronted Qutlugh, but was defeated and forced to retreat
to Delhi. News of the defeat of Zafar Khan caused thousands to abandon their homes in
fear, and the capital was soon flooded with refugees. Famine, overcrowding and fear now
gripped Delhi. All the while Qutlugh Khwaja was closing in.
Ala al-Din held a council with his generals in the city, where he was advised to abandon
the capital: the Mongols were too numerous, too powerful and too close for them to stand
a chance. Ala al-Din trusted his sword however, and raised what forces he could. He marched
out 15 miles north of Delhi, and met Qutlugh Khwaja at Kili.
Sources describe Ala al-Din as having an army of 300,000 with 2,700 war elephants, but modern
historians give a more feasible number at around 70,000 with 700 elephants, still outnumbering
the 50-60,000 Mongols. Both forces deployed in the standard formation for steppe armies:
a center and two wings. The Sultan took the Delhi center, while Zafar Khan commanded the
right wing and Ulugh Khan the left, with elephants dispersed among the three groups. Like the
Mongols, the Delhi forces relied on horse archers, light, and heavy cavalry, with much
of their army experienced in the same style of warfare as the Mongols.
Zafar Khan, looking to avenge his defeat on the Jumna, led the first charge, attacking
the Mongol left flank, which broke before him. Zafar gave chase to drive them from the
field, but as he was led further away from the rest of the army, he soon found that he
had fallen for a feigned retreat. Zafar was encircled, the Noyan Taraghai leading the
ambush.
Zafar realized that he had been left to die: the Sultan made no effort to rescue the clearly
doomed force, his mistrust of his subordinate’s growing popularity being too great. Abandoned
and surrounded, Zafar gave his best until he was captured. Qutlugh Khwaja was impressed
by Zafar’s courage, and offered to let him join the Mongols, where surely his bravery
would be appreciated, even offering to make him Sultan of Delhi. Zafar Khan was to the
end loyal to his Sultan, and refused, and Qutlugh Khwaja ordered the execution of him
and all his men and elephants.
With this victory, it seemed that Qutlugh Khwaja was now poised to defeat Ala al-Din
and conquer the Sultanate. At this point however, the Mongol forces retreated. It seems that
at some point over the course of the battle, perhaps in a final struggle during the execution
of Zafar Khan’s troops, that Qutlugh Khwaja was seriously injured. Before he could make
it back home, Qutlugh died of his injuries. The Mongols had lost their prince and another
invasion, with little to show for it.
This defeat did not end the Mongol invasions of India though, as Noyan Taraghai attacked
in 1303 while Ala al-Din was returning from campaigning in Chittor, where his forces suffered
heavy losses. Isolated and besieged near Delhi, fighting continued for two months. The approaching
summer heat and stalemate tested Taraghai’s patience, and he too retreated, perhaps unaware
how close he came to overcoming Ala al-Din. From 1304 until 1308 invasions were annual,
but now the aura of Mongol invincibility in India was broken. Mongol armies were defeated
in battle, their commanders trampled to death by elephants in Delhi and pillars constructed
of Mongol skulls outside the city.
The question remains: why were the Mongols so ineffective in India? Delhi familiarity
with Mongol tactics was a major factor, both from combat experience, similar army models,
and the presence of Mongol defectors. India’s hot summers were hard on the Mongols and their
horses, impacting pasturage and limiting when the Mongols attacked. Finally, Ala al-Din
and his generals were skilled commanders, and a match for the Mongol captains. Indian
sources however, generally ascribed victory to divine intervention rather than skill.
After Kaidu’s death in 1303, Duwa helped organize a general peace between the Mongol
Khanates, even suggesting they put aside their differences and launch a joint attack on India.
However, the death of Duwa in 1306 led to conflict within the Chagatai Khanate. In 1328-1329
Duwa’s son Tarmashirin undertook the final major Mongol offensive into India, with similar
results. Tarmashirin was briefly the Chagatai Khan from 1331-1334, but his death, and the
collapse of the Ilkhanate in the following years, put Central Asia into chaos and the
ensuing political vacuum provided opportunities for minor warlords and claimants, such as
a certain Barlas tribesman named Timur...
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