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{{Short description|13th century Turko-Afghan military general of the Ghurid dynasty}}
{{Short description|13th century Turko-Afghan military general of the Ghurid dynasty}}
{{EngvarB|date=March 2017}}
{{EngvarB|date=June 2025}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2017}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2025}}
{{infobox royalty
{{infobox royalty
| name        = Ikhtiyar al-Din Muhammad Bakhtiyar Khalji
| name        = Ikhtiyar al-Din Muhammad Bin Bakhtiyar Khalji
| title        = Amir al-Muminin of Bengal
| title        =  
| image        = The end of Buddhist Monks, A.D. 1193.jpg
| image        = The end of Buddhist Monks, A.D. 1193.jpg
| caption      = Muhammad bin Bakhtiyar Khalji and his fellow warrior Subahdar Awlia Khan leading troops in the slaughter of Buddhist monks. Early 20th-century illustration.<ref>{{cite book |title=Hutchinson's story of the nations, containing the Egyptians, the Chinese, India, the Babylonian nation, the Hittites, the Assyrians, the Phoenicians and the Carthaginians, the Phrygians, the Lydians, and other nations of Asia Minor |date=1906 |publisher=London, Hutchinson |page=169 |url=https://archive.org/details/hutchinsonsstory00londuoft/page/169/mode/1up}}</ref>
| image_size  =
| succession  = Ruler of ([[Bengal]]-[[Bihar]])
| caption      = Muhammad bin Bakhtiyar Khalji and his fellow warrior Subahdar Auliya Khan leading troops in the slaughter of Buddhist monks at a monastery in [[Bihar]]. <br/>Early 20th-century illustration.<ref>{{cite book |title=Hutchinson's story of the nations, containing the Egyptians, the Chinese, India, the Babylonian nation, the Hittites, the Assyrians, the Phoenicians and the Carthaginians, the Phrygians, the Lydians, and other nations of Asia Minor |date=1906 |publisher=London, Hutchinson |page=169 |url=https://archive.org/details/hutchinsonsstory00londuoft/page/169/mode/1up}}</ref>
| succession  = 1st [[List of rulers of Bengal|Governor of Bengal]]
| reign        = {{Circa}} 1203 – 1206
| reign        = {{Circa}} 1203 – 1206
| predecessor  = ''(Position stablished)''
| predecessor  = ''Position established''
| regent      = [[Muhammad Ghuri]]
| reg-type    = [[Ghurid dynasty|Sultan]]
| successor    = [[Muhammad Shiran Khalji]]
| successor    = [[Muhammad Shiran Khalji]]
| occupation  = Military general <br /> ruler
| occupation  = Military General <br /> Governor
| religion    = [[Sunni Islam]]
| religion    = [[Sunni Islam]]
| birth_name  = Ikhtiyaruddin
| birth_date  = {{Circa|1150}}
| birth_date  = {{Circa|1150}}
| birth_place  = [[Garmsir]], [[Helmand Province|Helmand]], [[Afghanistan]]
| birth_place  = [[Garmsir]], [[Helmand Province|Helmand]], [[Ghaznavid Empire]] <br/> {{small|(modern-day [[Afghanistan]])}}
| death_place  = [[Devkot ]], [[Dakshin Dinajpur|South Dinajpur]], [[West Bengal]]
| death_place  = [[Devkot]], [[Dakshin Dinajpur|South Dinajpur]], [[Ghurid Empire]] <br/> {{small|(modern-day [[West Bengal]], [[India]])}}
| death_date  = {{Circa|1206}}
| death_date  = {{Death date and age|1206|||1150|||df=y}}
| burial_place = Pirpal Dargah, Narayanpur, [[Gangarampur (community development block)|Gangarampur]], [[Dakshin Dinajpur district|West Bengal]]
| burial_place = Pirpal Dargah, Narayanpur, [[Gangarampur (community development block)|Gangarampur]], [[Dakshin Dinajpur district|West Bengal]]
| burial_date  = 1206
| burial_date  = 1206
| house-type  = Clan
| house-type  = Clan
| era dates    = ([[12th century|12th]]–[[13th century|13th centuries]])
| father      = Bakhtiyar Khilji
| house        = [[Khalaj people|Khilji]]
| full name    = Ikhtiyar al-Din Muhammad Bin Bakhtiyar Khalji
| era name    = [[Ghorid Empire|Ghorid Eras]]
| era dates    = ''(12th–13th centuries)''
| house        = [[Khalji dynasty (Bengal)|Khilji]]
}}
}}
'''Ikhtiyār al-Dīn Muḥammad Bakhtiyār Khaljī''',<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Ikhtiyar-al-Din-Muhammad-Bakhtiyar-Khalji |title=Ikhtiyār al-Dīn Muḥammad Bakhtiyār Khiljī {{!}} Muslim general |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia Britannica |access-date=2018-09-09}}</ref> ([[Pashto]] :اختيار الدين محمد بختيار غلزۍ, {{lang-fa|اختیارالدین محمد بختیار خلجی}}, {{lang-bn|ইখতিয়ারউদ্দীন মুহম্মদ বখতিয়ার খলজী}}) also known as '''Bakhtiyar Khalji''',<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Faruqui |first=Munis D. |year=2005 |title=Review of The Bengal Sultanate: Politics, Economy and Coins (AD 1205–1576) |journal=The Sixteenth Century Journal |volume=36 |issue=1 |pages=246–248 |doi=10.2307/20477310 |issn=0361-0160 |quote=Hussain argues ... was actually named Muhammad Bakhtiyar Khalji and not the broadly used Muhammad bin Bakhtiyar Khalji |jstor=20477310|doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |title=The Bengal Sultanate: Politics, Economy and Coins (AD 1205–1576) |last=Hussain |first=Syed Ejaz |publisher=Manohar |year=2003 |page=27 |isbn=9788173044823 |location=New Delhi}}</ref> was a [[Khalaj people|Turko]]-[[Pashtuns|Afghan]]<ref>{{Cite book|last=|first=|title=Know Your State West Bengal|publisher=Arihant Experts|year=2019|isbn=|location=|pages=15|quote=Turk-Afghan Rule: Muhammad Bakhtiyar Khilji's invasion to Bengal marked the advent of Turk-Afghan rule in Bengal.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Chandra|first=Satish|title=Medieval India: From Sultanat to the Mughals-Delhi Sultanat (1206-1526)|publisher=|year=2004|isbn=|location=|pages=226|quote=Although the Afghans formed a large group in the army of the Delhi Sultanat, only few Afghan nobles had been accorded important positions. That is why Bakhtiyar Khalji who was part - Afghan had to seek his fortune in Bihar and Bengal.}}</ref> military general of the [[Ghurid]] ruler [[Muhammad of Ghor]],<ref>{{cite book |title=Turkish History and Culture in India: Identity, Art and Transregional Connections |date=17 August 2020 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=978-90-04-43736-4 |page=237 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ml75DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA237 |language=en}}</ref> who led the [[Muslim conquests in the Indian subcontinent|Muslim conquests]] of the eastern Indian regions of [[Bengal]] and [[Bihar]] and established himself as their ruler.<ref>{{cite book |last=Majumdar |first=R. C. |year=1973 |title=History of Mediaeval Bengal |location=Calcutta |publisher=G. Bharadwaj & Co. |oclc=1031074 |pages=1–2 |quote=Tradition gives him credit for the conquest of Bengal but as a matter of fact he could not subjugate the greater part of Bengal ... All that Bakhtyār can justly take credit for is that by his conquest of Western and a part of Northern Bengal he laid the foundation of the Muslim State in Bengal. The historians of the 13th century never attributed the conquest of the whole of Bengal to Bakhtyār.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Mehta |first1=Jaswant Lal |year=1986 |orig-year=First published 1979 |title=Advanced Study in the History of Medieval India |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iUk5k5AN54sC&pg=PA81 |volume=I |edition=2nd |publisher=Sterling Publishers |isbn=978-81-207-0617-0 |oclc=883279992 |pages=81–82 |quote=The Turkish arms penetrated into Bihar and Bengal through the enterprising efforts of Ikhtiyaruddin Muhammad bin Bakhtiyar Khalji ... he started plundering raids into Bihar and, within four or five years, occupied a large part of it ... Nadia was sacked by the Turks and a few districts of Bengal (Malda, Dinajpur, Murshidabad and Birbhum) were occupied by them ... Bathtiyar Khalji could not retain his hold over Nadia and made Lakhnauti or Gaur as his capital.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DnZuAAAAMAAJ&q=Bakhtiyar+Khalji+bengal+and+bihar|title=India and the Afghans: A study of a neglected region, 1370–1576 A.D |isbn=9788185078687 |last1=Thakur |first1=Amrendra Kumar | year=1992| page=148}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Szfqq7ruqWgC&pg=PA59|title=Bangladesh: Past and Present |isbn=9788176484695 |last1=Ahmed |first1=Salahuddin |year=2004 |page=59}}</ref> He was the founder of the [[Khalji dynasty of Bengal]], which ruled Bengal for a short period, from 1203 to 1227 CE.
'''Ikhtiyār al-Dīn Muḥammad Bin Bakhtiyār Khaljī''' <ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Ikhtiyar-al-Din-Muhammad-Bakhtiyar-Khalji |title=Ikhtiyār al-Dīn Muḥammad Bakhtiyār Khiljī {{!}} Muslim general |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia Britannica |access-date=9 September 2018}}</ref> ({{langx|fa|اختیارالدین محمد بن بختیار خلجی}}), also known as '''Bakhtiyar Khalji'''<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Faruqui |first=Munis D. |year=2005 |title=Review of The Bengal Sultanate: Politics, Economy and Coins (AD 1205–1576) |journal=The Sixteenth Century Journal |volume=36 |issue=1 |pages=246–248 |doi=10.2307/20477310 |issn=0361-0160 |quote=Hussain argues ... was actually named Muhammad Bakhtiyar Khalji and not the broadly used Muhammad bin Bakhtiyar Khalji |jstor=20477310|doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |title=The Bengal Sultanate: Politics, Economy and Coins (AD 1205–1576) |last=Hussain |first=Syed Ejaz |publisher=Manohar |year=2003 |page=27 |isbn=9788173044823 |location=New Delhi}}</ref> ({{langx|bn|বখতিয়ার খলজি|Bokhtiyar Kholjī}}), was a [[Turko-Afghan]]<ref>{{Cite book|last=|first=|title=Know Your State West Bengal|publisher=Arihant Experts|year=2019|isbn=|location=|pages=15|quote=Turk-Afghan Rule: Muhammad Bakhtiyar Khilji's invasion to Bengal marked the advent of Turk-Afghan rule in Bengal.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Chandra|first=Satish|title=Medieval India: From Sultanat to the Mughals-Delhi Sultanat (1206-1526)|publisher=|year=2004|isbn=|location=|pages=226|quote=Although the Afghans formed a large group in the army of the Delhi Sultanat, only few Afghan nobles had been accorded important positions. That is why Bakhtiyar Khalji who was part - Afghan had to seek his fortune in Bihar and Bengal.}}</ref> Military General of the [[Ghurid]] ruler [[Muhammad of Ghor]],<ref>{{cite book |title=Turkish History and Culture in India: Identity, Art and Transregional Connections |date=17 August 2020 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=978-90-04-43736-4 |page=237 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ml75DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA237 |language=en}}</ref> who led the [[Muslim conquests in the Indian subcontinent|Muslim conquests]] of the eastern Indian regions of [[Bengal]] and parts of [[Bihar]] and established himself as their deputy-ruler/governor,<ref>{{cite book |last=Majumdar |first=R. C. |year=1973 |title=History of Mediaeval Bengal |location=Calcutta |publisher=G. Bharadwaj & Co. |oclc=1031074 |pages=1–2 |quote=Tradition gives him credit for the conquest of Bengal but as a matter of fact he could not subjugate the greater part of Bengal ... All that Bakhtyār can justly take credit for is that by his conquest of Western and a part of Northern Bengal he laid the foundation of the Muslim State in Bengal. The historians of the 13th century never attributed the conquest of the whole of Bengal to Bakhtyār.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Mehta |first1=Jaswant Lal |year=1986 |orig-year=First published 1979 |title=Advanced Study in the History of Medieval India |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iUk5k5AN54sC&pg=PA81 |volume=I |edition=2nd |publisher=Sterling Publishers |isbn=978-81-207-0617-0 |oclc=883279992 |pages=81–82 |quote=The Turkish arms penetrated into Bihar and Bengal through the enterprising efforts of Ikhtiyaruddin Muhammad bin Bakhtiyar Khalji ... he started plundering raids into Bihar and, within four or five years, occupied a large part of it ... Nadia was sacked by the Turks and a few districts of Bengal (Malda, Dinajpur, Murshidabad and Birbhum) were occupied by them ... Bathtiyar Khalji could not retain his hold over Nadia and made Lakhnauti or Gaur as his capital.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DnZuAAAAMAAJ&q=Bakhtiyar+Khalji+bengal+and+bihar|title=India and the Afghans: A study of a neglected region, 1370–1576 A.D |isbn=9788185078687 |last1=Thakur |first1=Amrendra Kumar | year=1992| page=148|publisher=Janaki Prakashan }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Szfqq7ruqWgC&pg=PA59|title=Bangladesh: Past and Present |isbn=9788176484695 |last1=Ahmed |first1=Salahuddin |year=2004 |page=59|publisher=APH }}</ref> He was the founder of the [[Khalji dynasty of Bengal]], ruling Bengal for a short period, from 1203 to 1227 CE. His rule begun the [[Muslim rule in India|Muslim rule]] in Bengal, most notably those of [[Bengal Sultanate]] and [[Mughal Bengal]].<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gKhChF3yAOUC |title=The Rise of Islam and the Bengal Frontier, 1204–1760 |first=Richard Maxwell |last=Eaton |pages=28–34 |year=1996 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=9780520205079}}</ref>


Khalji's invasions of the [[Indian subcontinent]] between A.D. 1197 and 1206 led to mass flight and massacres of [[Buddhist monasticism|Buddhist monks]], and caused grave damage to the traditional Buddhist institutions of higher learning in Northern India.<ref name="Hartmut_2002">{{cite book |author=Hartmut Scharfe |title=Handbook of Oriental Studies |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7s19sZFRxCUC&pg=PA150 |year=2002 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=90-04-12556-6 |page=150 |quote=Nalanda, together with the colleges at Vikramasila and Odantapuri, suffered gravely during the conquest of Bihar by the Muslim general Muhammad Bhakhtiyar Khalji between A.D. 1197 and 1206, and many monks were killed or forced to flee.}}</ref> In Bengal, Khalji's reign was responsible for the displacement of Buddhism.<ref name="Arnold1896">{{cite book |last=Arnold |first=Sir Thomas Walker |url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_O45CAAAAIAAJ/page/n245 |title=The Preaching of Islam: A History of the Propagation of the Muslim Faith |publisher=Archibald Constable and Co |year=1896 |pages=227–228}}</ref><ref>Hindu-Muslim Relations in Bengal, 1905–1947: Study in Cultural Confrontation, Page 11, Nachiketa Publications, 1974, Hossainur Rahman</ref> His rule is said to have begun the [[Muslim rule in India|Islamic rule]] in Bengal, most notably those of [[Bengal Sultanate]] and [[Mughal Bengal]].<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gKhChF3yAOUC |title=The Rise of Islam and the Bengal Frontier, 1204–1760 |first=Richard Maxwell |last=Eaton |pages=28–34 |year=1996 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=9780520205079}}</ref>
Khalji's invasions of the [[Indian subcontinent]] between A.D. 1197 and 1206 led to mass flight and massacres of monks, and caused damage to the traditional Buddhist institutions of higher learning in Northern India.<ref name="Hartmut_2002">{{cite book |last=Scharfe |first=Hartmut |title=Handbook of Oriental Studies |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7s19sZFRxCUC&pg=PA150 |year=2002 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=90-04-12556-6 |page=150 |quote=Nalanda, together with the colleges at Vikramasila and Odantapuri, suffered gravely during the conquest of Bihar by the Muslim general Muhammad Bhakhtiyar Khalji between A.D. 1197 and 1206, and many monks were killed or forced to flee.}}</ref> In Bengal, Khalji's reign was responsible for the displacement of Buddhism.<ref name="Arnold1896">{{cite book |last=Arnold |first=Sir Thomas Walker |url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_O45CAAAAIAAJ/page/n245 |title=The Preaching of Islam: A History of the Propagation of the Muslim Faith |publisher=Archibald Constable and Co |year=1896 |pages=227–228}}</ref><ref>Hindu-Muslim Relations in Bengal, 1905–1947: Study in Cultural Confrontation, Page 11, Nachiketa Publications, 1974, Hossainur Rahman</ref> The leading centre of teaching for Mahayana Buddhism was [[Nalanda mahavihara|Nalanda]]. At the end of the 12th century, Bakhityar Khalji demolished the monastery in a brutal sacking.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Ancient Nalanda University's Ruins {{!}} District Nalanda, Government of Bihar {{!}} India |url=https://nalanda.nic.in/en/tourist-place/ancient-nalanda-universitys-ruins/ |access-date=22 June 2024 |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Sarkar |first=Jadunath |author-link=Jadunath Sarkar |url=http://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.24396 |title=The History of Bengal |date=1943 |publisher=B. R. Publishing Corporation |volume=II |location=Delhi |pages=3 |chapter=The Muslim Conquest of Bengal}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Jha |first=DN |date=1 June 2018 |title=The destruction of ancient Buddhist sites |url=https://caravanmagazine.in/reviews-and-essays/dn-jha-destruction-buddhist-sites |access-date=2 March 2025 |website=The Caravan |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Salam |first=Ziya Us |date=18 July 2024 |title=Of a gilded past and the future: Nalanda's lost glory and new-found ambitions |url=https://www.thehindu.com/books/of-a-gilded-past-and-the-future-nalandas-lost-glory-and-new-found-ambitions/article68414582.ece |access-date=18 July 2024 |work=The Hindu |language=en-IN |issn=0971-751X}}</ref> Bakhtiyar launched an ill-fated [[Bakhtiyar Khalji's Tibet campaign|Tibet campaign]] in 1206 and was assassinated upon returning to Bengal.<ref name="Sengupta2011" /><ref name="GillYule2010" /> He was succeeded by [[Muhammad Shiran Khalji]].
==Early life and origin==
Bakhtiyar Khalji was born and raised in [[Garmsir]], [[Helmand Province|Helmand]], in present-day southern [[Afghanistan]]. He was member of the [[Khalaj people|Khalaj]] tribe,<ref name="Siraj-548">{{cite book |last=Sirāj |first=Minhāju-s |year=1881 |title=Tabaḳāt-i-nāsiri: a general history of the Muhammadan dynastics of Asia, including Hindustān, from A.H. 194 (810 A.D.) to A.H. 658 (1260 A.D.) and the irruption of the infidel Mughals into Islām |series=Bibliotheca Indica #78 |publisher=Royal Asiatic Society of Bengal (printed by Gilbert & Rivington) |location=Calcutta, India |volume=1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=u_ixTEEz8ssC&pg=548 |page=548 |translator= [[Henry George Raverty]]}}</ref> which was originally of [[Turkic peoples|Turkic]] origin.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Chaurasia |first1=Radhey Shyam |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8XnaL7zPXPUC |title=History of medieval India: from 1000 A.D. to 1707 A.D. |publisher=Atlantic Publishers & Distributors |year=2002 |isbn=81-269-0123-3 |page=28 |quote=The Khiljis were a Turkish tribe but having been long domiciled in Afghanistan, and adopted Afghan habits and customs. They were treated as Afghans in [[Delhi Sultanate|Delhi Court]] |access-date=23 August 2010}}</ref> [[Khalaj people#Transformation of the Afghan Khalaj|After being settled in south-eastern Afghanistan for over 200 years]], it led to the creation of the [[Ghilji|Pashtun Ghilji]] tribe, with Bakhtiyar seen as a [[Turko-Afghan]]. Later in the [[Khalji Revolution]], the Khaljis faced discrimination and were looked down upon by other Turks for Afghan barbarians.<ref name="iri3">{{cite encyclopedia |title=ḴALAJ i. TRIBE |encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia Iranica |url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/khalaj-i-tribe-turkistan |access-date=4 July 2020 |date=15 December 2010 |quote=Indeed, it seems very likely that [the Khalaj] formed the core of the Pashto-speaking Ghilji tribe, the name [Ghilji] being derived from Khalaj. |last=Oberling |first=Pierre }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Srivastava |first=Ashirbadi Lal |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Bdw9AAAAMAAJ |title=The History of India, 1000 A.D.-1707 A.D. |publisher=Shiva Lal Agarwala |year=1966 |edition=Second |page=98 |oclc=575452554 |quote=His ancestors, after having migrated from Turkistan, had lived for over 200 years in the Helmand valley and Lamghan, parts of Afghanistan called Garmasir or the hot region, and had adopted Afghan manners and customs. They were, therefore, wrongly looked upon as Afghans by the Turkish nobles in India as they had intermarried with local Afghans and adopted their customs and manners. They were looked down as non-Turks by Turks.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Eraly |first=Abraham |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vyEoAwAAQBAJ&pg=PT178 |title=The Age of Wrath: A History of the Delhi Sultanate |publisher=Penguin Books |year=2015 |isbn=978-93-5118-658-8 |page=126 |quote=The prejudice of Turks was however misplaced in this case, for Khaljis were actually ethnic Turks. But they had settled in Afghanistan long before the Turkish rule was established there, and had over the centuries adopted Afghan customs and practices, intermarried with the local people, and were therefore looked down on as non-Turks by pure-bred Turks. |author-link=Abraham Eraly}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Chaurasia |first=Radhey Shyam |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8XnaL7zPXPUC |title=History of medieval India: from 1000 A.D. to 1707 A.D. |publisher=Atlantic |year=2002 |isbn=81-269-0123-3 |page=28 |quote=The Khaljis were a Turkish tribe but having been long domiciled in Afghanistan, had adopted some Afghan habits and customs. They were treated as Afghans in Delhi Court. They were regarded as barbarians. The Turkish nobles had opposed the ascent of Jalal-ud-din to the throne of Delhi}}</ref>  


Bakhtiyar launched an ill-fated [[Bakhtiyar Khalji's Tibet campaign|Tibet campaign]] in 1206 and was assassinated upon returning to Bengal by Ali Mardan.<ref name="Sengupta2011" /><ref name="GillYule2010" /> He was succeeded by [[Muhammad Shiran Khalji]].
Bakhtiyar during his early years went in search of employment to [[Ghazni]] and [[Delhi]]. At the latter, he was rejected due to his ugly appearance. Afterwards, he moved towards [[Badaun]] in present-day [[Uttar Pradesh]], where he obtained his first employment. Accounts differ regarding who initially took Bakhtiyar into his service.{{sfn|Nizami|1970|page=171}}


==Early life==
Bakhtiyar did not come from an obscure background. His uncle Muhammad bin Mahmud had fought in the [[Second Battle of Tarain]] against [[Prithviraja III]]. Mahmud was later honoured with the iqta of Kashamandi. After the death of his uncle, the iqta was passed to Bakhtiyar. However, Bakhtiyar did not stay in Kashamndi for long. He approached the commander of [[Benaras]], Husamudin Aghul Bek, who was impressed with his gallantry and bestowed on him the iqtas of Bhagwat and Bhilui (present-day [[Mirzapur]] district).{{sfn|Nizami|1970|page=172}}
Bakhtiyar Khalji was born and raised in [[Garmsir]], [[Helmand Province|Helmand]], in present-day southern [[Afghanistan]]. He was member of the [[Khalaj people|Khalaj]] tribe,<ref name="Siraj-548">{{cite book |author=Minhāju-s Sirāj |year=1881 |title=Tabaḳāt-i-nāsiri: a general history of the Muhammadan dynastics of Asia, including Hindustān, from A.H. 194 (810 A.D.) to A.H. 658 (1260 A.D.) and the irruption of the infidel Mughals into Islām |series=Bibliotheca Indica #78 |publisher=Royal Asiatic Society of Bengal (printed by Gilbert & Rivington) |location=Calcutta, India |volume=1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=u_ixTEEz8ssC&pg=548 |page=548 |translator= [[Henry George Raverty]]}}</ref><ref name="EB-Khalji">''the Khiljī tribe had long been settled in what is now Afghanistan ...'' [http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9045252/Khalji-Dynasty Khalji Dynasty]. ''[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]''. 2010. ''Encyclopædia Britannica''. 23 August 2010.</ref><ref>{{cite book |author=Satish Chandra |title=Medieval India: From Sultanat to the Mughals-Delhi Sultanat (1206-1526) - Part One |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=L5eFzeyjBTQC&pg=PA41 |year=2004 |publisher=Har-Anand |isbn=978-81-241-1064-5 |page=41 |quote=The Khaljis were a Turkish tribe from southwest Ghur. However, Bakhtiyar was ungainly in appearance...}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |editor-last=Sarkar |editor-first=Jadunath |editor-link=Jadunath Sarkar |year=1973 |orig-year=First published 1948 |title=The History of Bengal |volume=II |location=Patna |publisher=Academica Asiatica |pages=3, 8 |oclc=924890}}</ref> which is of [[Turkic peoples|Turkic]] origin<ref>{{cite book |last1=Chaurasia |first1=Radhey Shyam |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8XnaL7zPXPUC |title=History of medieval India: from 1000 A.D. to 1707 A.D. |publisher=Atlantic Publishers & Distributors |year=2002 |isbn=81-269-0123-3 |page=28 |quote=The Khiljis were a Turkish tribe but having been long domiciled in Afghanistan, and adopted Afghan habits and customs. They were treated as Afghans in [[Delhi Sultanate|Delhi Court]] |access-date=2010-08-23}}</ref> and after being settled in south-eastern Afghanistan for over 200 years, eventually led to the creation of the [[Ghilji]] tribe.<ref name="iri3">{{cite encyclopedia |title=ḴALAJ i. TRIBE |encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia Iranica |url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/khalaj-i-tribe-turkistan |access-date=4 July 2020 |date=15 December 2010 |quote=Indeed, it seems very likely that [the Khalaj] formed the core of the Pashto-speaking Ghilji tribe, the name [Ghilji] being derived from Khalaj. |author=Pierre Oberling}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author=Ashirbadi Lal Srivastava |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Bdw9AAAAMAAJ |title=The History of India, 1000 A.D.-1707 A.D. |publisher=Shiva Lal Agarwala |year=1966 |edition=Second |page=98 |oclc=575452554 |quote=His ancestors, after having migrated from Turkistan, had lived for over 200 years in the Helmand valley and Lamghan, parts of Afghanistan called Garmasir or the hot region, and had adopted Afghan manners and customs. They were, therefore, wrongly looked upon as Afghans by the Turkish nobles in India as they had intermarried with local Afghans and adopted their customs and manners. They were looked down as non-Turks by Turks.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author=Abraham Eraly |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vyEoAwAAQBAJ&pg=PT178 |title=The Age of Wrath: A History of the Delhi Sultanate |publisher=Penguin Books |year=2015 |isbn=978-93-5118-658-8 |page=126 |quote=The prejudice of Turks was however misplaced in this case, for Khaljis were actually ethnic Turks. But they had settled in Afghanistan long before the Turkish rule was established there, and had over the centuries adopted Afghan customs and practices, intermarried with the local people, and were therefore looked down on as non-Turks by pure-bred Turks. |author-link=Abraham Eraly}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author=Radhey Shyam Chaurasia |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8XnaL7zPXPUC |title=History of medieval India: from 1000 A.D. to 1707 A.D. |publisher=Atlantic |year=2002 |isbn=81-269-0123-3 |page=28 |quote=The Khaljis were a Turkish tribe but having been long domiciled in Afghanistan, had adopted some Afghan habits and customs. They were treated as Afghans in Delhi Court. They were regarded as barbarians. The Turkish nobles had opposed the ascent of Jalal-ud-din to the throne of Delhi}}</ref>


Bakhtiyar during his early years went in search of employment to [[Ghazni]] and [[Delhi]], although he was rejected there due to his ugly appearance. Afterwards, he moved towards [[Badaun]] in present-day [[Uttar Pradesh]], where the [[Ghurid]] governor Hizabrudin Hasan Adib took Bakhtiyar in his service and thus, he got his first assignment. A slightly different account of 14th-century chronicler [[Abdul Malik Isami]] states that Bakhtiyar's first employment was in the service of a [[Rajput]] ruler Jaitra Singh. The account of Isami is not attested by the earlier authorities and is unlikely to be true considering the hostility between the two in later twelfth century. While there were instances of [[Afghan army|Afghan]] soldiers fighting in the Rajput forces as attested by a later chronicler, [[Ferishta]], still the account of Isami regarding Bakhtiyar's first assignment is largely unreliable and dubious.{{sfn|K. A. Nizami|1970|page=171-172}}
In his early career, before the expeditions in Bengal and [[Bihar]], Bakhtiyar displaced the minor Gahadavala chiefs in the region of present-day Uttar Pradesh and from there raided [[Maner]] and Bihar where he looted a large amount of booty. These successful raids increased Bakhtiyar's fame and many [[Khalji]]s joined in his service. [[Qutb ud-Din Aibak]] also honoured him.{{sfn|Nizami|1970|page=172}}


Bakhtiyar did not come from an obscure background. His uncle Muhammad bin Mahmud Khalji was a lieutenant of the Ghurid ruler [[Muhammad of Ghor]] and according to chronicler [[Minhaj-i-Siraj]] fought valiantly in the [[Second Battle of Tarain]] against [[Chahamanas of Shakambhari|Chahamana]] ruler [[Prithviraja III]] where the Ghurids secured a decisive victory. Mahmud was later honoured with the iqta of Kashamandi for his gallantry in Tarain. After the death of his uncle, the iqta was passed to Bakhtiyar. However, Bakhtiyar did not stay in Kashamndi for long and approached the commander of [[Benaras]] Husamudin Aghul Bek who was impressed with his gallantry and bestowed on him the iqta of Bhagwat and Bhilui (present-day [[Mirzapur]] district).
== Military career ==


In his early career before the expeditions in Bengal and [[Bihar]], Bakhtiyar displaced the minor Gahadavala chiefs in the region of present-day Uttar Pradesh and from there raided [[Maner]] and Bihar where he looted a large amount of booty. These successful neighbouring raids increased Bakhtiyar's fame and several [[Khalji]] emir joined in his service. At the same time, Muhammad of Ghor's slave [[Qutb ud-Din Aibak]] also honoured him.{{sfn|K. A. Nizami|1970|page=172}}
Khalji was head of the Ghurid military force that conquered parts of eastern India at the end of the 12th century and at the beginning of the 13th century.<ref>{{cite book |last=Bhandare |first=Shailendra |editor1-last=Peacock |editor1-first=A. C. S. |editor2-last=McClary |editor2-first=Richard Piran |chapter=Transregional Connections: The 'Lion and Sun' Motif and Coinage between Anatolia and India |title=Turkish History and Culture in India: Identity, Art and Transregional Connections |year=2020 |publisher=BRILL |page=237 |isbn=978-90-04-43736-4 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ml75DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA237 |language=en}}</ref>
 
== Conquest of Bengal ==
{{Main articles|Ghurid conquest of Bengal}}
Khalji was head of the [[Ghurid Empire]] military force that conquered parts of eastern India at the end of the 12th century and at the beginning of the 13th century.<ref>{{cite book |last=Bhandare |first=Shailendra |editor1-last=Peacock |editor1-first=A. C. S. |editor2-last=McClary |editor2-first=Richard Piran |chapter=Transregional Connections: The 'Lion and Sun' Motif and Coinage between Anatolia and India |title=Turkish History and Culture in India: Identity, Art and Transregional Connections |year=2020 |publisher=BRILL |page=237 |isbn=978-90-04-43736-4 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ml75DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA237 |language=en}}</ref>


[[File:Bengal. Muhammad Bakhtiyar Khalji. 1204-1206.Struck in the name of Mu'izz al-Din Muhammad bin Sam, Dated Samvat 1262 (1204 AD).jpg|thumb|300px|[[Bengal]] coinage of [[Bakhtiyar Khalji]] (1204–1206 CE). Struck in the name of Mu'izz al-Din Muhammad, dated [[Samvat]] 1262 (1204 CE).<br />''Obverse'': Horseman with [[Nagari script|Nagari]] legend around: ''[[samvat]] 1262 [[Bhadra (Hindu calendar)|bhadrapada]]'' "August, year 1262". ''Reverse'': Nagari legend: ''srima ha/ mira mahama /da saamah'' "Lord Emir [[Mu'izz al-Din Muhammad|Mohammed [ibn] Sam]]".<ref name="FBF">{{cite book |last1=Flood |first1=Finbarr B. |title=Objects of Translation: Material Culture and Medieval "Hindu-Muslim" Encounter |year=2018 |publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=978-0-691-18074-8 |pages=115–117 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8MhJDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA116 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Goron |first1=Stan |last2=Goenka |first2=J. P. |last3=Robinson (numismatist.) |first3=Michael |title=The Coins of the Indian Sultanates: Covering the Area of Present-day India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh |date=2001 |publisher=Munshiram Manoharlal |isbn=978-81-215-1010-3 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kE8aAAAAYAAJ |language=en|quote="Obverse: horseman to left holding a mace, margin with date in Nagari Samvat 1262 Bhadrapada . Reverse : legend in Nagari śrīmat mahamada sāmaḥ . Issued in AD 1204"}}</ref>]]
[[File:Bengal. Muhammad Bakhtiyar Khalji. 1204-1206.Struck in the name of Mu'izz al-Din Muhammad bin Sam, Dated Samvat 1262 (1204 AD).jpg|thumb|300px|[[Bengal]] coinage of [[Bakhtiyar Khalji]] (1204–1206 CE). Struck in the name of Mu'izz al-Din Muhammad, dated [[Samvat]] 1262 (1204 CE).<br />''Obverse'': Horseman with [[Nagari script|Nagari]] legend around: ''[[samvat]] 1262 [[Bhadra (Hindu calendar)|bhadrapada]]'' "August, year 1262". ''Reverse'': Nagari legend: ''srima ha/ mira mahama /da saamah'' "Lord Emir [[Mu'izz al-Din Muhammad|Mohammed [ibn] Sam]]".<ref name="FBF">{{cite book |last1=Flood |first1=Finbarr B. |title=Objects of Translation: Material Culture and Medieval "Hindu-Muslim" Encounter |year=2018 |publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=978-0-691-18074-8 |pages=115–117 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8MhJDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA116 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Goron |first1=Stan |last2=Goenka |first2=J. P. |last3=Robinson (numismatist.) |first3=Michael |title=The Coins of the Indian Sultanates: Covering the Area of Present-day India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh |date=2001 |publisher=Munshiram Manoharlal |isbn=978-81-215-1010-3 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kE8aAAAAYAAJ |language=en|quote="Obverse: horseman to left holding a mace, margin with date in Nagari Samvat 1262 Bhadrapada . Reverse : legend in Nagari śrīmat mahamada sāmaḥ . Issued in AD 1204"}}</ref>]]
[[File:Bengal. Muhammad Bakhtiyar Khalji. AH 601-602 AD 1204-1206. AV Fractional Tanka of 20 rati (17mm, 2.30 g, 12h). In the name of Mu'izz al-Din Muhammad bin Sam, Sultan of Delhi. Struck AD 1204-1205.jpg|thumb|300px|Another type of Bengal coinage of Muhammad Bakhtiyar Khalji as governor (1204–1206 CE). ''Obverse'': horseman galloping, holding lance with Devanagari legend around (''[[Sri|śrimat]] [[Mu'izz al-Din Muhammad bin Sam|mahamada samah]]'' "Lord Mohammed [ibn] Sam"). ''Reverse'': name and titles of [[Mu'izz al-Din Muhammad bin Sam]] in Arabic. Struck AD 1204–1205.<ref name="FBF"/> This is his earliest coinage in Bengal, using both Sanskrit and Arabic legends.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Kundra |first1=D. N. |last2=Prakashan |first2=Goyal Brothers |title=I.C.S.E. History & Civics for Class IX |year=2019 |publisher=Goyal Brothers Prakashan |isbn=978-93-88676-77-9 |page=176 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iGs8EAAAQBAJ&pg=PA176 |language=en}}</ref>]]
[[File:Bengal. Muhammad Bakhtiyar Khalji. AH 601-602 AD 1204-1206. AV Fractional Tanka of 20 rati (17mm, 2.30 g, 12h). In the name of Mu'izz al-Din Muhammad bin Sam, Sultan of Delhi. Struck AD 1204-1205.jpg|thumb|300px|Another type of Bengal coinage of Muhammad Bakhtiyar Khalji as governor (1204–1206 CE). ''Obverse'': horseman galloping, holding lance with Devanagari legend around (''[[Sri|śrimat]] [[Mu'izz al-Din Muhammad bin Sam|mahamada samah]]'' "Lord Mohammed [ibn] Sam"). ''Reverse'': name and titles of [[Mu'izz al-Din Muhammad bin Sam]] in Arabic. Struck AD 1204–1205.<ref name="FBF"/> This is his earliest coinage in Bengal, using both Sanskrit and Arabic legends.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Kundra |first1=D. N. |last2=Prakashan |first2=Goyal Brothers |title=I.C.S.E. History & Civics for Class IX |year=2019 |publisher=Goyal Brothers Prakashan |isbn=978-93-88676-77-9 |page=176 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iGs8EAAAQBAJ&pg=PA176 |language=en}}</ref>]]
He subjugated Bihar in 1200.<ref>{{cite book |editor-last=Sarkar |editor-first=Jadunath |editor-link=Jadunath Sarkar |year=1973 |orig-year=First published 1948 |title=The History of Bengal |volume=II |location=Patna |publisher=Academica Asiatica |page=3 |oclc=924890 |quote=Bakhtyār led his army a second time in the direction of Bihar in the year following the sack of the fortified monastery of that name. This year, ''i.e.'' 1200 A.D., he was busy consolidating his hold over that province.}}</ref> His invasions severely damaged the Buddhist establishments at [[Odantapuri]], [[Vikramashila]], and destroyed [[Nalanda|Nalanda University]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Roy |first1=Himanshu |title=Political Thought in Indic Civilization |date=30 August 2021 |publisher=SAGE Publishing India |isbn=978-93-5479-159-8 |page=6 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rAVBEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA6 |language=en|quote="After the arrival of Islam, the universities such as Nalanda and Vikramshila were no longer existent. The destruction of Nalanda by Bakhtiyar Khalji was the last nail in this pre-Islamic Indic university, which had survived three major destructions"}}</ref><ref name="Hartmut_2002" /> Minhaj-i-Siraj Juzjani's ''[[Tabaqat-i Nasiri]]'' documents Bakhtiyar Khalji's sack of a Buddhist monastery,<ref name="Hartmut_2002" /> which the author equates in his description with a city he calls "Bihar", from the soldiers' use of the word ''[[vihara]]''.<ref name="Andre_2002">{{cite book |author=André Wink |title=Al-Hind: The Slave Kings and the Islamic conquest, 11th-13th centuries |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uQ7k2vQlYxEC&pg=PA147 |year=2002 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=0-391-04174-6 |pages=146–148}}</ref> According to the early 17th-century Buddhist scholar [[Taranatha]], the invaders massacred many monks at Odantapuri, and destroyed Vikramashila.<ref name="Andre_2002"/>


In 1203, [[Ghurid conquest of Bengal|Khalji invaded Bengal.]] With the [[octogenarian]] emperor [[Lakshmana Sena]] at the helm, the [[Sena dynasty]] was in a state of decline and could not provide much resistance. As Khalji came upon the city of [[Nabadwip]], it is said that he advanced so rapidly that only 18 horsemen from his army could keep up.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Juzjani |first=Minhaj-i Siraj |url=http://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.211405 |title=Tabakat-i-Nasiri Vol-I |publisher=Gilbert And Rivington |year=1881 |location=London |pages=557}}</ref> The small horde entered the city unchallenged and took the emperor and his army by shock .<ref name="BDID&EL1996">{{cite book |editor-last=Kalam |editor-first=Abul |title=Bangladesh: Internal Dynamics and External Linkages |date=1996 |publisher=University Press Limited |page=311 |isbn= 9789840513352 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7s7sAAAAMAAJ}}</ref><ref name="ShawkatAli1965">{{cite book |last1=M. Shawkat Ali |first1=S. |title=Social History & Political Sociology for Degree Students |date=1965 |publisher=Salma Shawkat via Majid Publishing House |page=93 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dfh0X92bVY8C |access-date=25 December 2021 |language=English}}</ref> This caused Lakhsmana Sena to flee with his retainers to east Bengal.<ref name="Awan1991">{{cite book |last1=Tariq Awan |first1=Muhammad |title=History of India and Pakistan - Volume 1 |date=1991 |publisher=Ferozsons |pages=93–94 |isbn=9789690100344 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qghuAAAAMAAJ |access-date=25 December 2021}}</ref><ref name="Nazimuddin1980">{{cite book |last1=Ahmad |first1=Nazimuddin |title=Islamic Heritage of Bangladesh |date=1980 |publisher=Department of Films and Publications, Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, Government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh |page=6 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QquvJozv-KcC}}</ref><ref name="Encyclopedia of the Peoples of Asia and Oceania">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pCiNqFj3MQsC |title=Encyclopedia of the Peoples of Asia and Oceania |date=2010 |publisher=Facts On File, Incorporated |isbn=9781438119137 |page=99 |language=en |type=History / Reference, Asia -- History, Culture, Ethnology -- Encyclopedias -- Asia -- Oceania, Geography, Oceania, World history |format=ebook |ref=Barbara A. West |access-date=14 March 2022}}</ref> Khalji subsequently went on to capture [[Gauḍa (city)|Gauda]] (ancient Lakhnauti), the capital and the principal city of Bengal<ref>{{cite book |editor-last=Sarkar |editor-first=Jadunath |editor-link=Jadunath Sarkar |year=1973 |orig-year=First published 1948 |title=The History of Bengal |volume=II |location=Patna |publisher=Academica Asiatica |page=8 |oclc=924890 |quote=Bakhtyār fairly completed his conquest of the Varendra tract with the ... city of Gaur before the year 599 A.H.}}</ref> and intruded into much of Bengal.<ref>{{cite book |last=Sen |first=Amulyachandra |date=1954 |title=Rajagriha and Nalanda |series=Institute of Indology |volume= 4 |location=Calcutta |publisher=Calcutta Institute of Indology, Indian Publicity Society |page=52 |oclc=28533779}}</ref>
=== Campaigns of Bihar ===
{{Main|Sack of Magadha}}
{{see also||Vikramashila|Odantapuri}}
 
He subjugated much of Bihar in 1200.<ref>{{cite book |editor-last=Sarkar |editor-first=Jadunath |editor-link=Jadunath Sarkar |year=1973 |orig-year=First published 1948 |title=The History of Bengal |volume=II |location=Patna |publisher=Academica Asiatica |page=3 |oclc=924890 |quote=Bakhtyār led his army a second time in the direction of Bihar in the year following the sack of the fortified monastery of that name. This year, ''i.e.'' 1200 A.D., he was busy consolidating his hold over that province.}}</ref> His invasions destroyed the university establishments at [[Odantapuri]] and [[Vikramashila]] Mahaviras.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Roy |first1=Himanshu |title=Political Thought in Indic Civilization |date=30 August 2021 |publisher=SAGE Publishing India |isbn=978-93-5479-159-8 |page=6 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rAVBEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA6 |language=en|quote="After the arrival of Islam, the universities such as Nalanda and Vikramshila were no longer existent. The destruction of Nalanda by Bakhtiyar Khalji was the last nail in this pre-Islamic Indic university, which had survived three major destructions"}}</ref><ref name="Hartmut_2002" /> Minhaj-i-Siraj Juzjani's ''[[Tabaqat-i Nasiri]]'' documents Bakhtiyar Khalji's sack of a Buddhist monastery,<ref name="Hartmut_2002" /> which the author equates in his description with a city he calls "Bihar", from the soldiers' use of the word ''[[vihara]]''.<ref name="Andre_2002">{{cite book |last=Wink |first=André |author-link=André Wink |title=Al-Hind: The Slave Kings and the Islamic conquest, 11th-13th centuries |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uQ7k2vQlYxEC&pg=PA147 |year=2002 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=0-391-04174-6 |pages=146–148}}</ref> According to the early 17th-century Buddhist scholar [[Taranatha]], the invaders massacred many monks at Odantapuri, and destroyed Vikramashila.<ref name="Andre_2002"/> Historians [[Satish Chandra (historian)|Satish Chandra]], [[Mohammad Habib]] and others have directly or indirectly implicated Bakhtiyar in the destruction of the Mahaviharas in their writings, but others like [[D. N. Jha|D.N. Jha]] and [[Namit Arora]] have reasoned that Nalanda may not have been destroyed by him.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Salam |first=Ziya Us |date=18 July 2024 |title=Of a gilded past and the future: Nalanda's lost glory and new-found ambitions |url=https://www.thehindu.com/books/of-a-gilded-past-and-the-future-nalandas-lost-glory-and-new-found-ambitions/article68414582.ece |access-date=18 July 2024 |work=The Hindu |language=en-IN |issn=0971-751X}}</ref><ref>{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GKe4pENohWk |title=Indians {{!}} Ep 5: Nalanda and the Decline of Buddhism {{!}} A Brief History of a Civilization |date=2 February 2024 |last=The Wire |access-date=20 July 2024 |via=YouTube}}</ref> 
 
=== Conquest of Bengal ===
{{Main articles|Ghurid conquest of Bengal}}
 
Following Bihar campaigns, Khalji conquered Bengal. With the [[octogenarian]] emperor [[Lakshmana Sena]] at the helm, the [[Sena dynasty]] was in a state of decline and could not provide much resistance. As Khalji came upon the city of [[Nabadwip]], it is said that he advanced so rapidly that only 18 horsemen from his army could keep up.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Juzjani |first=Minhaj-i Siraj |url=http://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.211405 |title=Tabakat-i-Nasiri Vol-I |publisher=Gilbert And Rivington |year=1881 |location=London |pages=557}}</ref>{{Primary source inline|date=February 2026}} The small horde entered the city unchallenged and took the emperor and his army by shock.<ref name="BDID&EL1996">{{cite book |editor-last=Kalam |editor-first=Abul |title=Bangladesh: Internal Dynamics and External Linkages |date=1996 |publisher=University Press Limited |page=311 |isbn= 9789840513352 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7s7sAAAAMAAJ}}</ref><ref name="ShawkatAli1965">{{cite book |last1=M. Shawkat Ali |first1=S. |title=Social History & Political Sociology for Degree Students |date=1965 |publisher=Salma Shawkat via Majid Publishing House |page=93 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dfh0X92bVY8C |access-date=25 December 2021 |language=English}}</ref> This caused Lakhsmana Sena to flee with his retainers to east Bengal.<ref name="Awan1991">{{cite book |last1=Tariq Awan |first1=Muhammad |title=History of India and Pakistan - Volume 1 |date=1991 |publisher=Ferozsons |pages=93–94 |isbn=9789690100344 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qghuAAAAMAAJ |access-date=25 December 2021}}</ref><ref name="Nazimuddin1980">{{cite book |last1=Ahmad |first1=Nazimuddin |title=Islamic Heritage of Bangladesh |date=1980 |publisher=Department of Films and Publications, Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, Government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh |page=6 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QquvJozv-KcC}}</ref><ref name="Encyclopedia of the Peoples of Asia and Oceania">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pCiNqFj3MQsC |title=Encyclopedia of the Peoples of Asia and Oceania |date=2010 |publisher=Facts On File, Incorporated |isbn=9781438119137 |page=99 |language=en |type=History / Reference, Asia -- History, Culture, Ethnology -- Encyclopedias -- Asia -- Oceania, Geography, Oceania, World history |format=ebook |ref=Barbara A. West |access-date=14 March 2022}}</ref> Khalji subsequently went on to capture [[Gauḍa (city)|Gauda]] (ancient Lakhnauti), the capital and the principal city of Bengal<ref>{{cite book |editor-last=Sarkar |editor-first=Jadunath |editor-link=Jadunath Sarkar |year=1973 |orig-year=First published 1948 |title=The History of Bengal |volume=II |location=Patna |publisher=Academica Asiatica |page=8 |oclc=924890 |quote=Bakhtyār fairly completed his conquest of the Varendra tract with the ... city of Gaur before the year 599 A.H.}}</ref> and intruded into much of Bengal.<ref>{{cite book |last=Sen |first=Amulyachandra |date=1954 |title=Rajagriha and Nalanda |series=Institute of Indology |volume= 4 |location=Calcutta |publisher=Calcutta Institute of Indology, Indian Publicity Society |page=52 |oclc=28533779}}</ref>


Muhammad Bakhtiyar's rule was related by [[Minhaj al-Siraj]], as he visited Bengal about 40 years later:<ref name="RME">{{cite book |last1=Eaton |first1=Richard M. |title=The Rise of Islam and the Bengal Frontier, 1204–1760 |date=1993 |publisher=University of California Press |location=Berkeley · Los Angeles · London |page=Chapter 1–2 |url=https://publishing.cdlib.org/ucpressebooks/view?docId=ft067n99v9&chunk.id=ch02&toc.depth=1&toc.id=ch02&brand=ucpress}}</ref>
Muhammad Bakhtiyar's rule was related by [[Minhaj al-Siraj]], as he visited Bengal about 40 years later:<ref name="RME">{{cite book |last1=Eaton |first1=Richard M. |title=The Rise of Islam and the Bengal Frontier, 1204–1760 |date=1993 |publisher=University of California Press |location=Berkeley · Los Angeles · London |page=Chapter 1–2 |url=https://publishing.cdlib.org/ucpressebooks/view?docId=ft067n99v9&chunk.id=ch02&toc.depth=1&toc.id=ch02&brand=ucpress}}</ref>
Line 52: Line 64:
{{blockquote|After Muhammad Bakhtiyar possessed himself of that territory he left the city of [[Nabadwip|Nudiah]] in desolation, and the place which is (now) [[Gauḍa (city)|Lakhnauti]] he made the seat of government. He brought the different parts of the territory under his sway, and instituted therein, in every part, the reading of the ''[[khutbah]]'', and the coining of money; and, through his praiseworthy endeavours, and those of his [[Amir]]s, [[masjid]]s [mosques], colleges, and monasteries (for [[Dervish]]es), were founded in those parts.|Account of the conquest of Bengal, [[Minhaj al-Siraj]].<ref name="RME"/>}}
{{blockquote|After Muhammad Bakhtiyar possessed himself of that territory he left the city of [[Nabadwip|Nudiah]] in desolation, and the place which is (now) [[Gauḍa (city)|Lakhnauti]] he made the seat of government. He brought the different parts of the territory under his sway, and instituted therein, in every part, the reading of the ''[[khutbah]]'', and the coining of money; and, through his praiseworthy endeavours, and those of his [[Amir]]s, [[masjid]]s [mosques], colleges, and monasteries (for [[Dervish]]es), were founded in those parts.|Account of the conquest of Bengal, [[Minhaj al-Siraj]].<ref name="RME"/>}}


==Death and aftermath==
=== Invasion of Tibet (1206) ===
[[File:Map of the Khaljis of Bengal.png|thumb|300px|Muhammad bin Bakhtiyar Khalji founded the [[Khalji dynasty of Bengal]].]]
{{main|Bakhtiyar Khalji's Tibet campaign}}
Ikhtiyar al-Dīn Muḥammad Khalji left the town of [[Devkot]] in 1206 to [[Bakhtiyar Khalji's Tibet campaign|attack Tibet]], leaving [[Ali Mardan Khalji]] in [[Ghoraghat Upazila]] to guard the eastern frontier from his headquarters at [[Barisal]]. Bakhtiyar Khalji's forces suffered a disastrous defeat at the hands of Tibetan guerrilla forces at [[Chumbi Valley]], which forced him to retreat to Devkot with only about a hundred surviving soldiers. As he lay ill and exhausted in Devkot, Bakhtiyar Khalji was assassinated by Ali Mardan Khalji.<ref name="Sengupta2011">{{cite book |author=Nitish K. Sengupta |title=Land of Two Rivers: A History of Bengal from the Mahabharata to Mujib |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kVSh_TyJ0YoC&pg=PA63 |date=1 January 2011 |publisher=Penguin Books India |isbn=978-0-14-341678-4 |pages=63–64}}</ref><ref name="GillYule2010">{{cite book |author1=William John Gill |author2=Henry Yule |title=The River of Golden Sand: The Narrative of a Journey Through China and Eastern Tibet to Burmah |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Uuk2OQeMwsMC&pg=PA43 |year=2010 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-108-01953-8 |pages=43}}</ref>
 
Bakhtiyar Khalji left the town of [[Devkot]] in 1206 to attack Tibet, leaving [[Ali Mardan Khalji]] in [[Ghoraghat Upazila]] to guard the eastern frontier from his headquarters at [[Barisal]]. Bakhtiyar Khalji's forces suffered a disastrous defeat at the hands of Tibetan guerrilla forces at [[Chumbi Valley]], which forced him to retreat to Devkot with only about a hundred surviving soldiers. This was first and shameful defeat of Khalji.<ref>{{Harvard citation no brackets|Khan|2013|p=19}}</ref>
 
== Death and aftermath ==
{{see also|Khalji dynasty of Bengal}}
 
[[File:Map of the Khaljis of Bengal.png|thumb|300px|Khalji dynasty of Bengal]]
 
As Bakhtiyar Khalji lay ill and exhausted in Devkot after defeated by Tibetans, he was assassinated by Ali Mardan Khalji.<ref name="Sengupta2011">{{cite book |last=Sengupta |first=Nitish K. |author-link=Nitish Sengupta |title=Land of Two Rivers: A History of Bengal from the Mahabharata to Mujib |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kVSh_TyJ0YoC&pg=PA63 |date=1 January 2011 |publisher=Penguin Books India |isbn=978-0-14-341678-4 |pages=63–64}}</ref><ref name="GillYule2010">{{cite book |last1=Gill |first1=William John |last2=Yule |first2=Henry |title=The River of Golden Sand: The Narrative of a Journey Through China and Eastern Tibet to Burmah |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Uuk2OQeMwsMC&pg=PA43 |year=2010 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-108-01953-8 |pages=43}}</ref>


The Khalji noblemen then appointed [[Muhammad Shiran Khalji]] as Bakhtiyar's successor. Loyal troops under Shiran Khalji and Subedar Aulia Khan avenged Ikhtiyar's death, imprisoning Ali Mardan Khalji. Eventually Ali Mardan fled to Delhi and provoked the Sultan of Delhi [[Qutb al-Din Aibak]] to invade Bengal, who sent an army under Qayemaz Rumi, the governor of [[Awadh]], to dethrone Shiran Khalji . Shiran fled to Dinajpur where he later died.<ref>[http://www.historyfiles.co.uk/KingListsFarEast/IndiaBengal.htm#Khilji Khilji Malik]</ref> [[Ghiyasuddin Iwaj Shah|Ghiyas-ud-din Iwaz Khalji]] assisted the invasion and assumed the governorship of Bengal in 1208. But shortly after, he yielded power to Ali Mardan willingly, when the latter returned from Delhi in 1210. However, the nobles of Bengal conspired against and assassinated Ali Mardan in 1212. Iwaj Khalji assumed power again and proclaimed his independence from the Delhi sultanate.<ref name="Chandra4143">{{cite book |last=Chandra |first=Satish |date=2004 |title=Medieval India: From Sultanat to the Mughals-Delhi Sultanat (1206–1526) – Part One |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=L5eFzeyjBTQC |publisher=Har-Anand Publications |pages=41–43 |isbn=9788124110645}}</ref>
The Khalji noblemen then appointed [[Muhammad Shiran Khalji]] as Bakhtiyar's successor. Loyal troops under Shiran Khalji and Subedar Aulia Khan avenged Ikhtiyar's death, imprisoning Ali Mardan Khalji. Eventually Ali Mardan fled to Delhi and provoked the Sultan of Delhi [[Qutb al-Din Aibak]] to conquer Bengal, who sent an army under Qayemaz Rumi, the governor of [[Awadh]], to dethrone Shiran Khalji. Shiran fled to Dinajpur where he later died.<ref>[http://www.historyfiles.co.uk/KingListsFarEast/IndiaBengal.htm#Khilji Khilji Malik]</ref>
 
[[Ghiyasuddin Iwaj Shah|Ghiyas-ud-din Iwaz Khalji]] assisted the invasion and assumed the governorship of Bengal in 1208. But shortly after, he yielded power to Ali Mardan willingly, when the latter returned from Delhi in 1210. However, the nobles of Bengal conspired against and assassinated Ali Mardan in 1212. Iwaj Khalji assumed power again and proclaimed his independence from the Delhi sultanate.<ref name="Chandra4143">{{cite book |last=Chandra |first=Satish |date=2004 |title=Medieval India: From Sultanat to the Mughals-Delhi Sultanat (1206–1526) – Part One |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=L5eFzeyjBTQC |publisher=Har-Anand Publications |pages=41–43 |isbn=9788124110645}}</ref>


== Legacy ==
== Legacy ==
Muhammad Bakhtiyar Khalji had the [[Khutbah]] read and coins struck in his name. Mosques, [[madrasas]], and [[khanqah]]s arose in the new abode of Islam through Bakhtiyar's patronage, and his example was imitated by his subordinates.<ref>{{cite book |last=Ichimura |first=Shōhei |title=Buddhist Critical Spirituality: Prajñā and Śūnyatā |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xTW6XNxOxbkC&pg=PA65 |year=2001 |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |isbn=978-81-208-1798-2 |page=65 (note 87)}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Sen |first=Gertrude Emerson |date=1964 |title=The Story of Early Indian Civilization |publisher=Orient Longmans |oclc=610346317}}</ref>  
Muhammad Bakhtiyar Khalji had the [[Khutbah]] read and coins struck in his name. [[Mosque]]s, [[madrasas]], and [[khanqah]]s arose through Bakhtiyar's patronage, and his example was imitated by his successors.<ref>{{cite book |last=Ichimura |first=Shōhei |title=Buddhist Critical Spirituality: Prajñā and Śūnyatā |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xTW6XNxOxbkC&pg=PA65 |year=2001 |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |isbn=978-81-208-1798-2 |page=65 (note 87)}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Sen |first=Gertrude Emerson |date=1964 |title=The Story of Early Indian Civilization |publisher=Orient Longmans |oclc=610346317}}</ref> According to [[Mohammad Yusuf Siddiq|Muhammad Yusuf Siddiq]], Muhammad Bakhtiyar Khalji's swift conquest of Bengal succeeded largely because the Sena rulers had failed to win the support of the common people—both Hindus and Buddhists. The Senas, originally [[Brahman]] [[Kshatriya|Kshatriyas]] from southern India, were culturally, linguistically (they did not speak Bengali), and religiously alienated from the local population. Their strict enforcement of the [[Caste|caste system]] further deepened social divisions. In contrast, Bakhtiyar Khalji quickly gained the goodwill of the indigenous people through an inclusive approach. He even funded the construction of a [[Monastery|Buddhist monastery]], which helped foster early mutual respect and understanding between the local population and Muslim migrants.<ref>{{Harvard citation no brackets|Khan|2013|p=18}}</ref>
 
[[Muhammad Mojlum Khan]] writes that Bakhtiyar Khalji built an inclusive administrative system in Bengal and actively weakened the oppressive Brahmanical caste system, freeing the masses from long-standing social bondage and destitution. His benevolent and humane approach won over Hindus and Buddhists, leading to voluntary conversions and a growing Muslim population. He further assesses Khalji as a liberal and enlightened ruler who pioneered Islamic thought, culture, and civilization in Bengal and northern India.<ref>{{Harvard citation no brackets|Khan|2013|p=19}}</ref>
 
Bakhtiyar is revered as [[Pir (Sufism)|Pir]] Sahib by the locals of Pirpal village. Every year on Thursday of the month of [[Boishakh|Baishakh]], festival is organised at the Bakhtiyar Khilji Shrine in [[Gangarampur]] where prayer is offered by Muslims and Hindus alike.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Roy |first=Sourav |date=2024-05-02 |title=Gangarampur {{!}} সম্প্রীতির নিদর্শন, বখতিয়ার খিলজির মাজারে ভিড় হিন্দু-মুসলিমদের |trans-title=Gangarampur {{!}} Hindus and Muslims throng Bakhtiyar Khilji's shrine, a symbol of harmony |url=https://uttarbangasambad.com/symbol-of-harmony-hindu-muslims-worship-at-bakhtiar-khilji-majar/ |access-date=2025-07-09 |website=Uttarbanga Sambad |language=en-US}}</ref>


==See also==
==See also==
{{Islam in Bangladesh}}
{{Islam in Bangladesh|}}
* [[List of rulers of Bengal#Delhi Sultanate era]]
* [[List of rulers of Bengal#Delhi Sultanate era]]
* [[Mahmud of Ghazni|Sultan Mahmud Ghaznavi]]
* [[Ghazi Saiyyad Salar Masud]]
* [[Ghazi Saiyyad Salar Masud]]
* [[Bakhtiarpur]]
* [[Bakhtiarpur]]
* [[Sack of Magadha]]


==References==
==References==
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==Bibliography==
==Bibliography==
* {{Cite book |author=K. A. Nizami |author-link=K. A. Nizami |chapter= FOUNDATION OF THE DELHI SULTANAT|editor1=Mohammad Habib |editor2=Khaliq Ahmad Nizami |title=A Comprehensive History of India: The Delhi Sultanat (A.D. 1206-1526) |volume=5 |edition=Second |year=1970|publisher=The Indian History Congress / People's Publishing House |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_9cmAQAAMAAJ |oclc=31870180}}
{{refbegin}}
* {{Cite book |last=Nizami |first=K. A. |author-link=K. A. Nizami |editor1-last=Habib |editor1-first=Mohammad |editor2-last=Nizami |editor2-first=Khaliq Ahmad |chapter=Foundation of the Delhi Sultanat |title=A Comprehensive History of India: The Delhi Sultanat (A.D. 1206-1526) |volume=5 |year=1970 |publisher=People's Publishing House |oclc=305725}}
* {{Cite book |last=Khan |first=Muhammad Mojlum |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-2s9BAAAQBAJ&q=Tibetan+expedition+by+Islamic+Bengal&pg=PA19 |title=The Muslim Heritage of Bengal: The Lives, Thoughts and Achievements of Great Muslim Scholars, Writers and Reformers of Bangladesh and West Bengal |date=21 October 2013 |publisher=Kube Publishing Ltd |isbn=9781847740625 |language=en}}
{{refend}}


==External links==
==External links==
 
{{Wikiquote}}
* History of the Muslims of Bengal – Volume 1A: Muslim Rule in Bengal (600-170/1203-1757), by Muhammad Mohar Ali, [[Imam Muhammad ibn Saud Islamic University]], Department of Culture and Publications.
* History of the Muslims of Bengal – Volume 1A: Muslim Rule in Bengal (600-170/1203-1757), by Muhammad Mohar Ali, [[Imam Muhammad ibn Saud Islamic University]], Department of Culture and Publications.
* {{cite Banglapedia|author=Ahmed, ABM Shamsuddin|article=Bakhtiyar Khalji}}
* {{cite Banglapedia|author=Ahmed, ABM Shamsuddin|article=Bakhtiyar Khalji}}
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{{Khalji dynasty}}
{{Khalji dynasty}}


[[Category:Medieval India]]
[[Category:Rulers of Bengal]]
[[Category:Rulers of Bengal]]
[[Category:1206 deaths]]
[[Category:1206 deaths]]
[[Category:12th-century Indian monarchs]]
[[Category:13th-century Indian monarchs]]
[[Category:Year of birth unknown]]
[[Category:Year of birth unknown]]
[[Category:Buddhism and Islam]]
[[Category:Buddhism and Islam]]
[[Category:Founding monarchs]]
[[Category:Founding monarchs in Asia]]
[[Category:Assassinated Asian kings]]
[[Category:13th-century murdered monarchs]]
[[Category:13th-century murdered monarchs]]

Latest revision as of 14:22, 19 February 2026



Ikhtiyar al-Din Muhammad Bin Bakhtiyar Khalji
Muhammad bin Bakhtiyar Khalji and his fellow warrior Subahdar Auliya Khan leading troops in the slaughter of Buddhist monks at a monastery in Bihar.
Early 20th-century illustration.[1]
1st Governor of Bengal
Reignc. 1203 – 1206
PredecessorPosition established
SuccessorMuhammad Shiran Khalji
SultanMuhammad Ghuri
BornIkhtiyaruddin
c. 1150
Garmsir, Helmand, Ghaznavid Empire
(modern-day Afghanistan)
Died1206(1206-00-00) (aged 55–56)
Devkot, South Dinajpur, Ghurid Empire
(modern-day West Bengal, India)
Burial1206
Pirpal Dargah, Narayanpur, Gangarampur, West Bengal
Names
Ikhtiyar al-Din Muhammad Bin Bakhtiyar Khalji
Era name and dates
Ghorid Eras: (12th–13th centuries)
ClanKhilji
FatherBakhtiyar Khilji
ReligionSunni Islam
OccupationMilitary General
Governor

Ikhtiyār al-Dīn Muḥammad Bin Bakhtiyār Khaljī [2] (Script error: The function "langx" does not exist.), also known as Bakhtiyar Khalji[3][4] (Script error: The function "langx" does not exist.), was a Turko-Afghan[5][6] Military General of the Ghurid ruler Muhammad of Ghor,[7] who led the Muslim conquests of the eastern Indian regions of Bengal and parts of Bihar and established himself as their deputy-ruler/governor,[8][9][10][11] He was the founder of the Khalji dynasty of Bengal, ruling Bengal for a short period, from 1203 to 1227 CE. His rule begun the Muslim rule in Bengal, most notably those of Bengal Sultanate and Mughal Bengal.[12]

Khalji's invasions of the Indian subcontinent between A.D. 1197 and 1206 led to mass flight and massacres of monks, and caused damage to the traditional Buddhist institutions of higher learning in Northern India.[13] In Bengal, Khalji's reign was responsible for the displacement of Buddhism.[14][15] The leading centre of teaching for Mahayana Buddhism was Nalanda. At the end of the 12th century, Bakhityar Khalji demolished the monastery in a brutal sacking.[16][17][18][19] Bakhtiyar launched an ill-fated Tibet campaign in 1206 and was assassinated upon returning to Bengal.[20][21] He was succeeded by Muhammad Shiran Khalji.

Early life and origin[edit | edit source]

Bakhtiyar Khalji was born and raised in Garmsir, Helmand, in present-day southern Afghanistan. He was member of the Khalaj tribe,[22] which was originally of Turkic origin.[23] After being settled in south-eastern Afghanistan for over 200 years, it led to the creation of the Pashtun Ghilji tribe, with Bakhtiyar seen as a Turko-Afghan. Later in the Khalji Revolution, the Khaljis faced discrimination and were looked down upon by other Turks for Afghan barbarians.[24][25][26][27]

Bakhtiyar during his early years went in search of employment to Ghazni and Delhi. At the latter, he was rejected due to his ugly appearance. Afterwards, he moved towards Badaun in present-day Uttar Pradesh, where he obtained his first employment. Accounts differ regarding who initially took Bakhtiyar into his service.[28]

Bakhtiyar did not come from an obscure background. His uncle Muhammad bin Mahmud had fought in the Second Battle of Tarain against Prithviraja III. Mahmud was later honoured with the iqta of Kashamandi. After the death of his uncle, the iqta was passed to Bakhtiyar. However, Bakhtiyar did not stay in Kashamndi for long. He approached the commander of Benaras, Husamudin Aghul Bek, who was impressed with his gallantry and bestowed on him the iqtas of Bhagwat and Bhilui (present-day Mirzapur district).[29]

In his early career, before the expeditions in Bengal and Bihar, Bakhtiyar displaced the minor Gahadavala chiefs in the region of present-day Uttar Pradesh and from there raided Maner and Bihar where he looted a large amount of booty. These successful raids increased Bakhtiyar's fame and many Khaljis joined in his service. Qutb ud-Din Aibak also honoured him.[29]

Military career[edit | edit source]

Khalji was head of the Ghurid military force that conquered parts of eastern India at the end of the 12th century and at the beginning of the 13th century.[30]

Bengal coinage of Bakhtiyar Khalji (1204–1206 CE). Struck in the name of Mu'izz al-Din Muhammad, dated Samvat 1262 (1204 CE).
Obverse: Horseman with Nagari legend around: samvat 1262 bhadrapada "August, year 1262". Reverse: Nagari legend: srima ha/ mira mahama /da saamah "Lord Emir Mohammed [ibn] Sam".[31][32]
Another type of Bengal coinage of Muhammad Bakhtiyar Khalji as governor (1204–1206 CE). Obverse: horseman galloping, holding lance with Devanagari legend around (śrimat mahamada samah "Lord Mohammed [ibn] Sam"). Reverse: name and titles of Mu'izz al-Din Muhammad bin Sam in Arabic. Struck AD 1204–1205.[31] This is his earliest coinage in Bengal, using both Sanskrit and Arabic legends.[33]

Campaigns of Bihar[edit | edit source]

Main article: Sack of Magadha
See also: Vikramashila and Odantapuri

He subjugated much of Bihar in 1200.[34] His invasions destroyed the university establishments at Odantapuri and Vikramashila Mahaviras.[35][13] Minhaj-i-Siraj Juzjani's Tabaqat-i Nasiri documents Bakhtiyar Khalji's sack of a Buddhist monastery,[13] which the author equates in his description with a city he calls "Bihar", from the soldiers' use of the word vihara.[36] According to the early 17th-century Buddhist scholar Taranatha, the invaders massacred many monks at Odantapuri, and destroyed Vikramashila.[36] Historians Satish Chandra, Mohammad Habib and others have directly or indirectly implicated Bakhtiyar in the destruction of the Mahaviharas in their writings, but others like D.N. Jha and Namit Arora have reasoned that Nalanda may not have been destroyed by him.[37][38]

Conquest of Bengal[edit | edit source]

Main article: Ghurid conquest of Bengal

Following Bihar campaigns, Khalji conquered Bengal. With the octogenarian emperor Lakshmana Sena at the helm, the Sena dynasty was in a state of decline and could not provide much resistance. As Khalji came upon the city of Nabadwip, it is said that he advanced so rapidly that only 18 horsemen from his army could keep up.[39][non-primary source needed] The small horde entered the city unchallenged and took the emperor and his army by shock.[40][41] This caused Lakhsmana Sena to flee with his retainers to east Bengal.[42][43][44] Khalji subsequently went on to capture Gauda (ancient Lakhnauti), the capital and the principal city of Bengal[45] and intruded into much of Bengal.[46]

Muhammad Bakhtiyar's rule was related by Minhaj al-Siraj, as he visited Bengal about 40 years later:[47]

After Muhammad Bakhtiyar possessed himself of that territory he left the city of Nudiah in desolation, and the place which is (now) Lakhnauti he made the seat of government. He brought the different parts of the territory under his sway, and instituted therein, in every part, the reading of the khutbah, and the coining of money; and, through his praiseworthy endeavours, and those of his Amirs, masjids [mosques], colleges, and monasteries (for Dervishes), were founded in those parts.

— Account of the conquest of Bengal, Minhaj al-Siraj.[47]

Invasion of Tibet (1206)[edit | edit source]

Main article: Bakhtiyar Khalji's Tibet campaign

Bakhtiyar Khalji left the town of Devkot in 1206 to attack Tibet, leaving Ali Mardan Khalji in Ghoraghat Upazila to guard the eastern frontier from his headquarters at Barisal. Bakhtiyar Khalji's forces suffered a disastrous defeat at the hands of Tibetan guerrilla forces at Chumbi Valley, which forced him to retreat to Devkot with only about a hundred surviving soldiers. This was first and shameful defeat of Khalji.[48]

Death and aftermath[edit | edit source]

See also: Khalji dynasty of Bengal
Khalji dynasty of Bengal

As Bakhtiyar Khalji lay ill and exhausted in Devkot after defeated by Tibetans, he was assassinated by Ali Mardan Khalji.[20][21]

The Khalji noblemen then appointed Muhammad Shiran Khalji as Bakhtiyar's successor. Loyal troops under Shiran Khalji and Subedar Aulia Khan avenged Ikhtiyar's death, imprisoning Ali Mardan Khalji. Eventually Ali Mardan fled to Delhi and provoked the Sultan of Delhi Qutb al-Din Aibak to conquer Bengal, who sent an army under Qayemaz Rumi, the governor of Awadh, to dethrone Shiran Khalji. Shiran fled to Dinajpur where he later died.[49]

Ghiyas-ud-din Iwaz Khalji assisted the invasion and assumed the governorship of Bengal in 1208. But shortly after, he yielded power to Ali Mardan willingly, when the latter returned from Delhi in 1210. However, the nobles of Bengal conspired against and assassinated Ali Mardan in 1212. Iwaj Khalji assumed power again and proclaimed his independence from the Delhi sultanate.[50]

Legacy[edit | edit source]

Muhammad Bakhtiyar Khalji had the Khutbah read and coins struck in his name. Mosques, madrasas, and khanqahs arose through Bakhtiyar's patronage, and his example was imitated by his successors.[51][52] According to Muhammad Yusuf Siddiq, Muhammad Bakhtiyar Khalji's swift conquest of Bengal succeeded largely because the Sena rulers had failed to win the support of the common people—both Hindus and Buddhists. The Senas, originally Brahman Kshatriyas from southern India, were culturally, linguistically (they did not speak Bengali), and religiously alienated from the local population. Their strict enforcement of the caste system further deepened social divisions. In contrast, Bakhtiyar Khalji quickly gained the goodwill of the indigenous people through an inclusive approach. He even funded the construction of a Buddhist monastery, which helped foster early mutual respect and understanding between the local population and Muslim migrants.[53]

Muhammad Mojlum Khan writes that Bakhtiyar Khalji built an inclusive administrative system in Bengal and actively weakened the oppressive Brahmanical caste system, freeing the masses from long-standing social bondage and destitution. His benevolent and humane approach won over Hindus and Buddhists, leading to voluntary conversions and a growing Muslim population. He further assesses Khalji as a liberal and enlightened ruler who pioneered Islamic thought, culture, and civilization in Bengal and northern India.[54]

Bakhtiyar is revered as Pir Sahib by the locals of Pirpal village. Every year on Thursday of the month of Baishakh, festival is organised at the Bakhtiyar Khilji Shrine in Gangarampur where prayer is offered by Muslims and Hindus alike.[55]

See also[edit | edit source]

Template:Islam in Bangladesh

References[edit | edit source]

  1. ↑ Hutchinson's story of the nations, containing the Egyptians, the Chinese, India, the Babylonian nation, the Hittites, the Assyrians, the Phoenicians and the Carthaginians, the Phrygians, the Lydians, and other nations of Asia Minor. London, Hutchinson. 1906. p. 169.
  2. ↑ "Ikhtiyār al-Dīn Muḥammad Bakhtiyār Khiljī | Muslim general". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 9 September 2018.
  3. ↑ Faruqui, Munis D. (2005). "Review of The Bengal Sultanate: Politics, Economy and Coins (AD 1205–1576)". The Sixteenth Century Journal. 36 (1): 246–248. doi:10.2307/20477310. ISSN 0361-0160. JSTOR 20477310. Hussain argues ... was actually named Muhammad Bakhtiyar Khalji and not the broadly used Muhammad bin Bakhtiyar Khalji
  4. ↑ Hussain, Syed Ejaz (2003). The Bengal Sultanate: Politics, Economy and Coins (AD 1205–1576). New Delhi: Manohar. p. 27. ISBN 9788173044823.
  5. ↑ Know Your State West Bengal. Arihant Experts. 2019. p. 15. Turk-Afghan Rule: Muhammad Bakhtiyar Khilji's invasion to Bengal marked the advent of Turk-Afghan rule in Bengal.
  6. ↑ Chandra, Satish (2004). Medieval India: From Sultanat to the Mughals-Delhi Sultanat (1206-1526). p. 226. Although the Afghans formed a large group in the army of the Delhi Sultanat, only few Afghan nobles had been accorded important positions. That is why Bakhtiyar Khalji who was part - Afghan had to seek his fortune in Bihar and Bengal.
  7. ↑ Turkish History and Culture in India: Identity, Art and Transregional Connections. BRILL. 17 August 2020. p. 237. ISBN 978-90-04-43736-4.
  8. ↑ Majumdar, R. C. (1973). History of Mediaeval Bengal. Calcutta: G. Bharadwaj & Co. pp. 1–2. OCLC 1031074. Tradition gives him credit for the conquest of Bengal but as a matter of fact he could not subjugate the greater part of Bengal ... All that Bakhtyār can justly take credit for is that by his conquest of Western and a part of Northern Bengal he laid the foundation of the Muslim State in Bengal. The historians of the 13th century never attributed the conquest of the whole of Bengal to Bakhtyār.
  9. ↑ Mehta, Jaswant Lal (1986) [First published 1979]. Advanced Study in the History of Medieval India. Vol. I (2nd ed.). Sterling Publishers. pp. 81–82. ISBN 978-81-207-0617-0. OCLC 883279992. The Turkish arms penetrated into Bihar and Bengal through the enterprising efforts of Ikhtiyaruddin Muhammad bin Bakhtiyar Khalji ... he started plundering raids into Bihar and, within four or five years, occupied a large part of it ... Nadia was sacked by the Turks and a few districts of Bengal (Malda, Dinajpur, Murshidabad and Birbhum) were occupied by them ... Bathtiyar Khalji could not retain his hold over Nadia and made Lakhnauti or Gaur as his capital.
  10. ↑ Thakur, Amrendra Kumar (1992). India and the Afghans: A study of a neglected region, 1370–1576 A.D. Janaki Prakashan. p. 148. ISBN 9788185078687.
  11. ↑ Ahmed, Salahuddin (2004). Bangladesh: Past and Present. APH. p. 59. ISBN 9788176484695.
  12. ↑ Eaton, Richard Maxwell (1996). The Rise of Islam and the Bengal Frontier, 1204–1760. University of California Press. pp. 28–34. ISBN 9780520205079.
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 Scharfe, Hartmut (2002). Handbook of Oriental Studies. BRILL. p. 150. ISBN 90-04-12556-6. Nalanda, together with the colleges at Vikramasila and Odantapuri, suffered gravely during the conquest of Bihar by the Muslim general Muhammad Bhakhtiyar Khalji between A.D. 1197 and 1206, and many monks were killed or forced to flee.
  14. ↑ Arnold, Sir Thomas Walker (1896). The Preaching of Islam: A History of the Propagation of the Muslim Faith. Archibald Constable and Co. pp. 227–228.
  15. ↑ Hindu-Muslim Relations in Bengal, 1905–1947: Study in Cultural Confrontation, Page 11, Nachiketa Publications, 1974, Hossainur Rahman
  16. ↑ "Ancient Nalanda University's Ruins | District Nalanda, Government of Bihar | India". Retrieved 22 June 2024.
  17. ↑ Sarkar, Jadunath (1943). "The Muslim Conquest of Bengal". The History of Bengal. Vol. II. Delhi: B. R. Publishing Corporation. p. 3.
  18. ↑ Jha, DN (1 June 2018). "The destruction of ancient Buddhist sites". The Caravan. Retrieved 2 March 2025.
  19. ↑ Salam, Ziya Us (18 July 2024). "Of a gilded past and the future: Nalanda's lost glory and new-found ambitions". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 18 July 2024.
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 Sengupta, Nitish K. (1 January 2011). Land of Two Rivers: A History of Bengal from the Mahabharata to Mujib. Penguin Books India. pp. 63–64. ISBN 978-0-14-341678-4.
  21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 Gill, William John; Yule, Henry (2010). The River of Golden Sand: The Narrative of a Journey Through China and Eastern Tibet to Burmah. Cambridge University Press. p. 43. ISBN 978-1-108-01953-8.
  22. ↑ Sirāj, Minhāju-s (1881). Tabaḳāt-i-nāsiri: a general history of the Muhammadan dynastics of Asia, including Hindustān, from A.H. 194 (810 A.D.) to A.H. 658 (1260 A.D.) and the irruption of the infidel Mughals into Islām. Bibliotheca Indica #78. Vol. 1. Translated by Henry George Raverty. Calcutta, India: Royal Asiatic Society of Bengal (printed by Gilbert & Rivington). p. 548.
  23. ↑ Chaurasia, Radhey Shyam (2002). History of medieval India: from 1000 A.D. to 1707 A.D. Atlantic Publishers & Distributors. p. 28. ISBN 81-269-0123-3. Retrieved 23 August 2010. The Khiljis were a Turkish tribe but having been long domiciled in Afghanistan, and adopted Afghan habits and customs. They were treated as Afghans in Delhi Court
  24. ↑ Oberling, Pierre (15 December 2010). "ḴALAJ i. TRIBE". Encyclopaedia Iranica. Retrieved 4 July 2020. Indeed, it seems very likely that [the Khalaj] formed the core of the Pashto-speaking Ghilji tribe, the name [Ghilji] being derived from Khalaj.
  25. ↑ Srivastava, Ashirbadi Lal (1966). The History of India, 1000 A.D.-1707 A.D. (Second ed.). Shiva Lal Agarwala. p. 98. OCLC 575452554. His ancestors, after having migrated from Turkistan, had lived for over 200 years in the Helmand valley and Lamghan, parts of Afghanistan called Garmasir or the hot region, and had adopted Afghan manners and customs. They were, therefore, wrongly looked upon as Afghans by the Turkish nobles in India as they had intermarried with local Afghans and adopted their customs and manners. They were looked down as non-Turks by Turks.
  26. ↑ Eraly, Abraham (2015). The Age of Wrath: A History of the Delhi Sultanate. Penguin Books. p. 126. ISBN 978-93-5118-658-8. The prejudice of Turks was however misplaced in this case, for Khaljis were actually ethnic Turks. But they had settled in Afghanistan long before the Turkish rule was established there, and had over the centuries adopted Afghan customs and practices, intermarried with the local people, and were therefore looked down on as non-Turks by pure-bred Turks.
  27. ↑ Chaurasia, Radhey Shyam (2002). History of medieval India: from 1000 A.D. to 1707 A.D. Atlantic. p. 28. ISBN 81-269-0123-3. The Khaljis were a Turkish tribe but having been long domiciled in Afghanistan, had adopted some Afghan habits and customs. They were treated as Afghans in Delhi Court. They were regarded as barbarians. The Turkish nobles had opposed the ascent of Jalal-ud-din to the throne of Delhi
  28. ↑ Nizami 1970, p. 171.
  29. ↑ 29.0 29.1 Nizami 1970, p. 172.
  30. ↑ Bhandare, Shailendra (2020). "Transregional Connections: The 'Lion and Sun' Motif and Coinage between Anatolia and India". In Peacock, A. C. S.; McClary, Richard Piran (eds.). Turkish History and Culture in India: Identity, Art and Transregional Connections. BRILL. p. 237. ISBN 978-90-04-43736-4.
  31. ↑ 31.0 31.1 Flood, Finbarr B. (2018). Objects of Translation: Material Culture and Medieval "Hindu-Muslim" Encounter. Princeton University Press. pp. 115–117. ISBN 978-0-691-18074-8.
  32. ↑ Goron, Stan; Goenka, J. P.; Robinson (numismatist.), Michael (2001). The Coins of the Indian Sultanates: Covering the Area of Present-day India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. Munshiram Manoharlal. ISBN 978-81-215-1010-3. Obverse: horseman to left holding a mace, margin with date in Nagari Samvat 1262 Bhadrapada . Reverse : legend in Nagari śrīmat mahamada sāmaḥ . Issued in AD 1204
  33. ↑ Kundra, D. N.; Prakashan, Goyal Brothers (2019). I.C.S.E. History & Civics for Class IX. Goyal Brothers Prakashan. p. 176. ISBN 978-93-88676-77-9.
  34. ↑ Sarkar, Jadunath, ed. (1973) [First published 1948]. The History of Bengal. Vol. II. Patna: Academica Asiatica. p. 3. OCLC 924890. Bakhtyār led his army a second time in the direction of Bihar in the year following the sack of the fortified monastery of that name. This year, i.e. 1200 A.D., he was busy consolidating his hold over that province.
  35. ↑ Roy, Himanshu (30 August 2021). Political Thought in Indic Civilization. SAGE Publishing India. p. 6. ISBN 978-93-5479-159-8. After the arrival of Islam, the universities such as Nalanda and Vikramshila were no longer existent. The destruction of Nalanda by Bakhtiyar Khalji was the last nail in this pre-Islamic Indic university, which had survived three major destructions
  36. ↑ 36.0 36.1 Wink, André (2002). Al-Hind: The Slave Kings and the Islamic conquest, 11th-13th centuries. BRILL. pp. 146–148. ISBN 0-391-04174-6.
  37. ↑ Salam, Ziya Us (18 July 2024). "Of a gilded past and the future: Nalanda's lost glory and new-found ambitions". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 18 July 2024.
  38. ↑ The Wire (2 February 2024). Indians | Ep 5: Nalanda and the Decline of Buddhism | A Brief History of a Civilization. Retrieved 20 July 2024 – via YouTube.
  39. ↑ Juzjani, Minhaj-i Siraj (1881). Tabakat-i-Nasiri Vol-I. London: Gilbert And Rivington. p. 557.
  40. ↑ Kalam, Abul, ed. (1996). Bangladesh: Internal Dynamics and External Linkages. University Press Limited. p. 311. ISBN 9789840513352.
  41. ↑ M. Shawkat Ali, S. (1965). Social History & Political Sociology for Degree Students. Salma Shawkat via Majid Publishing House. p. 93. Retrieved 25 December 2021.
  42. ↑ Tariq Awan, Muhammad (1991). History of India and Pakistan - Volume 1. Ferozsons. pp. 93–94. ISBN 9789690100344. Retrieved 25 December 2021.
  43. ↑ Ahmad, Nazimuddin (1980). Islamic Heritage of Bangladesh. Department of Films and Publications, Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, Government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh. p. 6.
  44. ↑ Encyclopedia of the Peoples of Asia and Oceania (ebook) (History / Reference, Asia -- History, Culture, Ethnology -- Encyclopedias -- Asia -- Oceania, Geography, Oceania, World history). Facts On File, Incorporated. 2010. p. 99. ISBN 9781438119137. Retrieved 14 March 2022.
  45. ↑ Sarkar, Jadunath, ed. (1973) [First published 1948]. The History of Bengal. Vol. II. Patna: Academica Asiatica. p. 8. OCLC 924890. Bakhtyār fairly completed his conquest of the Varendra tract with the ... city of Gaur before the year 599 A.H.
  46. ↑ Sen, Amulyachandra (1954). Rajagriha and Nalanda. Institute of Indology. Vol. 4. Calcutta: Calcutta Institute of Indology, Indian Publicity Society. p. 52. OCLC 28533779.
  47. ↑ 47.0 47.1 Eaton, Richard M. (1993). The Rise of Islam and the Bengal Frontier, 1204–1760. Berkeley · Los Angeles · London: University of California Press. p. Chapter 1–2.
  48. ↑ Khan 2013, p. 19
  49. ↑ Khilji Malik
  50. ↑ Chandra, Satish (2004). Medieval India: From Sultanat to the Mughals-Delhi Sultanat (1206–1526) – Part One. Har-Anand Publications. pp. 41–43. ISBN 9788124110645.
  51. ↑ Ichimura, Shōhei (2001). Buddhist Critical Spirituality: Prajñā and Śūnyatā. Motilal Banarsidass. p. 65 (note 87). ISBN 978-81-208-1798-2.
  52. ↑ Sen, Gertrude Emerson (1964). The Story of Early Indian Civilization. Orient Longmans. OCLC 610346317.
  53. ↑ Khan 2013, p. 18
  54. ↑ Khan 2013, p. 19
  55. ↑ Roy, Sourav (2 May 2024). "Gangarampur | সম্প্রীতির নিদর্শন, বখতিয়ার খিলজির মাজারে ভিড় হিন্দু-মুসলিমদের" [Gangarampur | Hindus and Muslims throng Bakhtiyar Khilji's shrine, a symbol of harmony]. Uttarbanga Sambad. Retrieved 9 July 2025.

Bibliography[edit | edit source]

External links[edit | edit source]


Preceded by
Sena dynasty
King Lakshman Sen 		Khalji dynasty of Bengal
1204–1206 		Succeeded by
Muhammad Shiran Khalji

Template:Khalji dynasty

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