Razia Sultana: The Harbinger of Women Rule

Today, our mothers, sisters, and all the women in society have a right to vote, and after a lot of struggle, equality between women and men has been established. None of us is unaware of the oppression of women since ancient times. Only recently did women obtain the right to vote in some middle eastern countries. Women rulers have always been discouraged in ancient times. Especially in the Mughal rule, women were always oppressed, and only kings were encouraged. Society, as we see it, has always been patriarchal. In spite of this, history has seen some strong-headed, gripping women rulers. Razia Sultan is one of them. 

Razia Sultan was the first and last Muslim woman ruler of Delhi. This woman was a strong-headed and successful ruler of Delhi. A few other female rulers from the past are rani Lakshmi bai, Rani Chennamma, to name a few. Today, let us take a look at Razia Sultan’s history and discover more about who was Razia Sultan. So if you're ever asked who was the first woman ruler of India, you know all the information about Razia Sultan. 

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An Illustration Of Razia Sultan

Who Was The Only Woman Sultan Of Delhi? 

Sultan Raziyyat-Ud-Dunya Wa Ud-Din, who was popularly known as Razia Sultan, was the first woman ruler of Delhi. The Delhi sultanate is one of the most prominent kingdoms of the past. The spread of the Delhi sultanate was vast, and as the name suggests, the king's seat was in Delhi. The kingdom had seen the fall of several kings and a number of gripping battles. Then who is Razia? And where does she come into the picture? Well, Razia Sultan was the first and last Muslim woman ruler of Delhi. Today, let us learn about the life of this great woman and how she was throned as the Sultan of one of the oldest empires, the Delhi sultanate.

Who Was The Father Of Razia Sultan? 

Shams Ud-din Iltumish was the father of Razia Sultan. The 3rd king of the mamluk kings. He is considered the first Sultan of Delhi and the one to establish the Delhi sultanate because he's the first sovereign ruler who took a seat in Delhi as the Sultan of Delhi. Iltumish's rise to power was not an easy accession, and this is because Iltutmish did not originally belong to a princely family. He was originally a slave under the king and was purchased as a slave in Delhi by Qutb al-din Aibak. Here, Iltumish gained recognition due to his excellence at work and was hence granted the position of an Iqta of Badaun. He was a determined militant, and his actions in the military in 1205-1206 against arch-rivals gained recognition of the Ghurid ruler Mu'izz ad-din. Hence he decided to manumit him. 

Mu'izz Ad-din soon proceeded to the heavenly abode in 1206. This meant that Qutb al-din Aibak gained control of all the Ghurid territories in India. However, in 1210 Qutb al-din Aibak, unfortunately, passed away unexpectedly during a sports game in Lahore. After his death, Aram Shah succeeded him and inherited the throne.  However, this succession of the throne was not welcomed warmly by the people of the kingdom. There was a widespread revolt against the accession of the throne by Aram Shah. The people favored Iltutmish and believed that he was the right fit for inheriting the throne. The people headed by the military regiments invited Iltutmish to take over the throne by dethroning the unpopular king Aram shah. Moreover, Qutb al-din Aibak also treated Iltutmish as his own son, and Iltutmish's military triumph had led him to gain high popularity. A few nobles also stood strongly against Iltumish's inheritance of the throne. However, these nobles were beheaded by Iltutmish in no time. Hence, Delhi became the seat of Iltutmish, the first ruler of Delhi.

Who Was Razia Sultan? Why And How Did She Inherit The Throne?

The Father of Razia Sultan, Iltumish, had groomed his son, Naseeruddin Mahmud, to become the successor of Iltumish. He was being prepared to take over the reins of the kingdom and hence was being equipped with political skills. However, Nasiruddin Mahmud met an untimely death in 1229. According to a scholar from this Period, Minhaj-i-Siraj, Iltutmish believed that all his other sons indulged in pleasure and luxury. He believed that they were incapable of being throned and would lead to the doom of the Delhi sultanate. During this period, the Delhi sultanate was in the process of expanding itself. The kingdom was fighting battles in the east in order to annex more territory. For this reason, Iltutmish often went to Gwalior for war expeditions. In 1231, Iltutmish was leaving for Gwalior for a campaign. However, since there was no capable son who could take care of the Administration of the kingdom in his absence, Iltutmish decided to hand over the kingdom's administration in the hands of his daughter, Razia Sultan. When Iltutmish was away, Razia Sultan proved to be an excellent administrator and administered the kingdom masterfully. Pleased with her administration skills, upon returning from Gwalior, Iltutmish declared Razia Sultan as his successor.

Accession of the Throne by Razia Sultan

Iltutmish fell seriously ill in his last few years. He spent his last few years in Lahore, soon after which, Iltutmish, unfortunately, passed away. Although Razia Sultan was declared as the successor, after the death of Iltutmish, his son Ruknuddin Firuz was throned. This was mainly because of the patriarch nature of the society. Ruknuddin Firuz was a poor administrator and struggled at performing the duties of the kingdom. Due to his inefficient administration, he left the administration duties to his mother, Shah Turkan. The duo, during their tenure, blindly executed Iltutmish's son Qutub Uddin. This sort of cruel administration raised several eyebrows. There were widespread protests against this cruel rule. Agitated with the style of ruling, even the Wazir of the kingdom joined the rebels. This situation worsened when the slave officer of the kingdom who was close to Ruknuddin Planned the killing of Tazic officers. This led to the murder of a few prominent figures and added fuel to the fire. A rebellion against Ruknuddin was being held in Kurham, and hence Ruknuddin with his military marched towards Kurham. Meanwhile, Shah Turkan had planned the execution of Razia Sultan in Delhi. This news reached the commoners and led to a mod marching into the royal palace to detain shah Turkan. A group of nobles and army men then pledged allegiance to Razia Sultan and throned her as the first and last Muslim woman ruler of Delhi. 

Opposition Faced by Razia Sultan.

The Turkic origin nobles spoke strongly against the unconventional throning of Razia sultan. She accessed the throne due to the support of the commoners and not by means of Turkic provincial governors. This had led to the formation of non-Turkic nobles and was frowned upon by the Turkic nobles. A budding group of rebels had been formed soon, and they were all vouching against the rule of Razia Sultan. The rebels were marching towards Delhi to dethrone Razia and had crossed the Ganges successfully after capturing the governor of Awadh, a supporter of Razia. Looking at this, Razia Sultan led an army out of Delhi and set up a camp on the banks of the Yamuna river. After a few indecisive skirmishes, a few leaders from the camp of the rebels decided to merge with Razia Sultan. This move of a few powerful rebel leaders scared the other rebels mainly because all the plans of the rebels would now be leaked into Razia Sultan's camp. Fearing a loss, the rebel leaders fled away to their respective places.