Person · Delhi Sultan · India
Qutb-ud-Din Aibak
Also known as Qutb-ud-din Aibak, Qutbuddin Aibak, Qutub ud din Aibak, Aibak
Turkic slave who rose through Muhammad of Ghur's service to become his viceroy in India after Tarain (1192), governed from Delhi after Ghur's assassination in 1206, and reigned briefly as the first Mamluk Sultan of Delhi until his death playing polo at Lahore in 1210. He is the historical founder of the Delhi Sultanate — the Qutb Minar at Mehrauli bears his name and was begun under him in 1199, built from the stone of twenty-seven demolished temples that also furnished the Quwwat-ul-Islam mosque beside it. His four years as sultan were short but set the template: Turkic slave military elite, Islamic Delhi, Mehrauli as capital.
- Date
- 1150–1210
- Function
- Authority & administration
- Patron dynasty
- Mamluk Sultanate
- Tradition
- Standard reference and biographical literature; contemporary chronicles.
- Confidence
- Established / referenced
Worth knowing
He got the title Lak-Bakhsh — Giver of Lakhs — for his lavish distribution of plunder; his coins bear only Muhammad of Ghur's name even after his own accession. He died when his horse fell at a chaugan (polo) match at Lahore in 1210 and he was buried at Anarkali bazaar there in a tomb repeatedly rebuilt, most recently in 1970.
About the place
Placed at Delhi (where he reigned) and Lahore (where he died and is buried).
Connections (5)
- SucceededShams-ud-Din Iltutmish
Iltutmish, Qutbuddin Aibak's slave and son-in-law, succeeded him in 1211 after a brief interregnum, inheriting the Mamluk state that Aibak had reigned over for four years. Iltutmish is the actual founder of the Delhi Sultanate as a stable polity — Aibak's four years had been continuation of Ghurid viceroyalty rather than independent sultanate.
- FoundedQutb complex, Delhi
Qutb-ud-Din Aibak began the Qutb Minar at Mehrauli in 1199 and built the Quwwat-ul-Islam mosque alongside it from the stone of twenty-seven demolished Hindu and Jain temples — the iron pillar within the mosque enclosure is older than the mosque by eight centuries. The complex is named for him and is the Delhi Sultanate's founding monument.
- Buried atLahore
Qutb-ud-Din Aibak died playing a chaugan (polo) match at Lahore in 1210 when his horse fell on him, and was buried in the Anarkali bazaar area where his small sandstone tomb has been repeatedly rebuilt — most recently in 1970. The tomb is one of the earliest surviving Mamluk burials in the Punjab and the only major Delhi Sultan buried outside Delhi.
- Built byQutb Minar
Qutb-ud-Din Aibak began the Qutb Minar in 1199 as a victory tower marking the Delhi Sultanate's foundation and the Quwwat-ul-Islam mosque alongside it. He completed only the ground storey before his death at Lahore in 1210; the minaret is named for him. His design — a tapering fluted shaft rising from a stepped plinth, modelled on the Ghurid Minaret of Jam in central Afghanistan — set the Delhi Sultanate's monumental type.
- Fought nearAjmer Sharīf
Qutb-ud-Din Aibak commanded Muhammad of Ghur's forces at the two battles of Tarain near Ajmer in 1191 and 1192 — defeating Prithviraj Chauhan the second time and ending the Rajput Chauhan state at Ajmer. The Ajmer Sharif dargah of Khwaja Muinuddin Chishti was established at Ajmer within a decade of the Chauhan defeat, and the Chishti silsila's spread through north India followed the Ghurid military conquests Aibak led.