Like much of her reign, the accession of Razia to the sultanate of Delhi, is shrouded in mystery. The only contemporary chronicler of her reign is the Tabakat-i-Nasiri of Minhaj Siraj Juzjani, whose career had thrived during her brief tenure, and who was full of praise for her skills. “A great sovereign,” he wrote of her. “Sagacious, just, beneficent, the patron of the learned, a dispenser of justice, the cherisher of her subjects.” But what good did it do her, he wrote, if men failed to take her seriously?
Her father Shams ud-Din Iltutmish had noticed that she had “indications of sovereignty and high spirit” in her youth, and named her his heir-apparent. Asked why he disregarded the claims of his sons, Iltutmish replied, “My sons are engrossed in the pleasures of youth, and none of them possesses the capability of managing the affairs of the country… After my death it will be seen that not one of them will be found to be more worthy of the heir-apparent ship than she, my daughter.”
Nevertheless, after Iltutmish’s death, Firuz indeed came to power and swiftly proved the wisdom of his father’s judgement. Firuz’s inclinations, Juzjani wrote “were wholly towards buffoonery, sensuality, and diversion”. He also seems to have had an inordinate fondness for elephants. “He had a passion for frolic, and for riding elephants, and the whole class of elephant drivers derived immense benefit from his riches,” Juzjani wrote. “While in a state of intoxication, seated on the back of an elephant, he would drive through the bazaar of the city, scattering… red gold.”
Firuz’s mother, Shah Turkan, controlled the affairs of state. She tried to have Razia assassinated, but Razia foiled the plot and, rousing the support of the people of Delhi, overthrew and executed her brother in the autumn of 1236. She came out of purdah and took to appearing in public wearing the male clothing of a sultan and riding an elephant.
It was a tumultuous period. The Mongols threatened to the west, while internal stability was undermined by various fractious forces, including Turkish nobility and rebellious provincial governors. She spent much of her reign dealing with insurrections, on occasion leading the army herself. She had a talent for war, Juzjani said.
During one such sortie from her Delhi stronghold against Malik Iltuniah of Bhatinda the nobility dethroned her in place of a younger brother. Razia was imprisoned. She wasn’t done, however. She seduced and then married Iltuniah, and together they marched on her former capital. They were defeated outside its walls, and their army abandoned them.
One later source has them murdered by bandits while fleeing, asleep under a tree outside the city of Kaithal. It is more likely, as Juzjani says, that she and her husband were murdered by their captors on 13 October 1240.
“May she rest in peace,” Juzjani wrote.
This is an extended version of a piece that first appeared in the October 2022 issue of History Today.
Like this? You can read more of Mathew’s History Today Months Past pieces here.
Mathew Lyons 
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