Raziya Sultan

Also called: Razia Sultana · Topic: Turkic Invasions and the Delhi Sultanate · NCERT: Beyond NCERT

Meaning

Raziya Sultan (also written Razia Sultana) was the daughter of Iltutmish. She ruled the Delhi Sultanate from 1236 to 1240 and was the only woman ever to sit on its throne. She matters because her rise and fall show two things clearly: the Turkic nobles held real power, and Sultanate politics had no fixed rule for who would rule next.

Explanation

Background: how she came to the throne

Raziya belonged to the Mamluk ('Slave') dynasty, the first of the five dynasties of Delhi.
Her father Iltutmish (AD 1211–36) was the son-in-law and successor of Qutb-ud-din Aibak [1].
Iltutmish chose her as his heir. Most accounts say he passed over his sons because he thought she was more able than them.
The nobles did not accept his choice at first.
After Iltutmish died in 1236, they put his son Rukn-ud-din Firuz on the throne.
He ruled badly and was removed within a few months.
Raziya then took the throne in 1236, with support from the people of Delhi.

Her style of rule

She ruled as a sultan, not as a queen in the background.
She gave up purdah (the custom of women staying veiled and hidden from public view).
She held court in public. She wore men's clothes, such as a tunic and cap, rode out with her army and led campaigns herself.
She issued coins in her own name. This was a clear sign of a ruler's power.
She tried to build her own group of loyal officers.
She promoted people who were not Turkic nobles.
The best-known was Jamal-ud-din Yaqut, an Abyssinian (African) officer. She made him master of the royal stables, a post close to the ruler.

Conflict with the Turkic nobles

The Turkic nobles wanted a weak ruler they could control. Many writers link this group with the Chahalgani or "Group of Forty" (the powerful Turkic slave-officers of Iltutmish).
Raziya threatened their power in three ways:
She was a woman ruling in her own right, which the nobles would not accept.
She acted on her own and did not take orders from them.
She gave high posts to outsiders like Yaqut.
The revolt and her fall (1240):
Nobles in the provinces rebelled. Altunia, the governor of Bhatinda, was one of the leaders.
Yaqut was killed and Raziya was taken prisoner.
Meanwhile the nobles in Delhi put her brother Muizz-ud-din Bahram Shah on the throne.
Raziya married Altunia and marched on Delhi with him to win back the throne. They were defeated, and she was killed in 1240.

Results

After her death, a series of weak rulers followed, and the nobles held the real power.
This fits the wider pattern of the Sultanate. Almost two sultans out of three took power by killing or removing the ruler before them, and the average reign was barely nine years.
The nobles' grip was broken only later, when Balban became sultan and crushed the "Forty".

Time, place and evidence

Period: 1236–1240, in the early (Mamluk) phase of the Delhi Sultanate.
Place: Delhi was her capital. The final fighting took place in north India (Punjab–Haryana region).
Key people:
Iltutmish, her father, who chose her as heir.
Rukn-ud-din Firuz, her brother, who ruled before her.
Jamal-ud-din Yaqut, the Abyssinian officer she promoted.
Altunia, the governor of Bhatinda, first her rebel and later her husband.
Bahram Shah, her brother, who replaced her.
How we know about her:
Minhaj-i-Siraj was a court historian of the period and wrote the Tabaqat-i-Nasiri. He admits she was more able and qualified than her brothers. Even so, he was uneasy that a woman was ruling. This shows the attitude of the elite of her time.
Coins struck in her name are proof that she ruled as a full sovereign.
Linked monument: the tomb of Iltutmish stands in the Qutb Minar complex, a UNESCO World Heritage Site [2].

Don't confuse with

Rudramadevi: a queen of the Kakatiya dynasty in the Deccan (south India) in the 13th century. She ruled a regional Hindu kingdom. Raziya ruled the Delhi Sultanate.
Nur Jahan: a Mughal empress, wife of Jahangir. She had great influence but was never the ruler herself. Raziya sat on the throne in her own name.
Chand Bibi: she defended Ahmadnagar against the Mughals in the late 16th century, as a regent and defender, not as sultan of Delhi.
Rukn-ud-din Firuz / Bahram Shah: her brothers. Firuz ruled before her in 1236, and Bahram Shah ruled after her from 1240. Neither was Iltutmish's chosen heir.

Prelims Hooks

Raziya Sultan was the daughter of Iltutmish of the Mamluk (Slave) dynasty. She is the only woman to rule the Delhi Sultanate.
Reign: 1236–1240.
Jamal-ud-din Yaqut, the Abyssinian she promoted to master of the royal stables, angered the Turkic nobles.
Minhaj-i-Siraj, author of the Tabaqat-i-Nasiri, is the main chronicler of her reign.
Order of rulers: Iltutmish → Rukn-ud-din Firuz → Raziya → Bahram Shah.
Trap: Raziya married Altunia, governor of Bhatinda, after he had rebelled against her. She was not overthrown by Altunia alone. The nobles in Delhi made Bahram Shah sultan.

Mains Points

No fixed rule of succession, so the nobles decided. Iltutmish named Raziya as heir, but the Turkic nobles first set her aside and later removed her. Her case shows a wider truth: nearly two in three sultans came to power by force, and reigns averaged about nine years. Real power often lay with the nobles, not the throne.
Gender and power in medieval India. Raziya ruled openly as sultan. She gave up purdah, led armies and minted coins. Even so, Minhaj-i-Siraj, who praised her ability, could not accept a woman ruler. This makes her useful for GS-I answers on women and politics in medieval India and on how sources reflect the bias of their writers.
Ruler versus nobility. By promoting non-Turks like Yaqut, she tried to build loyalty to the crown instead of to a closed Turkic group. The nobles' revolt shows how strong they were. Balban later broke the "Forty", which completed the change she had tried to begin.

Related concepts

The five dynasties and the character of Sultanate rule

Sources

1Qutb Minar — Archaeological Survey of Indiaasi.nic.in · tier 1
2Qutb Minar and its Monuments, Delhi — UNESCO World Heritage Centrewhc.unesco.org · tier 2