Upon Qutb-ud-din’s death his son Aram Baksh inherited the throne in 1210. Her mother was Qutb-ud-din’s daughter who was married to her father because of his skill and valour. She was Shams-ud-din Iltutmish’s only daughter and had three brothers. Razia Sultan was born Raziya al-Din in 1205 in Budaun, India. In the conflicts that followed, Razia was brutally killed. She was widely respected and loved by her officials and public but one of her brothers usurped the throne. After her father passed away, her brother took over the throne, but was assassinated in 6 short months, after which Razia claimed the throne that was rightfully hers.Īfter becoming the Sultan of Delhi she adopted a gender-neutral attire and proved to be an efficient, capable, and brave ruler. Therefore, her ascent was strongly opposed by even from close family. However, those skills were imparted to her only expecting her to later make a good queen to a king and offer advice and assistance if needed – not to be a ruler herself.
RAZIA SULTAN 69 PROFESSIONAL
She had trained in military skills and professional warfare along with her brothers and other children of the aristocratic class and had good knowledge of state administration too. However, Iltutmish, realising that she was more skilled and fit to rule the kingdom than her brothers, chose her, considering her gender no barrier to her abilities.
No ruler before him had ever chosen a woman successor. In his last days Iltutmish almost rewrote history by appointing his daughter Razia as his heir apparent. When Qutb-ud-din died, Iltutmish garnered support from the then Turkish nobility and ascended to be the sultan, the first of the Slave dynasty. Her father Iltutmish had arrived in Delhi as a slave serving under Qutb-ud-din and through his bravery and skill attained the position of a provincial governor. Her ancestors were Turkish Seljuk slaves and their dynasty was called the Slave Dynasty, thus making her rulership a subversion of existing power structures at many levels. Razia’s ascent to the throne gains immense historical significance not just because she was a woman ruler, but also because she did not come from nobility per se. Razia it is believed had refused to be addressed as a Sultana (as per her gender) as that word meant “wife or mistress of a Sultan”, but claimed the title “Sultan”, as she herself was the premier. She was the fifth Mamluk Sultan, one of the few female sovereigns ever in the entire history of Islamic civilizations across the world. She ruled in Delhi from 1236 to 1240 as the Sultan herself – it was a title never before bestowed on a woman, a position of power never before attained by a woman. Razia Sultan was the first Muslim female ruler.
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