Jalaluddin Ahsan Khan

Jalaluddin Ahsan Khan (died 1340), also known as Jalal al-Din Ahsan Shah,[1] was the first Sultan of Madurai Sultanate and father-in-law of the great traveller Ibn Batutah.

Jalaluddin Ahsan Khan
Sultan
Founder of Ma'bar Sultanate
Reign1335 – 1340
SuccessorAla-ud-din Udauji Shah
Died1340
IssueIbrahim
ReligionIslam

Declaration of independence

In 1335, Jalaluddin Ahsan Khan, the Tughlaq Governor of Madurai, declared his independence and established the independent sultanate of Madurai.[2] He claimed the whole of the Tughlaq province of Ma'bar which included a small part of the ancient Tamil country.[2] However, he scarcely had any authority beyond the realm of the Pandyas and the territory to the north of the river Kaveri was largely independent under the Cholas and the Hoysalas.[3]

Reign
Coin of Jalaluddin Ahsan Khan, first ruler of the Sultanate of Madurai

Jalaluddin Ahsan Khan took over as the independent sultan of Madurai in 1335.[4] Ferishta, however, gives a date of 1341 for his assumption of the sultanate.[5] Ferishta refers to Ahsan Khan as Syed, Hasan and Husun.[5] Ahsan Khan was also the father-in-law of the Moorish traveller Ibn Batuta.[5] Immediately, Muhammad bin Tughlaq sent an army to reassert his control over the region. But Ahsan Khan easily defeated this army.[5] Tughlaq took his revenge by killing Ahsan Khan's son Ibrahim who was the purse-bearer of the Emperor. Ahsan Khan was killed in 1340 by one of his nobles after having ruled for a brief span of 5 years. His rule and those of his successors were very brutal. The land of Tamil Nadu saw widespread, indiscriminate killings of a level unheard of. Even Ibn Battutah lamented on the cruelty set by the Sultan. Ibn Battutah was a product of his times, believing in sex slavery and murdering infidel men. However, he criticized the Sultan in his books for killing Hindu women and kids instead of enslaving them, the killings considered anti Islamic practices.

Notes
  1. Jalāl al-Dīn Aḥsan Shah at the Encyclopædia Britannica
  2. Aiyangar, Pg 155
  3. Aiyangar, Pg 156
  4. Sen, Sailendra (2013). A Textbook of Medieval Indian History. Primus Books. p. 95. ISBN 978-9-38060-734-4.
  5. Aiyangar, Pg 165

References
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.