Shah Turkan also tried to kill Razia but did not succeed. She even blinded a young son of Iltutmish and had him put to death, fearing that he might grow up to be a threat to Firuz. Shah Turkan was a very vindictive woman and soon she set about avenging the indignities that she had suffered in the royal harem at the hands of the high-born wives of Iltutmish, by putting some of them to death and subjecting others to gross humiliations. However by placing Firuz on the throne they allowed the very feminine influence they were avoiding as Shah Turkan, the low-born former handmaiden of Iltutmish who was Firuz’s mother to rule the roost as Firoz was only interested in pursuit of pleasure and left the rule in hand of his mother. It was therefore not surprising to witness the nobles discomfited with this nomination that had disastrous results for Razia Sultana.Īs was expected the powerful nobles of the Sultanate disregarded the choice of Sultan Iltutmish and placed his eldest surviving son, Rukn-ud-din Firuz, on the throne.
His preference was unconventional as according to prevailing practice in Islamic societies, royal women, however ambitious and able, could indulge in political affairs from behind the harem screen. Sultan Iltutmish chose Razia not out of any sentimental attachment to his daughter but due to sound judgement, as she was a very capable woman possessing ample administrative experience as Iltutmish had often left her in charge of the government when he was away on military campaigns and she had exercised royal authority with great dignity and competence. He brushed aside the reservations of his courtiers by saying that his sons are devoted to the pleasures of youth and not one of them was qualified to be the king and that Razia was the best choice to succeed him as she was more competent to guide the state. Iltutmish was convinced that his eldest daughter Razia had all the attributes required for kingship though she lived out of the public eye and accordingly named her successor and put her name in writing as the heir of the kingdom, and successor to the throne. Her father is credited with putting the fledgling Muslim rule in India on firm footing and he is rightly considered the founder of Delhi Sultanate that ruled for more than three centuries after which it was replaced by the Mughals.Īs Iltutmish was nearing death after hastily returning from a campaign due to his illness his courtiers urged him to nominate a successor with a view to avoid succession struggle. It was unusual for her father Sultan Iltutmish to nominate her as his successor and it proved quite an anomaly as her rule was bitterly contested and she was subsequently dethroned.
Razia Sultana was the first female head of the state to rule over the subcontinent in an age of complete male domination.
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