Delhi before the Moghal Conquest
As the envoy moved towards the palace he found, at the city gate, some stuffed skins of Hindus — a hint of what might be the fate of
captive Moghals. The scene in the king's darbar was a brilHant one, many Hindu rajas and refugee princes, in magnificent attire, standing round the throne. The walls of Delhi saw a hostile army, under a revolted vassal, in 1257;but the wise minister was on the alert against treason within, the gates were closed, and the traitors fled when the royal army sallied out.
Mahmud was a simple liver, made his queen cook for him, and kept no female slaves, but he did not disdain to build himself a new palace; this was on the banks of the Jumna,near Kilokri, but was probably a small one ; his successors added to it. He died in A.D. 1266, after a reign of twenty years, leaving no male issue; and what more natural than that the minister, who had preserved the kingdom, should now mount the throne in the White Palace at Old Delhi? Ibn Batuta, writing seventy years after, declares that he murdered his master; but this, we hope, is a mistake.
GHIAS-UD-DIN BALBAN, or Ulagh Khan, had been a slave, for he was made prisoner by the Moghals, whom he therefore had good reason to dislike ; after various vicissitudes an agent179
