After the lapse of ten years, during which three of Sultán Shamsu-d dín's children reigned, his youngest son, Násiru-d dín (after whom the Tabakát-i Násirí is named), came to the throne. He was a mild, kind, and devout king, and passed much of his time in making copies of the Holy Book. During the twenty years of his reign Balban was Deputy of the State, and bore the title of Ulugh Khán. He, keeping Násiru-d dín as a puppet (namúna), carried on the government, and even while he was only a Khán used many of the insignia of royalty.

In the reign of Shamsu-d dín the fear inspired by the slaughter and ravages of Changiz Khán, the accursed Mughal, caused many renowned maliks and amírs, who had long exercised autho­rity, and many intelligent wazírs, to rally round the throne of Shamsu-d dín. * * * His Court thus became the equal of that of Mahmúd or of Sanjar, and the object of universal confidence. After the death of Shamsu-d dín his Forty Turk slaves grew powerful. The sons of the late Sultán did not bear themselves like princes, and were unfitted for the duties of royalty, which, saving only those of the prophetic office, are the highest and most important in the world. Under the influence of these Turk Slaves all the great men, and the sons of those great men who had been maliks and wazírs, were upon some pretence or other set aside, and after their removal the Shamsí Slaves became the leading men of the State, and acquired the dignity of Khán. * * * These Shamsí slaves had been fellow slaves, and when they became all at once great and powerful, no one would give prece­dence or acknowledge inferiority to another. In possessions and display, in grandeur and dignity, they vied with each other, and in their proud vaunts and boasts every one exclaimed to the other, “What art thou that I am not, and what wilt thou be that I shall not be?” The incompetence of the sons of Shamsu-d dín, and the arrogance of the Shamsí slaves, thus brought into contempt that throne which had been among the most dignified and exalted in the world.

Sultán Ghiyásu-d dín Balban was a man of experience in matters of government. From being a malik he became a khán, and from being a khán he became king. When he attained the throne he imparted to it new lustre, he brought the administra­tion into order, and restored to efficiency institutions whose power had been shaken or destroyed. The dignity and author­ity of government were restored, and his stringent rules and resolute determination caused all men, high and low, through­out his dominions, to submit to his authority. Fear and awe of him took possession of all men's hearts, but his justice and his consideration for his people won the favour of his subjects and made them zealous supporters of his throne. During the thirty years from the death of Shamsu-d dín, the incompetency of that monarch's sons and the overweening power of the Shamsí slaves had produced a vacillating, disobedient, self-willed feeling among the people, which watched for and seized upon every opportunity. Fear of the governing power, which is the basis of all good government, and the source of the glory and splendour of states, had departed from the hearts of all men, and the country had fallen into a wretched condition. But from the very commencement of the reign of Balban the people became tractable, obedient, and submissive; self-assertion and self-will were thrown aside, and all refrained from insubordi­nation and insolence.

In the first year after his accession, the ripe judgment and experience of Balban was directed in the first place to the organi­zation of his army, for the army is the source and means of government. The cavalry and infantry, both old and new, were placed under the command of maliks of experience, of chiefs who held the first rank in their profession, and were brave, dignified, and faithful. * * * * In the first and second year he assumed great state, and made great display of his pomp and dignity. * * * Musulmáns and Hindus would come from distances of one or two hundred kos to see the splendour of his equipage, which filled them with amazement. * * * No sovereign had ever before exhibited such pomp and grandeur in Dehli. * * * * For the twenty-two years that Balban reigned he maintained the dignity, honour, and majesty of the throne in a manner that could not be surpassed. Certain of his attendants who waited on him in private assured me that they never saw him otherwise than full-dressed. During the whole time that he was Khán and Sultán, extending over nearly forty years, he never conversed with per­sons of low origin or occupation, and never indulged in any familiarity, either with friends or strangers, by which the dignity of the Sovereign could be lowered. He never joked with any one, nor did he allow any one to joke in his presence; he never laughed aloud, nor did he permit any one in his Court to laugh. * * * As long as he lived no officer or acquaintance dared to recommend for employment any person of low position or extraction.

In the administration of justice he was inflexible, showing no favour to his brethren or children, to his associates or attendants; and if any of them committed an act of injustice, he never failed to give redress and comfort to the injured person. No man dared to be too severe to his slaves or handmaids, to his horse­men or his footmen. Malik Bak-bak, father of Malik Kírá Beg, was a slave of Sultán Balban; he was Sar-jándár, and one of the privileged attendants at Court. He held a jágír of four thousand horse, and the fief of Badáún. In a fit of drunkenness, while at Badáún, he caused one of his domestic attendants to be beaten to death with scourges. Some time afterwards, the Sultán went to Badáún, and the man's widow complained to the Sultán. He immediately ordered that this Malik Bak-bak, chief of Badáún, should be scourged to death in the presence of the widow. The spies (baríd) who had been stationed to watch the fief of Badáún, and had made no report, were hanged over the gate of the town. Haibat Khán, father of Malik Kírán 'Ála, was the slave and kára-beg of Sultán Balban. He also while intoxicated killed a man. The dead man's friends brought the matter before the Sultán, who ordered that Haibat Khán should receive five hundred lashes in his presence, and should then be given to the widow. Addressing the woman, he said, “This murderer was my slave, I give him to you: with your own hands stab him with a knife till you kill him.” Haibat Khán employed some friends to intercede with the woman, and after much humiliation and weeping they succeeded in purchasing his release for 20,000 tankas. Haibat Khán never after went out of his house until the day of his death. * * *

In his efforts to secure justice he appointed confidential spies (baríds) in all the fiefs, and throughout his territories; he also appointed them for great cities, and for important and distant towns. And that they might discharge their duties with efficiency and honesty he did not give them too large a field of observation. He never failed to attend to what came to his knowledge through these spies, and had no respect for persons in administering justice. These spies were greatly feared by the nobles and officials, and neither they nor their sons or dependants dared to distress any innocent person. * * *

Sultán Balban, while he was a Khán, was addicted to wine drinking, and was fond of giving entertainments: two or three times in a week he would give banquets and gamble with his guests. * * * But after he came to the throne he allowed him­self no prohibited indulgences. He repented of all his former drunken bouts, gave up wine, and never mentioned the name of either wine or wine-drinkers. * * *