Succeeded to the sovereignty in the year 644 H, (1246 A.D.) and the Wazīrship was conferred upon Ghiyāu-d-Dīn Balban the younger, who was in reality great, and was the slave and son-in-law of the father of Nāṣiru-d-dīn.*

At the time of his accession great largesse was given, and the poets recited many congratulatory odes from some of which the following verses are taken—

That great Lord who is a Ḥātim in generosity and a Rustum
in energy.
Nāṣir-i-Dunya wa-Dīn Maḥmūd ibn Iyaltimish.
That great world conqueror, the roof of whose palace is the
heaven.
In the height of his dignity this lower sphere is his vesture.
How can we measure the glory the Sikka acquires from his
auspicious titles.*
Or how compute the exultation of the Khubah at the mention
of his happy name.

The records of his equity and his laudable qualities are evident from the book called Ṭabaqāt-i-Nāṣirī* which was composed in his honour.

The Sulān entrusted all the affairs of the kingdom to Ghiyāu-d-Dīn Balban and in giving him the title of Ulugh Khān said, “I deliver into thy hands the reins of absolute authority, beware lest thou commit thyself to any evil action,* for tomorrow thou wilt be at a loss in the presence of Almighty God and thou wilt bring shame upon me and upon thyself.” The Sulān himself would generally retire into his chamber and occupy himself in devotion, and reading the Qur'ān and in repeating the sacred names of God may He be glorified and exalted; and it is currently reported that on the occasion of a public audience he used to clothe himself from head to foot in regal apparel, while in private he used to wear an old ragged garment; and they also say that he used to ^90. devote his time to the copy of the Qur'ān which he was writing,* further that he used to write it himself in private so that no one might recognize his handwriting and buy it for more than its fair value, and he used to sell (these) in the Bāzār. They relate also several other strange stories about him, which resemble the narra­tives regarding the rightly directed Khalifs — among them I have seen it written in a book that one day his wife was complaining of not having a servant, and she said “Whenever I bake bread for you my hands get burned and blistered.” He wept and replied, “The world is passing away, bear your toil for these few days for God Almighty on the morrow of resurrection (we trust in Him and believe in Him) as a reward for this labour, will surely give you a Ḥūrī to wait upon you, as it is, I cannot possibly buy a slave girl for you from the public funds. His wife too, agreed to this.

The world is but a dream in the eyes of the vigilant,
A wise man does not set his heart upon a dream.

And the Sulān in the month of Rajab in the year of his acces­sion, took an army towards Multān* and in Zūl Qa‘dah having crossed the river of Lahore (Rāvī) and having appointed Ulugh Khān as leader of the forces,* sent him towards the Jūd hills* and the country round Nandanah, and he himself halted on the banks of the river Indus. Ulugh Khān having punished that part of the country brought it into subjection, and having given a lesson to the Khūkhars* and other contumacious tribes, joined the Sulān and returned to Dehlī, and in the year 645 H., having taken Mīwāt* turned his attention to the country of the Doāb, and the same year having sent Ulugh Khān from the confines of Karrah to oppose and overthrow the rebels of that district, arrived at Dehlī with great spoil.

And in the year 646 A.H., he proceeded against Rantanbhūr, and having punished the seditious tribes of those districts he returned, ^91. and in the year 647 H., he married the daughter of Ulugh Khān.

Then in the year 648 H., he took an army towards Multān, and after some days Malik ‘Izzu-d-Dīn Balban-i-Buzurg, the Governor of Nāgor, withdrew his foot from the circle of allegiance and rebelled,* but when the Sulān proceeded thither, he begged for pardon and joined the Court.

And in the year 649 H. he marched in the direction of Gwāliār and Chandērī and Mālwa, and Jāhir Dev* the Rāi of that country with five thousand cavalry and 200,000 infantry came out to meet him and gave battle to the Sulān in great force, but was defeated and the fort of Narwar* was taken. And in this year Sher Khān Governor of Multān, and Malik ‘Izzu-d-Dīn Balban who had left Nāgōr with reinforcements for him reduced the fortress of Uchh, and Sher Khān remained in the fortress, while Malik ‘Izzu-d-Dīn Balban came to pay his respects to the king, and received from him as a jāegīr the districts of Budāon and was given the title of Kashlū Khān.

And in the year 650 H. (1252 A.D.) he left Dehlī intending to proceed to Lahore, and from there he went to Multān and Uchh, and in this expedition Kashlū Khān accompanied the Sulān as far as the river Biāh.

And in the year 651 H. marching from Dehlī, he detailed forces to act against Tabarhindah and Uchh and Multān of which Sher Khān had lost control, and of which the Sindhīs held possession; and having regained possession of them, handed them over to the charge of Arsalān Khān and returned. And in the year 652 H. having assembled an army on the confines of the country at the foot of the hills* of Bijnor, and having crossed the Ganges by the ford of Mīāpūr* and hugging the skirt of the mountain, reached the banks of the river Rahab,* and having taken much booty and made many prisoners, giving themselves up to rapine and making prisoners,* invaded the country of ^92. Kaṭihar* going to Badāon and from thence to Oudh, and hastened to the capital. And after some time news arrived that certain of the Amīrs, namely Ulugh Khān-i-A‘zam, and Arsalān Khān and others, in concert with Malik Jalālu-d-Dīn, the brother of the Sulān, had commenced hostilities in the vicinity of Tabar-hindah. The Sulān thereupon marched from Dehlī, and in the neighbourhood of Tabarhindah and Kuhrām and Kaithal,* by the intervention of a party of Amīrs, the Amīrs agreed to peace, and with many protestations and oaths suing for pardon came into submission to the Sulān; and the Sulān conferred upon Malik Jalālu-d-Dīn the Governorship of Lahore, and proceeded to the capital. And in the year 653 H. the feelings of the Sulān underwent a change with respect to his mother Malika-i-Jahān. He gave Qutlugh Khān, to whom Malika-i-Jahān was married, a jāegīr in Oudh,* and a short time after turning against him also* sent him to Bahrāij. He took fright at this and came to the hill country of Sir Mūr, and Malik ‘Izzu-d-Dīn Kashlū Khān and certain other Amīrs made common cause with him and laid the foundation of revolt; the Sulān accordingly detailed Ulugh Khān Balban with a large army* to oppose them, and when the two forces had arrived within a short distance of each other the Shaikhu-l-Islām Saiyyid Qubu-d-Dīn and Qāẓī Shamsu-d-Dīn of Bharāij and another party of men incited Qutlugh Khān to come into Dehlī, and inspired him with a desire to possess that country;* the inhabitants of Dehlī joined in this instigation. Ulugh Khān represented this at the Sulān's court, and the Sulān issued an order for every indivi­dual of that party to go separately to his own place, and Qutlugh Khān and Malik ‘Izzu-d-Dīn Kashlū Khān after this defeat, traversed the distance of a hundred krohs* in two days and came from Sāmāna to Dehlī, but did not find the party ^93. which had been the cause of their being summoned. Qutlugh Khān and Kashlū Khān also were separated, and Ulugh Khān following them arrived in the Sulān's presence.* And in the year 655 H. the Sulān issued an order for the expulsion of certain nobles and grandees from the city of Dehlī, and at the end of this year the Mughūls arrived on the boundaries of Uchh and Multān; Kashlū Khān Balban made common cause with them and the Sulān came up in hot haste against them. The Mughūls were not able to stand against him and turned back towards Khurāsān. The Sulān also raised the banner of return towards the capital and having bestowed a robe of honour upon Malik Jalālu-d-Dīn Jānī marched towards Lakhnautī.* And in the year 656 H. (1258 A.D.) ambassadors came to the Sulān from Turkistān, and he sent them back loaded with presents, and in this year Ḥaẓrat Makhdūm Ganjshakar,* may God magnify his power and exalt his memory,* left the lodging house of separation and disappointment for the home of nearness and fulfilment.

And in the year 657 H. elephants and great treasure and jewels and cloths without number, arrived from Lakhnautī as presents, and in Rajab of this year Malik ‘Izzu-d-Dīn Kashlū Khān Balban earning relief from the turmoil of this transitory world, hastened to the next world, and in this year Ghauu-l-‘Ālam Ḥaẓrat Shaikh Bahāu-d-Dīn Zakariyāī* the Multānī, may God sanctify him, raised the tent of* close union with God Al­mighty, and a celebrated poet wrote this couplet to record the date: