A SILVER COIN OP ALA -AD -DIN. CHAPTER VII ALA -AD -DIN'S CONQUESTS IN THE DECCAN 1310 A. D. AFTER Balban, the supremacy of the Slave Kings gave place to the Khalji Rulers, so called from their place of origin, the village of Khalj in Afghan- istan. The greatest of these sovereigns was Ala-ad-din, who sat upon the throne of t)elhi for twenty years (1296 - 1316 A. D.) and stretched his conquering arm even over the Deccan and the south of India. The main events of Ala-ad-din's reign have been previously given in this history, but an excerpt from the annals of the Mohammedan writer Amir Khusru, narrating the story of the campaign in Ma* bar (710 A. H., 1310 A. D.), may be appropriate as a record con- temporaneous with the events described. Ma* bar ap- pears to have been situated on the lower western coast of India (Malabar?), although some have claimed that it was located on the eastern shore. The style of Amir Khusru 's narrative possesses a special interest as an example of a certain kind of Oriental writing, and the 141
