RAS question
Razia Sultan was the daughter of:
Correct answer: (A) Iltutmish.
Razia Sultan was the daughter of Sultan Iltutmish, the Delhi Sultan who nominated her as his successor.
Explanation
Razia Sultan ruled Delhi from 1236 to 1240 and was the daughter of Sultan Iltutmish. NCERT states that Iltutmish’s daughter Raziyya became Sultan in 1236; her inscriptions and coins also described her as the daughter of Sultan Iltutmish. Iltutmish had nominated her as his successor, so her accession was not a routine dynastic succession. She was the first and only woman to rule the Delhi Sultanate. The Turkish nobles known as the Chahalgani, or the Forty, opposed her authority and resented her attempts to rule independently. Although she was recognised as capable, this opposition helps explain why her reign was short.
Why the other options are wrong
- (B) Qutbuddin Aibak belonged to an earlier generation, while NCERT identifies Raziyya specifically as Sultan Iltutmish’s daughter.
- (C) Balban ruled after Razia and was not her father.
- (D) Nasir-ud-din Mahmud was a different ruler, whereas Iltutmish was Razia’s father.
Concept
The Iltutmish-Razia episode in the early Delhi Sultanate brings together dynastic succession, chronology, gender barriers to political authority and the role of the Turkish nobility. It recurs in RAS because these themes are tested together through one compact historical fact.