Ulugh Khan was an able general, and played an important role in Alauddin's military conquests. According to
Ziauddin Barani, Alauddin once thought of establishing a new religion, and compared his four generals (Ulugh,
Nusrat,
Zafar and
Alp) to
Muhammad's four
Rashidun caliphs.
Siege of Multan After usurping the throne of Delhi, Alauddin decided to eliminate the surviving family of Jalaluddin. In November 1296, he sent a 30,000-40,000 strong army led by Ulugh Khan and
Zafar Khan to
Multan, which was governed by Jalaluddin's son Arkali Khan. Faced with certain defeat, the leaders of the defending forces deserted Arkali Khan and defected to the Delhi forces after two months of siege. Arkali Khan and his younger brother Ruknuddin Ibrahim visited Ulugh Khan's camp to negotiate a truce. Ulugh Khan received them with dignity, and promised not to harm them. However, after occupying Multan, he did not keep this promise, and imprisoned them, their family members, and their loyal officers. The captives were later blinded and/or killed by
Nusrat Khan on Alauddin's orders.
1298 victory over the Mongols In the winter of 1297, the
Mongols led by a
noyan of the
Chagatai Khanate raided
Punjab, advancing as far as
Kasur. Alauddin dispatched Ulugh Khan (possibly supported by
Zafar Khan) to check the Mongol advance. According to the Delhi courtier
Amir Khusrau, Ulugh Khan covered the distance of two marches in a single day to face the Mongols, and reached the banks of the
Sutlej River on 6 February 1298. There, he ordered his soldiers to cross the Sutlej River without the boats, and inflicted a crushing defeat on the Mongols. Khusrau states that 20,000 Mongols were killed in the battle, and many more were killed in Delhi after being brought there as captives. The victory increased Alauddin's prestige, and stabilized his position on the throne of Delhi.
Gujarat In early 1299, Alauddin sent an army led by Ulugh Khan and
Nusrat Khan to invade the wealthy
Vaghela-ruled kingdom of Gujarat. According to the
Jain chronicler Jinaprabha Suri, Ulugh Khan's forces defeated the army of the defending king
Karna at
Asapalli (present-day
Ahmedabad). Karna fled from the battlefield, after which Ulugh Khan's army thoroughly sacked the wealthy city of
Anahilavada (Patan). According to Jinaprabha, Ulugh Khan and Nusrat Khan destroyed hundreds of other towns, including Asapalli,
Vanmanthali and
Surat. They also looted several monasteries, palaces, and temples. This account is also confirmed by the Muslim chroniclers
Ziauddin Barani and
Isami. The Delhi army left Gujarat with a huge amount of wealth and several prisoners. During a halt near
Jalore, Ulugh Khan and Nusrat Khan punished some of the soldiers for not remitting the
khums (one-fifth share of the loot) to the imperial treasury. This resulted in a mutiny, mainly by the Mongol soldiers, who had converted to Islam recently. The mutineers murdered Ulugh Khan's secretary and Nusrat Khan's brother Malik A'izzudin. The next day, around 2000-3000 of them attacked Ulugh Khan's camp. The attackers misidentified a nephew of Alauddin as Ulugh Khan, and killed him. Ulugh Khan, who was in a
lavatory at the time of the attack, escaped to Nusrat Khan's tent, where the loyal soldiers assembled and forced the rebels to retreat. After the army reached Delhi, severe punishments were meted out to the family members of the rebels.
Battle of Kili While Ulugh Khan and Nusrat Khan were in Gujarat,
Zafar Khan repulsed a
Mongol invasion in Sindh. This victory established Zafar Khan's reputation as a brilliant general, and according to the near-contemporary chronicler
Ziauddin Barani, made both Alauddin and Ulugh Khan jealous of Zafar Khan's newly acquired fame. Barani also claims that the two brothers made plans to blind or poison Zafar Khan. Historian
Banarsi Prasad Saksena doubts the truthfulness of Barani's allegations. At the 1299 Battle of Kili against the Mongols, Ulugh Khan led the reinforcement unit of the Delhi army. During the battle, Zafar Khan attacked a Mongol contingent without Alauddin's permission, and was killed after inflicting heavy casualties on the Mongols. According to the 17th-century historian Hajiuddabir's
Zafarul-vali, Ulugh Khan did not come to Zafar Khan's rescue because he maintained an ill-will towards Zafar Khan. The Mongols ultimately retreated from the battlefield.
Siege of Ranthambhore In 1299,
Hammira, the
Chahamana ruler of Ranthambore, had granted asylum to the Mongol fugitives who had led the mutiny against Ulugh Khan at Jalore. Ulugh Khan, who was the governor of
Bayana near Ranthambore, urged Hammira to kill these fugitives as a friendly ruler or face an invasion. When Hammira refused to kill or surrender the fugitives, Alauddin ordered Ulugh Khan to invade Ranthambore in 1301. Ulugh Khan marched up to the
Banas River, where he defeated and killed Hammira's general Bhimasimha. Subsequently, the Delhi army suffered a defeat at a mountain pass called Hinduvata. Alauddin dispatched
Nusrat Khan in support of Ulugh Khan, and the reinforced Delhi army once again marched towards Ranthambore. According to the
Hammira Mahakavya, this time, Ulugh Khan pretended that he was coming to negotiate a truce with Hammira, and therefore, Hammira allowed him to cross the Hinduvata mountain pass. The Delhi army captured
Jhain, and then reached Ranthambore, where Nusrat Khan was killed during the siege. Taking advantage of the mourning in the invaders' camp, Hammira's army attacked them, and forced Ulugh Khan to retreat to Jhain. When Alauddin learned about Ulugh Khan's defeat, he personally led a stronger army to Ranthambore. While he was at Ranthambore, an officer called Haji Maula took control of Delhi, prompting Alauddin to send his general Malik Hamiduddin to Delhi. Some days later, Alauddin received the news that Haji Maula had appointed
Iltutmish's descendant Alavi as a
puppet monarch in Delhi. Alauddin then sent Ulugh Khan to Delhi. By the time Ulugh Khan reached Delhi, Hamiduddin had already quelled the revolt. Ulugh Khan ordered all the surviving rebels to be killed. The grandsons of Haji Maula's former master Fakhruddin were also killed, although they had not played any part in the rebellion. Alauddin captured the fort in July 1301, and placed it under Ulugh Khan's charge. However, the local public hated Ulugh Khan so much, that he decided not to go beyond the suburbs of Ranthambore. == Death ==