Previous Year Question

Delhi Sultan Iltutmish ruled approximately from 1211/1210 to 1236 CE, while the Mongol leader Chengiz Khan died in 1227 CE. Therefore, the two were clearly contemporaries. IGNOU also explicitly notes that Iltutmish's reign coincided with the military campaigns of Chengiz Khan in Central Asia during the 1220s.

The strongest evidence of their contemporaneity comes from the events of 1221 CE. After destroying the Khwarazmian Empire in Central Asia, Chengiz Khan pursued its prince Jalaluddin Mangbarni.

In 1221 CE, Chengiz Khan's Mongol forces reached the north-western frontier of India while pursuing Jalaluddin. Jalaluddin crossed the Indus and entered the Indian region. At this time, Iltutmish was the Sultan of Delhi.

Jalaluddin attempted to obtain assistance or asylum from Iltutmish. Iltutmish, however, carefully assessed the situation and avoided entering into a political alliance that could have drawn the Delhi Sultanate into a direct war with Chengiz Khan and the Mongols.

IGNOU describes this approach as Iltutmish's policy of “aloofness.” He avoided aggressive expansion in the north-west and refrained from direct involvement in the Mongol crisis.

This decision had considerable political importance. The Delhi Sultanate was still a relatively new state and had not yet become completely secure. A direct confrontation with the enormous Mongol power of Chengiz Khan could have posed a grave threat. Iltutmish's cautious policy helped the Sultanate avoid an immediate direct Mongol confrontation.

The other options belong to later periods. Razia came to the throne after Iltutmish's death in 1236; Balban became Sultan in 1266; and Alauddin Khalji became Sultan in 1296. Thus, none of these three was Sultan of Delhi during the lifetime of Chengiz Khan. NIOS places Balban's accession in 1266 and Alauddin Khalji's in 1296.