Malik Kafur
Malik Kafur (
fl. 1296 - 1316) was an Indian eunuch and slave who became a general in the army of
Alauddin Khilji, ruler of the
Delhi sultanate from 1296 to 1316. He was originally seized by Alauddin's army after the army conquered the city of
Khambhat.
It is reported that Alauddin fell in love with his effeminate handsomeness and named him senior commander in his army after he agreed to convert to
Islam. Early in his career, he became known as "Thousand-
dinar Kafur" for the price at which he was rumored to have been bought. Perhaps due to the favor of the sultan, Kafur rose quickly in the army. In 1294 he led the sultan's army against the capital city of the
Yadava kingdom,
Devagiri. He led further invasions southward into the
Kakatiya kingdom and eventually into the
Pandyan kingdom in far southern India, winning immense riches for the sultanate. Kafur's invasion of Pandya was the farthest south that any Muslim invasion would ever reach in India.
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