Ruknuddin traveled back to Delhi, but Razia sent a force to arrest him: he was imprisoned on 19 November 1236 and murdered for less than 7 months. Many nobles and army promised loyalty to Razia, and placed her on the throne, making her the first female Muslim ruler in South Asia. In congregational prayer, Razia incited the general public against Shah Turkan.Ī mob attacked the royal palace and took Shah Turkan into custody. While Ruknuddin traveled towards Kuharam to fight the rebels, Shah Turkan planned to kill Razia in Delhi. This killed many important Tajik officials, including Junaid’s son Ziaul Mulk and Tajul Mulk Mahmud, who had decided to declare Razia a successor. This situation worsened when slave officials of Turkic-origin close to Ruknuddin planned to kill the Tajik (non-Turkic) officials of the Sultanate. The murder and killing of Iltutmish’s popular son Qutbuddin’s pair, combined with the high-ranking of Shah Turkan, led to a rebellion by many nobles, and even Wazir (Prime Minister) Nizamul Mulk Junaidi also joined the rebels. Ruknuddin was not an able ruler and surrendered control of the administration to his mother Shah Turkan. Minhaj is the only near-contemporary source who narrates this story, and was not himself a witness to events or alleged declaration: he was in Gwalior at the time and did not return to Delhi until 1238. Another possibility is that the story that Iltutmish named Razia as his successor is a false story circulated by Razia’s supporters after his ascension.
This shows the fact that after being seriously ill, he had summoned Ruknuddin from Lahore to Delhi. It appears that during his final years, Iltutmish agreed to appoint a son as his successor. However, after Iltutmish’s death, the nobles collectively appointed his son Ruknuddin Firoz as the new king. When his nobles questioned the premise that his son was still alive, Iltutmish replied that Razia was more capable than his sons. Iltutmish ordered his officer, mushrif-i mamlakat Tajul Mulk Mahmud Dabir, to prepare a declaration to nominate Razia as successor. Razia performed her duties so well that after returning to Delhi, Iltutmish decided to choose her as his successor.
While leaving for his Gwalior expedition in 1231, Iltutmish left his daughter Razia as in charge of Delhi’s administration. According to the historian Minhaj-e-Siraj, Iltutmish stated that his other sons were engaged in pleasing activities, and would be unable to manage the kingdom after his death. Iltutmish had decided his elder son Naseeruddin Mahmud to be his successor, but this son died suddenly in 1229. Razia was Iltutmish’s eldest daughter, and probably her first child. Razia’s mother – Turkan Khatun (aka Qutub Begum) – was a daughter of Qutb al-Din Aibak and Iltutmish’s chief wife.
Razia was born to Sultan Shamsuddin Iltutmish of Delhi, a Turk slave (Mamluk) of his predecessor Qutb al-Din Aibak.