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 3 i8 THE BOURBON AGE The Ghori monarch extended the Mohammedan sway over all Hindustan, not without long and fierce struggles with the Rajput The Ghori princes. But there was no single Hindu empire to Dynasty. f ace their attack, no united resistance. Kutb ed-d in, the great captain of the Ghori monarch Moizz ed-din, carried the conquering arms of Islam as far as Benares on the Ganges, and the borders of Bengal. Kutb ed-din himself was a Turk, originally a slave of Moizz ed-din, who had risen to his high position in virtue of his talents. It is not unusual in the east to find slaves thus elevated to offices of trust j for any member of the reigning family, or any great noble in such a position, was exceedingly apt to utilise it in order to seize the throne for himself. A slave, whose power was derived entirely from royal favour, was far less dangerous ; yet not a few slaves were able in this way to snatch a crown when the ruler's death left rivals striving for the succession. Such an opportunity occurred soon after the death of Moizz ed-din. Kutb ed-din seized the throne and ruled vigorously for The Slave a short time. Throughout the thirteenth century Dynasty. the ' Slave ' dynasty held sway, with its seat of government at Delhi ; strictly, it was not a dynasty, since more than once another slave-captain ejected the heir of his predecessor. One of the most vigorous was Altamsh, whose judicious attitude towards Genghis Khan, the great Mongol conqueror, saved India from being devastated by the hordes which defiance would have brought down on Hindustan. Altamsh, when the Mongol had turned his attention to other regions, subdued all resistance and made himself master of all Northern India. Both Altamsh and Balban — another slave who had been Grand Vizier or first minister and then secured the Crown — were able rulers, whose courts won a high reputation for their intellectual character ; as had been notably the case with Mahmud of Ghazni. It was not a slave but a Turk noble — that is, a noble of Turkish descent — who secured the Crown of Delhi soon after the The Khiiji death of Balban. The first ruler of the new Khilji Dynasty. dynasty, Feroz Shah, routed an invasion of the Mongols whose power had now broken up, but was soon after-