Page:History of India Vol 3.djvu/102

 72 THE TURKS IN DELHI munificent was lie that lie was called " Lakhbakhsh," or " Giver of lacs " (hundreds of thousands). At Delhi he busied himself in building the great mosque, or Jum'ah Mas j id, and the famous minaret known after his sur- name as the Kutb Minar, which was originally 250 feet high and is the tallest minaret in the world. Its boldly jutting balconies, alternate angular and rounded fluting, and fine Arabic inscriptions set off the natural contrasts of white marble and red sandstone of which it is built. The mosque, like Aybek's other mosque at Ajmir, was constructed of the materials of demolished temples, and the ornament was supplied from the idols of the Hindus. Aybek was a staunch Moslem, and if tolerant from policy towards great Hindu vassals, he was a mighty " fighter in the way of God." " The realm was filled with friends and cleared of foes," says a contemporary chronicler, " his bounty was continuous, and so was Ms slaughter." Aybek survived his master only a few years, and his own full sovereignty as the first Slave Sultan of Delhi ended in 1210, when he died from a fall from his horse while playing mall or polo, an ancient and favourite sport in Persia and India. A time of con- fusion followed. An incompetent son opened the way to rivals. Kubacha held Multan and Sind as far as the mouth of the Indus, and strove with Yildiz for the possession of Lahore; Bakhtiyar's successor was supreme in Bihar and Bengal; and Shams-ad-din Alta- mish (a corruption of the Turkish Il-tutmish, " Hand- grasper "), a slave of Aybek, deposed his master's son