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 82 THE TURKS IN DELHI proving and benevolent ruler, at once just and generous. In 1243 he subdued rebellion and pacified the country as lord chamberlain, and when the Mongols, under Mangu Khan, pushed their way across the Indus, it was mainly due to the urgent advice and strenuous efforts of Balban, who received the title of Ulugh Khan, or Puissant lord, that the army of Demi accomplished their defeat. It was he who compelled the Mongols to raise the siege of Uchh (1245) and retire to the hills, where he pursued them with untiring vigilance. In fact, Balban had become the guiding spirit of the Moslem rule, and when Mas'ud was deposed and his uncle Nasir- ad-din set upon the throne, the real authority was in the hands of the brilliant slave commander-in-chief. The feebleness of the successors of Altamish had permitted a recrudescence of Hindu rebellion, and Bal- ban 's energies were devoted to constant campaigns against the " infidels." Year after year he led his troops through the Doab or to the hills of Eantambhor, against Malwa or Kalinjar, or the raja of Ijari, and everywhere his arms were victorious. His reputation became so great that the other officers and chiefs, envi- ous of his success, prejudiced the Sultan against him and had him banished from court (1253). The leader of this intrigue was Eihan, a renegade Hindu eunuch, and the envious officers found that they had exchanged the rule of a soldier for that of a schemer. There was universal discontent at the disgrace of the favourite, and the Turkish chiefs and the Persian officials of good family resented the despotism of the eunuch and his