Page:History of India Vol 5.djvu/139

 THE DAUGHTER OF ALTAMISH BECOMES EMPRESS 105 put her name in writing as heiress of the kingdom and successor to the throne. Before this firman was exe- cuted, the servants of the State, who were in close intimacy with his Majesty, represented that there would be little wisdom in making a woman heir to a Mohammedan throne, especially as the king had grown-up sons who were worthy of the dignity. They besought him, therefore, to set their minds at ease, for the course that he proposed seemed very inexpedient. The king replied: " My sons are devoted to the pleas- ures of youth, and no one of them is qualified to be king. They are unfit to rule the country, and after my death you will find that there is no one more com- petent to guide the State than my daughter. " It was afterwards agreed by common consent that the king had judged aright. When Sultan Raziya succeeded to the throne, all things reverted to their old order. The vizir of the State, Nizam-al-mulk Junaidi, however, refused to give allegiance, and he, together with Malik Jani, Malik Kochi, Malik Kabir Khan, and Malik Izz-ad-din Mo- hammad Salari, who assembled from different parts of the country at the gates of Delhi, made war for a long time against the Sultan Eaziya. After awhile, Malik Nasir-ad-din Tabashi Mu'izzi, who was governor of Oudh, hurried his forces to Delhi to the assistance of Sultan Raziya; but when he had crossed the Ganges, the generals who were fighting against the city met him unexpectedly and took him prisoner, after which he fell sick and died.