LAST DAYS.
Tomb of Alauddin Khalji, Qutb complex, Delhi.
During the last years of his life, Alauddin suffered from an illness, and became very distrustful of his officers. He started concentrating all the power in the hands of his family and his slaves.[115] He became infatuated with his slave-general Malik Kafur, who became the de facto ruler of the Sultanate after being promoted to the rank of viceroy (Na'ib).[116][117]
Alauddin removed several experienced administrators, abolished the office of wazir (prime minister), and even executed the minister Sharaf Qa'ini. It appears that Malik Kafur, who considered these officers as his rivals and a threat, convinced Alauddin to carry out this purge.[115] Kafur had Alauddin's eldest sons Khizr Khan and Shadi Khan blinded. He also convinced Alauddin to order the killing of his brother-in-law Alp Khan, an influential noble who could rival Malik Kafur's power. The victims allegedly hatched a conspiracy to overthrow Alauddin, but this might be Kafur's propaganda.[115]
Alauddin died on the night of 4 January 1316.[118] Barani claims that according to "some people", Kafur murdered him.[119] Towards the end of the night, Kafur brought the body of Alauddin from the Siri Place and had it buried in Alauddin's mausoleum (which had already been built before Alauddin's death). The mausoleum is said to have been located outside a Jama Mosque, but neither of these structures can be identified with certainty. According to historian Banarsi Prasad Saksena, the ruined foundations of these two structures probably lie under one of the mounds at Siri.[118]
The next day, Kafur appointed Alauddin's young son Shihabuddin as a puppet monarch.[118] However, Kafur was killed shortly after, and Alauddin's elder son Mubarak Khan seized the power.[120]
Alauddin's tomb and the madrasa dedicated to him exist at the back of Qutb complex, Mehrauli, in Delhi.[121]