Malik Kafur defeats the Mongols on the Ravi

01The last great raid

Barani and Amir Khusrau record that in 1306 Duwa sent armies under Kebek and other commanders. Kebek came down to the Ravi. Alauddin sent Malik Kafur, a former slave bought at Khambhat during the conquest of Gujarat, who had risen to command. Kafur met Kebek on the Ravi and broke his army. Kebek was taken prisoner, and the captured Mongols were later killed in large numbers, Barani says, at Delhi.

02From the frontier to the Deccan

Kebek later became khan of the Chagatai realm himself. In India, the end of the Mongol threat freed Alauddin’s armies to turn south. Within a year Malik Kafur was leading them against Devagiri, and then against Warangal in 1310, Dwarasamudra and Madurai in 1311. The victory on the Ravi thus opened the way for the Sultanate’s invasions of the southern Hindu kingdoms. The next large Mongol incursion came only in 1327, under Tarmashirin.

Place · 13th century, Kakatiya kings Ganapatideva and Rudrama DeviWarangal Fort (Orugallu)The Kakatiya capital Orugallu, ringed by three walls, which held out against Delhi in 1303 and 1310 and fell in 1323. Its four carved stone gateways stand among the ruins of a great Shiva temple.Read →