Who said that “Victory of Mandu was the key of Victory of South”?
- (a)Malik Kafur
- (b)Sheetal Dev
- (c)Enulmulk Multani
- (d)Amir Khusro
Correct — D, Amir Khusro. Amir Khusrau (1253-1325), the celebrated Persian-language poet, musician and scholar of the Delhi Sultanate court and a disciple of Nizamuddin Auliya, chronicled Alauddin Khalji's campaigns in his work Khazain-ul-Futuh (Tarikh-i-Alai). Capturing the hill-citadel of Mandu opened up Malwa and cleared the road southward, which is why the fall of Mandu was described as the 'key' to conquering the Deccan (south).
- (a)Malik Kafur — He was Alauddin Khalji's slave-general who actually LED the great expeditions into the Deccan (Devagiri, Warangal, Dwarasamudra, Madurai) — a commander, not the poet-chronicler who penned this observation.
- (b)Sheetal Dev — Offered as a distractor name; not the author of this remark, which comes from the court poet-historian Amir Khusrau.
- (c)Enulmulk Multani — Ainul Mulk Multani was a noble under Alauddin Khalji, made governor of Malwa after its conquest — a soldier-administrator, not the writer who recorded this line.
Amir Khusrau is a central source for the Khalji period: he travelled with the Sultanate armies and turned their campaigns into Persian verse-histories. Mandu (Mandavgarh), a naturally fortified plateau in Malwa guarded by the Vindhyas and the Narmada, was the strategic gateway between north India and the Deccan.
The distractors mix a general (Malik Kafur), an administrator (Ainul Mulk Multani) and a stray name — all tied to Khalji's Malwa/Deccan story. But the question asks WHO SAID it, i.e. the chronicler: that points to the poet Amir Khusrau, not the men who fought or governed.
- Amir Khusrau (1253-1325): poet-musician at the Delhi Sultanate court, disciple of Nizamuddin Auliya.
- He chronicled Alauddin Khalji's conquests in Khazain-ul-Futuh (Tarikh-i-Alai).
- Mandu (Malwa) was the strategic key to opening the route to the Deccan.
- Malik Kafur led the actual Deccan campaigns; Ainul Mulk Multani governed Malwa.
- Picking Malik Kafur (the general) when the question asks who WROTE/SAID it.
- Confusing the chronicler Amir Khusrau with the noble Ainul Mulk Multani.
MPPSC asks 'who chronicled Khalji's campaigns' or 'who said X about Mandu'; UPSC tests Amir Khusrau's works and Malik Kafur's raids. Anchor: the words are Amir Khusrau's.
Consider the following statements: 1. Kitab-I-Nauras, a collection of songs in praise of Hindu deities and Muslim saints, was written by Ibrahim Adil Shah II. 2. Amir Khusrau was the originator in India of the early form of the musical style known as Qawwali. Which of these statements is/are correct?
- (a) Only 1
- (b) Only 2
- (c) Both 1 and 2
- (d) Neither 1 nor 2
Answer(c) Both 1 and 2
Both turn on identifying Amir Khusrau, the Persian poet-musician of the Delhi Sultanate court (here credited with early Qawwali) — the same court chronicler quoted on Mandu.
- practice — not a real PYQ
Amir Khusrau's Khazain-ul-Futuh (Tarikh-i-Alai) chiefly records the reign and campaigns of:
- (a)Alauddin Khalji
- (b)Balban
- (c)Iltutmish
- (d)Muhammad bin Tughlaq
Answer(a) Alauddin Khalji.
- practice — not a real PYQ
Alauddin Khalji's expeditions into the Deccan (Devagiri, Warangal, Madurai) were led by his general:
- (a)Malik Kafur
- (b)Ulugh Khan
- (c)Zafar Khan
- (d)Nusrat Khan
Answer(a) Malik Kafur.