Last week I was reading about how the African slaves of the USA were treated. With each page the unbelievable horror increased. Before them the Original Inhabitants of North America were mercilessly butchered by European colonialists by the millions and their lands taken over.

The modern non-semitic Europeans colonists posing as ‘Semitic’ – with North American assistance - are repeating the same murders in the ancient land of Palestine these days. The rulers of that North American country continue to spread their criminal ways and are hated for it – rightly so - the world over.

Slavery has been part of human history from the beginning of time. Karachi was also once an African slave centre, though here they were treated kindly. In Pakistan, as in India, we see these days little girls and boys being whipped, raped, killed and even dismembered. The domestic employees we all have are treated no better, at least in the minds of the people - educated or otherwise.

Though our belief system advocates total equality, yet the priestly classes lead in these atrocities. In history we see the priests emerging to gather wealth. Once my English mother invited the ‘sweeper’ to the dining table, only for all of us going crazy. Her response was: “You rote the Quran but do not follow it.”

But over time there are many examples of slaves making it to the top of the ruling classes. Yet the ‘slave’ title remains. If you walk up Anarkali Bazaar from the Lohari Gate end to the left a lane turns in. This is Aibak Road, and as most of our readers will surely know that Aibak was the slave ruler of Lahore who was killed playing ‘chaugan’ or polo after he fell from his horse. He was buried at the spot where he fell.

That place for centuries was hidden in a small brick room, where few knew who lay buried there. In a number of earlier pieces, we have discussed the ‘slave’ rulers of the Punjab and Lahore, but it was about time that the first of the great ‘slave’ rulers was discussed.

Qutbuddin Aibak originally belonged to Turkestan who was sold in his childhood to a merchant who brought him to Nishapur. There in an auction he was purchased by the ‘Qazi’ of Nishapur named Fakhr-ud-din Abdul Aziz Kufi. The Qazi trained him in military and religious affairs along with his own sons.

When the Qazi died, he was sold by the Qazi’s sons to a slave merchant, who took him to Ghazni in Afghanistan where he was purchased by Muhammad of Ghur in north-west Afghanistan. With time he gained the confidence of the ruler who appointed him ‘Amir-e-Akhur’ or lord of the stables, which in those days meant he headed the cavalry.

When Muhammad of Ghur set off on his Indian expeditions, Aibak was made head of the army. In the second battle of Tarain, Aibak easily defeated the Rajputs. Once a success, the very same year, 1192 AD, Aibak continued his wars by capturing Hansi, Meerat, Delhi, Ranthambhor and Koil. This success made Muhammad of Ghur join him to lead further battles.

In 1194 he beheaded the Raja of Benaras and Kanauj for defying his orders. In 1197 he defeated the army of Raja Bhimdev of Gujarat. In 1202 he captured the well-defended fortress of Kalinjar and took with him over 50,000 prisoners as ‘slaves’. It was a case of a ‘slave’ enslaving others.

On the death of Muhammad of Ghur, with no successor in sight, Tajuddin Yildiz became ruler of Ghazni while Qutb-ud-din Aibak became the ruler of the Indian territories and was declared a Sultan. These developments saw Yildiz become jealous of Aibak who wanted to control Lahore and the Punjab.

Aibak defeated Yildiz in Ghazni who returned 40 days later and chased Aibak back to the Punjab. The Ghazni and Lahore rulers remained apart till Babar the Mughal invader came in 1526.

Aibak became a purely Indian Sultan and during a polo match outside Lahore’s walled city he fell from his horse and was killed. He was buried at the place where he fell. His Amirs and Maliks in order to avoid trouble immediately appointed Aram Shah as the next Sultan of Lahore.

Now who was Aram Shah? One set of scholars claim he was Aibak’s son. In Minhaj-e-Siraj’s ‘Tabaqat-e-Nasiri’ he is described as “bin Aibak” (son of Aibak). Another scholar claims that as Aibak had three daughters only, the question of a son does not arise. A third set of scholars claim he was a half-brother, a claim that even Abul Fazl upheld.

In Turkish tradition there is no direct children taking over, and it depends on the conditions as they avail at the Sultan’s death. As Aram Shah was not qualified enough, the courtiers at Delhi conspired and appointed Sultan Iltutmish as the new ruler. Aram Shah moved with his army towards Delhi and was defeated. Hence Iltutmish entered Lahore as the new sultan.

Now back to Aibak. We see that Aram Shah ordered that the grave of Aibak should remain a simple mud grave. When Iltutmish went to see the mud grave he ordered that a simple small room, one barely able to enclose the grave be made. Initially, it was a mud room. Later on, it was bricked in the reign of Akbar. That is the way it remained. However, according to Dr Syed Talha Shah there was a marble tomb of Aibak, which the Sikhs destroyed. No proof of this exists.

Come 1972 and after the defeat of East Pakistan, the new Prime Minister ZA Bhutto came to Lahore, and at the airport he wanted to know the condition of the grave of Qutb-ud-din Aibak. I know this because then I was a journalist in ‘The Pakistan Times’ and our surprised chief reporter told everyone in the office.

The Lahore office of the Department of Archaeology and Museums through its architects committee headed by Kamil Khan Mumtaz, designed a mausoleum on the pattern of Turkish Indian design and very soon the first of the great ‘Slave’ rulers of Lahore came into prominence.

As I went through the archives of the opening there is just one mention of ZA Bhutto on this issue. “He was a great and kind ruler and deserved the respect of the poor”, he said. A rather loaded statement but very relevant to the man.

As a GC student we used to walk past the small brick room and never realised its importance. Once a local food seller told us that it belonged to Aibak, and most of us disbelieved him. But then time is a great healer … be it Aibak or the poor he served.

Published in Dawn, August 24th, 2025