Padmavati row: Who was Alauddin Khilji?

Ranveer Singh will play the barbaric invader Alauddin Khilji in Padmavati.

Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Padmavati has been in the line of fire or "jauhar ki jwala", as the Shri Rajput Karni Sena terms it, for months now, allegedly for distorting history and incorporating a dream sequence between Rani Padmini and Alauddin Khilji. The makers of the period drama have gone blue in the face denying these claims, but to no avail.

In fact, after Sanjay Leela Bhansali released a video reassuring that no such sequence was a part of the film, the anti-Padmavati movement has only escalated with the Shri Rajput Karni Sena threatening to behead the filmmaker and chop off leading lady Deepika Padukone's nose.

How dare Sanjay Leela Bhansali show a barbaric Muslim plunderer dreaming about romancing a pious Rajput queen, they ask.

Even as the long deceaded ruler continues to be a subject of hot debate, do you know who Alauddin Khilji was?
Alauddin Khilji was the most powerful ruler of the Khilji dynasty of the Delhi Sultanate, founded by his uncle and predecessor, Jalaluddin Khilji. Alauddin was brought up by his uncle after his father's death. Alauddin even married Jalaluddin's daughter, Malika-i-Jahan, and became his son-in-law. When Jalaluddin defeated the Mamluk ruler Muiz ud-din Qaiqabad to become the Sultan of Delhi in 1290, Alauddin was appointed as Amir-i-Tuzuk.

Alauddin Khilji went on to plunder the Deccan region and Maharashtra, and upon his return with the spoils in 1296, he murdered his uncle and assumed the title of the Sultan. He reigned for two decades, till his death in 1316.
Incidentally, a year later, all except three of Jalaluddin's nobles who switched their loyalties to Alauddin were either blinded or killed, and their property confiscated.

Alauddin Khilji began to expand his kingdom, and in 1303, captured the Chittor Fort from Ratan Singh. If Sufi poet Malik Muhammad Jayasi's epic Padmavat, written in 1540, is to be believed, Alauddin Khilji was motivated by an uncontrollable lust for Ratan Singh's wife Rani Padmini and wished to capture her. Padmini, unwilling to be 'defiled' by Alauddin chose to commit jauhar (self-immolation) instead. However, this version of events is debated by historians, many of whom believe that Padmini was fictional.

It is said that after his victory, Alauddin Khilji ordered that 30,000 Hindus, including women and children, be butchered. In fact, he also blinded and killed his own nephews for fear of an uprising.

There is also some conjecture about Alauddin Khilji's sexuality - according to some reports, he had a fondness for young boys too. It is said that he was in love with his slave-general, Malik Kafur, who he captured during the 1299 invasion of Gujarat.

Malik Kafur was a trusted lieutenant of Alauddin Khilji and was sent on an expedition in 1308 to expand the kingdom in the South. This led to the capture of Warangal and Madura. Malik Kafur continued to be close to Alauddin till his death in January 1316.