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 "excerpt": "Kayumars (کیومرث), regnal title Shamsuddin, was an infant son of the paralyzed Sultan Qaiqabad enthroned in Delhi in 1290 and deposed by Jalal-ud-din Khalji, ending the Mamluk line.",
 "snippet": "Kayumars (کیومرث), regnal title Shamsuddin, was an infant son of the paralyzed Sultan Qaiqabad enthroned in Delhi in 1290 and deposed by Jalal-ud-din Khalji, ending the Mamluk line.",
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 "markdown": "# Kayumars\n\nKayumars (کیومرث) was an infant son of the Mamluk sultan of Delhi, Mu'izzuddin Qaiqabad, who was placed on the throne of the [Delhi Sultanate](https://www.edgepedia.org/delhi-sultanate) in 1290 under the regnal title Shamsuddin and deposed the same year by [Jalal-ud-din Khalji](https://www.edgepedia.org/jalal-ud-din-khalji).<sup>[1](https://archive.org/stream/in.ernet.dli.2015.103531/2015.103531.History-Of-The-Khaljis-1290-1320_djvu.txt)</sup> His nominal reign marks the end of the Mamluk (Ilbari) line of Delhi sultans and the transfer of the throne to the Khaljis.\n\n| Fact | Detail |\n| --- | --- |\n| Royal title | Shamsuddin (given as Shamsuddin II in one reference account)<sup>[1](https://archive.org/stream/in.ernet.dli.2015.103531/2015.103531.History-Of-The-Khaljis-1290-1320_djvu.txt)</sup> |\n| Father | Sultan Mu'izzuddin Qaiqabad<sup>[1](https://archive.org/stream/in.ernet.dli.2015.103531/2015.103531.History-Of-The-Khaljis-1290-1320_djvu.txt)</sup> |\n| Enthroned | 1290, while an infant, after his father was struck with paralysis<sup>[1](https://archive.org/stream/in.ernet.dli.2015.103531/2015.103531.History-Of-The-Khaljis-1290-1320_djvu.txt)</sup> |\n| Deposed by | Jalal-ud-din Khalji<sup>[1](https://archive.org/stream/in.ernet.dli.2015.103531/2015.103531.History-Of-The-Khaljis-1290-1320_djvu.txt)</sup> |\n| Fate | One account gives death in prison after some time, another a death date of 13 June 1290 in Delhi<sup>[1](https://archive.org/stream/in.ernet.dli.2015.103531/2015.103531.History-Of-The-Khaljis-1290-1320_djvu.txt)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[2](https://www.behindthename.com/namesakes/26054)</sup> |\n\n## Origins and family\n\nKayumars was the son of Sultan Mu'izzuddin Qaiqabad of the Ilbari (Mamluk) dynasty of Delhi.<sup>[1](https://archive.org/stream/in.ernet.dli.2015.103531/2015.103531.History-Of-The-Khaljis-1290-1320_djvu.txt)</sup> In 1290 Qaiqabad was struck with an incurable paralysis. One reference account states that Malik Surkha and his associate Malik Kachhan then placed the infant Kayumars on the throne with the title Shamsuddin II; a history of the Khaljis states that influential Baiban (Turkish) nobles placed an infant son of Mu'izzuddin on the throne with the title Shamsuddin and appointed Jalaluddin Shayasta Khan as his deputy (Naib).<sup>[1](https://archive.org/stream/in.ernet.dli.2015.103531/2015.103531.History-Of-The-Khaljis-1290-1320_djvu.txt)</sup> \n\nHis father's death preceded his own fall by only months. Qaiqabad died on 1 February 1290 (19 Muharram 689). The Khalji history records that a man named Tarkesh, whose father had been killed by Mu'izzuddin, killed the dying sultan and flung his body into the Jumna, and that the river bore away the last of the Ilbari sultans.<sup>[1](https://archive.org/stream/in.ernet.dli.2015.103531/2015.103531.History-Of-The-Khaljis-1290-1320_djvu.txt)</sup>\n\n## Reign and deposition\n\nKayumars's reign was titular from the start. Real power lay with the nobles who set him up; Jalaluddin Shayasta Khan was appointed the infant king's deputy (Naib), while important posts and portfolios were distributed among capable officers so that kingship remained in the house of the Baiban Turks.<sup>[1](https://archive.org/stream/in.ernet.dli.2015.103531/2015.103531.History-Of-The-Khaljis-1290-1320_djvu.txt)</sup>\n\nJalal-ud-din seated Shamsuddin on the throne at Baharpur and proposed that Malik Chhajju, a nephew of Balban, undertake the duties of regent and guardian of the young king. Malik Chhajju instead asked for the fief of Kara, which Jalal-ud-din assigned to him; the reference account adds that Fakhruddin also declined the regency, so Jalal-ud-din became regent himself.<sup>[1](https://archive.org/stream/in.ernet.dli.2015.103531/2015.103531.History-Of-The-Khaljis-1290-1320_djvu.txt)</sup> Jalal-ud-din arrived in Kilughari and crowned himself king on 3 Jamadi-tis Sani 689 (13 June 1290), assuming the title of Sultan; Shamsuddin was thrown into prison, where he died after some time.<sup>[1](https://archive.org/stream/in.ernet.dli.2015.103531/2015.103531.History-Of-The-Khaljis-1290-1320_djvu.txt)</sup> An onomastic reference gives Kayumars's death date as 13 June 1290 in Delhi, the same day as Jalal-ud-din's coronation.<sup>[2](https://www.behindthename.com/namesakes/26054)</sup>\n\n## Political influence\n\nThe throne passed from the Ilbaris to the Khaljis by a coup de main (a surprise attack; seizure by sudden force), not by inheritance, election, or intrigue, and was maintained through sheer force.<sup>[1](https://archive.org/stream/in.ernet.dli.2015.103531/2015.103531.History-Of-The-Khaljis-1290-1320_djvu.txt)</sup>\n\nThe transition itself was managed with continuity in administration.\n\n## Death and successors\n\nThe sources disagree on his death: the Khalji history has him dying in prison after some time,<sup>[1](https://archive.org/stream/in.ernet.dli.2015.103531/2015.103531.History-Of-The-Khaljis-1290-1320_djvu.txt)</sup> while the onomastic reference dates his death to 13 June 1290 in Delhi.<sup>[2](https://www.behindthename.com/namesakes/26054)</sup>\n\n## Historians' assessment\n\nThe change of dynasty in 1290 is assessed as a seizure by force rather than a lawful transfer. The throne passed from the Ilbaris to the Khaljis by a coup de main, not by inheritance, election, or intrigue, and was maintained through sheer force.<sup>[1](https://archive.org/stream/in.ernet.dli.2015.103531/2015.103531.History-Of-The-Khaljis-1290-1320_djvu.txt)</sup>\n\n## Legacy\n\nKayumars is remembered as the nominal last sultan of the Mamluk dynasty of Delhi: a child placed on the throne by factional nobles during his father's paralysis, whose deposition on 13 June 1290 opened the Khalji period (1290–1320) of the sultanate.<sup>[1](https://archive.org/stream/in.ernet.dli.2015.103531/2015.103531.History-Of-The-Khaljis-1290-1320_djvu.txt)</sup>\n\n## References\n\n1. [History of the Khaljis (1290–1320)](https://archive.org/stream/in.ernet.dli.2015.103531/2015.103531.History-Of-The-Khaljis-1290-1320_djvu.txt)\n2. [Kayumars – Behind the Name](https://www.behindthename.com/namesakes/26054)\n\n---\n*Topic: Encyclopedia › Society and history › History and archaeology › Asian history › India and South Asia › Ghaznavids, Ghurids, and the Delhi Sultanate (1000 to 1526) › Dynasties and rulers › Mamluk and Khalji sultanates*\n\n*Initially written Sep 23, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026*\n\n*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*\n\nLicense: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license\n",
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 "credit": "\"Kayumars\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/kayumars. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.",
 "credit_md": "\"[Kayumars](https://www.edgepedia.org/kayumars)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), [https://www.edgepedia.org/kayumars](https://www.edgepedia.org/kayumars). [Edgepedia Community License 1.0](https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license).",
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 "speakable": "Kayumars, regnal title Shamsuddin, was an infant son of the paralyzed Sultan Qaiqabad enthroned in Delhi in 1290 and deposed by Jalal-ud-din Khalji, ending the Mamluk line."
}