Jhatyapali

Jeatyapali/Jethabai was the princess of Deogiri and a daughter of Rai Ramchandra Dev, the ruler of Deogiri. She was later married to Alauddin Khalji and her son Shihabuddin Omar was appointed as the successor of Alauddin, after his death.

History The hill of Devagiri, the capital of Yadavas, the dynasty to which Jhatyapali belonged. In a bid to fulfil his desire of territorial expansion, Alauddin first raided Deogiri in 1296. The Deogiri at the time of his raid was ruled by Rai Ramchandra, the Yadava ruler, with his son Simhana as the supreme commander of the Yadava army. Simhana was on an expeditionary mission during Alauddin's invasion and Ramchandra was not able to withstand the invading army from Delhi. Though Yadava gave formidable challenge to Alauddin they were not able to cope up with the situation due to absence of Simhana from the battlefield. Ramchandra then sent a message of truce, which was welcomed by Alauddin as he wanted to return Delhi as soon as possible.

Life as Empress Shihabuddin Omar, the son of Jhatyapali, who was merely six years old was appointed by Malik Kafur, the slave General of Alauddin as his successor while the other sons of Alauddin including Qutbuddin Mubarak Shah were either blinded or detained. This was done by Kafur to strengthen his holds upon the Sultanate.

According to Ferishta, in order to legitimise his rule Malik Kafur married Jhatyapali and became the step-father of the boy Sultan. The fate of Alauddin's family engineered by Kafur to fulfill his ambitions was not liked by some of the earlier nobles and bodyguards (Paiks) of Alauddin, who plotted and assassinated Kafur, which was followed by freeing of Mubarak Shah, another adult son of Alauddin.

Death In 1320, Khusrau Khan, the General and partner of homosexual Sultan Qutubuddin Mubarak Shah, raised the army of Baradus, a Hindu military clan. He assassinated the Sultan and in order to eliminate all the possible claimants to the throne, he attacked the royal harem. All the surviving princes were ordered to be killed. Jhayatapali, the mother of Mubarak Shah was also killed during the Coup.