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Expeditions of Sultan Jalaluddin Kuwarizam Shah In Modern Day Pakistan 
The battle of the Indus River took place on November 1221 at Nizampur on the other side 
of the bank of indus river called Neelab and the place from where Sultan Jalaluddin Kuwarizam 
Shah jumped into the river with his horse is a few kilometers away from the Neelab. This place 
is known as ―Ghora Tarap‖ among the locals and the historical traditions associated with this 
place have been passed down from generation to generation among the locals. Here the river 
Indus narrows, enters in the rocks and mountains which are on both sides of the river, turning 
from east to south. Due to the rocky terrain as well as the reduction in width, the river flow here 
is said to be extremely fast, the depth is 180 feet almost and 250 yards wide. After leaving the 
battlefield, Sultan Jalaluddin fought the last battle at the place of Ghora Tarap and then jumped 
into the river from a thirty feet high rock [Minhaj-i-Siraj.9]. This place and this rock is still in its 
place today Saluting the courage and bravery of Sultan Jalaluddin. This place is located about 25 
to 30 kilometers west of Attock, Punjab Province, Pakistan [Rehan.10]. In 2018, I visited this 
place and made some documentaries on its historical significance which can be viewed on my 
YouTube channel ―Qiblistan‖. 
When Sultan Jalaluddin reached the other side after crossing the Indus River on 
horseback, Genghis Khan and his army were standing on the other side of the river, looking at 
the Sultan with sadness. Sultan was running his horse on the other side, arrived and looked 
Genghis Khan in the eye and confronted him with a triumphant smile. Genghis Khan could not 
reach the Sultan even if he wanted to. Some of Genghis Khan's commanders asked permission to 
jump into the river behind the Sultan, but Genghis Khan stopped them by saying that you are not 
a young man of this stature. Following in the footsteps of the Sultan, most of his companions 
who jumped into the river after him either fell prey to the merciless waves of the river or the 
Mongols shot them in the river [Minhaj-i-Siraj. 9]. The water of the river was red with blood and 
only a few were luckily abled to cross the river. Sultan Jalaluddin himself was a thief with 
wounds and now night was coming. Sultan took refuge in the nearby forests. This deserted area 
was not free from danger. Sultan Jalaluddin stayed in the eastern forests of the coast of Sindh for 
about two days and was soon joined by some of his seven companions who had crossed the river 
[Aziz.4]. This continued and the wounded comrades of the Sultan continued to meet them one by 
one and soon the number reached one hundred. The place where Sultan Jalaluddin stayed after 
crossing the river and where his companions met him was called ―Chul-e-Jalali‖[Minhaj-i-
Siraj.9]. In the local language, Chul means barren and desolate area. At that time, this area was 
barren and desolate [Rehan.10]. 
By the time whensultan Jalaluddin entered in India, this area was separated from the 
Delhi Empire and was divided into smaller states ruled by various Hindu rulers. Most of Sindh 
and Punjab were ruled by Nasiruddin Qabacha, while Sultan Shams-ud-Din Al-Tamish was 
ruling at the throne of Delhi [Farishta.5]. The local Hindu rulers had heard of the Sultan's defeat 
in the battle across the river, they could have been a threat to the Sultan at any time. The Sultan 

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and his companions were unarmed, there was a check post of Hindu soldiers, after cutting the 
sticks from the trees, the Sultan along with about a hundred of his comrades attacked the post at 
night. After collecting weapons from there, the Sultan intended to deal with the local threat. The 
local Hindu Raja of the area advanced with an army of one and a half thousand men to test the 
Sultan. Although the number of the Sultan's soldiers was small, they fought so fiercely that the 
Hindu army was defeated and the Raja was killed. This news was dangerous for the surrounding 
Hindu rulers, so they formed a united army and came against the Sultan. The number of this 
Hindu's army was about six thousand and there were barely five hundred soldiers under the 
Sultan's command. He arranged the ranks of his soldiers so well that he fought them so that the 
army could not stay in front of them for long and then they were defeated and fled [Aziz.4]. 
Genghis Khan was stationed with his army in the area across the river when he was 
informed of the Sultan's successes against the Hindus. Genghis Khan immediately sent a large 
army across the river to capture the Sultan. When the Sultan was informed of the arrival of this 
Mongol army, he left the area and proceeded to Delhi via unknown routes [Aziz.4]. After 
meeting his calf companions continuously, the number of his army had now reached five to six 
thousand. The Mongol army continued to pursue the Sultan, destroying Lahore, Multan and 
Shahpur, but the Sultan was out of their reach. The hot weather of India did not suit the Mongols, 
their soldiers began to die and they returned unsuccessfully [Rehan.10]. Arriving in Delhi, the 
Sultan stayed outside the city and sent one of his ministers, Ain-ul-Malik, as a ambassador to the 
Sultan of Delhi to form an alliance with the Delhi Empire against the Mongols. Sultan Shams-
ud-Din al-Tamish listened to the message of Sultan Jalaluddin but did not respond positively in 
clear words. He was feared by Mongol attack on India. Hearing this reply from the Sultan of 
Delhi, the Sultan turned his attention to West Punjab and Sindh so that the areas there could be 
conquered and closed to future dangers [Aziz.4],[Rehan.10]. 
The rulers of the coast of Sindh, were already frightened from the advancement of Sultan 
Jalaluddin. Raja Rai Khokhar Sankin, the greatest ruler of the Indus Valley, accepted the Sultan's 
obedience and married his daughter withSultan Jalaluddin. He also entrusted his son to the 
service of the Sultan. The Sultan was pleased and addressed his son as Qatlagh Khan [Aziz. 4], 
[Farishta. 5]. At that time, when the Sultan came to Kalarkahar in the Indus Valley, there was a 
fear of pursuit by the Mongols on the one hand and the threat of attack by the local rulers on the 
other. The famous Pakistani geologist Suleiman Rashid mentioned this in his book ―The Salt 
Range and Pothohar Plateau‖the Sultan Jalaluddin spent the summer of this year in the fort 
somewhere in Kalarkahar. He claimed this fort was the fort Samarkand on the top of a mountain 
in Kalarkahar from which the invading army was seen at a distance of three days from here. The 
Sultan prepared a plan of action for the future during his stay here. According to Suleiman 
Rashid, while living here, the greenery of this area reminded the Sultan of his homeland 
Samarkand, so the Sultan called this area Samarkand and later this mountain became known as 
Samarkand Mountain and Samarkand Fort. The remains of this fort are now can also be seen on 
Samarkand Mountain in Kalar kahar. 
In the battle of the Indus River, the Sultan's commander Amin-ul-Malik was killed,his 
young son and his daughter, who was the Sultan's wife, somehow escaped and reached in the 
hands of Nasir-ud-Din Qabacha, the ruler of Sindh. Seeing a precious necklace in the possession 
of Amin-ul-Malik's child, one of Qabacha's man killed him in greed and presented the necklace 
to Qabacha for which Qabacha rewarded him. In the same period, two important ministers of the 

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Sultan Jalaluddin, Shams-ul-Malik and Nasrudin Muhammad, who had survived in the battle of 
Indus, approached Nasir-ud-Din Qabacha. Qabacha said to him some insulting words in honor of 
Sultan Jalaluddin by thinking that the power of the Sultan is now over. Later, when the Sultan 
found out that his wife was with Nasir-ud-Din Qabacha, he demanded extradition. Qabacha sent 
the Sultan's wife to the Sultan and sent an elephant as a gift, but Qabacha killed Shams-ul-Malik 
thinking that the Sultan's insolence would not be known to Sultan but Nasrudin Muhammad told 
Sultan Jalaluddin about the murder of Amin-ul-Malik's son and Shams-ul-Malik and also his 
insolence [Ibn Khuldun. 6]. Upon hearing this, Sultan Jalaluddin decided to take revenge on 
Nasir-ud-Din Qabacha. Meanwhile, a large number of Khwarizmi rulers and soldiers from Iraq 
and Iran reached the Sultan which had further increased the power of the Sultan. The Sultan first 
attacked Kalur, the stronghold city of Qabacha, and after siege he conquered it. Here, the Sultan's 
hand was also wounded by an arrow. After that, the Sultan also conquered the fort of Barnoj and 
at the same time Sultan'scommander Jahan Pahlawan headed with an army of 7,000 soldiers. 
Qabacha had encamped at Uchh with an army of twenty thousand. The Sultan's army attacked 
him on such a night the Qabacha's army ran away and they dispersed. Qabacha escaped and hid 
[Farishta. 5], [Ibn Khuldun. 6]. In the summer Sultan Jalaluddin moved to his hill station because 
they were informed that a Mongol army led by Chughtai Khan was moving around and searching 
for them in these mountainous areas [Farishta. 5].Later, the Sultan turned towards the city of 
Lahore in the Punjab, where the son of Qabacha was ruling, he accepted the obedience of the 
Sultan so the Sultan restored his rule. Then Sultan Jalaluddin attacked an important city of Sindh 
Sadhusitan. The ruler of Sadhusitan accepted the obedience of Sultan Jalaluddin [Ibn Khuldun. 
6]. After a month stay in Sadhusitan the Sultan attacked the important city of Debal in Sindh. 
According to historical traditions, Debal was then ruled by Hindus. Sultan conquered Debal, 
where there was no mosque in the city at that time, Sultan established a mosque here [Farishta. 
5]. He also conquered Damrila and Nehruwala.Khansar was a city in Sindh under Delhi 
Sultanate. When Sultan Jalaluddin attacked Khansar, the Amir of the place accepted obedience, 
but from here the feud between Sultan Jalaluddin and Sultan Shamsuddin Al-Tamish began. Al-
Tamish came against Sultan Jalaluddin with an army of one hundred thousand. Sultan 
Jalaluddin's army was small, but he sent Jahan Pahlawan as the leader of every first flank of his 
army, but every first division of the two armies got lost the way and clash did not occurred. At 
the same time Sultan Shams-ud-Din Al-Tamish realized the seriousness of the situation and sent 
peace ambassador to Sultan Jalaluddin. The offer was accepted by Sultan Jalaluddin, so the two 
rulers were reconciled and Sultan Shamsuddin Al-Tamish returned to Delhi [Farishta. 5],[Ibn 
Khuldun. 6], [Minhaj-i-Siraj. 9].