The rule of the Khalji dynasty (AD 1290-1320) covers a short but fateful period of Indian history. During this period practically the whole of India was gathered under the suzerainty of Alauddin Khalji (1296-1316). His valour in war was matched with his courage in the field of administration. His accomplishments in the spheres of art and culture were equally great. Alauddin Khalji and his dynasty have found an able historian to pen their history, and the result is as satisfying as it is instructive. Professor K.S. Lal’s History of the Khaljis has been acclaimed as a great work on this period of the history of medieval India. When it was first published thirty years ago in 1950, Professor Mohammad Habib commented: Dr. K.S. Lal has managed to fill a very important gap in our national history. I have read his work several times with pleasure and profit. (He) has utilized for his work all contemporary authorities which seem to be within the reach of the present generation in Persian, Hindi and Sanskrit. He has critical discrimination and complete freedom from all prejudices…No student of Indian history can afford to ignore Dr. Lal’s excellent work.Similarly, Sir Hamilton Gibb wrote to the author in a letter in September 1952: "At all events, I do want to thank you for a work which will be of the greatest service to me and others for its critical examination of the sources…I have no sympathy with those ideological investigators who think that by standing the old chroniclers on their heads they will somehow be able to extract from them materials for re-writing history to fill their own preconceptions. Professor Lal’s work contains no shibboleths or generalizations. It is based on solid facts and primary source materials. A revised edition of the work was published in 1967 and the Time Literary Supplement, London, noted in its issue of 14 December, 1968: "When the book was (first) published…it took its place at once among the standard authorities…for the Khalji dynasty…In its latest form, this book is unlikely to be superseded. The statement has held good all these years.
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