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History Optional PYQ Master Pack · Model answer

Write brief essay – Alauddin Khilji was a typical despot

  • UPSC 1999
  • The Fourteenth Century

Despotism in the Sultanate context meant more than harsh rule; it denoted a philosophy of kingship in which the sovereign recognised no institutional check — not the clergy, not custom, not even kinship — on the exercise of his will. Alauddin Khalji (1296–1316) is the figure most consistently cited as its fullest Sultanate expression. The…

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What the full answer covers

  • Rejection of Religious Constraint on Royal Will
  • Concentration of Power Through Surveillance
  • Elimination of Rivals and Disproportionate Punishment
  • A Court Culture Built on Fear, Not Counsel
  • Was He "Typical," or a High-Water Mark?

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