Jalaluddin Ahsan Khan


Jalaluddin Ahsan Khan was the first Sultan of Madurai Sultanate and father-in-law of the North African Berber traveler Ibn Batutah.

Declaration of independence

In 1334, Jalaluddin Ahsan Khan, the Tughlaq Governor of Madurai, declared his independence and established the independent sultanate of Madurai. He claimed the whole of the Tughlaq province of Ma'bar which included the whole of the ancient Tamil country. However, he scarcely had any authority beyond the realm of the Pandyas and the territory to the north of the river Kaveri was largely independent under the Cholas and the Hoysalas.

Reign

Jalaluddin Ahsan Khan took over as the independent sultan of Madurai in 1335. Ferishta, however, gives a date of 1341 for his assumption of the sultanate. Ferishta refers to Ahsan Khan as Syed, Hasan and Husun. Ahsan Khan was also the father-in-law of the Moorish traveller Ibn Batuta. Immediately, Muhammad bin Tughlaq sent an army to reassert his control over the region. But Ahsan Khan easily defeated this army. Tughlaq took his revenge by killing Ahsan Khan's son Ibrahim who was the purse-bearer of the Emperor. Ahsan Khan was killed in 1340 by one of his nobles after having ruled for a brief span of 5 years.