Qutb ud-Din Aibak

Aibak was born in Turkestan and sold as a slave in Nishapur as a child. He later entered the service of the Ghurid sultan Muizz al-Din Muhammad, became his most trusted general and led his campaigns in India. In 1193 he took Delhi.

After Muizz al-Din was assassinated in 1206, Aibak was proclaimed an independent ruler at Lahore, beginning the Delhi Sultanate and its first, Mamluk (Slave), dynasty. He began building the Qutb Minar and the Quwwat al-Islam Mosque. In 1210 he died at Lahore after falling from his horse during a game of polo.