Moobarik, being the stronger of the two, threw Khosrow on the ground, but could not disentangle himself from his grasp, as his hair was twisted in his enemy's hand. The other conspirators had thus time to come up, and Moobarik's head was severed from his body by a scimitar.
Khosrow was not allowed long to profit by his crime. He, indeed, ascended Usurpation of Khosrow the throne in 1321, under the title of Nasir-u-din, but a confederation of the nobility was immediately formed against him. It was headed by Ghazy Beg Toghlak, who had acquired great renown by his expedition against the Moguls. In the battle which ensued, Khosrow was defeated, captured, and slain; and Ghazy Beg Toghlak, with some degree of reluctance, mounted the throne amid universal acclamations. The people saluted him Shah Jehan, "The King of the Universe;" but he assumed the more modest title of Gheias-u-din, "The Aid of Religion."
Reign of Gheias u-din Toghlak. Gheias-u-din Toghlak reigned little more than four years. He owed his crown to his fame as a warrior, and secured it by the better fame of a wise and just ruler. The incidents of his reign are few. One of the most important was the siege of Wurungole, which had thrown off the Mahometan yoke, and resumed its independence. Prince Aluf Khan, the king's eldest son, conducted the siege; the Rajah Luddur Dew the defence. Both sides greatly exerted themselves, and the losses were severe, particularly on the part of the besiegers, who not only failed to make a practicable breach, but, in consequence of the Siege of Wurungole. hot winds and severe weather, were seized with a malignant distemper, which daily swept off hundreds. The survivors, completely dispirited, were anxious to return home; and sinister rumours, circulated by the disaffected, caused general consternation, under the influence of which, a number of officers moved off suddenly during the night, with all their followers. Aluf Khan, thus deserted, had no alternative but to raise the siege. In the haste and disorder of his retreat, he was pursued by the enemy with great slaughter. The officers who deserted suffered equally. One died in a Hindoo prison, another was cut off by the Mahrattas, and their whole baggage was captured. One of the rumours which had been circulated, was the death of the king. The authors of the rumour having been discovered, were condemned to be buried alive, the king jocularly but barbarously remarking, "that as they had buried him alive in jest, he would bury them alive in earnest." A new army having been collected, Aluf Khan renewed the siege of Wurungole, and obliged it to surrender. The news were celebrated with great rejoicings in the new citadel of Delhi, which had just been finished, and had received the name of Toghlakabad.
In 1325 Gheias-u-din Toghlak, after a journey to Bengal to inquire into Toghlak's accidental death. complaints made against the governors in that quarter, reached Afghanpoor on his return. His son Aluf Khan, who had previously arrived with the nobles of the court to offer their congratulations, had hastily erected a wooden building
