Malik Saifuddin Aibak

Malik Saifuddin Aibak (1232-1235) governor of Bengal under Delhi Sultan iltutmish. He was a Qara-Khitai Turk. In his early years, he was a slave of Sultan Iltutmish. By sheer dint of merit and sustained efforts he rose to the front rank of the Maliks of his age. Saifuddin Aibak took over the charge of Bengal in 1232. He ruled Bengal with vigour for a little more than three years.

During this period he led an expedition against Bang or southeast Bengal, though the exact direction of the expedition cannot be ascertained. In this expedition he captured a number of elephants, a few of which he sent as presents to the sultan. Iltutmish was so pleased that he bestowed on him the title of Yughantat. Perhaps he was poisoned to death in April 1235. [ABM Shamsuddin Ahmed]