IN the Tabkat Nasiri an account is given of the ancestry and early life of Shams-ud-din Altamsh, who rose to be the greatest of the slave-kings of Delhi. At first sight it seems remarkable that the most majestic and beautiful remaining buildings at the Kutb were the works of these slavekings. But this fact undoubtedly testifies to the ambition and energy with which this race of sovereigns was endowed. Notwithstanding the inferior breeding of his parents, Altamsh is said to have been able to trace his descent fi'om a noble family.
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