Razia Sultan was the daughter of which ruler?

Correct answer: Iltutmish

Razia Sultan was the daughter of Shams-ud-din Iltutmish, an important ruler of the Delhi Sultanate’s Mamluk, or Slave, dynasty. Iltutmish recognized her ability and selected her as a successor, although powerful nobles opposed a woman’s accession. Razia ruled Delhi from 1236 to 1240 and is remembered as the first and only woman to sit on the throne of the Delhi Sultanate in her own right. Her reign shows that political succession could be contested even within a royal family.

Option D is correct because Iltutmish was Razia’s father. Balban belonged to the same broad Mamluk period but was not her parent, while Alauddin Khalji and Firoz Shah Tughlaq ruled in later dynastic contexts. The name “Razia Sultan” should therefore be connected with Iltutmish and the early Delhi Sultanate, not with the Khalji or Tughlaq rulers.