Raja Mal Khan
Rai Dhrupet Dev was the father of a famous rebellious king Raja Ajmal Dev Janjua who embraced Islam in the 12th century due to his love for Sufi art, poetry and teachings. Rai/Raja Mal followed the Islamic tradition of change of name after conversion and was then known as Raja Mal Khan. He was among the first Muslim Rajputs. This conversion was done before the armies of Shahabudin Ghauri entered into the Indian Plateau to conquer whilst he was very young in his teens and inclined towards Islamic philosophy of the Sufis, whose missionary efforts were gaining popularity in Northern India.
Conquering for himself a kingdom in the Koh-i-Jud he settled his capital at Rajgarh which he later renamed Malot. He re-conquered the Salt Ranges of Punjab to re-establish the dominion which his tribe lost almost two centuries earlier to the Ghaznavids. (Malot was originally called Shahghar or Rajghar – meaning home of the Shahis/Kings but was later changed to Malot in recognition of its founder.)
He then led the revolt to Multan with his Gakhar allies, defeating the Ghorid Governor of Multan before progressing to plunder Lahore and blockading the strategic road between Punjab and Ghazni.
Read more about this topic: Janjua Rajputs
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