officers in lieu of salary. He erected many buildings, including mosques, khanqahs (monasteries), dargahs (shrines or graves of influential people) and a reservoir (hawz) for pilgrims. Names and titles The name "Iltutmish" literally means "maintainer of the kingdom" in Turkic. Since vowel marks are generally omitted in the historical Persian language manuscripts, different 19th-20th century writers read Iltutmish's name variously as "Altamish", "Altamsh", "Iyaltimish", and "Iletmish". However, several verses by contemporary poets, in which the Sultan's name occurs, rhyme properly only if the name is pronounced "Iltutmish". Moreover, a 1425-1426 (AH 829) Tajul-Ma'asir manuscript shows the vowel "u" in the Sultan's name, which confirms that "Iltutmish" is the correct reading of the name. Iltutmish's inscriptions mention several of his grandiloquent titles, including: Maula muluk al-arab wa-l-ajam ("King of the Kings of the Arabs and the Persians"), a title used by earlier Muslim kings including the Ghaznavid ruler Mas'ud Maula muluk al-turk wa-l'ajam, Saiyid as-salatin al-turk wa-l'ajam, Riqab al-imam maula muluk al-turk wa-l-ajam ("Master of Kings of the Turks and the Persians") Hindgir ("Conqueror of Hind") Sultan Salatin ash-Sharq ("the Sultan of the Sultans of the East") Shah-i-Sharq ("King of the East") Shahanshah ("King of Kings"), a title of the emperors of Persia In Sanskrit language inscriptions of the Delhi Sultanate, he has been referred to as "Lititmisi" (a rendering of "Iltutmish"); Suritan Sri Samasadin or Samusdina (a rendering of his title "Sultan Shamsuddin"); or Turushkadhipamadaladan ("the Turushka Lord"). Early life Outside India Iltutmish was born in an affluent family: his father Ilam Khan was a leader of the Ilbari Turkic tribe. According to Minhaj's Tabaqat-i Nasiri, he was a handsome and intelligent boy, because of which his brothers grew jealous of him; these brothers sold him to a slave dealer at a horse show. Minhaj's narrative appears to be inspired by the Quranic story of Hazrat Yusuf (Joseph), who was sold into slavery by his jealous brothers. According to Minhaj, as a young boy, Iltutmish was brought to Bukhara, where he was re-sold to the local Sadr-i Jahan (officer in charge of religious matters and endowments). There are several anecdotes about Iltutmish's childhood interest in religious mysticism. According to a story narrated by Iltutmish himself in Minhaj's book, once a family member of the Sadr-i Jahan gave him some money and asked him to bring some grapes from the market. Iltutmish lost the money on the way to the market,