The grandson of Sultan Ghyasuddin Balban, whom he succeeded in 1286 on the throne of Delhi in the absence of his father Nasiruddin Bughra Khan, who was then in Bengal. In 1287, Kaiqubad's father having heard of the mismanagement of the state of affairs marched from Bengal to visit and advise his son. They met at the banks of the Ghaghra river at Bihar. The whole episode was recorded in Qiran us Sadain, (the conjuncture of the two planets) by the poet Amir Khusro. Kaiqubad was assassinated through the instigation of Jalaluddin Firoz Shah Khilji, who became the first Khiliji Sultan of Delhi in 1288.