Ikhtiyār al-Dīn Muḥammad Bin Bakhtiyār Khaljī (Persian: اختیارالدین محمد بن بختیار خلجی), also known as Bakhtiyar Khalji, (Bengali: বখতিয়ার খলজি, romanized: Bokhtiyar Kholjī), was a Turko-Afghan Military General of the Ghurid ruler Muhammad of Ghor, who led the Muslim conquests of the eastern Indian regions of Bengal and parts of Bihar and established himself as their deputy-ruler/governor, He was the founder of the Khalji dynasty of Bengal, ruling Bengal for a short period, from 1203 to 1227 CE.
Khalji's invasions of the Indian subcontinent between A.D. 1197 and 1206 led to mass flight and massacres of monks, and caused damage to the traditional Buddhist institutions of higher learning in Northern India. In Bengal, Khalji's reign was responsible for the displacement of Buddhism. The leading centre of teaching for Mahayana Buddhism was Nalanda. At the end of the 12th century, Bakhityar Khalji demolished the monastery in a brutal sacking.