Qutub-ud-din Aibak was born to a Turk family in Central Asia. He was sold as a slave in his childhood. But this went well because he was brought up by the chief Qazi of Nishapur, a town in northeastern Iran. He was treated like one of the sons of this Qazi and was given a good education, including training in archery and horsemanship. However when the master died, his jealous sons sold Qutub-ud-din Aibak to a slave master.