DELHI SULTANATE

Introduction:
 The period from 13th to 15th (1200-1550 CE) century saw the arrival of Isalmic
institutions and Culture on India.
 Islam was found by Prophet Muhammad (570-632). It originated in Mecca in
Arabia. Its first convert were Arabs. The Arabs made Islam a powerful force in the
politics of Asia. The Persians strengthened Islam and Turks extended it both towards
the West and East.
 His teachings made the wealthy people of Mecca his enemies. Therefore he migrated
to Medina in 622 which was the starting point of the Muslim calendar and the
Muslim era called hijra. After 8 years he returned to Mecca where he died in 632.
 Caliphate – An Islamic state, especially the one ruled by single religious and political
leader.
 Earlier there were 2 caliphates (Ummayads and Abbasids). Both expanded their rule
separately by conquering and then spread the principle of Islam. By the end of 9th
century Abbasid caliphate, Arab‟s garrison in India and elsewhere declined and
independent rulers emerged.
 Caliph – Representative of Prophet Muhammad.
 The Arabs learned the numerals 0 to 9 from India. The importance of zero was spread
to the west (Europe) through Arabs. It is believed that the people of west and Arabs
learned the game of chess from India.
 The Arab scholars visited the Sind and learned many Sanskrit books in Astronomy,
Philosophy, Mathematics and Medicine and translated them into Arabic.
 The geographical location of Arabia facilitates the trade relationship between India
and Arabia.
 There were south Indian settlements in the Persian Gulf and the Arabs too settled in
the Malabar and Coromandel Coast.
 The Arabs who married the Malabar women and settled down in the west coast were
called Mappillais.
 The Arab conquest in 712 and subsequent invasion of Ghazi and Ghori led to the loot
and use the resources to strengthen their power in Central Asia.
 Following the invasion of the ruler of Eastern Afghanistan (Khurasan) and
subsequent invasion by Chengiz Khan led to the ties of North Indian rulers with
Afghanistan.
 Mongol invasion destroyed Ghaznavids and Ghori and cut into the resources of Sultan
Nasir-Ud-din-Qubacha (1206-1228), the ruler of Uchh and Multan.
 Thus Iltutmish had the opportunity to expand his province in North India which
enabled the Muslim rulers to rule for nearly 4 centuries.
 The rulers of the medieval period came from different ethnicities: Arabs, Persia, Turk
and Central Asia.
 Iltutmish was a Olperli Turk and many of his slaves were of Turkish and Mongol
ancestries brought by the merchants from Bukhara,Samarkhand and Baghdad.
 There were some slaves from other ethnicities as well (Hindu Khan captured from
Mihir in Central India) but Iltutmish gave them all Turkish titles.
 The Delhi Sultanate belonged to 5 distinct categories:
 Slave dynasty (1206-1290)
 Khalji dynasty (1290-1320)
 Tughlaq dynasty (1320-1414)
 Sayyid dynasty (1414-1451)
  Lodi dynasty (1451-1526)

Sources:

Author Book name About Year Language

Al-beruni Tarikh-Al-Hind Indian philosophy and Arabic
religion
Minhaj us Siraj Tabaqat-i-Nasiri World Islamic history 1260 Arabic
Ziauddin Barani Tarikh-i-Firoz History of Delhi Sultanate 1357
Shahi upto Firoz Shah
Shams-i-siraj- Tarikh-i-Firuz- After Barani‟s accont of Persian
Afif Shahi Delhi Sultanate
Tughlaq Nama History of Tughluq dynasty Persian
Amir Khusrau Mifta ul Futuh Victories of Jalal-ud-din
Khalji
Amir Khusrau Khazain ul Futuh Victories of Allauddin Khalji Persian
Ghulam Yahya Tarikh-i-Mubarak Written during the period of Persian
Bin Ahmad Shahi Mubarak Shah
Ferishta Tarikh-i-Frishta History of Muslim rule in Persia
(16th century) India

*Sunil Kumar – Emergence of Delhi Sultanate-Persian chronicles speaks about the Delhi
Sultanate in hyperbolic terms

The Arab conquest of Sind

 Iraq‟s Arab governor – Hajjaj Bin Yusuf sent 2 military expeditions (one through
land and the other through sea to prevent the pirates) against the ruler of Sind
(Dahar). Dahar defeted and killed the commanders.
 In the next expedition, with the consent of Caliph, Hajjaj sent 6000 strong cavalry
along with large camel corps under the command of his son-in-law Muhammad-bin-
Qasim (17years old) (Qasim was the commander of the Ummayad kingdom)
 Muhammad-bin-Qasim marched on the fortress of Brahmanapad (in 712) where
Dahar was stationed with storng army. Dahar‟s wazir (prime minister) betrayed him
and also Dahar was a Brahmin ruler. His predecessors seized the power from
Buddihst ruler and he gave high positions to Brahmins. This made his defeat easier.
He conquered the capital of Sind, Aror. It was called the Battle of Rewar.
 Qasim plundered for 3 days and asked the people to surrender. He gave 1/5th of the
share to Caliph and remaining was shared by him along with his soldiers.
 The Arab conquest of Sind was called as “triumph without results”. After his
expedition, it remained free from invasion for next 3 centuries.
 He extended his conquest further into Multan. He called Multan “the city of Gold”.
He organized the administration of Sind and the people of Sind were given the status
of “(zimmis) protected subjects” as there was no interference in their religious faith.
He was soon recalled by the Caliph. Qasim had an army of 25000 troops including
6000 syrian horses, 6000 camels, 3000 Bactrian camels, an artillery force of 2000
men with 5 catapults and advanced guards.
 Caliph Sulaiman succeeded Caliph Walid and he was an enemy of Hajjaj. He
dismissed Muhammad-bin-Qasim as he was the son-in-law of Hajjaj. He sent him as a
prisoner to Mesopotamia and tortured him to death.
 Sind and Multan remained a part of Caliph‟s empire for more than 150 years.
  The Turks got the upper hand over the Caliphs of Bhagdad in the 8th & 9th century.
They were more aggressive than the Arabs. They extended their rule beyond Sind and
Multan.

 Rani Bai, the wife of Dahir and other women of Sind put up a heroic defense
within the Fort of Rewar. When their attempt failed they performed Jauhar to save
their chastity and escape from the hands of the invaders.
 Brahma Siddhanta, a Sanskrit work of Brahma Gupta was translated into
Arabic.
 Arabic works mentions the names of Indian scientists like Bhala, Manaka and
Sindbad.
 Dhana was appointed as the chief medical officer in the hospital of Bhagdad.
 Manaka, a physician cured a serious illness of Caliph Harun-al-Rashid.

Ghaznavids:
 The Ghazanavid empire roughly include Persia, Trans-Oxyana, Afghanistan and
Punjab.
 In central Asia – Arab empire collapsed and independent rulers arose. In the
meantime Samanid kingdom arose to power. Later it also collapsed.
 Alaptigin (Alp-Tegin)
 He was slave, working as a governor under Samanid kingdom in Khurasan.
 In 963 he seized the city of Ghazini in the eastern Afghanistan and established an
independent kingdom there.
 He died soon and after him 3 successors were unsuccessful.
 Sabuktigin
 The nobles made Sabukitigin as the successor. He was the son-in-law of
Alptigin. He wanted to conquer India from north-west but his son Muhammad
only succeeded.
 He succeeded in capturing Peshawar from Jayapala.
 He made his eldest son Muhammad as the provincial governor.
 When Sabuktigin died in 997, Muhammad was in Khurasan. So Sabukitigin‟s
youngest son Ismail was made the successor.

 Muhammad of Ghazni (997-1030 AD)

 He defeated Ismail and ascended the throne at the age of 27. He was the 1st
Turkish invader. He patronized scholars like Firdausi and Al-Beruni.
 To acknowledge this victory, the Caliph gave the title Yamini-ud-Daulah (Right
hand of the empire).
 He was the commander of the Ummayad Kingdom.
 He ruled for 32 years and raided India 17times. Sir Henry Eliot in his book “The
History of India” refers to the 17 expedition of Ghazni. He says that after every
expedition Ghazni returned with countless wealth.
 He invaded into the Indian subcontinent and defeated the Shahi ruler of
Afghanistan (Jayapala) in 1001.
 He defeated Fateh Daud of Multan.
 He defeated the Shahi ruler Anandapala. (Battle of Waihind, near Peshwar in
1008). (Shahi Kingdom extended from Punjab to Kabul). Muhammad extended
his rule beyond Punjab.
 After this he went deep into the Indo-Gangetic plain.
  In 1011, he raided Nagarkot in Punjab hills and Thaneshwar near Delhi.
 Before reaching Kanauj, he raided Mathura in 1018. The ruler of Kanauj
Rajyapala abandoned Kanauj and later died. Muhammad returned via Kalinjar.
 In 1024 –he marched from Multan across Rajputana and defeated the Solanki
King Bhimadeva I and plundered Anhilwad.
 He plundered the Somanth temple in the seashore of Gujarat (Kathaiwar) at
1025. Raja Bhima Deva of Kathaiwar and his followers fled from the place
making it easy for the plunder. Desecration of temples and vandalizing the images
of the deities were the part of asserting one‟s authority in medieval India.
 The plundering raids of Muhammad were intended to strengthen his huge army as
the Turks relied on permanent and professional army. It was built around an elite
corps of mounted archers who were all slaves brought and trained.
 His wealth from the plundering the city Ray in Iran (1029) are
Jewels worth – 5,00,000 Dinars
Coins worth – 2,60,000 Dinars
Gold and silver vessels – 30,000 Dinars.
 His plundering of Somnath temple is believed to have brought about 20 million
dinar worth of sopils.
 Romila Thapar points out that the sufferers of the Somnath plunder kept silent
and Sanskrit and Jain sources does not mention about the viewpoints mentioned in
Arab Chronicles.
 He built the empire from Punjab in the east to Caspian Sea in the west and from
Samarkand in the north to Gujarat in the south.
 He is considered as the hero of Islam by the medieval historians.
 Firdausi was the poet-laureate in the court of Muhammad. He was the author of Shah
Namah.
 After the death of Muhammad in 1030 there were clashes for succession. Exception
include
Sultan Ibrahim- ruled for 40 years
Masud (Ibrahim‟s son) – ruled for 17 years
 The invasion from Ghuris (from North) and Seljuq Turks (from west) were
disastrous to the kingdom.
 In 1186 Ghuris prince Muizz-ud-din-Muhammad (Muhammad Ghori) invaded
Punjab and seized Lahore.
 He imprisoned and killed the last ruler, Khurav Shah in 1192.
To Arabs and Iranians, India was Hindu and the Indians were Hindus.
But as the Muslim communities arose, the name Hindu can be applied to anyone except muslims.

Al-Beruni, mathematician, philosopher, astronomer, and historian, came to India along with
Mahmud of Ghazni. He stayed in India for 10 years.
He learned Sanskrit, studied religious and philosophical texts before composing his work
Kitab Ul Hind. He was impressed by the Upanishads and Bhagavat Gita.
He also translated the Greek work of Euclid into Sanskrit.
He transmitted Aryabhata’s magnum opus Aryabattiyam (the thesis that earth‟s rotation
around its axis creates day and night) to the West.
He was the inter-civilizational connect between India and the rest of the world.
In his book, Tahquiq-i-Hind, Alberuni discussed the Indian conditions, system of
knowledge, social norms and religion.
Ghuris (Ghoris) (1149-1206)
 Muizz-ud-din Muhammad popularly known as Muhammad Ghori (1149 -1206
AD) invaded India with a scope to establish Garrison (military troops) to get regular
tribute and plunder. He was the ruler of Ghori, a mountainous region situated between
Ghazni and Heart.
 He established garrison in Punjab, Haryana and Sind in 1180 and 1190.
 As a result employment opportunities arose and people were employed to organize
military and fiscal affairs. The Sultan‟s military commanders in North India were
chosen from elite military class. They were different from the agrarian labor and
slaves. He invested in territories he seized. Lahore, Multan and Uchh was initially
powerful.
 In 1175, he seized Multan from Ismaili ruler and the fort of Uchh fell into his
hands.
 In 1179, the Chalukyas of Gujarat defeated him in Mt.Abu. So he started
consolidating his position in Sind and Punjab.
 He subjugated lower Sind in 1182.
 In 1186 he attacked Punjab (Captured it from Khusru Malik) and captured the
Fortress of Sialkot. In 1186 he besieged Lahore.
 1st battle of Tarrain(1191) (Near Delhi).
 When he attacked the fortress Tabarhinda (Bhatinda), the strategic viewpoint of
Ajmer, the ruler of Ajmer Prithviraj Chauhan marched and defeated him
 Ghori left with wounds in a horse.
 2nd battle of Tarrain (1192)
 Muhammad gathered a large army of 1,20,000 men and came to Lahore via
Peshawar and Multan. Prithviraj gathered with 300000 horses, 3000 elephants and
a large booty of foot soldiers.
 Prithviraj Chauhan was defeated but was restored with Ajmer. Later he was
executed on the charges of treason.
 Qutb-ud-dib-Aibak (Ghori‟s general) was appointed as deputy in India. He is
declared as First sultan of India.
 1st muslim kingdom that was firmly established in India was Ajmer.
 Jayachandra of Kanauj – Battle of Chandwar(1194)
o He was an enemy of Prithviraj Chauhan because Prithviraj abducted his
daughter Samyuktha. So he did not support prithviraj in the battle of tarrain.
o Jayachandra‟s eye was struck with an arrow. Ghori easily defeated him.
o While returning back he was killed by unknown person while crossing the
bank of Indus (1206).
 Muhammad army had 5 divisions.
 Four armies were sent to attack the Rajput armies on all sides.
 The 5th army was kept in reserve.
 When the Rajput army becomes exhausted he sent the 5th army.
 He was assassinated on 25th March1206 by some Shia rebels and Khokhars.
 He was the real founder of Turkish empire in India.

Rajput Kingdoms:
 The dominance of Rajputs began in the 7th and 8th century which continued till the
12th century. At the time of Muslim invasion, Rajputs were the main defenders of
Hindu religion and culture.
  They were considered as the descendents of foreign invaders and Indian Kshatriyas.
They became homogeneous by constant intermarriage and by adopting common
customs. They made war as their chief occupation. However trade and agriculture
flourished.
 Gurjar-Pratiharas were the earliest of the Rajput rulers. Its 1st great ruler was
Harischandra who captured extensive territory in Rajputana and ruled with the
capital Bhinmal.
 The Gurjaras were in different branches. One branch ruled from Gujarat and other
from Avanthi.
 By the beginning of the 10th century, the two powerful kingdoms, Gurjar
Prathihara and Rashtrakutas lost their power.
 Other ruling dynasties that came to power in North India were:
 Tomaras (Delhi)
 Chauhans (Rajasthan) – Vighraharaja and Prithviray Chauhan – 2 prominent ruler
 Solankis (Gujarat)
 Paramaras (Malwa) – Bhoja King
 Gahadavalas (Kanauj) – Jayachandra king
 Chandelas (BundelKhand) – Yasovarman and Kirtivarman
 The Rajput kings had a long tradition of martial spirit, bravery and courage.
 The Rajput force were superior in the regimental discipline and training
 However the Turks were superior in changing their tactics to the needs. Turkish
cavalry were superior to Rajputs. The Rajputs relied on elephant forces that were
powerful but slow moving. The Turkish horsemen had greater mobility and were
skilled in mounted archery.

 The famous Khajuraho temple was built by Chandelas of Bundelkhand who ruled from
Khajuraho.
 The complex consisted of many temples including
 Lakshmana temple
 Vishwanatha temple and
 Kandariya Mahadev temple.

The Slave Dynasty/ Mamluk Dynasty (1206-1290)

 Mamuluk means property. In Arabic it means slave.
 3 important rulers of the dynasty wer : Qutb-ud-din-Aibak, Iltutmish and Balban
 When Qutb-ud-din ascended the throne, his father-in-law (Yildiz) remained a threat to
him.
 Slave dynasty ruled for about 84 years. In fact three dynasties existed during this
period.
 Qutbi dynasty (1206-1211) founded by Qutbuddin Aibak.
 First Ilbari dynasty (1211-1266) founded by Iltutmish
 Second Ilbari dynasty (1266-1290) founded by Balban.
Qutb-ud-din-Aibak (1206-1210)
 He was sold as slave to Muhamad Ghori at Ghazni.
 Impressed by his ability and loyalty, the Sultan elevated him to the rank of viceroy of
the conquered provinces in India. He assumed to power on 24th June 1206. He set his
military headquarters at Indraprasta, near Delhi.
 He did not issue coins or read the khutba in his name.
 He was assisted by Bhaktiyar Khalji (Turkish general) in capturing Bihar and
Bengal.
  He began to rule by establishing Lahore as his capital. Later he shifted his capital to
Delhi. He built Quwat-ul-Islam mosque at Ajmer and Dhai Dinka Jhonpara
mosque at Delhi. He patronized Hassan Nizami and Fakhre Mudir. He was called
as Lakh Baksh or giver of lakhs for his generosity.
 He died while he was playing chaugan (Polo) in Lahore in 1210 (November).
Bhakthiyar Khalji:
 Mistaking for a military camp, he destroyed the Nalanda and Vikramasila University in
1202-1203. He also captured Nadia in Bengal and parts of Bihar.
 The details about the Nalanda University are found in the accounts of Chinese pilgrim Hieun
Tsang.
 The manuscripts and texts in Nalanda University were about grammar, logic, literature,
astronomy and medicine.

Shams-ud-din Iltutmish (1210-1236)

 He was a Turkish slave and son-in-law of Qutb-ud-din Aibak. Aibak‟s son Aram
Shah (Aram Bhaksh) was incompetent. As Yalduz considered himself to be the
successor of Muhammad Ghori, Iltutmish defeated him and put him to death.
 So the nobles chose Iltutmish (military commander of Aibak and iqtadar of Gwalior).
 He shifted the capital from Lahore to Delhi.
 He relied on his elite military slaves (bandagan) and the practice of appointing them
as governors and generals did not change despite the migration of trained North
Indian commanders fleeing from the Mongols.
 He was the first Turkish ruler to introduce Arabic coinage. The silver tanka of
Iltutmish weighed 175mg and had an Arabic inscription on it. He also introduced
copper Jital.
 He overcame the internal rebellion of Rajputs at Gwalior, Rathambore, Ajmer and
Jalore.
 He overcame the challenge of Nasiruddin Qubacha in Lahore and Multan. He
captured Bhakkar, where Qubacha took shelter.
 He frustrated the conspiracy of Alivardan (Governor of Bengal). He also put down
the revolt of the Khilji Maliks of Bengal in 1230.
 He saved India from the invasion of Chengiz Khan (Temujin) by refusing to give
protection to Khwarizmi Shah Jalaluddin Mangabarani of Central Asia.
 He defeated Udai singh, the ruler of Jalore and made him as a feudatory.
 He led an expedition against the Paramaras of Malwa but it was unsuccessful.
 He built a victory tower, Qutb Minar (243ft height) (built in honour of sufi saint
Khwaja Qutb-ud-din Baktiyar Kaki by Qutbuddin Aibak and completed by
Iltutmish) in Delhi. He introduced copper and silver tanka (2 basic coinage of
Sultanate period).
 Iltutmish received the Mansur (the letter of recognition) from the Abbasid Caliph in
1229 by which he became the legal sovereign of India. The hereditary succession to
Delhi sultanate was initiated by Iltutmish.
 After his death in April 1236, succession was not smooth. It was succeeded by a son,
daughter, another soon and a grandson all within 10years.
 Finally his son Nasir-al-din Muhammad II (1246-66) succeeded him.
 Iltutmish‟s generals of large armies and governors of vast territories posed a great
threat. They interfered in Delhi politics and dictated as his successors.
 Though his military slaves (bandagan-i-khas) were replaced by junior bandagans, the
latter were not oriented to master‟s vision of a paramount, monolithic sultanate to
same extent as their predecessors.
 The slave governors located in the eastern province of Lakhnauti (modern Bengal)
and Punjab were the 1st to break free from Delhi.
 The core territories from “Awadh-kara on the river Sarayu in the east to Samana-
Sunam in Punjab in the west resisted the intervention of Delhi by aligning with
neighboring chieftains.
 After the 2 decades of conflict among the Shamsi bandagan and successive Delhi
sultans, Ulugh Khan, a newly purchased slave and now a commander of Shivalikh
territories in the North-West seized Delhi in 1254.
 He took the title of Na’ib-i mulk, the Deputy of the realm, seizing the throne as
Ghiyas al-Din Balban in 1266.
 Iltutmish granted iqtas (land) to the members of the army who collects tax from the
land to maintain troops and horses. The holders of the iqta are called the iqtadar or
muqti who had to provide military assistance to the Sultan.
 The scholars of his time who added grandeur to his court include :
 Minhaj-us-Siraj
 Taj-ud-din
 Nizam-ul-mulk
 Muhammad Janaidi
 Malik Qutb-ud-din Hasan and
 Fakhrul-Mulk Isami
 He built a mafnificient mosque at Ajmer. He introduced silver tanka which became
the basis for modern currency.

Raziya Sultana (1236-1240)

 Balban nominated Rukh-ud-din-Firuz as his successor. As he died he nominated Razia.
 Raziya was daughter of Iltutmish, who ascended the throne after a lot of hurdles put up
by the Turkish nobles.
 According to Ibn Battuta, the Moroccan traveller, „Raziya rode on horseback as
men ride, armed with a bow and quiver, and surrounded by courtiers. She did not veil
her face.‟
 Yet Raziya ruled for only three and half years.
 The elevation of an Abyssinian slave, Jalal-ud-din Yaqut, to the post of Amir-I
Akhur, Master of the Stables, a very high office, angered the Turkish nobles.
 The nobles overplayed her closeness with Yakut and tried to depose her. Since Raziya
enjoyed popular support, they could not do anything in Delhi. But while she was on a
punitive campaign against the rebel governor Altuniya in southern Punjab
(governor of Bhatinda), the conspirators used that occasion to dethrone her.
 The Turkish nobled put Iltutmish‟s son Bahram on the throne. But Raziya won the
captor Altuniya and after marrying him returned to Delhi. But she was defeated and
killed.
 Sucessors of Raziya:
 Bahram Shah (1240-1242)
 Alaud-din Masid (1242-1246)
 Nasir-ud-din Muhammad (1246-1264) – Iltutmish son placed by Balban on throne.
 Balban (1265-1287)
 Bandagan
 It is the plural of banda (military slaves)
 They were graded according to the years of service, proximity and trustworthiness.
 This trust led to the appointment of governors and military commanders.
 The Ghurid bandagan in North India were the slaves of Muiz-ud-din Ghuri.
 Since these slaves were without any social identity, they were given new names by their
masters, which included nisba, which indicated their social or regional identity.
 Slaves carried the nisba of their master: hence Mu’izz al Din’s slave carried the nisba
Mu’izz and later Shams-ud-din Iltutmish’s slaves were called the Shamsi bandagan.

Balban (1265-1287):
 The political intrigues of the nobility came to an end after the accession of Balban as
the Sultan.
 He believed in the Divine right theory (ruler is considered as the representative og
God on Earth) of Kingship. According to him, the Sultans were the God‟s shadow on
Earth and recipient of the divine grace.
 He introduced Polibos- a form of salutation to the king by kissing his feet.
 He introduced the Persian festival Nauroz to impress the nobles and the people with
his wealth and power.
 According to Lanepoole, Balban (a slave, water carrier, huntsman, general, statesman
and Sultan is one of the most striking figures among the notable men in the long line
of Kings of Delhi).
 Haybat Khan – governor of Oudh was punished for killing a man who was drunk.
 Malik Baqbaq – governor of Badaun was publicly flogged for his cruelty towards
his servants.
 Sher Khan – governor of Bhatinda was poisoned.
 He patronized the famous Persian poet Amir Khusru (parrot of India who has
written 4lakh couplets) and Amir Hasan. Amir Khusru has used hindi words in his
works.
 He introduced a separate military department called Diwan-i-arz.
 He led constant military campaigns against the defiant governors and their allies.
 Barani mentions his campaign in the regions surrounding Delhi and Doab regions.
 During this region, forests were cleared and new roads were laid and forts were
constructed. The newly deforested lands were given to freshly recruited Afghans and
others as rent free lands (mafruzi) and brought under cultivation.
 New forts were constructed to protect the trade routes and village markets.

Balban and Problem of law and order:

 When Balban came to power, the law and order situation in Ganga, Jamuna, Doab
regions deteriorated badly.
 The Rajput zamindars built forts and started to act independently.
 Meos, muslim community from North-western region, living in the heavily forested
regions around Mewat were plundering the area.
 Balban took it as a challenge and destroyed the Mewatis. The Meos were mercilessly
killed.
 In the Doab regions, the Rajput strongholds were destroyed and jungles were cleared.
Colonies of the Afghan soldiers were established throughout the region to safeguard
the roads and deal with the rebellion.
 Balban appointed his favorite slave Tughril Khan as the governor of Bengal. As he
became rebellious soon, Balban sent Amin Khan (Governor of Oudh) to suppress
the rebellion. As it failed, Balban sent 2 more expeditions which also suffered defeat.
 Humiliated by this, Balban went in person. On hearing the news, Tughril Khan fleed
but was pursued first at Lakhnauti and then towards Tripura, where he captured
and beheaded.
  Bughra Khan (son of Balban) was appointed as the governor of Bengal. He craved
out an independent kingdom after the death of Balban. He did not claim the Delhi
throne even in the times of leadership crisis.
Balban against the Mongols:
 The threat of Mongols was used to militarize his regime.
 The frontier areas were strengthened with garrisoning of forts at Bhatinda, Sunam
and Samana.
 At the same time he took efforts to maintain a good relationship with Hulagu Khan,
Mongol viceroy of Iran and grandson of Chengiz Khan. Balban got the assurance
that the Monghols would not cross beyond Sutlej.
 Hulagu Khan sent Balban a goodwill mission to Delhi in 1259.
 Muhammad Khan (favourite son of Balban was the governor of Multan) was
incharge of protecting Multan from the Mongols were killed in an encounter.
 Balban saddened by this incident, fell ill and died in 1286.

The Khaljis (1290-1320):

Jalal-ud-din-Khalji (1290-1296):
 Balban‟s son Kaiqubad was unfit to rule. Therefore the nobles placed his 3 year old
son Kaymar on the throne.
 There was no unanimity in the decision of regent and a council to administer the
empire.
 Malik Jalal-ud-din Khalji (commander of the army), assumed the office of Naib
(Deputy of the sultan) emerged victorious.
 He ruled the kingdom in the name of Kaiqubad for some time and later sent his men
to kill Kaiquabad.
 He then ascended the throne formally. He wanted to rule without bloodshed, so he
was called as clemency Jalal-ud-din. He was generous and lenient.
 He faced opposition on the grounds that he was not a Turk but an Afghan. The
Khalji‟s were indeed Turk who settled in Afghanistan before the establishment of
Turkish rule and so they were Afghanized Turks.
 He fought many battles and even in his old age, he marched against the Mongols who
tried to advance up to Sunam and prevented their entry into India in 1292.
 He arrested and killed Sidi Maula (religious leader) who tried to seize the throne.
 He killed Malik Chhajju (nephew of Alauddin) at Kara and appointed Alauddin as
its governor.
 Alauddin Khalji (governor of Kara), nephew and son-in-law of Jalaluddin Khalji
invaded Malwa which yielded him a huge booty.
 This campaign stimulated him to raid Devagiri, the capital city of Yadava Kingdom
in Deccan and defeated its ruler Ramachandra. On his return he plotted against Jalal-
ud-din and murdered him and captured the throne.

Alauddin Khalji (1296-1316):

 He spent his first year in eliminating his enemies and consolidating his power in
Delhi.
 He then turned his attention against the nobles. He eliminated the top officers and the
nobles who joined hands with Jalaluddin were dealt harshly.
Against Mongols:
 The Mongols posed a great threat.
  During the 2nd year of his rule (1298), when Moghols stormed Delhi, his army drove
them back. But when Mongols returned the following year, the people in the sub-urns
of Delhi had to take refuge in the city.
 Alauddin dealt with the problem and in the ensuing battle the Mongols were routed.
Yet their raids continued till 1305 when they ravaged the Doab region. But this time,
the Sultan army took large number of Mongols as prisoners and they were mercilessly
killed.
 But Mongol invasion continued and the major Mongol raid took place in 1307-08.
The term Mongol refers to Mongolic -speaking nomadic tribes of central Asia. In 12th century
they established a very large kingdom which included the present day Russia, China, Korea,
India, south-east Asia, Persia, the Middle East and Eastern Europe under the leadership of
Chengiz Khan.
Military campaigns:
 The inability of the Sultan to effectively harness the agrarian resources is evident
from the extensive military campaign he undertook.
 His campaigns include
 Devagiri (1296, 1307, 1314)
 Gujarat (1299-1300) – sent his generals Ulugh Khan and Nusrat Khan to
conquer
 Rathambhor (1301) – its ruler Hamir Deva was killed.
 Chitoor (1303) – Raja Ratan Singh fought valiantly but failed.
 Malwa (1305)
 1307 - The first target in the peninsula was Devagiri. He sent his large army under the
command of Malik Kafur to capture Devagiri fort.
 1309 – Pratabharudra Deva, the Kakatiya ruler of Warrangal (Telanga region)
was defeted.
 1310 - Vira Balala III (Hoysala ruler) surrendered
 1311 – Malik Kafur was sent to Tamil country. Though his raid was prevented by
heavy rains and flood, he managed to enter the Pandya capital Madurai and also
plundered the temples of Chidambaram and Sri rangam. Muslisms of Madurai fought
on the side of Pandya king. Malik Khafur helped Sundara Pandyan against his rival
Vira Pandiyan. He reached as far as Rameshwaram and built a mosque there. After
the invasion of the Malik Khafur, Pandya kingdom suffered a great eclipse and a
Muslim state subordinate to Delhi sultanate were established. In 1335, Jalaluddin
Asan Shah (muslim governor of Madurai) declared his independence.
 According to Ferishta, he recruited 475000 cavalry men. He introduced the system of
dagh (branding of horses) and prepared huliya (descriptive list of soldiers). He
carried out strict review of army.

Sack of Chittor (1303): When Ala-ud-din‟s army overwhelmed the Rajput army in
Chittor and in the context of threat of defeat, the men and women of the fortress, in
accordance with their old custom, performed the rite of jauhar. According to this custom,
left with no other way to survive, the men would go out and die in the field of battle and
women would burn themselves on a pyre.
The Padmini episode was graphically mentioned in the book Padmavath written by
Jayasi.
  In the Delhi Sultanate, nobles were drawn from different tribes and nationalities like the
Turkish, Persian, Arabic, Egyptians and Indian Muslims.
 Iltutmish organized a corps of forty (Chahalgani), all drawn from Turkish nobility and
selected persons from this forty for the appointment in the military and civil
administrations.
 The corps of forty became so powerful that it disregarded the wishes of Iltutmish and after
his death to place Rukn-ud-din Firoz to place on the throne.
 Razziya sought to counter the influence of Turkish nobles and defend her interest by
organizing a group of non-Turkish and Indian Muslim nobles under the leadership of
Yakut, the Abyssinian slave. This was resented by the Turkish nobles and got both of
them murdered.
 Balban abolished the corps of forty.
 Alauddin Khalji also took stern actions against the nobles by employing spies.

Alauddin’s internal reforms:

 He believed in divine theory of kingship. He introduced 4 ordinances to prevent
frequent rebellion. He imposed heavy tax on Hindus such as Jizya, grazing tax and
house tax.
 The vast annexation of territories was followed by extensive administrative reforms
aimed at stabilizing the government.
 Alauddin‟s 1st measure was to deprive the wealth of the nobles that they had
accumulated.
 The marriage alliance with the families of the nobles was to be done after consulting
the Sultan.
 The Sultan ordered that the village that was given as free gift, or religious
endowments or held by proprietary rights be brought back.
 He curbed the traditional village officers by depriving them of their traditional
priviledges.
 Corrupt village officials were dealt severely.
 The Sultan banned liquor and drugs. Gambling was forbidden and gamblers were
driven out of the city.
 However widespread violation forced the Sultan to relax the restrictions.
 Alauddin collected the land tax directly from the cultivators. The Village headman
who traditionally enjoyed the power of collecting tax was now deprived of it.
 Alauddin set up the postal system to keep in touch with all parts of his sprawling
empire.

Sultan’s Market reform:

 He was the 1st Sultan to pay the soldiers in cash rather than giving them a share of
booty.
 As soldiers were paid less, price had to be monitored and controlled.
 In order to restrict the price of the essential commodities, he set up elaborate
intelligence network to provide information about black marketing and hoarding.
 The transactions in the bazaars, buying and selling and bargains were reported to the
Sultan by the spies (secret reagents – munhiyans).
 The market superintendents, reporters and spies had to send the daily report on the
price of the essential commodities.
 Violators of the price were severely punished.
 If any deficiency in the weight were found equal weight of the flesh was cut from the
seller‟s body.
 He set up 4 markets in Delhi
 One for grain
 One for cloth, sugar, dried fruits, butter and oil
  One for horses, slaves and cattle
 One for miscellaneous commodities. Each was under the control of Shahna-i-
Mandi.
 Ala-ud-din established a system of forced procurement of food grains for Delhi and
other garrison centres. The procurement prices were fixed and grain collected as tax
was stored in state granaries.
 Officers like Diwan-i-riyasat (under the officer Naib-i-riyasat) and Shahana-i-
mandi were appointed to regularize the market. All the merchants were required to
register themselves in the office of Shahana-i-Mandi and sell their goods at fixed
rates.

Alauddin’s successor:
 He built Alai Darwaza, fort of Siri and the Palace of 1000 pillars.
 His son Khizr Khan was his successor. However Alauddin‟s confidant at that time
was Malik Kafur. Later Kafur ascended the throne but his rule lasted only for 35
days as the hostile nobles assassinated him.
 He had weak successors like Qutb-ud-din Mubarak Shah (1316-1320) and Nasir-ud-
din Khusrav Shah (1320).
 After a series of murders it finally culminated in Ghazi Malik (governor of
Dipalpur), a veteran of several campaigns against the Mongols ascended the throne
of Delhi in 1320 as Ghiyas-ud-din Tughluq after killing Khusrav Shah.
 He murdered the Khalji ruler Khusrau and thereby prevented any Khalji ruler from
ascending the throne.

The Tughlaq dynasty (1320-1414)

Ghiyas-ud-din-Tughlaq (1320-1324)
 One of his major tasks was to recover the territories that the sultan lost after the death
of Alauddin. So he sent his son Jauna Khan to fight against Warangal. He defeated
Prathabharudra Deva of Warrangal and returned with a rich booty.
 With this wealth, Ghiyas-ud-din laid the foundation for Tughluqabad near Delhi.
 Ghiyas-ud-din followed the policy of reconciliation with the nobles.
 Lot of importance was given to agriculture, irrigation, judicial, police and postal
arrangements.
 But in the 5th year of his reign, he was murdered by Jauna Khan (on attending the
reception for his victory at Bengal, the pavilion he stood up gave away).
 3 days later Jauna took the throne with the tiltle Muhammad-bin-Tughlaq

Muhammad-bin-Tughlaq(1324-1351)
 Muhammad was a learned, talented and a cultured man. But he gained a reputation of
being merciless, cruel and unjust.
 He effectively repulsed the Mongol army that had marched up to Meerut in Delhi.
 Muhammad was an innovator. Unlike Alauddin Khalji, he lacked the will to execute
his plans successfully.
 He captured Warrangal in 1327.
 He raised an army of 370,000 men in order to conquer Tranoxiana, Khurasan and
Iraq. He disbanded them after realizing it was not possible.
 He gave huge presents to Tamashirin, the Mongol leader to avoid Mongol invasion.

It was a 40-days march to Daulatabad from Delhi (more than 1500kms). Many people
left. Some hid themselves. When they were found, they were punished cruelly, even
though one was a blind man and another a paralytic. Describing the city as spreading
over eight or ten miles, a historian observed: „All was destroyed. So complete was the
ruin that not a cat or a dog was left among the buildings of the city in its palaces or in
its suburbs.‟
Transfer of Capital
 He transferred the capital from Delhi to Devagiri in Maharashtra which he named
as Daulatabad after realizing it was difficult to administer Deccan from Delhi.
 Centrally located, Devagiri possessed an advantage and it had a fort atop a rocky
hill.
 He ordered the important officers and leading men including Sufi saints to shift to
Devagiri.
 Later he realized, it was difficult to rule North India from Devagiri he shifted his
capital back to Delhi.
 Ibn Battuta, the Moroccan traveler was with him. On returning to Delhi, he found
Delhi „empty, abandoned and had but a very small population‟.
 His contemporary scholars like Ibn Battutah, Barani and Isami were unable to give
correct picture of his personality.
 He was the only Sultanate to have received a comprehensive literacy, religious and
philosophical education.

Token Currency
 The next important innovation that he took was introduction of token currency.
 As it was already experimented in China (introduced by Kubali Khan in China) and
Iron, it was much ahead of its time in India given that it was a time when coins were
based on silver content.
 When he issued bronze coins, fake coins were minted which could not be prevented
by the government. Later the bronze coins were withdrawn and it was replaced by the
silver coins.
 According to Barani, a heap of copper coins were lying on the roadside in
Tughlaqabad.

Sultan’s other innovative measures

 Equally innovative was his scheme to expand cultivation. It also failed miserably.
 It coincided with the prolonged famine in the Doab region as he increased the revenue
in the Doab region. Peasants revolted and stopped practicing agriculture.
 The peasants who rebelled were harshly dealt with.
 The famine was linked with to the oppressive and arbitrary collection of land revenue.
 The Sultan established a separate department (Diwan-I Amir Kohi) to take care of
agriculture.
 Loans (takkavi) were advanced to farmers for the purchase of cattle, seeds and
digging of wells but to no avail.
 Model farm under the state was created in an area of 64 sq miles for which the
government gave 70 lakh tankas. This method was continued by Firoz Tughlaq.
 Officers who were appointed to look after the crops were not efficient.
 Beside Sultan‟s temperament had also earned him a lot of enemies.
 Alauddin Khalji had not annexed far-off territories knowing he could not rule them.
Instead he preferred to establish suzerainty over them.
 But Muhammad had annexed all the lands he had conquered.
 Therefore at the end of his reign he faced a series of rebellions.
 Distant regions like Bengal, Madurai, Warangal, Awadh, Gujarat and Sind
hoisted the flags of rebellion and Sultan spent his days fighting rebels.
 Dauladabad and other conquered territories around them were declared independent
sultanate called Bahmani. Bengal became independent in 1346.
  While he was engaged in pursuing a rebel leader (Taghi) in Gujarat, he fell ill and
died at the end of his 26th regnal year (23 March 1351). According to Baduani, “the
Sultan was freed from the people and the people from the Sultan”. According to
Barani, “Muhammad bin Tughlaq was a mixture of opposites”.
 Hasan Shah established Madurai Sultanate.
 1336 – Vijayanagar empire was founded
 1347 – Bahmani Sultanate was founded

Firuz Tughlaq (1351-1388)

 Firuz‟s father, Rajab was the younger brother of Ghiyas-ud-din-Tughlaq. Both
had come from Khurasan during the reign of Alauddin-Khalji.
 Rajab who had a married Jat princess had died when Firuz was 7 years old.
 When Ghiyas-ud-din ascended the throne, he gave Firuz command of 12,000 strong
cavalry force. Later Firuz was made incharge of one of the four divisions of the
Sultanate.
 Muhammad bin Tughlaq died without naming his successor.
 The claim made by Muhammad‟s sister to his son was not supported by the nobles.
 His son, recommended by Muhammad‟s friend Khan-I Jahan, was a mere child.
Under such circumstances, Firuz ascended the throne.
 He wrote his autobiography Futuhat-i-Firoz Sahi. He patronized scholars like
Zaiuddin Barani.
 Kutab- Feroz Shahi was a book which dealt with Physics.

The wazir (prime minister) of Firuz Tughlaq, the famous Khan-i-Jahan was a Telugu Brahmin
convert to Islam. Originally known as Kannu, he was captured during the sultanate campaigns in
Warangal (present day Telangana).

Conspiracy policy toward nobles

 He cancelled all Taquavi (agricultural) loans granted by Muhammad.
 Firuz Tughlaq followed a conciliatory policy towards the nobles and theologians.
 He restored the property of the owners who was deprived of it during Muhammad
Tughlaq.
 He reintroduced the system of hereditary appointments to officers, a practice which
was not favored by Alaud-din-Khalji.
 The sultan increased the salary of the government officials.
 While toning up the revenue administration, he reduced several taxes.
 He collected 4 important taxes such as
 Kharja- 1/10 of the produce of the land
 Khams -1/5 of the war booty.
 Jizya – poll tax
 Zatax – tax on muslim for for specific religious purpose.
 He abolished many varieties of torture employed by the predecessor.
 Firuz had a genuine concern for the slaves. So he appointed separate government
department to attend to their welfare.
 The slave department took care of the wellbeing of 180,000 slaves.
 They were trained in handicrafts and employed in royal workshops.
 He also developed royal factories called Karkhanas in which thousands of slaves
were employed.
 He did not have interest to get back the lost territories and left Deccan behind. He also
denied the invitation from a Bahmani prince in 1365 to intervene in the affairs of the
 Deccan. He listened to the advice of Sufi saints. He involved himself in humanitarian
practices. He banned inhumane punishments and abolished taxes that were not
recognized by Muslim law.
 He laid down 1200 new garders and renewed 30 old gardens of Alauddin Khalji. He
built new towns such as Firozabad, Jaunpur, Hissar and Firozpur. Nearly 200 towns
were constructed.
 A new department, Diwan-i-khariat was created for the orphans and widows.
 He excavated many irrigational canals, constructed 50 dams, 150 wells and 100
bridges.
 He prohibited all kinds of mutilations and torture. The Quranic laws were imposed.
Jizya were imposed on Brahmanas.
 An employment bureau, marriage bureau (Diwan-i-kherat) and hospitals (Dar-sul-
shafa) were established.
 Diwan-i-Istibqab was established to give financial help to the poor. Liberal grants
were given to scholars and religious institutions.

Firuz policy of no wars

 Firuz waged no wars of annexation, though he was not averse to putting down
rebellion challenging his authority.
 There were only 2 Mongol incursions during his times and both of them were
successfully repulsed.
 His Bengal campaign to put down the rebellion there was an exception.
 His army slew thousands and his entry into Odisha on his way helped him extract the
promise of tribute from the Raja.
 A major military campaign of his period was against Sind (1362).
 He succeeded in routing his enemies on the way. Yet the famine that broke out during
his period gave Sultan and his army a trying time.
 He tried to safeguard his authority over north India instead of reasserting his authority
over the Deccan and south India.
 He led two expeditions to Bengal but they were not successful. Bengal became free
from the control of Delhi Sultanate.
 Firoz led a campaign against Jajnagar (modern Orissa). He returned with rich booty
acquired from the temples.
 He marched against Nagarkot and made its ruler to pay tributes.
 During this campaign the Sultan collected 1300 Sanskrit manuscripts from the
Jawalamukhi temple library and got them translated into Persian.
 Firoz next marched against Thatta in the Sind region and crushed a rebellion there.
The ruler of Sind agreed to surrender and pay tribute to the Sultan.

Religious policy
 He was an orthodox. He proclaimed the state to be an Islamic state to satisfy the
theologicans. He was intolerant towards Shia muslims and Sufis.
 He banned the practices that were considered un-Islamic. He reimposed Jizya in
which the Brahmins were also forced to pay.
 In 1353 and 1359, he besieged Bengal. He captured Jainagar and destroyed Jagannath
temple at Puri. He made the rulers of Nagarkot and Tatta to pay tribute.
 He did not stop the construction of new temples and shrines
 His cultural interest led to the translation of many Sanskrit works relating to medicine,
religion and music.
 He was a scholar himself, so he patronized learned scholars including non Muslims.
  He was fond of music and established educational institutions and a number of
mosques, palace and forts.

Public Works:
 He undertook many irrigational works and a canal (200 kms) were dug from river
Sutlej to Hansi and another canal in Jumna (Yamuna to Hissar). He was the 1st
Sultan to impose irrigation tax.
 There were 1200 fruit gardens in and around Delhi yielding more revenue. The
special tax on 28 items were abolished by him since they were against the Islamic
laws
 Firuz died in 1388 after making his son Fath Khan and grandson Ghiyas-ud-din as
the joint rulers of Delhi Sultanate. (He died on September 1833 at the age of 83. His
son Muhammad Khan murdered him)
 The principle hereditary applied to the nobles and army led to the weakening of the
Delhi Sultanate.
 Within 6 years of Firuz‟s death 4 rulers succeeded him.
 His successors include: Ghiyas-ud-din Tughluq Shah II, Abu Bakr Shah, Nasir-
ud-din Mohammed Tughluq

 Jizya is a tax levied and collected per head by Islamic states on non Muslim subjects living
in their land.
 In India, Qutb-ud-din-Aibak imposed Jizya on Non-muslims for the 1st time.
 Jizya was abolished by the Mughal ruler Akbar in the 16th century but was
reintroduced by Aurangzeb in the 17th century.

Timur’s invasion:
 The last ruler was Nasir-ud-din Muhammad Shah (1394-1412), whose reign
witnessed the invasion of Timur from Central Asia. He along with his Prime Minister
Mallu Iqbal opposed Timur.
 Turkish Timur, who could claim a blood relationship with the 12th century great
Mongol Chengiz Khan, ransacked Delhi in 1398 virtually without any opposition.
 On hearing the arrival of Timur, Nasir-ud-din fled Delhi.
 Timur also tool Indian artisans such as masons, stone cutters, carpenters whom he
engaged for raising buildings in his capital Samarkhand.
 Punjab also faced severe raid after Delhi
 Nasir-ud-din managed to rule up to 1412.
 Then the Sayyid and Lodi dynasty ruled Delhi till 1526.
In the entire history of Delhi Sultanate there was only one Sultan who voluntarily abdicated his
throne and moved to a small town away from Delhi, where he lived for 3 decades in
contentment and peace. He was Alam Shah of Sayyid dynasty.
-Abraham Eraly, The Age of Wrath.

Sayyid dynasty (1414-1451)

 Timur appointed Khizr Khan as his deputy to oversee Timurid interests in the
Punjab marches.
 Khirz Khan (1414-1421) went onto seize Delhi and establish Sayyid dynasty which
had 4 sultans ruling up to 1451.
  His successor was Mubarak Shah (1421-1434) who suppressed the Khokhars and
the local chiefs of the Doab region. It was during his reign, Hindu nobles were
appointed in the court of Delhi for the 1st time. He built a city called “Mubarakbad”
on the banks of river Jamuna. He was murdered in 1434.
 He was succeeded by his nephew Muhammad Shah (1434-1445). He put down the
ruler of Malwa with the help of Bahlol Lodi (Governor of Lahore).For the help he
had done, Bahlol Lodi was conferred with the title Khan-i-Khanan. Muhammad Shah
died in 1445.
 The last ruler was Ala-ud-din Alam Shah (1445-1457). He was a weak ruler. Bahlol
Lodi occupied Delhi in 1457 and allowed Alauddin Shah to retire to Badaun where
he died in 1487.
 The early Sayyid Sultans ruled by paying tribute to Timur‟s son.
 Their rule is marked for composing of Tarikh-i-Mubarak Shahi by Yahiya Bin
Ahmad Sirhindi.
 By the end of their rule the empire was largely confined to the city of Delhi.

Lodi dynasty (1451-1526)

 The Lodi dynasty was established by Bahlol Lodi (1451-1489) (governor of Sirhind,
Punjab) whose reign witnessed the conquest of Sharqi Kingdom (Bengal). He was
the 1st Afghan ruler while his predecessors were all Turks.
 He did not sit on the throne but on carpet in front of the nobles to get their support and
recognition.
 It was his son Sikander Lodi (Sikander Shah) (1489-1517) who shifted capital from
Delhi to his newly founded city Agra in 1504.
 He enjoyed “Shehnai” music. A reputed work on music titled “Lahjat-i-Sikandar
Shahi” was prepared during his reign. He was the greatest ruler of Lodi dynasty. He
was an orthodox muslim and put serious restrictions on Hindus.
 The last Lodi ruler Ibrahim Lodi was defeated by Babur in the 1st battle of Panipat
which resulted in the establishment of Mughal Dynasty. He was an uncompromising
and intolerant ruler. He humiliated the nobles and killed some of them. He treated
Daulat Khan Lodi (son of Dilwar Khan Lodi) very cruel. In order to take revenge
Daulat Khan Lodi invited Babur to India.

Administration of the Sultanate:

State and Society
 The Sultanate was formally an Islamic state and most of the Sultans preferred to call
themselves the Lieutenant of the Caliph.
 The state was a theocratic as well as a military state. Administration was based on
Islamic laws.
 In reality the Sultans were the real political head. As a military head, they wielded the
authority of commander-in-chief of the armed forces.
 As a judicial head they were the highest court of appeal.
 Naib practically enjoyed the powers of the Sultan and exercised general control over
all the departments.
 Ministers of the Sultan
 Wazir – Prime minister and Finance minister heading Diwani Wizarat.
 Diwani-i-Risalt – Foreign affairs minister
 Sadr-us-Suddar – Minister of Islamic laws
 Diwan-i-Insha – Correspondance minister
 Diwan-i-Ariz – Defence or war minister headed by Arizi-i-mumalik
  Qazi-ul-quzar – Minister of justice
 Diwani-i-Rasalat – Department of religious affairs headed by Sadr. (Grants
were made by this department for the construction of moaques, tomb and
madrasas).
 Military department was 1st set by Balban and later it was strengthened by Alauddin
Khalji.
 Head of the judicial department was Qazi.
 Muslim personal law or Sharia was followed in civil matters. The Hindus were
governed by their personal laws and their cases were dispersed by village panchayats.
 The criminal law were based on the rules and regulations made by the Sultan.
 Balban claimed that he ruled as the representative of god on Earth.
 Ala-ud-din-Khalji did not care for the theological prescriptions, but claimed that it
was done for the good of the state and benefit of the people.
 There were 4 divisions of army: the royal army, provincial or governor‟s army,
Feudal army and War time army.
 The Delhi sultanate deserves to be called as an all-India empire. Towards the end of
Muhammad Tughlaq‟s rule, all regions in India except Kashmir, Kerala and few other
small tracts in between were under the rule of Delhi Sultanate.
 There were no defined rules for succession.
 The Sultans were the holders of iqtas (called muqtis or walis) to maintain troops for
royal service out of taxes collected by them.
 Iqtas were divided into smaller units called Shiqqs, Parganas and the Villages. The
head of the shiqq was called Shiqqdar.
 The parganas consisted of number of villages was governed by Amil. Important
officials of the Pargana were the Amil or Munsif, the treasurer and the quanungo.
 The village headman was known as muqaddam or chaudhri. The village accountant
was called patwari.
 The central government did not interfere in the village administration which had
Panchayat which looked after education, sanitation, justice and revenue.
 The lands were classified into 3 categories:
 Iqta land – land assigned to officials as iqtas instead of payment for their service
 Khalisa land – land under the direct control of the Sultans and the revenue
collected were spent for the maintenance of royal court and royal household.
 Inam land – land granted to religious leaders or religious institutions.
 The peasants paid 1/3rd of the land produce and sometimes even half of the produce.
 It was out of the revenue collected from such areas that they paid the officers and
soldiers of the Sultan‟s own troops (hashm-i-qalb).
 The territorial expansion was matched by an expansion of fiscal resources. The tax
rent (which was set at half the value of the produce) was set over a very large area.
 The fiscal claims of hereditary intermediaries (now called chaudhuris) and the village
headmen (khots) were drastically curtailed.
 The continuous pressure for larger tax realization provoked a severe agrarian
uprising, notably in the Doab near Delhi (1332–34).
 These and an ensuing famine persuaded Muhammad Tughlaq to resort to a scheme of
agricultural development, in the Delhi area and the Doab, based on the supply of
credit to the peasants.
 Military campaigns, dishoarding of wealth, clearing of forests, the vitality of the inter-
regional trade facilitated the movement of people and created a vast network of
intellectual and religious minded people.
  This made the social hierarchy and settlements in the Sultanate garrison towns and
their strongholds far more complex.
 Through the 14th century, the Sultanate controlled the diverse population through
local governors, muqti.
 The Turko-Afghan political conquests were followed by large-scale Muslim social
migration from Central Asia. India was seen as a land of opportunity.
 The society in all stages was based on privileges with the higher classes enjoying a
better socio-economic life with regard of one‟s religion. The Sultans and the nobles
were the most important privileged class who enjoyed a lifestyle of high standard in
comparison to their contemporary rulers all over the world.
 The nobility was initially composed of Turks.
 Afghans, Iranians and Indian Muslims were excluded from the nobility for a very long
time.
 The personal status of an individual in Islam depends on one‟s ability and
achievements not by birth. So anyone converted to Islam was treated equally.
 Unlike Hindus, the Muslims followed monotheism. They adhered to a basic set of
beliefs and practices.
 Monotheistic beliefs exited in Hinduism as noted by Al-beruni in Bhagavat Gita.
 In the 13th century, the Virashaiva sect of Karnataka founded by Basava believed in
one God (Parashiva). Caste distinctions were denied, women were given better status
and Brahmanas could no longer monopolise priesthood.
 A parallel but less significant movement emerged in Tamil Nadu with Siddars who
sang in Tamil with one God and criticized the transmigration of soul, caste and
Brahmanas.
 Two little known figures who played a part in transmitting the Southern Bhakti and
monotheism to the Northern India were Namdev of Maharashtra, a rigorous
monotheist who opposed image worship and caste distinctions and Ramanand, a
follower of Ramanuja.

Economy:
 The establishment of Delhi Sultanate was accompanied by some economic changes.
One such change was the collection of land tax as rent in cash.
 Because of this the food grains and other products were drawn to towns which
facilitated the urban growth.
 In the 14th century, Delhi and Devagiri (Daulatabad) emerged as the great cities of the
world.
 Other large towns – Multan, Kara, Awadh, Gaur, Cambay (Khambayat) and
Gulbarga.
 In 13th century, they began gold and silver mintage along with the copper coins which
facilitated brisk commerce.
 Irfan Habib’s view: India‟s external trade (both overland and oceanic) grew
considerably during this period.
 Bengal and Gujarat were famous for their quality fabrics. Cotton, wool, silk clothes
were produced. The clothes were studded with gold, diamond, pearls, silver and
stones.

Trade and Urbanization:

 The Gold coins that were issued during Gupta rule started appearing during Delhi
sultanate rule.
 There was no guild system that existed in the classical period.
  The Sultanate was driven by urban economy encompassing many towns and cities.
 Delhi, Lahore, Multan, Kara, Lakhnauti, Anhilwara, Cambay and Daulatabad were
the important cities that thrived on mercantile activities of Jain Marwaris, Hindu
Multanis and Muslim Bohras, Khurasanis, Afghans and Iranians.
 The trade flourished both through sea and land.
 While Gujaratis and Tamils dominated the sea trade, the Hindu Multanis and Muslim
Khurasanis, Afhgans and Iranians donimanted the overland trade with Central India.
 Iltutmish issued several types of silver tankas. One silver tanka was divided into 48
jitals during the Khalji rule and 50 jitals during the Tughlaq rule.
 Gold coins or dinars became popular during the reign of Alauddin Khalji after his
south Indian conquests.
 Muhammad Tughlaq had also issued several gold and silver coins. They were minted
at 8 different places. Atleast 25 varities of gold coins were issued by him.

Industrial expertise
 The paper making technology invented by Chinese was learnt by the Arabs and
introduced by them in India.
 The spinning wheel invented in China came to India through Iran in the 14th century
and enabled the spinner to increase the output some 6 fold and enlarged the yarn
production greatly.
 The subsequent introduction of treadles in the loom similarly helped speed-up
weaving.
 Sericulture was established in Bengal in the 15th century.
 Building activity attained a new scale by the large use of bricks and mortar and by the
adoption of vaulting techniques.

Education:
 Certain traditions of education were implanted from the Islamic world.
 At the base were the maktab, where school teachers taught children to read and write.
 At the higher level, important texts in various subjects were read by individual pupils
with particular scholars who gave them instruction (dars) in them.
 Madrasa – institutionalized form of higher education which was established in Iran
and Central India in the 11th century from where it spread it to other Islamic
countries. Madrasa had a building where teachers gave individuals special
instructions.
 Firuz Tughlaq built large Madrasa in Delhi whose splendid building still stands.
 From Barani’s account it would seem that the teachings were about the “Quran-
commentary, the Prophet‟s sayings and the Muslim Law (fiqh)”.
 It is said that Sikkander Lodi (1489-1517) appointed teachers in Maktabs and
Madrasas in various cities and making provisions for them through cash or land
grants.

Histriography
 In addition to secular sciences that came with Arabic and Persian learning to India,
one more notable addition was systematic historiography.
 The collection of witnesses‟ narratives and documents that the Chachnama
(thirteenth-century Persian translation of a ninth-century Arabic original), in its
account of the Arab conquest of Sind, represents advancement in historical research,
notwithstanding the absence of coherence and logical order of latter-day
historiography like Minhaj Siraj‟s Tabaqat-i Nasiri, written at Delhi c. 1260.
Sufism
 In the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, two most influential orders emerged among
the sufis: the Suhrawardi, centred at Multan, and the Chisti at Delhi and other
places.
 The most famous Chishti Saint, Shaik Nizamuddin offered a classical exposition of
Sufism of prepantheistic phase in the conversations (1307– 1322).
 Sufism began to turn pantheistic only when the ideas of Ibn al-Arabi (died 1240)
began to gain influence, first through the Persian poetry of Jalal-ud-din Rumi (1207–
1273) and Abdur Rahman Jami (1414–1492), and, then, through the endeavours
within India of Ashraf Jahangir Simnani (early fifteenth century).
 Significantly this wave of qualified pantheism began to dominate Indian Islamic
thought about the same time that the pantheism of Sankaracharya‟s school of thought
was attaining increasing influence within Vedic thought.

 An important aspect of Islam is that it coexisted with Hinduism despite all the
violence.
 The conqueror Mu’izzuddin of Ghor had, on some of his gold coins, stamped the
image of goddess Lakshmi and had his name inscribed on it.
 Muhammad Tughlaq in 1325 issued a farman enjoining the protection to be
extended to all the officers to Jain priests; he himself played holi and consorted
with the yogis.
 The historian Barani noted with some bitterness how „the kings of Islam‟ showed
respect to „Hindus, Mongols, Polytheists and infidels‟, by making them sit on
masnad (cushions) and by honouring them in other ways, and how the Hindus
upon paying taxes (jiziya-o-kharaj) were allowed to have their temples and
celebrations, employ Muslim servants, and flaunt their titles(rai, rana, thakur, sah,
mahta, pandit, etc), right in the capital seats of Muslim rulers.

Caliph/Caliphate
 Considered to be the successor of Prophet Muhammad, the Caliph wielded
authority over civil and religious affairs of the entire Islamic world.
 The Caliph ruled Baghdad until it fell before Mongols in 1258.
 The Caliphs then ruled in Egypt until the conquest of Ottomans in 1516-17.
Thereupon the title was held by Ottoman Sultans.
 The office of Caliph (Caliphate) ended when Ottoman Empire was abolished and
Turkish Republic established by Mushtafa Kemal Attaturk in the 1920s.
 The name of the Caliph is included in the Khutba or prayer.
 Iltutmish, Muhammad Tughlaq and Firoz Tughlaq obtained Mansur or latter of
permission from the Caliph.

Caste and women

 The sultans did not change any of the social institution inherited from “Indian
feudalism”.
 Slavery though existed in India grew substantially in the 13th and 14th century. Both in
war and in the event of default of payment of taxes, people could be enslaved.
 They were put to work as domestic servants as well as in crafts.
 The village community and the caste system remained largely unaltered. Gender
inequalities remained practically untouched.
  In upper class Muslim society, women had to observe purdah and were secluded in
the zenana (the female quarters) without any contact with any men other than their
immediate family.
 Affluent women travelled in closed litters.
 However, Muslim women, despite purdah, enjoyed, in certain respects, higher status
and greater freedom in society than most Hindu women. They could inherit property
from their parents and obtain divorce, privileges that Hindu women did not have.
 In several Hindu communities, such as among the Rajputs, the birth of a girl child was
considered a misfortune.
 Islam was not against women being taught to read and write. But it tolerated
polygamy.
 Sultan Firoz Tughlaq was reputed to possess 180,000 slaves, of which 12,000
worked as artisans.
 His principal minister, Khan Jahan Maqbul possessed over 2000 women
slaves.

Evolution of Syncretic culture

The interaction of the Turks with the Indians had its influence in architecture, fine arts and
literature.

Architecture
 Arch, dome, vaults and use of lime cement, the striking Saracenic features, were
introduced in India. The use of marble, red, grey and yellow sandstones added
grandeur to the buildings. In the beginning the Sultans converted the existing
buildings to suit their needs. Qutb-ud-din Aibak‟s Quwwat-ul- Islam mosque
situated adjacent to Qutb Minar in Delhi and the Adhai din ka Jhopra in Ajmer
illustrate these examples. A Hindu temple built over a Jain temple was modified into
Quwwat-ul-Islam mosque. Adhai din ka Jhopra was earlier a Jain monastery before
being converted as a mosque.
 With the arrival of artisans from West Asia the arch and dome began to show up with
precision and perfection. Gradually local artisans also acquired the skill.
 The tomb of Balban was adorned with the first true arch and the Alai Darwaza
built by Alaud- din Khalji as a gateway to the Quwwatul- Islam Mosque is adorned
with the first true dome.
 The palace fortress built by Ghiyasuddin Tughlaq and Muhammad bin Tughlaq in
Tughlaqabad, their capital city in Delhi, is remarkable for creating an artificial lake
around the fortress by blocking the river Yamuna.
 The tomb of Ghiyasuddin Tughlaq introduced the system of sloping walls bearing the
dome on a raised platform. The buildings of Firuz Tughlaq, especially his pleasure
resort, Hauz Khas, combined Indian and Saracenic features in alternate storeys,
displaying a sense of integration.
 The Kotla fort at Delhi was the creation of Firoz Tughlaq.
 The architecture that belonged to Khalji period were :
 Siri new town in Delhi
 Dargah of Hazrat Nisam-ud-din Aulia
 Alai Darwaza
 The Tughlaq rulers did not give importance to ornamentation. The buildings in theier
period were solid and strong.
  Lodi architecture include: The Lodi Garden, Moti Masjid in New Delhi and tombs of
Sikander Lodi.

Sculpture and painting

 Orthodox Islamic theology considered decorating the buildings with animal and
human figures as un-Islamic. Hence the plastic exuberance of well-carved images
found in the pre-Islamic buildings was replaced by floral and geometrical designs.
 Arabesque, the art of decorating the building with Quranic verses inscribed with
calligraphy, emerged to provide splendour to the building.

Music and Dance

 Music was an area where the syncretic tendencies were clearly visible. Muslims
brought their musical instruments like Rabab and Sarangi.
 Amir Khusrau introduced many new ragas such as ghora and sanam. He evolved a
new style of light music known as qwalis by blending Indian and Iranian system. The
invention of sitar is also attributed to him.
 Amir Khusrau proclaimed that Indian music had a pre-eminence over all the other
music of the world.
 The Sufi practice of Sama, recitation of love poetry to the accompaniment of music,
was instrumental in promotion of music. Pir Bhodan, a Sufi saint, was considered a
great musician of the age.
 Royal patronage for the growth of music was also forthcoming.
 Firuz Tughlaq evinced interest in music leading to synchronisation by translating an
Indian Sanskrit musical work Rag Darpan into Persian.
 Dancing also received an impetus in the official court.
 Zia-ud-din Barani lists the names of Nusrat Khatun and Mihr Afroz as musician
and dancer respectively in the court of Jalaluddin Khalji.
 Raja Man Singh of Gwalior was a great lover of music. He encouraged the
composition of a great musical work called Man Kautuhal.

 Qutb Minar, originally a 72.5 metre tower when completed by Iltutmish, was
increased to 74 metres by the repairs carried out by Firuz Shah Tughlaq.
 The Minar is facilitated by 379 steps and it is magnificent for the height, balconies
projecting out marking the storeys, the gradual sloping of the tower and the
angular flutings creating a ribbed effect around the tower.

Literature
 Amir Khusrau emerged as a major figure of Persian prose and poetry. Amir Khusrau
felt elated to call himself an Indian in his Nu Siphr („Nine Skies‟). In this work, he
praises India‟s climate, its languages – notably Sanskrit – its arts, its music, its people,
even its animals.
 Amir Khusrau (1252-1325) was the famous Persian writer of this period. He wrote a
number of poems.
 He experimented with several poetical forms and created a new style of Persian
poetry called Sabaq- i - Hind or the Indian style. He also wrote some Hindi verses.
 Amir Khusrau‟s Khazain-ul-Futuh speaks about Alauddin‟s conquests. His famous
work Tughlaq Nama deals with the rise of Ghyiasuddin Tughlaq.
 The Islamic Sufi saints made a deep literary impact. The Fawai’d-ul-Fawad, a work
containing the conversations of Sufi Saint Nizam-ud-din Auliya was compiled by
Amir Hassan.
 A strong school of historical writing emerged with the writings of Zia-ud-din
Barani, Shams-ud-din Siraj Afif and Abdul Malik Isami.
 Zia-ud-din Barani, emerged as a master of Persian prose.
 Abdul Malik Isami, in his poetic composition of Futuh-us-Salatin, records the
history of Muslim rule from Ghaznavid period to Muhammad bin Tughlaq’s reign.
 Persian literature was enriched by the translation of Sanskrit works.
 Persian dictionaries with appropriate Hindawi words for Persian words were
composed, the most important being Farhang-i-Qawas by Fakhr-ud-din Qawwas
and Miftah-ul- Fuazala by Muhammad Shadiabadi.
 Tuti Namah, the Book of Parrots, is a collection of Sanskrit stories translated into
Persian by Zia Nakshabi.
 Mahabharata and Rajatarangini were also translated into Persian.
 Delhi Sultanate did not hamper the progress of Sanskrit Literature.
 Sanskrit continued to be the language of high intellectual thought.
 The Sanskrit schools and academies established in different parts of the empire
continued to flourish.
 The classical Sanskrit inscription (Pala Baoli) of 1276 in Delhi claims that due to the
benign rule of Sultan Balban god Vishnu sleeps in peace in the ocean of milk without
any worries.
 The influence of Arabic and Persian on Sanskrit literature was felt in the form of
translations.
 Shrivara in his Sanskrit work Kathakautuka included the story of Yusuf and
Zulaika as a Sanskrit love lyric.
 Bhattavatara took Firdausi‟s Shah Namah as a model for composing Zainavilas, a
history of the rulers of Kashmir.
 Zia Nakshabi was the first to translate Sanskrit stories into Persian. The book Tutu
Nama or Book of the Parrot became popular and translated into Turkish and later into
many European languages.
 The famous Rajatarangini written by Kalhana belonged to the period of Zain-ul
Abidin, the ruler of Kashmir. Many Sanskrit works on medicine and music were
translated into Persian.
 Chand Baradi was the famous Hindi poet of this period. Bengali literature had also
developed and Nusrat Shah patronized the translation of Mahabaratha into Bengali.
The Bakthi cult led to development of Gujarati and Marathi languages. The
Vijayanagar Empire patronized Telugu and Kannada literature.

Khafi Khan, a courtier of Emperor Aurangzeb says, „It is the duty of an historian to
be faithful, to have no hope of profit, no fear of injury, to show no partiality on one
side, or animosity on the other, to know no difference between friend and stranger, and
to write nothing but with sincerity.‟

Other information
 Copper Jitals are available for the study of the period of the Delhi Sultans.
 Silver Tanka introduced by Iltutmish, Ala-ud-din Khalji‟s gold coins,
Muhammad-bin-Tughluq‟s copper token currency are indicative of coinage as
well as the economic prosperity or otherwise of the country of the time.

 A jital contained 3.6 grains of silver.

 Forty-eight jitals were equal to 1 silver tanka.
 Chand Bardai’s Prithiviraj Raso portrays the Rajput king‟s valour.
 We have no Indian accounts about what happened during the Turkish invasion of
India.
 For pre-Islamic periods, the only exception was Kalhana’s Rajtarangini (11th
century).
 Minhaj-us-Siraj, patronised by Sultan Nazir-ud-din Mahmud of Slave Dynasty,
wrote Tabakat-i-Nasiri. The compendium deals with the period from the conquest of
Muhammad Ghori to A.D. (CE) 1260. The compendium was named after his patron.
 In the 13th century, Hasan Nizami, a migrant from Ghazni wrote Taj-ul-Ma’asir
towards the end of Iltutmish‟s rule. It provides information about Qutb-ud-din Aibak
and is considered the first official history of the Delhi Sultanate.
 Tabakat is an Arabic word meaning generations or centuries.
 Tuzk is a Persian word meaning autobiography.
 Tarikh or Tahquiq is Arabic words meaning history.
 In the 16th century,
 Babur – Babar Nama
 Abul Fazal – Ain-i-Akbari
 In the 17th century
 Jahangir’s memoirs – Tuzk-i-Jahangiri
 Other autobiographies of emperors
 Nizam-ud-din-Ahmad’s Tabakat-i-Akbari is considered reliable than the
exaggerated account of Abul Fazal.
 Badauni’s, Tarikh –i-Badauni (Badauni‟s history) was published in 1595.
This work has 3 volumes. The volume on Akbar‟s reign is a frank and critical
account of Akbar‟s administration, particularly his religious policy.
 Ibn Battuta (14th century), an Arab-born Morocco scholar, travelled from Morocco
right across North Africa to Egypt and then to Central Asia and India. His travelogue
(Rihla [The Travels]) contains rich details about the people and the countries he
visited. According to him, Egypt was rich then, because of the whole of the Indian
trade with the West passed through it. Ibn Battuta tells us of caste in India and the
practice of sati. We learn from him that Indian merchants were carrying on a brisk
trade in foreign ports and Indian ships in the seas. He describes the city of Delhi a vast
and magnificent city. Those were the days when Sultan Muhammad bin Tughluq
transferred his capital from Delhi to Devagiri (Daulatabad) in the south, converting
this city into a desert.