CHAPTER-3 DELHI SULTANATE

NOTES-FLOW CHARTS

THE SLAVE DYNASTY

● Muslim rule in India was established by Muhammad Ghori in 12 th

century AD
● Ghori’s Viceroy was Qutubuddin Aibak
● On Ghori’s death,Aibak declared himself sovereign of the newly
conquered Indian territories

QUTUBUDDIN AIBAK (1206-1210)

● Originally a slave and native of Turkistan

● Conquered Ajmer,Jhansi,Delhi,Merut
● Used marriages to strengthen his position
● also a lover of art and literature
● Generosity on him gave him a title of LAKHBAKSH i.e giver of
lakhs
● Built two mosques 1. The Quwwat-ul-islam in Delhi,2. Adhai-din
ka Jhonpra in Ajmer
● Started work on Qutub Minar but could not complete it
● Died while playing polo due to an accident fall in AD 1210.

ILTUTMISH (1210-36 CE)

● Former slave and later son-in-law of Aibak

● Took over the throne after great opposition in AD 1216
● Assumed the title of SHAMSUDDIN(Son of the Religion)
● Occupied Lahore,Punjab,Bihar ,Bengal
● Mongols under the leadership of Chengiz khan began to appear
on border of India
● Built a line of forts along river Ravi to prevent Mongols entry in
India
● Mongols continued their attacks.They finally conquered Western
Punjab
● Died of Natural causes
Raziya Sultan (AD1236-1240)

● Iltumish was succeeded by his son Ruknuddin Firuz Shah

● He proved to be an ineffective ruler
● Within 7 months the throne went to Iltumish’s daughter ,Raziya
● Raziya was a great monarch,wise ,just and generous
● First and last woman to sit on the throne of Delhi
● Faced many challenges as she was a woman in man’s world
● This led to her downfall and Nasiruddin Mahmud was put on the
throne
● But the real power lauy in the hands of his guardian
Ghiyasuddin Balban
● Balban managed the empire for 20 years
● On Nasiruddin’s death in AD 1266, Balban declared himself
sultan of Delhi.

Ghiyasuddin Balban(AD 1266 - 1287)

● Stern man and believed in ruling with IRON AND BLOOD

● He held Mongols away with clever force and diplomacy.
● Died in 1287
● Succeeded by his Grandson.
● Kingdom weakened after his death, leading to the collapse of the
Slave Dynasty.
● New Dynasty came to power in Delhi ---- The Khalji Dynasty.

KHALJI DYNASTY (AD 1290-1320)

● Balban’s grandson was put to death by an official of the Khalji

tribe:Firoz shah
● They were of Afghan origin
● Jalaluddin Khalji (AD 1290-1296) was the name taken by Firoz
Shah on ascending the throne.
● He was 70 years old at that time
● His administration has been criticized as Weak
 ● Most important event during this rule was attack of MONGOLS
● He( Jalaluddin Khalji )was murdered n succeeded by his nephew
ALAUDDIN KHALJI

ALAUDDIN KHALJI (AD 1296 - 1316)

● He was considered one of the best Sultans

● He was a cruel ruler
● Ambition was to conquer the world like Alexander the great
but was not able to fulfill it.
CONQUEST:
● HE undertook Gujarat in AD 1297,Malwa ,Mewar and
captured the forts of Ranthambore and Chittor
● Malik Kafur became the governor of Alauddin’s army
● Went deep down south and drained the wealth of Madurai
and Rameshwaram.
● He became the first ruler of Delhi Sultanate to extend his
kingdom under River Narmada.
ADMINISTRATION
● Able commander and an excellent administrator
● Increased the size of army to protect his Kingdom
● To meet the expenses of maintaining huge army he
had to find ways to add his revenue.
● Confiscated the rent free land holdings that were
given to priests and government officials.
● Officials were forbidden to collect extra taxes
● Peasants paid revenue directly to the state
● Land revenue was raised to half the total produce.
● To prevent conspiracies among the nobles he banned
all the banquets and assemblies
● He transformed the markets of Delhi
● Set up different markets for food grains, horses and
cattle.
● Also made arrangements to store large quantities of
grains to be used in times of need.
 ● Amir khusraw was poet in Alauddin’s court poetry
written in Persian is enjoyed by people till today.

1. Delhi was the capital of Tomar Rajput kings till the middle of 12 th
century.
2. Delhi became an important commercial center of Chahmana
rulers of Ajmer after they defeated the Tomar kings.
3. Many rich Jaina merchants lived in the city.
4. Delhiwal were the coins minted in Delhi.

5. Time line of Delhi Sultanate period:

Name of Sultan Years of ruling

Qutub-Ud-din Aibek AD 1206- 1210
Shams-ud-din Iltutmish AD 1211-1230
Razia Begum AD 1236- 1240
Nasiruddin Mahmud AD 1246-1266
Ghias-ud-din Balban AD 1266-1287
Kaiqubad AD 1287-1290
 
6. Khalji Dynasty:

Name of Sultan Years of ruling

Jalal-ud-din Khilji ( AD 1290-96
Alauddin Khilji AD1296-1316
Shiba-ud-din Omar AD 1316
Mubarak khilji AD 1316-1320

7. TUGHLUQ DYNASTY:

Name of Sultan Years of ruling

 Ghiyasuddin Tughlaq AD 1320-1325
Muhammad Bin Tughlaq AD 1325-51
Firuz Shah Tughlaq AD1351-1388

The Sultans after Firuz Shah were not very strong. The Tughlaq
dynasty declined in AD 1414.

8. SAYYID DYNASTY: Khizr Khan established Sayyed dynasty but

was declined by the Lodhi dynasty.

9. Lodhi Dynasty:

Name of Sultan Years of ruling

Bahlol Lodhi AD 1451-1489
Sikander Lodhi AD 1489- 1517
Ibrahim Lodhi AD 1517-1526

10. The term Tarikh (Singular) refers to ‘history’ and Tawarikh

(Plural) ‘Histories’ written in Persian.
11. The circle of justice: It is a circle of justice in the following ways:
A king cannot survive without soldiers. And soldiers cannot live
without salaries. Salaries come from the revenue collected from
peasants. But peasants can pay revenue only when they are
prosperous and happy. This happens when the king promotes justice
and honest governance.
12. Tawarikh of Delhi Sultanate does not tell us about ordinary
people and the people living in villages as 1) the authors of
tawarikh lived in cities (mainly Delhi) and hardly ever in villages.
(2) They often wrote their histories for Sultans in the hope of rich
rewards. (3) These authors advised rulers on the need to
preserve an “ideal” social order based on birthright and gender
distinctions.
13. In 1236 Sultan Iltutmish’s daughter, Raziyya, became Sultan.
14. The chronicler of the age, Minhaj-i Siraj, recognised that she was
more able and qualified than all her brothers. But he was not
comfortable at having a queen as ruler. Nor were the nobles
happy.
15. People were not happy for having Razia as their queen. Minhaj-i
Siraj thought that the queen’s rule went against the ideal social
order created by God, in which women were supposed to be
subordinate to men.
16. Hinterland: The lands adjacent to a city or port that supply it
with goods and services.
17. Garrison town: A fortified settlement, with soldiers.
18. Internal frontiers of the sultanate consisted of the hinterland of
the garrison towns.
19. The external frontiers referred to the unconquered territories
especially in the southern parts of the subcontinent.

20. During the first campaigns of Internal Frontiers forests were

cleared in the Ganga-Yamuna doab and hunter - gatherers and
pastoralists expelled from their habitat.

21. These lands were given to peasants and agriculture was

encouraged. New fortresses, garrison towns and towns were
established to protect trade routes and to promote regional trade.

22. The second expansion occurred along the “external frontier” of

the Sultanate.

23. The Masjid: A mosque is called a masjid in Arabic, literally a

place where a Muslim prostrates in reverence to Allah.

24. Masjid-i-jami or Jama Masjid: “congregational mosque”

25. Imam: The most respected, learned male leader of the

congregation.

26. Khutba: Sermon delivered during the Friday prayer.

 27. Qibla: During prayer, Muslims stand facing Mecca. The direction
towards Mecca is called Qibla. In India this is to the west.

28. The Delhi Sultans built several mosques in cities all over the
subcontinent to demonstrated their claims to be protectors of
Islam and Muslims.

A Closer Look: Administration and Consolidation under the Khaljis

and Tughluqs

1. Bandagan: Special slaves purchased for military service, called

bandagan in Persian.
2. Bandagans were appointed as reliable governors and
administrators,rather than appointing aristocrats and landed
chieftains as governors.
3. These slave were entirely dependent on their masters so the
Sultan could trust and rely upon them.
4. The patronage of these humble people bythe Delhi Sultans also
shocked many elites and theauthors of Persian tawarikh
criticised the Delhi Sultansfor appointing the “low and base-
born” to high offices.
5. Iqta: The Khalji and Tughluq monarchs appointed military
commanders as governors of territories of varying sizes. These
lands were called iqta.
6. Iqtadar or Muqti: Iqta holders was called iqtadar or muqti.
7. Duty of the muqtis was to lead military campaigns and maintain
law and order in their iqtas.
8. In exchange for their military services, the muqtis collected the
revenues of as salary. They also paid their soldiers from these
revenues. ( Just like Samantas in previous times)
9. To keep control over muqtis:
a. Their office was not inheritable.
b. They were assigned iqtas for a short period of time before being
shifted.
c. Accountants were appointed by the state to check the amount of
revenue collected by the muqtis.
d. Care was taken that the muqti collected only the taxesprescribed
by the state and that he kept the requirednumber of soldiers
only.
10. Under AlauddinKhalji the state brought the assessment
and collectionof land revenue under its own control. The rights
of the local chieftains to levy taxes were cancelled and they were
also forced to pay taxes.
11. There were three types of taxes: (1) on cultivation
calledkharajand amounting to about 50 per cent of the peasant’s
produce, (2) on cattle and (3) on houses.
12. The Mongols under Genghis Khan invaded Transoxiana in
north-east Iran in 1219 and the Delhi Sultanate faced his
invasion soon after.
13. This forced AlauddinKhalji and Muhammad Tughluq to
mobilise a large standing army in Delhi which posed a huge
administrative challenge.
14. Steps taken by the two rulers to face the challenge of
Genghis Khan.
A. AlauddinKhalji:
a. AlauddinKhalji raised a large standing army.
b. Alauddin constructed a new garrison town named Siri for his
soldiers.
c. To feed the soldiers, produce was collected as tax from lands
between the Ganga and Yamuna. Tax was fixed at 50 per cent
of the peasant’s production.
d. Alauddin chose to pay his soldiers salaries in cash rather
than iqtas.
e. To stop merchants from selling essential items to the soldiers
on higher prices Alauddin controlled the prices of goods in
Delhi. Prices were carefully surveyed by officers, and
merchants who did not sell at the prescribed rates were
punished.
f. Alauddin’s administrative measures were quite successful.He
successfully withstood the threat of Mongol invasions.
B. Muhammad Tughluq:
a. He raised a large standing army.
b. The oldest of the four cities of Delhi (Dehli-iKuhna) was emptied
of its residents and the soldiers garrisoned there. The residents
of the old city were sent to the new capital of Daulatabad in the
south.
c. Produce from the same area was collected as tax to feed the
army.
d. The Sultan levied additional taxes. This coincided with famine in
the area.
e. Muhammad Tughluq also paid his soldiers cash salaries. But
instead of controlling prices, he used a “token” currency,
somewhat like present-day paper currency, but made out of
cheap metals, not gold and silver. People in the fourteenth
century did not trust these coins. They were very smart: they
saved their gold and silver coins and paid all their taxes to the
state with this token currency. This cheap currency could also
be counterfeited easily.
f. Muhammad Tughluq’s administrative measures were a failure.
 15. Causes of failure of Muhammad Tughluq’s administrative
measures:
a. His campaign into Kashmir was a disaster.
b. He then gave up his plans to invade Transoxiana and disbanded
his large army.
c. His administrative measures created complications.
d. The shifting of people to Daulatabad was resented.
e. The raising of taxes and famine in the Ganga-Yamuna belt led to
widespread rebellion.
f. finally, the “token” currency had to be recalled.
16. After the Tughluqs, the Sayyid and Lodi dynasties ruled
from Delhi and Agra until 1526.
17. Sher Shah Sur (1540-1545) started his career as the
manager of a small territory for his uncle in Bihar and eventually
challenged and defeated the Mughal emperorHumayun (1530-
1540, 1555-1556).
18. Sher Shah captured Delhi and established his own
dynasty.
19. Sher Shah’s administration became the model followed by
the great emperor Akbar (1556-1605) when he consolidated the
Mughal Empire.
20. Client:Someone who is under the protection of another; a
dependent or hanger-on.
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