Class 7

Social Science

Case Study Worksheet

A Closer Look: Administration and Consolidation under the Khaljis and Tughluqs
Consolidation of a kingdom (as vast as the Delhi Sultanate) requires reliable governors and
administrators. Early Delhi Sultans, especially Iltutmish did not appoint aristocrats and landed
chieftains as governors. They favoured their special slaves purchased for military service (called
bandagan in Persian). The Khaljis and Tughluqs continued to use bandagan and also raised
people of humble birth, who were often their clients, to high political positions and appointed
them as generals and governors leading to political instability. Slaves and clients were loyal to
their masters and patrons, but not to heirs. The accession of a new monarch often saw conflict
between the old and the new nobility. Patronage of these humble people by the Delhi Sultans
shocked many elites and the authors of Persian tawarikh criticised the Delhi Sultans for
appointing the “low and base-born” to high offices.
The Khalji and Tughluq monarchs appointed military commanders as governors of territories of
varying sizes (called iqta) and their holder was called iqtadar or muqti- duty of the muqtis to lead
military campaigns and maintain law and order in their iqtas-In exchange for their military
services, the muqtis collected the revenues of their assignments as salary-paid their soldiers from
this revenues-to make the control over muqtis most effective their office was not inheritable-they
were assigned iqtas for a short period of time before being shifted-appointed accountant checked
the amount of revenue collected by the muqtis-As the Delhi Sultans brought the hinterland of the
cities under their control, they forced the landed chieftains – the Samanta aristocrats and rich
landlords to accept their authority-Under Alauddin Khalji, the state brought the assessment and
collection of land revenue under its own control- rights of the local chieftains to levy taxes
cancelled and were also forced to pay taxes-Some of the old chieftains and landlords serve the
Sultanate as revenue collectors and assessors.
There were three types of taxes: (1) on cultivation called kharaj and amounting to about 50% of
the peasant’s produce, (2) on cattle and (3) on houses. Large parts of the subcontinent remained
outside the control of the Delhi Sultans-was difficult to control distant provinces like Bengal
from Delhi-after annexing southern India, the entire region became independent- In the Gangetic
plain, there were forested areas that Sultanate forces could not penetrate- Local chieftains
established their rule in these regions-Rulers like Alauddin Khalji and Muhammad Tughluq
could force their control for a short duration in these areas.
1219- Mongols under Genghis Khan invaded Transoxiana in north-east Iran-Delhi Sultanate
faced their onslaught soon after-Mongol attacks on the Delhi Sultanate increased during the reign
of Alauddin Khalji and in the early years of Muhammad Tughluq’s rule-forced the two rulers to
mobilise a large standing army in Delhi which posed a huge administrative challenge.
Answer the following questions

a. Iltutmish favoured whom as chieftains and governors?

b. Under whose rule the state brought the assessment and collection of land revenue under its
own control?

c. Did Slaves and clients were loyal to their masters and patrons/

d. Who invaded Transoxiana in north-east Iran?

e. Who served serve the Sultanate as revenue collectors and assessors?

Case Study II

Water a Precious Resource

Answer the following questions
 Case Study III

Muhammad BinTughlaq

Muhammad Bin Tughlaq was a learned scholar of Arabic and Persian. He was very tolerant on
religious matters. He gave preference to the common man and raised them to high position which
was not liked by nobles and in return they did not cooperate with him. He introduced many
ambitious schemes and new experiments but unfortunately all his new schemes and experiments
failed. Experiments of Muhammad Bin Tughlaq 1. Shift of capital: Muhammad Bin Tughlaq
decided to shift his capital From Delhi to Devagiri in the Deccan and renamed it Daulatabad
thinking that it would be a safe and protected place from the Mongol attacks. He ordered the
entire population to shift which caused lot of inconvenience and also it became impossible to
control North India from Devagiri. Hence the North western frontiers could not be prevented
from Mongol attacks. Within 5 months the capital was shifted back to Delhi. This caused heavy
financial loss and great hardship to the people. The sultan also lost control over the Deccan after
shifting back to Delhi.2. Increase of taxes in the Ganga Yamuna Doab: Muhammad Bin Tughlaq
increased land tax in the Ganga Yamuna Doab to meet the expenses of the army. Many farmers
revolted against the king as they were not able to pay the increased revenue due to the famine.
The king had to cancel the order.3.Introduction of token currency: Muhammad Bin Tughlaq
introduced bronze token coins of the same value as silver coins to overcome a shortage of silver
in India. However Muhammad did not keep a check or reserve the right to issue new coins for
the state, as a result large scale circulation of forged coins came in to use. The value of currency
fell sharply and lots of bronze coins were discarded on the streets of capital. Trade suffered, the
sultan had to withdraw the token currency and pay all token coins with silver ones which caused
tremendous loss to the royal treasury. The failure of Muhammad Bin Tughlaq’s experiment
lowered his prestige. He also lost the support of the nobles resulting in revolts in many parts of
his empire and breaking up of the provinces. His health became worse and he died in 1351. He
was succeeded by Feroz Shah Tughlaq.

Answer the following questions

a. Who succeeded Muhammad Bin Tughlaq?

b. Why nobles did not cooperate with Muhammad Bin Tughlaq?

c. Why Muhammad Bin Tughlaq introduced bronze coins?

d. Why farmers revolted against Muhammad Bin Tughlaq?

e. To which place he shifted his capital from Delhi?

 Assertion and Reasoning questions

Q1. In the following questions, a statement of Assertion (A) is followed by a statement of Reason (R).
Mark the correct choice form the options given below:

Assertion: Earth is referred to as blue planet.

Reason: Due to the abundance of water.

1. Both assertion (A) and reason (R) are true and reason (R) is the correct explanation of assertion (A).

2. Both assertion (A) and reason (R) are true but reason (R) is not the correct explanation of assertion
(A).

3. Assertion (A) is true but reason (R) is false.

4. Assertion (A) is false but reason (R) is true.

Q2. In the following questions, a statement of Assertion (A) is followed by a statement of Reason (R).
Mark the correct choice form the options given below:

Assertion: The height of the tides remains constant every day.

Reason: It is contingent on the relative position of the moon and the sun with respect to the earth.

1. Both assertion (A) and reason (R) are true and reason (R) is the correct explanation of assertion (A).

2. Both assertion (A) and reason (R) are true but reason (R) is not the correct explanation of assertion
(A).

3. Assertion (A) is true but reason (R) is false.

4. Assertion (A) is false but reason (R) is true.

Q3. In the following questions, a statement of Assertion (A) is followed by a statement of Reason (R).
Mark the correct choice form the options given below:

Assertion: Tsunami causes large scale devastation in coastal regions.

Reason: It is caused by displacement of large scale volume of body of water usually ocean.

1. Both assertion (A) and reason (R) are true and reason (R) is the correct explanation of assertion (A).

2. Both assertion (A) and reason (R) are true but reason (R) is not the correct explanation of assertion
(A).

3. Assertion (A) is true but reason (R) is false.

4. Assertion (A) is false but reason (R) is true.

Q4. In the following questions, a statement of Assertion (A) is followed by a statement of Reason (R).
Mark the correct choice form the options given below:

Assertion: In democracy, equality and justice is ensured to all the citizens of the country.

Reason: Any discrimination on any grounds is discouraged and is considered to be a violation of the
constitution thus punishable by law.

1. Both assertion (A) and reason (R) are true and reason (R) is the correct explanation of assertion (A).

2. Both assertion (A) and reason (R) are true but reason (R) is not the correct explanation of assertion
(A).

3. Assertion (A) is true but reason (R) is false.

4. Assertion (A) is false but reason (R) is true.

Q5. In the following questions, a statement of Assertion (A) is followed by a statement of Reason (R).
Mark the correct choice form the options given below:

Assertion: Democracy stands for a government that is of the people, for the people and by the people.

Reason: Popular people of the country run the government.

1. Both assertion (A) and reason (R) are true and reason (R) is the correct explanation of assertion (A).

2. Both assertion (A) and reason (R) are true but reason (R) is not the correct explanation of assertion
(A).

3. Assertion (A) is true but reason (R) is false.

4. Assertion (A) is false but reason (R) is true.