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The Delhi Sultanate

The period between 1206 A.D. and 1526 A.D. in India's history is known as the Delhi Sultanate period. During this period of over three hundred years, five dynasties ruled in Delhi. These were:

·         the Slave dynasty (1206-90)

·         Khilji dynasty (1290-1320)

·         Tughlaq dynasty (1320-1413)

·         Sayyid dynasty (1414-51)

·         Lodhi dynasty (1451-1526)

SLAVE  DYNASTY(1206-1290)

   ·         The Slave Dynasty ruled the Sub-continent for about 84 years.

   ·         It was the first Muslim dynasty that ruled India.

   ·         This dynasty is also called Mamluk dynasty.

1.Qutbuddin Aibak(1206-1210)

   ·         Qutub-ud-din Aibak, a slave of Muhammad Ghori, who became the ruler after the death of his master, founded the Slave Dynasty.

   ·         He was a great builder who built the majestic 238 feet high stone tower known as Qutub Minar in Delhi.

   ·         He was also built Adhai Din ka Jhopra in Ajmer and Quwat-ul-Islam at Delhi.

   ·         He was called as Lakh Bakhsh (giver of lakhs).

   ·         He died in 1210 while plying chaugan(Polo).

2. Iltutmish(1211-1236)

   ·         He is regarded as the real founder of the Delhi Sultanate.

   ·         He made Delhi the capital in place of Lahore.

   ·         Iltutmish introduced the Iqta system. Under this system, land was assigned to nobles and others in lieu of salary.

   ·         He issued the silver tanka and copper jital.

   ·         He set up an official nobility of slaves known as Chahalgani/ Chalisa(group of forty).

   ·         He organised the Iqta system and introduced reforms in civil administration and army.

   ·         He patronized Minhaj-us-Siraj, author of Tabaqat-i-nasiri.

   ·         He saved Delhi sultanate from the wrath of Chengiz Khan, the Mongol leader by refusing shelter to  khwarizm shah, whom chengiz khan was chasing.

   ·         He died in 1236.

3.Raziya(1236-1240)

   ·         Raziya was daughter of Iltutmish who was nominated by him against the will of chahalgani.

   ·         She was the fourth emperor of the Slave Dynasty.

   ·         She was the the first and last Muslim female ruler of Delhi.

   ·         She "abandoned the veil and adopted masculine attire."

   ·         A battle between Razia and Altunia ensued, with the result that Yaqut was killed and Razia taken  prisoner. To escape death, Razia agreed to marry Altunia.

   ·         They were defeated by Bahram Shah’s army and compelled to return towards bhatinda.

   ·         After Altunia and Razia undertook to take back the sultanate from Bahram through battle, both  Razia and her husband  killed on October 14, 1240.

  ·         The statement “She had all the capabilities, her only fault was her being a woman” was made by  Minhaj-us-Siraj who was the author of Tabaqat-i-Nasiri.

4.Bahram Shah (1240-1242)

   ·         Muiz ud din Bahram  was the sixth sultan of the Slave Dynasty.

   ·         He was the son of Iltutmish (1211–36) and brother of Razia Sultan (1236–40). While his sister was in Bathinda, he declared himself king with the support of forty chiefs.

   ·         He was succeeded by Ala ud din Masud, a son of Rukn ud din Firuz.

   ·         During the reign of Bahram Shah, the Mongols attacked India under Tair in 1241.

   ·         He was murdered by his own army in 1242 (died 15 May 1242).

5.Ala ud din Masud(1242-1246)

   ·         He was the seventh sultan of the Slave dynasty.

   ·         He was the son of Rukn ud din Firuz and the nephew of Razia Sultan .

   ·         He became infamous for his fondness for entertainment and wine.

   ·         Like his predecessor, he was considered "incompetent and worthless." By 1246, the chiefs became upset with his increasing hunger for more power in the government, and replaced him with Nasir ud din Mahmud (1246–66), grandson of Iltutmish and son of Nasiruddin Mahmud.

6.Nasiruddin Mahamud (1246-66)

   ·         Nasir ud din Mahmud, Nasir ud din Firuz Shah was the eighth sultan of the Mamluk Sultanate  (Slave dynasty). He was the son of Nasiruddin Mahmud ,who was the eldest son of Iltutmish (1211–  36).

   ·         Mahmud was known to be very religious, spending most of his time in prayer and copying the  Koran.

   ·         After Mahmud's death in 1266, Balban (1266–87) rose to power as Mahmud had no children to be  his heir.

7.Ghiyasuddin Balban(1266-1287)

   ·         Ghiyas ud din Balban  was the ninth sultan of the Mamluk dynasty of Delhi.

   ·         Ghiyas ud Din was the vizier and heir of the last Shamsi sultan, Nasir ud-din.

   ·         He broke the power of chahalgani and restored the prestige of the crown.

   ·         Ghiyas ud-din made civil and military reforms that earned him the position of the strongest ruler  between  Iltutmish and the later Alauddin Khilji.

   ·         One of the famous military campaigns of Balbun was against Meo, or Mayo, the people of Mewat  who used to plunder the people of Delhi even in the day light. The distress caused by the Meo is well  described in Barani's words:He has killed many Mayo's in his military campaign.

   ·         Balban had his nobles punished most harshly for any mishap, including severe treatment of their    own slaves.

   ·         One of his nobles, Malik Baqbaq, the governor of Budaun, was punished for ordering one of his    slaves to be beaten to death.

   ·         He assumed the title of Zill-i-Ilahi (shadow of god) and Niyabaat-i-Khudai (god’s vice regent on  earth).

   ·         He introduced Sijda (prostration before the monarch) and Paibos(kissing the feet of monarch ).

   ·         Balban's court was an austere assembly where zest and laughter were unknown and where wine  and gambling were banished.

   ·         In 1247, Balban suppressed a rising of the Chandela Chief of Kalinjar.

   ·         He died in 1287.

Muiz ud din Qaiqabad(1287-90)

   ·         He was the tenth sultan of the Mamluk dynasty (Slave dynasty).

   ·         He was the son of Bughra Khan the then Independent sultan of Bengal, as well as grandson of  Ghiyas ud din Balban .

   ·         Fakhr-ud-Din, the Kotwal of Delhi, set aside the nomination and chose for Muiz ud din Qaiqabad.

  ·         he was murdered in 1290 by a Khilji noble. His infant son, Kayumars, was also murdered, ending the Slave dynasty and instigating the Khilji Revolution.

THE KHILJI DYNASTY(1290-1320 AD)

1.Jalaluddin Khilji (1290-96)

   ·         Jalaluddin Khilji founded the Khilji dynasty.

   ·         He ascended the throne at the age of 17.

   ·         Jalaluddin went to built his capital at Kilughari, a few miles from the city of Delhi.

   ·         Jalaluddin's eldest son received the title of Khan Khanan, his second son received the title of Arkali  Khan and his third son received the title of Qadr Khan.

   ·         He appointed his younger brother the ariz-i-mumalik (army minister).

   ·         His two nephews, Alauddin and Almas Beg received significant responsibilities in the royal household.

   ·         He was killed in 1296 by his nephew Alauddin.

2.Alauddin Khilji (1296-1316)

   ·         He is considered the most powerful ruler of the dynasty.

   ·         His attack on Chittor in 1303 to capture the queen of Chittor, Rani Padmini, the wife of Rawal  Ratan Singh and the subsequent story have been immortalised in the epic poem Padmavat, written by  Malik Muhammad Jayasi in the Awadhi language.

   ·         He defeated the Mongol armies at the battles of Jalandhar (1298), Kili (1299), Amroha (1305) and  Ravi (1306).

   ·         He was the first Turkish Sultan of Delhi who separated religion from politics. He proclaimed  “kingship knows no kinship“.

   ·         Alauddin Khalji's taxation system was probably the one institution from his reign that lasted the longest, surviving indeed into the nineteenth or even the twentieth century.

   ·         He fixed the state’s share at 50% of the gross produce of the land. Besides this, Hindus were  required to pay the Jizya.

   ·         He constructed the Alai Darwaja, the entrance gate of Qutub Minar. He also built the place of  thousand Pillars called Hazar Sultan.

   ·         He declared himself as Sikandar-i-Sani, the second Alexander.

   ·         He was a great patron of learning and fine arts, Amir Khusrau and Amir Hasan resided at his    court.

   ·         Alauddin died in January 1316, of oedema.

   ·         His tomb and madrasa dedicated to him, exists at the back of Qutb complex, Mehrauli, in Delhi.

3. Qutb-ud-din Mubarak Shah Khilji (1316-20)

   ·         He was the third and last ruler of the Khilji dynasty.

   ·         He was the son of Alauddin Khilji.

   ·         He appointed Khusrau as malik naib (prime minister).

   ·         He began his rule by releasing thousands of prisoners and abolishing all taxes and penalties imposed by his father.

   ·         He was the weakest ruler of the dynasty.

   ·         Qutb-ud-din was murdered by Khusro Khan in 1320, which ended the Khilji dynasty. Khusro Khan was a former Hindu slave of the Bawariya Hindu caste in Gujarat.

TUGHLAQ DYNASTY  (1320-1414)

1.Ghiyasuddin Tughalaq (1320-25)

   ·         He founded the Tughluq dynasty.

   ·         He was aslo known as Ghazi Malik (Ghazi means 'slayer of the infidels').

   ·         He served as provincial governor of Dipalpur under the Khiljis.

   ·         Ghiyas's policy was harsh against Mongols.

   ·          He had killed envoys of the Ilkhan Oljeitu and punished Mongol prisoners harshly. He had fought  various campaigns against the Mongols defeating them in 1305 at the Battle of Amroha.

   ·         He appointed Tajuddin Malik as governor of Multan and Khwájah Khatír as governor of Bhakkar  and he left Malik Ali Sher in charge of Sehwan.

   ·         He founded the city of Tughluqabad.

   ·         At Afghanpur in July 1325, the wooden pavilion used for his reception collapsed, killing him a. Ibn  Battuta claimed it was a conspiracy.

2.Muhammad bin Tughlaq (1325-51)

   ·         He was the eldest son of Ghiyas-ud-din Tughlaq.

   ·         His wife was the daughter of the raja of Dipalpur.

   ·         He issued maximum number of coins among the Delhi Sultans. Hence he has been called as  “prince of moneyers”.

   ·         He was a scholar of logic, philosophy, mathematics, astronomy, physical sciences and calligraphy.

   ·         He was also interested in medicine and was skilled in several languages — Persian, Arabic,  Turkish and Sanskrit.

   ·         All his coins reflect a staunch religiosity, with such inscriptions as "The warrior in the cause of  God", "The trustier in support of the four Khalifs – Abu Bakr, Umar, Usman and Ali".

   ·         The kalimah appeared in most of his coinage. Both at Delhi and at Daulatabad coins were minted  in memory of his late father.

   ·         He created the department of agriculture which was called Diwan-i-Kohi.

   ·         Muhammad bin Tughluq was relatively liberal and permitted Hindus and Jains to settle in Delhi.

   ·         He completed the construction of Tughluqabad.

   ·         Ibn Battuta, the famous traveller from Morocco, was a guest at his court.

   ·         Between 1328 and 1329 the Sultan increased the land tax, which led the peasants in the Doab  region revolted.

   ·         He contended with 22 rebellions, pursuing his policies consistently and ruthlessly.

3.Firoz Shah Tughlaq(1351-88)

   ·         He was the son of a Hindu princess of Dipalpur and cousin of Mohammad-bin-Tughlag.

   ·         After the death of Muhammad Tughlaq, he faced many rebellions, including in Bengal, Gujarat  and Warangal.

   ·         Jazya became a separate tex.

   ·         The tow pillars of Ashoka, one from Topa(Haryana) and other from Merrut were brought to Delhi.

   ·         He re-erected one of them in his palace at Feroz Shah Kotla.

   ·         He also started translation of Sanskrit works into Persian.

   ·         He worked to improve the infrastructure of the empire building canals, rest-houses and hospitals,  creating and refurbishing reservoirs and digging wells.

   ·         He founded several cities around Delhi, including Jaunpur, Ferozpur, Hissar, Firuzabad,  Fatehabad.

   ·         The sultan remarked that Khan-i-Jahan (Malik Maqbul) was the real ruler of Delhi.

   ·         Diwan-i-Khairat was set up by him to make provisions for the marriage of poor girls.

    ·         Tughlaq instituted economic policies to increase the material welfare of his people.

   ·          Many rest houses (sarai), gardens and tombs were built. A number of madrasas were opened to  encourage literacy.

   ·         He set up hospitals for the free treatment of the poor and encouraged physicians in the  development of Unani medicine.

   ·         Tughlaq's reign has been described as the greatest age of corruption in medieval India: he once    gave a golden tanka to a distraught soldier so that he could bribe the clerk to pass his sub-standard  horse.

   ·         He died in 1388.

4.Tughluq Khan (1388–1389)

   ·         Tughluq Khan was son of Firoz Shah.

   ·         He ascended the throne in 1388 assuming the title of Sultan Ghiyath-ud-din Tughluq Shah II.

   ·          The duration of the reign of Tughluq Khan, was five months and eighteen days.

   ·         Khan Jahan, his vizier and, put them to death and hung up their heads over the gate of the city.

5.Abu Bakr Shah (1389-90)

   ·         He was the son of Zafar Khan and the grandson of Sultan Firoz Shah Tughluq.

   ·         After Ghiyas-ud-Din Tughluq II was murdered, Abu Bakr became ruler of the Tughlaq empire.

   ·         Abu Bakr was imprisoned in the fort of Meerut and died soon after.

6. Nasir ud din Muhammad Shah III (1390-1394)

   ·         He was the last ruler of Tughlaq dynasty.

   ·         During his reign, Amir Timur the Chagtai ruler invaded India.

THE SAYYID DYNASTY (1414 -1451)

1.Khizr Khan(1414-21)

   ·         Khizar Khan founded Sayyid dynasty.

   ·         He was known to be an able administrator and was very soft natured.

   ·         He did not take up any royal title from fear of Amir Timur and contended himself with the titles of  Rayat-i-Ala (Sublime Banners) and Masnad-i-Aali .

   ·         He defeated the Hindus of Daob, Kalithar and Chandwar since they had stopped paying tributes.

   ·         He never resorted to bloody battles until it was absolutely necessary.

   ·         He died in 1421.

2. Mubarak Shah(1421-34)

   ·         He was the son of Khizr Khan.

   ·         He founded city of Mubarakabad the year 1433.

   ·         All his life was spent in curbing one revolt or the other; otherwise his reign was also as uneventful  as was that of his father.

   ·         He was killed in 1434 in his city Mubarakabad.

3. Muhammad Shah (1434-45 )

   ·         After Mubarak, a grandson of Khizr Khan ascended the throne with the title of Muhammad Shah.

   ·         Muhammad Shah was a nephew of Mubarak Shah.

   ·         He was an incapable ruler and therefore paved the way for the downfall of the Sayyid dynasty.

   ·         He misused his power and position of authority. He was lethargic and lazy ruler who just wanted to  live his life in pleasure.

   ·         Various governors became independent and they ceased to pay the amount of tribute.

   ·         He died in 1445 .

4. Alam Shah (1445-51)

   ·         Alam Shah was a weak ruler.

   ·          In 1451 he surrendered Delhi to Bahlul Lodi and went to Budaun where He spent rest of his life.

   ·         Alam Shah ruled Baduan till he died in the year 1478. with his death the Sayyid dynasty came to  end.

LODI DYNASTY(1451-1526)

1.Bahlol Lodi(1451-89)

   ·         Bahlol lodi was the founder of Lodi dynasty.

   ·         He was an Afghan noble who was a very brave soldier.

   ·         With a view to restoring the Delhi Sultanate its past glory, he conquered many territories including  the powerful kingdom of Jaunpur.

   ·          He extended his territories over Gwalior, Jaunpur and Uttar Pradesh.

   ·         In 1486, he appointed his son, Babrak Shah as viceroy of Jaunpur.

   ·         He was a vigorous leader, holding together a loose confederacy of Afghan and Turkish chiefs with  his strong personality.

   ·         Bahlul spent most of his time in fighting against the Sharqi dynasty and ultimately annexed it.

   ·         He placed his eldest surviving son Barbak on the throne of Jaunpur in 1486.

2.Sikandar Lodi (1489-1517)

   ·         Sikandar Lodi (born Nizam Khan), the second son of Bahlul Lodi came to the throne in 15 July    1489.

   ·         He took up the title Sikandar Shah.

   ·         He shifted his capital from Delhi to Agra, a city founded by him.

   ·         Agra was known as Shiraz of India during his time.

   ·         He was a poet of repute. He composed under the pen-name of Gulruk.

   ·         He frequently razed temples and erected mosques in their place.

   ·         He introduced auditing in accounts.he took good care of justice and agriculture for the welfare of  people.

   ·         He introduced a system of Gaz-i-sikandari,means 32 digit of measuring system of cultivated lands.

   ·         He tried to conquer the Gwalior Fort, and he attacked five times, but was foiled on all occasions by  the king of Gwalior Maharaja Mansingh.

   ·         He died in 1517.

3. Ibrahim Lodi(1517-26)

   ·         He was the youngest son of Sikandar, andthe last Lodi Sultan of Delhi.

   ·         Rana Sanga of Mewar defeated him.

   ·         By the time Ibrahim ascended the throne, the political structure in the Lodi Dynasty had dissolved  due to abandoned trade routes and the depleted treasury.

   ·         In order to take revenge of the insults done by Ibrahim, the governor of Lahore, Daulat Khan Lodi  asked the ruler of Kabul, Babur to invade his kingdom.

   ·         He was defeated and killed by Babur in the first Battle of Panipat  in 1526.

   ·         After the end of Lodhi dynasty, the era of Mughal rule commenced.

                                                            Literature of Delhi Sultanate

Book	Author	Main Content
Kitab-ul-Rehla	Ibn-Batuta	Travelogue
Kitab-ul-Hind	Alberuni	About Indian philosophy and Science
Laila-Majnu	Amir Khusrau	Court poet of Alauddin Khilji.
Jawahir-fil-Jawahir	Alberuni	Mineralogy
Chachanama	Abu Bakr	History of sind
Rajatarangini	Kalhana	History of Kashmir
Ayina-i-Sikandari	Amir Khusrau	Literary masterpieces
Padmavat	Malik Muhammad Jayasi	About Queen Padmavati
Tahkik-i-Firoz Shah	Ziauddin Barani	History of Tughlaq

                                                      Administration of the Sultanat

Department	Purpose
Sultan	Head of the Sultanate Administration
diwan-i-wizarat	Department  of Finance
Diwan-i-ariz or diwan-i-arz	Controller general of the military establishment
Diwan-i-insha	In-charge of royal correspondence
Diwan-i-risalat	The minister for foreign affairs
Diwan-i-Kohi	Agriculture department
Diwan-i-Khairat	Department of charity
Sadr-us-Sudur	Minister of the department of religions

                                    Revenue sources in Sultanate period

·         Ushr:-It was a tax on land which was collected from Muslim peasants. It was 10 per cent of the produce on the land watered by natural resources and 5 per cent on the land which enjoyed facilities provided by irrigation works.

·         Kharaj:-It was the land tax realized from non-Muslim and and ranged from one third to half of the produce.

·         Jizya:-It was a religious tax on Non-Muslims. According to Islam, a Zimmi (Non-Muslim) had no right to live in the kingdom of a Muslim Sultan. All those who had no source of income were exempted from this tax. Firoz Tughlaq levied this tax on Brahmans also.

·         Zakat:-This was a religious tax which was imposed only on rich Muslims and it was 2 1/2 per cent of their income.

·         Grazing tax:-It was also levied by Ala-ud-Din Khalji.