8/4/2019 The Delhi Sultanate is a Term Used to Cover Five Short

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/the-delhi-sultanate-is-a-term-used-to-cover-five-short 1/6

The Delhi Sultanate is a term used to cover five short-lived Islamic kingdoms or 

sultanates of Turkic origin in medieval India. The sultanates ruled from Delhi between

1206 and 1526, when the last was replaced by the Mughal dynasty. The five dynastieswere the Mamluk dynasty (1206–90); the Khilji dynasty (1290–1320); the Tughlaq

dynasty (1320–1413); the Sayyid dynasty (1414–51); and the Lodi dynasty (1451–1526).

Qutb-ud-din Aibak , a former slave (Mamluk ) of Muhammad of Ghor , was the first sultan 

of Delhi and his dynasty managed to conquer large areas of northern India. Afterwardsthe Khilji dynasty was also able to conquer most of central India, but both failed to unite

the Indian subcontinent. The sultanate are also noted for being one of the few states to

repeatedly defeat the Mongol Empire[1]  and thereby saving India from plundering raidsand attacks.

The Sultanate ushered in a period of Indian cultural renaissance. The resulting "Indo-

Muslim" fusion of cultures left lasting syncretic monuments in architecture, music,

literature, religion and clothing. It is surmised that the Urdu language (literally meaning

"horde" or "camp" in various Turkic dialects) was born during this period as a result of the intermingling of the local speakers of Sanskritic Prakrits with immigrants speaking

Persian, Turkic and Arabic under the Muslim rulers. The Delhi Sultanate is the only Indo-Islamic empire to have enthroned one of the few female rulers in India, Razia Sultana 

(1236–1240). In 1526 the Delhi Sultanate was absorbed by the emerging Mughal Empire

Dynasties

[edit] Mamluk (Slave) Dynasty

Main article: Mamluk Sultanate (Delhi)

Muhammad of Ghor (d. 1206), based in Afghanistan, had extended his state southwardsat the expense of the Ghaznavids as far as Lahore and much of the Punjab and appointed

Qutub-ud-din Aibak as governor of this part of his realm. A slave of Cuman-Kipchak  

origin, he proclaimed independence after the death of his patron and ruled from Delhi.[2]

His line is therefore known as the Slave (Mamluk ) Dynasty on account of his origin.

Aibak began the construction of Qutub Minar , which was completed by Iltutmish, his

successor and son-in-law. Aibak's legitimate successor was his son Aramshah, but the

nobles preferred Iltutmish, the Subedar of  Badaun. Iltutmish was followed by RaziaSultana, his daughter, who was a good administrator and the first female ruler in the

Muslim world. She was endowed with all qualities befitting a King, but she was not born

of the right sex, and in the estimation of men all her virtues were worthless. Her rumoredrelationship with a Sidi adviser, Jamal-ud-Din Yaqut, as he continued to rise in rank,

forced her nobles to revolt against her. After Yaqut was killed and Razia imprisoned, she

later wedded Altunia (the governor of Bhatinda), but she was killed by her nobles after 3and half years. Balban succeeded her and ruled until 1286 CE. A great Emperor, he was a

Sufi devotee and highly regarded their Saints; many a Sufi mystic settled in his sultanate,

though only one of them rose to full ascendancy over him. [citation needed ] Faced with revolts

8/4/2019 The Delhi Sultanate is a Term Used to Cover Five Short

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/the-delhi-sultanate-is-a-term-used-to-cover-five-short 2/6

 by conquered territories and rival families in the turmoil for succession after his death,

the Mamluk dynasty came to an end in 1290.

[edit] Tughlaq

Main article: Tughlaq dynasty

The Tughlaq dynasty lasted for close to a hundred years. It produced two powerfulSultans, Muhammad-Bin Tughlaq and Firoz Shah Tughlaq. Ghias-ud-din Tughlaq (1320– 

1325), an efficient military commander, was the first ruler of the dynasty. He was

succeeded by Jauna Khan, who took the title of Muhammad bin Tughlaq. A very

 powerful ruler, he shifted his capital in 1326 from Delhi to Devgiri (now known asDaulatabad). During the Qarachil expedition, he lost control over the empire and died in

1351. He was succeeded by Firoz shah Tughlaq (1351–1388) who was very successful as

a reformer.

[edit] Sayyid

Main article: Sayyid dynasty

The Sayyid dynasty ruled Delhi Sultanate in India from 1414 to 1451. They succeededthe Tughlaq dynasty and ruled the Sultanate until they were displaced by the Lodi

dynasty.

the lodi dynasty was brought to an end by Babur 

[edit] Monetary system

A coin of Muhammad bin Tughlaq

In the first half of the 14th century, the Sultanate introduced a monetary economy in the provinces ( sarkars) and districts ( parganas) that had been established and founded a

network of market centers, through which the traditional village economies were bothexploited and stimulated to be drawn into the wider culture. State revenues remained

 based on a successful agriculture, which induced Sultan Muhammad bin Tughluq (1325– 

51) to have village wells dug, to offer seed to the peasants, and to encourage cash cropslike sugarcane.[3]

8/4/2019 The Delhi Sultanate is a Term Used to Cover Five Short

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/the-delhi-sultanate-is-a-term-used-to-cover-five-short 3/6

[edit] Mongol invasion and the fall of the Sultanate

Main article: Mongol invasions of India

Perhaps the greatest contribution of the Sultanate was its temporary success in insulating

the subcontinent from the potential devastation of the Mongol invasion from Central Asia in the thirteenth century. However, the invasion of Timur  in 1398 significantly weakened

the Delhi Sultanate. It revived briefly under the Lodis before it was conquered by the

Mughal emperor  Babur in 1526.

The mausoleum of Qutub ud Din Aibak in Anarkali, Lahore, Pakistan.

The last Lodi ruler, Ibrahim Lodi, was greatly disliked by his court and subjects. Uponthe death of his father Sikander Lodi, he quashed a brief rebellion led by some of his

nobles who wanted his younger brother Jalal Khan to be the Sultan. After seizing the

throne, by having Jalal Khan murdered, he never really did succeed in pacifying his

nobles. Subsequently Daulat Khan, the governor of Punjab and Alam Khan, his uncle,sent an invitation to Babur, the ruler of  Kabul to invade Delhi.

By way of superior generalship, vast experience in warfare, effective strategy and

appropriate use of artillery, Babur won the first Battle of Panipat (April 1526), in which

Ibrahim Lodi was killed on the battlefield. Babur subsequently occupied Agra and Delhiand the new Mughal dynasty was to rule Delhi until 1857.

[edit] Sultans

[edit] Mamluk dynasty

• Qutb-ud-din Aybak (1206–1210), appointed Naib us Sultanat by Muhammad of 

Ghor , first Muslim Emperor of India, ruled with Delhi as capital

• Aram Shah (1210–1211).

• Shams ud din Iltutmish (1211–1236), son-in-law of Qut-bud-din Aybak.

• Rukn ud din Firuz (1236), son of Iltutmish.

• Raziyyat-ud-din Sultana (1236–1240), daughter of Iltutmish.

• Muiz ud din Bahram (1240–1242), son of Iltutmish.

8/4/2019 The Delhi Sultanate is a Term Used to Cover Five Short

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/the-delhi-sultanate-is-a-term-used-to-cover-five-short 4/6

• Ala ud din Masud (1242–1246), son of Ruk-nud-din.

•  Nasir ud din Mahmud (1246–1266), son of Iltutmish.

• Ghiyas ud din Balban (1266–1286), ex-slave, son-in-law of Sultan Nasir ud dinMahmud.

• Muiz ud din Qaiqabad (1286–1290), grandson of Balban and Nasir-ud-din.

[edit] Khilji dynasty

• Jalal ud din Firuz Khilji (1290–1296)

• Alauddin Khilji (1296–1316)

• Qutb ud din Mubarak Shah (1316–1320)

[edit] Tughlaq dynasty

• Ghiyas ud din Tughluq Shah I (1321–1325) [4]

• Muhammad Shah II (Muhammad bin Tughluq) (1325–1351)

• Mahmud Ibn Muhammad (March 1351)• Firuz Shah Tughluq (1351–1388)

• Ghiyas ud din Tughluq II (1388–1389)

• Abu Bakr Shah (1389–1390)

•  Nasir ud din Muhammad Shah III (1390–1393)

• Sikander Shah I (March - April 1393)• Mahmud Nasir ud din (Sultan Mahmud II) at Delhi (1393–1394)

•  Nusrat Shah, grandson of Firuz Shah Tughluq, controlled the west from Firozabad 

and  Nasiruddin Mahmud Shah, son of Mahmud Nasir ud din, controlled the eastfrom Delhi (1394–1398)

[edit] Lodi dynasty

• Bahlul Lodi (1451–1489)

• Sikandar Lodi (1489–1517)

• Ibrahim Lodi (1517–26), killed by Babur in the First Battle of Panipat on April20, 1526

Around 1100 AD, the Mamluks who had alreadyconquered Persia (modern Iran) came to conquer India aswell. By 1192 AD, the Mamluks were able to beat the

8/4/2019 The Delhi Sultanate is a Term Used to Cover Five Short

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/the-delhi-sultanate-is-a-term-used-to-cover-five-short 5/6

Indians and take over northern India (and modernPakistan).

In 1192 AD, the Muslim general Muhammed Ghor 

captured Delhi and started a dynasty of rulers which,together with some later dynasties, is called the DelhiSultanate. The first dynasty was called the Slave Dynastybecause the first leaders had been slave soldiers, or Mamluks Little by little, many Hindus and Buddhists innorthern India decided to convert to Islam, the religion of their conquerors..

When the Slave Dynasty ended in civil war in 1290, theKhalji Dynasty took over. This was the time of the greatestpower of the Delhi Sultanate, when the Sultans in Delhicould control even the most southern part of India, at leastsome of the time.

Tomb of a Tughluq sultan

Under the Tughluq Dynasty, however, beginning about1325, the Delhi Sultans began to weaken. There were a lotof rebellions and civil wars, and by 1351 southern Indiaregained its independence as a Hindu state. The Deccan,

8/4/2019 The Delhi Sultanate is a Term Used to Cover Five Short

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/the-delhi-sultanate-is-a-term-used-to-cover-five-short 6/6

or central India, also broke away and became independent,although as an Islamic state.

Tamerlane

In the end, Delhi was sacked by the Mongol invader Tamerlane or Timur in 1398, which pretty much ended thepower of the Delhi Sultanate.