The
Delhi Sultanate was one of many
Muslim states that ruled in
India from 1206 to 1526. Several
Turkic and
Afghan dynasties ruled from Delhi: 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). In 1526 the Delhi Sultanate was absorbed by the emerging
Mughal Empire.
Dynasties
Mamluk
The second Muslim invader,
Mohammad Ghori, had political ambitions. He fought two
Battles of Tarain with
Prithviraj Chauhan. After he won the second battle, he established control. The dynasty is also known as the
Slave Dynasty as most of the rulers started as the slaves of Mohammad Ghori. He appointed
Qutubuddin Aibak as his
governor, and started building the
Qutub Minar, which was completed by
Iltutmish, his successor. Iltutmish was followed by
Balban.
Razia Sultana, daughter of Iltutmish, was a gifted administrator and the first female ruler from the Muslim world. But owing to discontent of the Turkish nobility, she had to step down. Many infamous and inefficient rulers followed her. Faced with revolts by conquered territories and rival families, the Mamluk dynasty came to an end in 1290.
Khalji
The
Khalji or Khilji dynasty, who had established themselves as rulers of
Bengal in the time of Muhammad Ghori, took control of the empire in a coup which eliminated the last of the Mamluks. The Khaljis conquered
Gujarat and
Malwa, and sent the first expeditions south of the
Narmada River, as far south as
Tamil Nadu. The Delhi Sultanate rule continued to extend into southern India, first by the Delhi Sultans, then by the breakaway
Bahmani Sultanate of
Gulbarga, and, after the breakup of the Bahmani state in 1518, by the five independent
Deccan Sultanates. The
kingdom of Vijayanagar united southern India and arrested the Delhi Sultanate's expansion for a time, until its eventual fall to the Deccan Sultanates in 1565.
Tughluq
Sayyid
The
Sayyid dynasty ruled Delhi sultanate in
India from 1414 to 1451. They succeeded the
Tughlaq dynasty and ruled that sultanate until they were displaced by the
Lodi dynasty. The dynasty was established by
Khizr Khan, deputised by Timur to be the governor of
Multan (
Punjab). Khizr Khan took Delhi from
Daulat Khan Lodi on May 28, 1414 and founded the Sayyid dynasty.
Lodi
Lodi Dynasty was a
Ghilzai (Khilji)
Afghan dynasty, who ruled over the Delhi Sultanate during its last phase. The dynasty founded by Bahlul Lodi ruled from 1451 to 1526. The last ruler of this dynasty, Ibrahim Lodi was defeated and killed by
Babur in the first Battle of Panipat on April 20, 1526.The greatest ruler of Lodi dynasty was Sikander Lodi.The dynasty founded by Bahlul Lodi ruled from 1451 to 1526.
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 both exploited and stimulated and drawn into the wider culture. State revenues remained based on successful agriculture, which induced Sultan
Muhammad bin Tughluq (1325-51) to have village wells dug, offer seed to the peasants and to encourage cash crops like
sugarcane (Braudel 1984, pp 96f, 512ff).
Female sultana
The Delhi Sultanate is the only Sultanate to stake a claim to possessing one of the few female rulers in India, Princess
Razia Sultana (1236-1240). While her reign was short she is regarded well in the eyes of historians. Princess Razia Sultana was very popular and more intelligent than her brothers. She was the very first queen of the Muslim world in the early Muslim history of sub-continent. She ruled from the east
Delhi to the west
Peshawar and from the North
Kashmir to the South
Multan. The rebels of her government killed her and her husband
Malik Altuniya, and buried them outside Delhi.
Mongol invasions
The Sultans of Delhi enjoyed cordial, if superficial, relations with other Muslim rulers in the Near East but owed them no allegiance. The Sultans based their laws on the
Qur'an and the
sharia and permitted non-Muslim subjects to practice their religion only if they paid
jizya or head tax. The Sultans ruled from urban centers—while military camps and trading posts provided the nuclei for towns that sprang up in the countryside. 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 broke the back of the Delhi Sultanate.
Fall of Sultanate
thumb|The mausoleum of [[Qutb-ud-din Aybak|Qutub ud Din Aibak in
Anarkali,
Lahore,
Pakistan.]]
right|thumb|Babur as EmperorThe last dynasty of the Sultanate was the Lodi dynasty. The last Lodi ruler, Ibrahim Lodi was greatly disliked in his court and subjects alike. He was overly ambitious. Thus, governor of
Punjab- Daulat Khan
and his uncle, Alam Khan sent an invitation to
Babur, the ruler of
Kabul, to conquer
Delhi.
The
first Battle of Panipat (April 1526) was fought between the forces of
Babur and Delhi Sultanate. Ibrahim Lodi was killed in the battleground. By way of superior generalship, vast experience in warfare, effective strategy and appropriate use of artillery,
Babur won the
First battle of Panipat and occupied
Agra and
Delhi. He set the foundation of the
Mughal dynasty which was to rule India for another 300 years.
The Sultanate ushered in a period of Indian cultural renaissance. The resulting "Indo-Muslim" fusion left lasting monuments in architecture, music, literature, and religion. The Sultanate suffered from the sacking of Delhi in 1398 by
Timur (
Tamerlane), and soon other independent Sultanates were established in
Awadh,
Bengal,
Jaunpur,
Gujarat and
Malwa. The Delhi Sultanate revived briefly under the Lodis before it was conquered by the
Mughal emperor
Babur in 1526.
See also
