Delhi Sultanate

Delhi Sultanate, or Muslim sultanate in north India from the 13th to the 16th century. Its creation owed much to the campaigns of Mu'izzal-Din Muhammad ibn sam (Muá¸¥ammad of GhÅ«r; brother of Sultan GhiyÄth al-DÄ«n of GhÅ«r) and his lieutenant Qulbal- Din Aibak between 1175 and 1206 and particularly to victories at the battles of Taraori in 1192 and Chandawar in 1194.

The Delhi Sultans built many cities in the area that we now know as Delhi. Muslim rule in India was established by Mohammad Ghori in the 12th century CE. In this, Ghori was helped by his general, Qutbuddin Aibak. Ghori appointed Aibak as the viceroy of his Indian conquests.

Mohammad Ghori died in 1206 CE. As he left behind no descendants, his viceroys declared themselves independent rulers of the regions they governed. Qutbuddin Aibak claimed the Indian the Indian territories, which included Punjab, Sind, the indo- Gangetic plains, and present – day Bihar and Bengal.

He established his capital at Delhi. With the accession of Qutbuddin Aibak to the throne of Delhi begins the history of Delhi of the Delhi sultanate in India. It lasted for more than 300 years: from 1206 to 1536 CE. The rulers during this period called themselves sultans; hence their rule is known as that of the Delhi sultanate.

Five successive dynasties ruled over northern India during the reign of the Delhi sultans. They were:

The slave dynasty (1206-1290 CE)

The Khaljis (1290-1320 CE)

The Tughlaqs (1320-1399 CE)

The Sayyids (1414-1451 CE)

The Lodis (1451-1526 CE)

Finding Out about the Delhi Sultans: Although inscriptions, coins and architecture provide a lot of information, especially valuable are “histories”, Tarikh (singular)/Tawarikh (plural). Written in Persian, the language of administration under the Delhi sultans.

The authors of Tawarikh were learned men: secretaries, administrators, poets and countries, who both recounted events and advised rulers on governance, emphasizing the importance of Justs rule. The authors of Tawarikh lived in cities (mainly Delhi) and hardly ever in villages.

They often wrote their histories for sultans in the hope of rich rewards. These authors advised rulers on the need to preserve an “ideal” social order based on birthright and gender distinctions. In 1236 sultan Iitutmish’s daughter, Raziyya became sultan.

The chronicler of the age, Minhaj- i- Siraj, recognized 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 at her attempts to rule independently. She was removed from the throne in 1240.

The power of the Delhi sultanate in north India was shattered by the invasion (1398–99) of Turkic conqueror Timur (Tamerlane), who sacked Delhi itself. Under the Sayyid Dynasty (c. 1414–51). Thesultanate was reduced to a country power continually contending on an equal footing with other petty Muslim and Hindu principalities.

Under the Lodi (Afghan) Dynasty (1451–1526), however, with large-scale immigration from Afghanistan, the Delhi sultanate partly recovered its hegemony until the Mughal leader Babur destroyed it at the First Battle of Panipat on April 21, 1526.

After 15 years of Mughal rule, the Afghan Sher shah Suri reestablished the sultanate in Delhi, which fell again in 1555 to BÄbur’s son and successor, Humayun who died in January 1556. At the Second Battle of Panipat (November 5, 1556), HumÄyÅ«n’s son Akbar definitively defeated the Hindu general Hemu, and the sultanate became submerged in the Mughal Empire.

The Delhi Sultanate during the 15th and 16th century

After the Tughluqs, the Sayyid and Lodi dynasties ruled from Delhi and Agra until 1526.

By then, Jaunpur ,Bengal,Malwa ,Gujrat,Rajasthan and the entire south India had independent rulers.They had established flourishing states and prosperous capitals.

This was also the period which saw the emergence of new rulling groups like Afghans and the Rajputs.

Some of the states established in this period were small but very powerful and extremely well administered.

Chapters

Tracing Changes Through Thousand Years - I

Tracing Changes Through Thousand Years - II

Kings and Kingdoms

Delhi 12th to 15th Century I

Delhi 12th to 15th Century II

The Mughals 16th-1 Century I

The Mughals 16th-1 Century II

Tribes Nomads And Settled Communities

Devotional Paths To The Divine I