The Delhi Sultanate (1206–1526)

The Delhi Sultanate comprised five successive dynasties over roughly three centuries.

3.1 Slave (Mamluk) Dynasty (1206–1290)

• Qutbuddin Aibak (1206–1210): Founder; former slave-general of Muhammad Ghori; began construction of the Qutub Minar (completed by his successor Iltutmish) and the Quwwat-ul-Islam Mosque (Delhi, using spolia from demolished Hindu/Jain temples) — the earliest mosque in India. Died in a polo (chaugan) accident in Lahore.
• Iltutmish (1211–1236): Consolidated the Sultanate; introduced the silver tanka and copper jital as standard coinage; organised the Iqta system (land revenue assignments to nobles in lieu of salary, in exchange for military service); created the "Chalisa" or "Chihalgani" (a group of 40 powerful Turkic nobles); secured formal recognition from the Abbasid Caliph.
• Razia Sultana (1236–1240): Iltutmish's daughter and India's first and only female Sultan of Delhi; faced strong resistance from the Turkic nobility due to her gender; eventually deposed and killed.
• Ghiyasuddin Balban (1266–1287): Broke the power of the Chalisa nobles; introduced the Persian court ceremonies of Sijda (prostration) and Paibos (kissing the sultan's feet) to emphasise royal authority; established a strong espionage and military network to defend against Mongol incursions, which were a persistent threat during this period.

3.2 Khalji Dynasty (1290–1320)

• Jalaluddin Khalji: Founder; relatively mild ruler.
• Alauddin Khalji (1296–1316): The most powerful Khalji ruler; came to power after murdering his uncle Jalaluddin. Extended the Sultanate deep into the Deccan and South India through his general Malik Kafur (campaigns against Devagiri/Yadavas, Warangal/Kakatiyas, Dwarasamudra/Hoysalas, and Madurai/Pandyas).
• Introduced sweeping market control reforms to maintain a large standing army at low cost: fixed prices for grain, cloth, and horses; state-regulated markets (Shahna-i-Mandi); rationing during scarcity.
• Land revenue was raised to 50% of produce in the Doab region, assessed by measurement rather than estimate, to curb the economic power of rural intermediaries (Khuts and Muqaddams).
• Successfully repelled repeated Mongol invasions (under leaders like Qutlugh Khwaja).
• His court included the celebrated poet-scholar Amir Khusrau, often called the "father of Qawwali" and credited with early experiments blending Persian and Hindavi poetic forms.

3.3 Tughlaq Dynasty (1320–1414)

• Ghiyasuddin Tughlaq: Founder.
• Muhammad bin Tughlaq (1325–1351): One of history's most debated rulers — highly learned but prone to ambitious, poorly executed projects.
• Transfer of capital from Delhi to Daulatabad (Devagiri) in the Deccan (1327), intended to better administer a vast empire, but reversed after causing immense hardship — a textbook example in Indian history of a sound strategic idea undermined by poor implementation.
• Introduced token/symbolic currency (copper/brass coins made equivalent in value to silver tankas) — an innovative idea in principle (similar to Kublai Khan's paper currency in China) but failed due to rampant forgery, since the state could not prevent unauthorised minting.
• Proposed an ambitious (and ultimately abandoned) expedition into the Himalayas/Khurasan.
• Ibn Battuta, the Moroccan traveller, visited his court and later served as a qazi in Delhi, leaving a detailed (if sometimes exaggerated) travelogue, the Rihla.
• Firoz Shah Tughlaq (1351–1388): More conservative and welfare-oriented; built canals for irrigation, founded new towns (Firozabad, Hisar, Jaunpur), reintroduced the Iqta system more thoroughly, and imposed Jizya (tax on non-Muslims) more strictly than predecessors; compiled the Futuhat-i-Firoz Shahi (his own memoirs). After his death, the dynasty weakened rapidly.
• Timur's invasion (1398): The Central Asian conqueror Timur (Tamerlane) sacked Delhi in 1398, causing massive destruction and loss of life, further weakening the already declining Tughlaq state.

3.4 Sayyid Dynasty (1414–1451)

• Founded by Khizr Khan, who ruled nominally as a deputy of Timur's successors rather than as a fully independent sultan; a weak, transitional dynasty with limited territorial control, largely confined to the area around Delhi.

3.5 Lodi Dynasty (1451–1526)

• The first (and only) Afghan dynasty to rule Delhi.
• Bahlul Lodi: Founder.
• Sikandar Lodi: Founded Agra as a new city/capital.
• Ibrahim Lodi (1517–1526): The last Sultan of Delhi; his autocratic style alienated the Afghan nobility, some of whom (notably Daulat Khan Lodi, governor of Punjab, and Rana Sanga of Mewar, by some accounts) invited Babur to invade India. Ibrahim Lodi was defeated and killed at the First Battle of Panipat (1526), ending the Delhi Sultanate and beginning Mughal rule.

3.6 Administration of the Delhi Sultanate

• The Sultan was assisted by a council of ministers: Wazir (finance/chief minister), Ariz-i-Mumalik (military), Diwan-i-Insha (royal correspondence), Diwan-i-Risalat (religious/foreign affairs), and Sadr-us-Sudur (religious endowments/charity).
• Provinces were called Iqtas, governed by Iqtadars/Muqtis; local administration continued to rely heavily on existing Hindu village-level structures and hereditary intermediaries (Khuts, Muqaddams, Chaudharis).
• Legal system based on Sharia for Muslims, with separate customary arrangements for the Hindu majority in many personal-law matters; Jizya was levied on non-Muslim subjects (with fluctuating strictness across different rulers).