Delhi Sultanate

The period from 1206 A.D. to 1526 A.D. came to be known as the Delhi Sultanate
period. This period witnessed many dynasties and various rulers.

Some of the major dynasties and rulers this period witnessed are listed below.

Sl. No. Dynasty Name

1 Slave (Ghulam) or Mamluk Dynasty

2 Khilji Dynasty

3 Tughluq dynasty

4 Sayyid Dynasty

5 Lodi dynasty

Slave (Ghulam) or Mamluk Dynasty

Ruler Period Events

(1206–
Qutb-ud-din Aibak Founder of Mamluk Dynast and Slave of Muhammad Ghori
1210)

(1210–
Aram Shah Eldest son of Qutb-ud-din Aibak
1211)

Shams-ud-din (1211–
Son-in-law of Qutb-ud-din Aibak
Iltutmish 1236)

Ruknuddin Feruz
(1236) Son of Iltutmish
Shah

(1236–
Razia Sultana Daughter of Iltutmish and Grand Daughter of Qutb-ud-din Aibak.
1240)
Tughluq Dynasty (c. 1320 – 1414 CE)
Rulers Period Events

Ghiyath al-Din (Ghiyasuddin) Tughluq 1320–1325

Muhammad bin Tughluq 1325–1351 Also called Muhammad Shah II

Mahmud Ibn Muhammad 1351 (March)

Firoz Shah Tughlaq 1351–1388 Cousin of Muhammad bin Tughlaq

Ghiyas-ud-Din Tughluq II 1388–1389

Abu Bakr Shah 1389–1390

Nasir ud din Muhammad Shah III 1390–1393

Ala ud-din Sikandar Shah I 1393

Mahmud Nasir ud din 1393–1394 Also called as Sultan Mahmud II

Nasir-ud-din Nusrat Shah Tughluq 1394–1399 Grandson of Firuz Shah Tughlaq

Nasir ud din Mahmud 1399–1412 Son of Mahmud Nasir-ud- din

This dynasty is also called Qaraunah Turks, as the father of Ghazi Malik was a
Qaraunah Turk in origin.

Ghiyasuddin Tughlaq/Ghazi Malik (c. 1320 – 1325 CE)

• Founder of the Tughlaq dynasty.

• Ghiyasuddin Tughlaq laid the foundation for Tughlaqabad (a strong fort) near Delhi.
• Ghiyasuddin Tughlaq sent his son Jauna Khan/Muhammad bin Tughlaq against Warangal
(Kakatiyas) and Madurai (Pandyas).
• His relationship with the Sufi saint Sheikh Nizam ud din Aulia was not cordial.
• It is believed that Jauna Khan treacherously killed his father and ascended the throne with
the title Muhammad bin Tughlaq in c. 1325 CE.

Muhammad Bin Tughlaq/Jauna Khan (c. 1325 – 1351 CE)

 • He was a very attractive character in the history of medieval times because of his ambitious
schemes and novel experiments. However, his novel experiments and enterprises failed
miserably as they were far ahead of their time.
• He introduced many reforms:
o Transfer of Capital – Muhammad bin Tughlaq wanted to shift his capital
from Delhi to Devagiri so that he might be able to control south India better. He
forcibly moved the entire population to the new capital, Devagiri which was
renamed as Daulatabad. After two years, the Sultan abandoned Daulatabad and
shifted back to Delhi due to the scarcity of water supply in Daulatabad. The
distance between the two places was more than 1500 kilometres and many people
died during the rigorous journey in summer.
o Token Currency – In c. 1329 CE, Sultan Muhammad bin Tughlaq introduced a
token currency, made of copper to replace gold and silver coins. It was modelled
based on the Chinese example (Kublai Khan issued paper money in China). Very
few people exchanged gold/silver for copper and the tokens were easy to forge
which led to heavy losses. Later on, Muhammad bin Tughlaq repealed his verdict
and all coins were redeemed in gold/silver, making the treasury empty.
o Taxation in Doab – The failure of the above two experiments resulted in a huge
loss of money. In order to improve the financial condition, Muhammad bin Tughlaq
increased the land revenue on the farmers of the doab land between the Ganga
and Yamuna rivers. It was an excessive and arbitrary step on the farmers. A severe
famine struck the region at that time which made the farmers revolt. However, the
harsh steps taken by Muhammad bin Tughlaq crushed the revolt.
o Agricultural Reforms – He launched a scheme by which takkavi loans (loans for
cultivation) were given to the farmers to buy seeds and to extend cultivation. He
set up a separate department for agriculture, Diwan-i-amir-Kohi. A model farm
under the state was created in an area of 64 square miles for which the government
spent around seventy lakh tankas. This experiment was further continued by Firoz
Tughlaq.
• Muhammad bin Tughlaq was the only Delhi Sultan who had received a comprehensive
literary, religious and philosophical education.
• He was very tolerant in religious matters. He maintained diplomatic relations with far off
countries like Iran, Egypt and China. The famous traveller Ibn Batuta (author of Safarnama
Rehla) visited India during this period (c. 1334 CE) and was appointed Qazi at Delhi for a
period of eight years.
• During the latter part of Muhammad bin Tughlaq’s reign, the kingdom witnessed a spate of
rebellions by the nobles and provincial governors. The Sultanate of Madurai was
established due to the rebellion of Hassan Shah. In c. 1336 CE, the Vijaynagara
kingdom was founded. In c. 1347 CE, the Bahmani kingdom was established. The
governors of Sindh, Multan and Oudh rose in revolt against the authority of Muhammad
bin Tughlaq. In Gujarat, Taghi revolted against the Sultan who spent nearly three years
chasing him.
• Muhammad bin Tughlaq died in c.1351 CE due to the worsening of his health
condition. According to Baduani, the Sultan was freed from his people and the people from
the Sultan. According to Barani, Muhammad bin Tughlaq was a mixture of opposites. His
reign marked the beginning of the process of its decline.

Firoz Shah Tughlaq (c. 1351 – 1388 CE)

• After the death of Muhammad bin Tughlaq in c.1351 CE, Firoz Shah Tughlaq was chosen
as the Sultan by the nobles.
• He appointed Khan-i-Jahan Maqbal, a Telugu Brahmin convert as wazir (Prime Minister).
He helped the Sultan in his administration and maintained the prestige of the Sultanate
during this period.
Military Campaigns

• After ascending the throne, he focussed on strengthening his position over north India
instead of claiming his authority over south India and Deccan. He led two expeditions to
Bengal which were unsuccessful and as a result, Bengal became free from the control of
the Delhi Sultanate.
• Firoz Shah Tughlaq also attacked Jajnagar (modern Orissa) and collected large booty from
the temples (such as the Puri Jagannath temple). He also marched against Nagarkot and
made its ruler pay tributes. During this campaign, Firoz Shah collected 1300 Sanskrit
manuscripts from the Jwalamukhi temple library and Arizuddin Khan translated these into
the Persian language. Firoz Shah then marched against Thatta (Sindh region) and crushed
a rebellion there.

Administrative Reforms

• He ran his administration in accordance with the advice of the ulemas. He pleased the
nobles and assured hereditary succession to their properties. Thus, the iqta system was
revived and was also made hereditary.
• He levied taxes as per the teachings of Islam. Jiziya was imposed on non-Muslims. The
special tax on 28 items was discarded by him since they were against the laws of Islam.
He showed intolerance towards Shia Muslims and Sufis. He regarded Hindus as second-
grade citizens and in this respect, he was the precursor of Sikander Lodi and Aurangzeb.
• He was the first sultan to impose an irrigation tax. But at the same time, he also built a
number of irrigation canals and wells. The longest canal was about 200 km in length from
Sutlej to Hansi. Another canal was between Yamuna and Hissar.
• During his reign, there were around 1200 fruit gardens in and around Delhi generating
more revenue.
• He developed royal factories called karkhanas in which thousands of slaves were
employed. He also increased the number of slaves by capturing the defeated soldiers and
young persons. There were around one lakh eighty thousand slaves during his reign.
• New towns (around 300) were built during his reign. The famous one being Firozabad near
Red Fort (now called Firoz Shah Kotla). Monuments like Qutb Minar and Jama Masjid were
repaired and Ashokan pillars from Meerut and Topara were brought to Delhi during his
reign.
• Diwan-i-Khairat, a new department was established to support orphans and widows. Free
hospitals like Dar-ul-Shifa and marriage bureaus for poor Muslims were also established.
• Firoz patronised scholars like Barani who wrote Tarikh-i-Firoz Shah, and Fatawa-i-
Jahandari and Khwaja Abdul Malik Islami who wrote Futah-us- Sulatin. He himself
authored the book, Futuhat-e-Firozshahi.
• Firoz Shah Tughlaq died in c. 1388 CE and after that, the struggle for power between the
Sultan and nobles started again. His successors (like Muhammad Khan, Ghiyasuddin
Tughlaq Shah Ⅱ, Abu Bakr Shah, Nasiruddin Muhammad) had to face the rebellions of
the slaves created by Firoz.

In the following years, the Delhi Sultanate disintegrated and many provinces like
Gujarat and Malwa declared independence. The invasion of Timur in c. 1398 CE,
further aggravated the situation. Timur was a Mongol leader of Central Asia, head of
Chagatai Turks. His kingdom stretched from lower Volga to river Indus, included
modern Turkey, Afghanistan, Transoxiana, Iran, and portions of Punjab. When Timur
entered Delhi there was barely any opposition. He sacked Delhi for three days killing
thousands of people and gathering huge wealth. He withdrew from India in c. 1399 CE
and his invasion gave a death blow to the Tughlaq dynasty.

Sayyid Dynasty (c. 1414 – 1451 CE)

Rulers Period

Khizr Khan 1414–1421

Mubarak Shah 1421–1433

Muhammad Shah 1434–1445

Alam Shah 1445–1451

Khizr Khan (c. 1414 – 1421 CE)

• Before Timur left India, he appointed Khizr Khan as governor of Multan. He captured Delhi
and founded the Sayyid dynasty in c. 1414 CE. He did not adopt the title of Sultan and was
content with Rayat-i-Ala.
• He is considered to be an important ruler of the Sayyid dynasty. He tried to consolidate the
Delhi Sultanate but in vain. He died in c. 1421 CE.

Mubarak Shah (c. 1421 – 1433 CE)

• Khizr Khan was succeeded by his son Mubarak Shah.

Muhammad Shah (c. 1434 – 1443 CE)

• Muhammad Shah who succeeded Mubarak Shah was always busy acting against
conspirators and gradually lost control over his nobles.
• Muhammad Shah died in c. 1445 CE and was succeeded by his son Alam Shah.

Alam Shah (c. 1445 – 1451 CE)

• He was the weakest amongst all Sayyid princes and proved to be incompetent.
• His wazir, Hamid Khan invited Bahlul Lodhi to take charge of the army. Alam Shah realised
that it would be difficult to continue as a ruler, so he retired to Badaun.
Lodi Dynasty (c. 1451 – 1526 CE)
Rulers Period Important points

Bahlul/Bahlol 1451–
Founder of the Lodi Dynasty
Lodi 1489

1489–
Sikander Lodi The most prominent ruler of the Lodi Dynasty, founded Agra city
1517

1517– Defeated by Babur in the First Battle of Panipat (in 1526) and thus ended
Ibrahim Lodi
1526 the Delhi Sultanate

The Lodhis/Lodis were the last ruling dynasty of the Sultanate period and the first to
be headed by the Afghans, who ruled over Sirhind when the Sayyids ruled in India.

Bahlol Lodhi (c. 1451 – 1489 CE)

• He founded the Lodhi dynasty.

• In c. 1476 CE, he defeated the sultan of Jaunpur and annexed it to Delhi Sultanate. He
also brought the ruler of Kalpi and Dholpur under the suzerainty of Delhi. He annexed the
Sharqui dynasty and introduced Bahlol copper coins.
• He died in c. 1489 CE and was succeeded by his son, Sikander Lodhi.

Sikander Lodhi (c. 1489 – 1517 CE)

• He was the greatest of the three Lodhi sovereigns. He brought the whole of Bihar under
his control and many Rajput chiefs were defeated. He attacked Bengal and forced its ruler
to conclude a treaty with him and extended his kingdom from Punjab to Bihar.
• He was a good administrator, he built roads and many irrigation facilities were provided for
the benefit of the peasantry.
• He introduced the Gazz-i-Sikandari, a new measurement yardstick and a system of
auditing of accounts.
• Despite having applaudable qualities, he was a bigot and was intolerant towards non-
Muslims. Many temples were destroyed and he re-imposed Jiziya on non-Muslims.
• In c. 1504 CE, he founded Agra and wrote Persian verses under the name Gulrakhi.

Ibrahim Lodhi ( c. 1517 – 1526 CE)

• Sikander Lodhi was succeeded by his eldest son, Ibrahim Lodhi who was an arrogant and
repressive ruler. He insulted his nobles in the court and the ones who revolted were put to
death. Daulat Khan Lodhi, the governor of Punjab was humiliated and disaffection between
king and courtier became very common during his reign. Greatly displeased by the attitude
of Ibrahim Lodhi, Daulat Khan Lodhi invited Babur to invade India. Babur marched against
Delhi, defeated and killed Ibrahim Lodhi in the First Battle of Panipat in c. 1526 CE. The
Afghan kingdom thus lasted for only seventy-five years.
Thus, the Sultanate of Delhi which had its birth on the battlefield of Tarain (c. 1192
CE), ended just a few miles away on the battlefield of Panipat (c. 1526 CE).