The Delhi Sultanate
The Muslim dynasties that ruled from Delhi between 1206 and 1526, expanding and governing much of the subcontinent.
The big idea
Think first
For three hundred years Delhi's throne kept changing hands among five different dynasties, yet the Sultanate itself endured and even expanded. What held such an unstable state together? Keep the question in mind as you read.
For more than three centuries, from 1206 to 1526, much of northern India was ruled from Delhi by a series of Muslim dynasties. Together they are known as the Delhi Sultanate. The Sultanate expanded Delhi's power deep into the south and built new institutions of government. It left a lasting mark on India's architecture, language and culture. It is a key bridge between ancient and Mughal India.
The five dynasties
The Delhi Sultanate was not one family but five dynasties that ruled one after another:
- The Slave (Mamluk) dynasty (from 1206), founded by Qutbuddin Aibak, a former slave of Muhammad Ghori.
- The Khalji dynasty, whose greatest ruler was Alauddin Khalji.
- The Tughlaq dynasty, including Muhammad bin Tughlaq and Firuz Shah Tughlaq. Its last sultan was Nasiruddin Mahmud, in whose reign the dynasty collapsed.
- The Sayyid dynasty.
- The Lodi dynasty, the last, ended by Babur in 1526.
The early sultans were not always secure, and power often passed by force. Qutbuddin Aibak himself ruled only briefly. He died in 1210 after falling from his horse while playing chaugan, an early form of polo.
Rulers worth remembering
Within the Slave dynasty, the strongest ruler after Iltutmish was Balban. He crushed rebellious nobles and raised the prestige of the crown. He took the grand title Zil-i-Ilahi, meaning Shadow of God, to project the sultan as God's deputy on earth.
The three Lodi rulers came in a fixed order, which exams test directly:
- Bahlol Khan Lodi: founder of the dynasty, ruled 1451–1489.
- Sikandar Lodi: his son, ruled 1489–1517.
- Ibrahim Lodi: the last sultan, ruled 1517–1526, killed by Babur at Panipat.
Previous-year questions
Previous-year question
2006UPSCWhich one of the following is the correct chronological order of the Afghan rulers to the throne of Delhi?
Previous-year question
2004UPSCWho was the last ruler of the Tughluq dynasty of the Delhi Sultanate?
Previous-year question
2003UPSCHow did Sultan Qutb ud din Aibak die?
Previous-year question
1997UPSCAfter consolidating his power, Balban assumed the grand title of:
Expansion of the Sultanate
In its early days the Sultanate controlled only the area around Delhi. Strong rulers pushed its frontiers far outward:
- Alauddin Khalji defended India against Mongol invasions and sent his armies deep into the Deccan and the far south, extracting tribute.
- Muhammad bin Tughlaq extended control even further and famously tried to shift his capital from Delhi to Daulatabad in the Deccan, a plan that failed.
At its height the Sultanate was the largest state India had seen since the Mauryas.
The Mongol threat and Timur
Expansion happened under constant pressure from the north-west. The chronology of these invasions is heavily tested.
- Chengiz Khan, 1221: the Mongol conqueror reached the banks of the Indus during the reign of Iltutmish. He was pursuing the fugitive prince of Khwarezm (Jalal-ud-din), who had fled towards India. Iltutmish wisely refused the prince shelter, and Chengiz Khan turned back.
- Iltutmish and Balban: the early Mongol invasions fell in their reigns, not in that of Jalal-ud-din Khalji. Balban spent much of his rule guarding the frontier.
- Alauddin Khalji: Mongol raids grew bolder. One assault marched all the way to Delhi and besieged the city. Alauddin repulsed it and strengthened the frontier defences.
- Muhammad bin Tughlaq: despite his other failures, he did not lose the north-west to the Mongols. The territory remained with the Sultanate.
- Timur, 1398: the Central Asian conqueror invaded during the reign of Nasiruddin Mahmud, the last Tughluq sultan, not during Muhammad bin Tughlaq's. Timur sacked Delhi with great slaughter and his forces occupied Multan. The blow shattered the Tughluq dynasty.
Previous-year questions
Previous-year question
2022UPSCWith reference to Indian history, consider the following statements:
- The first Mongol invasion of India happened during the reign of Jalal-ud-din Khalji.
- During the reign of Ala-ud-din Khalji, one Mongol assault marched up to Delhi and besieged the city.
- Muhammad-bin-Tughlaq temporarily lost portions of north-west of his kingdom to Mongols.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
Previous-year question
2021UPSCConsider the following statements:
- It was during the reign of Iltutmish that Chengiz Khan reached the Indus in pursuit of the fugitive Khwarezm prince.
- It was during the reign of Muhammad bin Tughluq that Taimur occupied Multan and crossed the Indus.
- It was during the reign of Deva Raya II of Vijayanagara Empire that Vasco da Gama reached the coast of Kerala.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
Previous-year question
2001UPSCThe Mongols under Gengis Khan invaded India during the reign of:
Administration and revenue
The sultans built a system to govern their wide lands. They ruled through appointed nobles and governors rather than hereditary chiefs. This kept power in the sultan's hands.
A key institution was the iqta. This was a grant of land or its revenue given to a noble (an iqtadar or muqti). In return, the noble maintained troops and kept order. The iqta was not an Indian invention. The sultans borrowed it from Central Asia and West Asia, where it was already in use. The whole country was parcelled out as iqtas among military leaders. The state drew its income mainly from land revenue. It also collected taxes on trade and a tax on non-Muslims. Alauddin Khalji even fixed market prices to keep his large army affordable.
Some historians describe this arrangement as a form of feudalism. Authority was decentralised, administration rested on land grants, and lord-vassal ties bound the iqtadars to the sultan.
Officers and revenue terms
A cluster of technical terms recurs in questions:
- Amil: the officer who collected the revenue.
- Fawazil: the surplus revenue an iqtadar paid to the central exchequer after meeting his expenses.
- Mahattara and Pattakila: designations of village officers, the lowest rung of administration.
Note one common trap: the Mir Bakshi, the head of military pay and accounts, was a Mughal office. It did not exist under the Khaljis. Land-assignment systems also make a favourite matching question. The jagir belonged to the Mughals, the amaram to Vijayanagara, and the mokasa to the Marathas; the Sultanate's own unit was the iqta.
Firuz Shah's innovations
Firuz Shah Tughlaq added two distinctive institutions. He created a separate department of slaves, the Diwan-i-Bandagan, which managed the huge number of slaves he collected and trained. He also dug the largest network of canals of the Sultanate period to extend irrigation.
Was the state Islamic?
The chronicler Ziauddin Barani argued that the Sultanate was not a truly Islamic state. His reason was practical: the sultans could not run India on Muslim law (the Shariat) alone, so they supplemented it with their own state regulations, called zawabit. Government, in other words, rested on the sultan's decrees as much as on religious law.
Previous-year questions
Previous-year question
2019UPSCConsider the following statements:
- In the revenue administration of Delhi Sultanate, the in-charge of revenue collection was known as Amil.
- The Iqta system of Sultans of Delhi was an ancient indigenous institution.
- The office of Mir Bakshi came into existence during the reign of Khalji Sultans of Delhi.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
Previous-year question
2015UPSCWith reference to Indian history, which of the following is/are the essential elementary elements of the feudal system?
- A very strong centralized political authority and a very weak provincial or local political authority.
- Emergence of administrative structure based on control and possession of land.
- Creation of lord-vassal relationship between the feudal lord and his overlord.
Select the correct answer using the code given below.
Previous-year question
2014UPSCIn Medieval India, the designations 'Mahattara' and 'Pattakila' were used for:
Previous-year question
2002UPSCThe historian Barani refused to consider the state in India under Delhi Sultans as truly Islamic because:
Previous-year question
2002UPSCWith reference to medieval Indian rulers, which one of the following statements is correct?
Previous-year question
2001UPSCWhich of the following pairs is correctly matched?
Previous-year question
2000UPSCMatch List I with List II: I. Iqta – A) Marathas II. Jagir – B) Delhi Sultans III. Amaram – C) Mughals IV. Mokasa – D) Vijayanagara
Previous-year question
1998UPSCAssertion (A): At first the Turkish administration in India was essentially military. Reason (R): The country was parcelled out as 'Iqtas' among leading military leaders.
Previous-year question
1998UPSCFawazil in the Sultanate period meant:
Previous-year question
1998UPSCThe Sultan of Delhi who is reputed to have built the biggest network of canals in India was:
Society and economy
Society under the Sultanate was layered. At the top stood the sultan and his nobles. Below them were religious scholars, officials, merchants, artisans and peasants. Within the Muslim elite, descent and dress marked rank.
- Sayyids: claimed descent from the Prophet and enjoyed a distinguished, respected status in medieval society. They were known as Kulah-Daran, meaning wearers of the tall cap, after their characteristic headgear.
- Ulema: religious scholars who advised rulers on law and ran schools and mosques.
Trade kept the economy moving across long distances. The Banjaras were itinerant traders and grain carriers. They moved in large caravans with pack oxen, transporting bulk goods such as grain and salt from village markets to towns and to armies on the march. Sultans depended on them: Alauddin Khalji's price control in Delhi worked only because Banjara caravans kept the city's grain supply steady. Towns grew around courts and garrisons, and artisans such as weavers and metalworkers supplied both local markets and export trade.
Previous-year questions
Previous-year question
2022UPSCWith reference to Indian history, which of the following were known as "Kulah-Daran"?
Previous-year question
2016UPSCBanjaras during the medieval period of Indian history were generally:
Art and culture under the Sultanate
The Sultanate era blended Persian, Indian and Central Asian traditions into a new composite culture. This mixing is most visible in music, literature and building styles, including in regional kingdoms beyond Delhi.
- Amir Khusrau: the celebrated poet and musician of the Delhi court and a disciple of the Sufi saint Nizamuddin Auliya. He was the originator in India of the early form of qawwali, the style of Sufi devotional singing. He wrote in Persian and in the early Hindavi speech of the Delhi region.
- Kitab-i-Nauras: a collection of songs in praise of both Hindu deities and Muslim saints, written by Ibrahim Adil Shah II, the Sultan of Bijapur. It shows how rulers patronised a shared devotional culture across religious lines.
- Zain-ul-Abidin: the famed Sultan of Kashmir, remembered as a tolerant patron of learning and crafts. He completed the Jama Masjid in Kashmir. The mosque combines three striking features: turrets, wooden towers that resemble Buddhist pagodas, and Persian style decoration. It is a clear example of regional fusion architecture.
Together these examples show that Sultanate culture was not imported wholesale. Court poets, Sufi singers and regional sultans reworked foreign forms with Indian themes and local building traditions.
Previous-year questions
Previous-year question
2003UPSCConsider the following statement:
- Kitab I Nauras, a collection of songs in praise of Hindu deities and Muslim saints, was written by Ibrahim Adil Shah II
- Amir Khusrau was the originator in India of the early form of the musical style known as Qawwali.
Which of these statements is/are correct?
Previous-year question
1999UPSCThe striking feature of the Jama Masjid in Kashmir completed by Zain-ul-Abidin include(s): I. Turret. II. Similarity with Buddhist pagodas. III. Persian style. Which of the above statements is/are correct?
Razia and the Tughlaqs
The Sultanate produced some striking figures:
- Razia Sultana, daughter of Iltutmish, became the only woman to rule the Delhi Sultanate. She was an able ruler. The nobles, however, resented being led by a woman and overthrew her.
- Muhammad bin Tughlaq is remembered for his bold but failed experiments: the shift of the capital to Daulatabad, and the introduction of a token currency of cheap metal coins. This currency quickly led to forgery and chaos. He had earlier issued a fine gold coin, which the traveller Ibn Battuta called the dinar; the cheap-metal tokens were meant to substitute for such precious coinage and failed.
Two anecdotes about Muhammad bin Tughlaq are exam favourites. When plague and famine ravaged Delhi, he left the capital for about two years and lived in a camp on the banks of the Ganga called Swarga-dwari. And when he died in 1351, the chronicler Badauni wrote sardonically that "the king was freed from his people and they from their king."
Despite its turbulence, the Sultanate gave India new styles of building, such as the Qutb Minar. It brought the Persian language to court. It also planted the roots of later Indo-Islamic culture.
Previous-year questions
Previous-year question
2006UPSCAssertion (A): Muhammad bin Tughlaq issued a new gold coin which was called Dinar by Ibn Batutah. Reason (R): Muhammad bin Tughlaq wanted to issue token currency in gold coins to promote trade with West Asian and North African countries.
Previous-year question
2002UPSCAssertion (A): Muhammad bin Tughlaq left Delhi, and, for two years lived in a camp called Swarga dwari. Reason (R): At that time, Delhi was ravaged by a form of plague and many people died.
Previous-year question
1999UPSC'The king was freed from his people and they from their king'. On whose death did Badauni comment thus?
Key takeaways
- The Delhi Sultanate ruled northern India from 1206 to 1526
- Five dynasties: Slave (Mamluk, founded by Qutbuddin Aibak), Khalji, Tughlaq, Sayyid, Lodi
- Expanded by Alauddin Khalji (south, repelled Mongols) and Muhammad bin Tughlaq (capital shift to Daulatabad, which failed)
- Governed through appointed nobles and the iqta land-revenue grant system
- Razia Sultana was the only woman to rule the Sultanate. Left a lasting legacy including the Qutb Minar and Persian court culture
- Kulah-Daran (tall-cap wearers) = Sayyids, descendants of the Prophet
- Banjaras: itinerant traders carrying grain and salt by caravan
- Amir Khusrau originated qawwali; Ibrahim Adil Shah II wrote Kitab-i-Nauras
- Zain-ul-Abidin's Kashmir Jama Masjid: turrets, pagoda-like towers, Persian style
- Chengiz Khan reached the Indus in 1221, under Iltutmish
- Timur sacked Delhi in 1398, under Nasiruddin Mahmud
- Balban's title: Zil-i-Ilahi, Shadow of God
- Lodi order: Bahlol, Sikandar, Ibrahim (killed at Panipat, 1526)
- Fawazil: surplus iqta revenue sent to the centre
- Firuz Shah: Diwan-i-Bandagan (slaves) and record canal network
- Jagir = Mughals; Amaram = Vijayanagara; Mokasa = Marathas
- Barani: sultans ruled by zawabit, not Shariat alone
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