Delhi Sultanate(1206-1526)
After the death of Muhammad Ghori, Qutub-ud-din Aibak declared the establishment of Delhi Sultanate on 1206.
Slave Dynasty
They were Ilbari Turks or Mameluks.
Qutub-ud-din Aibak (1206-1210) - Qutub-ud-din Aibak ruled from Lahore. He was a generous person. He often gave charity in huge amounts and was popularly known as 'Lakh Baksha'.
He was follower of famous sufi saint 'Qutub-ud-din Bakhtayar Kaki. In the memory of this Saint, he started the construction of Qutub Minar.
He made the capital of Delhi Sultanate at Lahore.
Aibak died while playing the game of Chaugan (horse polo) when he fell from his horse.
Iltutmish (1210-1236) - Iltutmish is considered as the real founder of Delhi Sultanate. He took the following initiatives during his tenure -
- He transferred the capital from Lahore to Delhi.
- He released official currency of Sultanate on the lines of Arabic coinage system. (Silver coin - Tanka & Copper coin - Gittal)
- Iltutmish created a group of 40 nobles known as 'Turkan-i-chahalgani' or Chalisha to assist Sultana in discharge of his official duty.
- For revenue administration, Iltutmish started 'Iqta System'. Generally, the land in the Sultanate was divided into two categories - First Khalisha land or Royal land and Second Iqta land. Revenue generated from Khalisha land was meant for the personal expenses of the Sultan. Second, the Iqta land was granted to Iqta holders (military officers, nobles, etc). The revenue collected from this land was used for meeting the expenses of Iqta holders and paying the salary of the people working under them. The surplus amount was submitted to the royal treasury. Majority of the land was under second category, i.e., Iqta land.
- During the tenure of Iltutmish, Ali Mardan declared himself the king of Bihar and Bengal & one of the slave of Qutub-ud-din Aibak, Quabacha captured Multan.
- Then, in Bihar and Bengal Iwaz who took the title of Sultan Ghiyasuddin assume independence.
- Iltutmish was successful in dealing all these internal distubances but Bihar and Bengal always remained bone of contention for Sultans of Delhi.
Iltutmish overlooked the claims of all his sons and appointed his daughter Raziya to be the next successor.
Raziya Sultan(1236-40) - The group of 40 nobles created many roadblocks in the elevation of Raziya as Sultan. But with the help of public Raziya became the first and only female Sultan of Medieval India.
Raziya was very bold and capable personality. She discarded the attire of women and purdah system. She elevated Yakut, a person of Abyssinian (African) origin to a high official position. It was not liked by many nobles. As such Governor of Punjab, Altunia imprisoned Razia. Razia solved the problem by marrying Altunia. Many of the nobles wanted to get rid of Raziya, as such some docoits killed Raziya at the place called Kaithal (Haryana).
After the death of Raziya, many rulers were appointed in a quick succession -
- Bahram Shah (1240-42)
- Masud Shah (1242-46)
- Nasir-ud-din Mahmud Shah (1246-65)
Balban (1265-86) - The real name of Balban was Ulugh Khan. He was the most powerful ruler of the slave dynasty. After coming to the power, he propounded divine theory of kingship whereby he claimed that the Sultan is the shadow or form of the god on the Earth, i.e., Zille-illahi. He also introduced some Iranian indicates in the Sultanate court -
- Sijda - bowing down head before the Sultan
- Paibos - kissing the feet of the Sultan
He created a separate department of military known as 'Diwan-i-Ariz'.
To stop the plunder of Mewati Rajputs, he cleared the dense forest in and around the Delhi.
During the tenure of Balban, Tughril assumed independence in Bihar and Bengal. As such Balban led an expedition against Tughril in 1280 and hunted him down.
During the tenure of the Balban, Mangols reached till the banks of Indus, where they were defeated by Balban's general Jalaluddin Khilji. Under the influence of Jalaluddin Khilji, many of the Mongols joined Islam and Delhi Sultanate army.
In the court of Balban, there was a very famous Sufi poet 'Amir Khusrau' who is known as 'Parrot of India'.
After the death of Balban, Qaiqabad became the next ruler. He was assassinated by Jalaluddin Khilji who established Khilji Dynasty in 1290.
(Balban's son Ugra Khan (Bughra Khan), governor of Bengal refused to be the next Sultan, so his son Qaiqabad became the next ruler. He too was assassinated by Jalaluddin Khilji)
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Note - This is my Vision IAS Notes (Vision IAS Class Notes) and Ashutosh Pandey Sir's Public Administration Class notes. I've also added some of the information on my own.
Hope! It will help you to achieve your dream of getting selected in Civil Services Examination 👍
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