The Delhi Sultanate | ICSE Class 7 History & Civics Notes

This note covers Delhi's rise as a capital, Turkish invasions, the five ruling dynasties, important Sultans, territorial expansion, government and taxation, the Khalji and Tughlaq policies, social groups, art and architecture, cultural life, and the decline of the Delhi Sultanate.

What was the background to the Delhi Sultanate?

A Sultan was a ruler; a Sultanate was the territory and government under a Sultan. The Delhi Sultanate began in 1206. A dynasty is a succession of rulers belonging to the same ruling family or line.

A capital is the city from which a government is run. Delhi became an important city only in the twelfth century. It first became a kingdom's capital under the Tomara Rajputs. The Chauhans, also called Chahamanas, of Ajmer defeated the Tomaras in the middle of that century.

Under the Tomaras and Chauhans, Delhi became an important commercial centre. Many rich Jaina merchants lived there and built temples. Coins made in Delhi, called dehliwal, circulated widely. Delhi therefore had a commercial history before becoming a Sultanate capital.

How did Turkish invasions change the political setting?

Mahmud of Ghazni, in Afghanistan, raided the subcontinent 17 times between 1000 and 1025 with a religious motive. His targets included wealthy temples such as Somnath in Gujarat. Much of the wealth taken away helped create a splendid capital at Ghazni.

Temples were also centres of royal wealth and prestige. Rulers who attacked one another's kingdoms often targeted temples, which were sometimes extremely rich. These attacks must be understood alongside warfare for resources and political power.

Prithviraja III, a Chauhan ruler, defeated Sultan Muhammad Ghori in 1191 but lost to him in 1192. These events preceded the establishment of the Delhi Sultanate. Mahmud's raids and Ghori's victories were different episodes, involving different rulers.

The Sultanate's foundation began Delhi's transformation into a capital controlling vast areas of the subcontinent. This process involved more than capturing a city: rulers needed armies, revenue, meaning government income, and officials to maintain authority beyond Delhi.

What does the timeline show about the five dynasties?

The five successive ruling groups were the early Turkish rulers, commonly called the Slave or Mamluk dynasty, followed by the Khaljis, Tughlaqs, Sayyids and Lodis. The spelling Tughluq is also used for Tughlaq.

A dynasty's dates describe the period of that ruling line. A ruler's dates describe an individual reign, meaning the time that person ruled. The selected rulers below do not form a complete list of every Sultan.

Which events place these reigns in sequence?

The sequence separates early invasions, the Sultanate's foundation, changes of dynasty and its eventual end. It also shows that the Sultanate outlasted individual rulers. Changes in the ruling family did not mean that Delhi ceased to be a centre of government.

How do historical sources help us understand the Sultans?

Historical sources are surviving records and remains used to study the past. A tarikh is a history written in Persian; tawarikh is its plural. Persian was the language of administration, or the organisation and running of government, under the Delhi Sultans.

The writers of tawarikh included secretaries, administrators, poets and courtiers, people attending or serving a ruler's court. They recorded events and advised rulers, stressing just government. A court was the setting in which a ruler met officials and conducted royal business.

Why must we read court histories critically?

These writers lived in cities, mainly Delhi, and hardly ever in villages. They often wrote for Sultans in the hope of rich rewards. Their accounts consequently need careful reading when we ask about ordinary people or unpopular royal decisions.

They advised rulers to preserve a social order based on birthright, privileges claimed through birth, and gender distinctions, social and biological differences between women and men. Usually, these differences were used to argue that men were superior. Their ideas were not shared by everybody.

Nobles were powerful high-ranking people around a ruler. The chronicler, or writer of historical events, Minhaj-us-Siraj recognised Raziyya's ability but disliked having a woman as ruler. Her reign from 1236 to 1240 therefore helps us distinguish a reported event from the writer's judgement about it.

Inscriptions are writings engraved on objects or surfaces. Raziyya's inscriptions and coins identified her as Sultan Iltutmish's daughter. His reign, from 1210 to 1236, provides the earlier setting for this claim to royal descent.

Note: A chronicler's disapproval does not establish a ruler's incompetence. Ask what happened, what judgement the writer added, and whether the writer's social position influenced that judgement.

How did the early Sultans establish authority?

Qutbuddin Aybak ruled from 1206 to 1210, at the beginning of the early Turkish period. Shamsuddin Iltutmish followed from 1210 to 1236. Establishing authority required reliable people who could govern territories and carry out the Sultan's instructions.

Iltutmish especially favoured bandagan, slaves purchased for military service and carefully trained for important political offices. Their dependence on their master made them people whom the Sultan could trust and rely upon.

Why was Raziyya's rule challenged?

Raziyya, Iltutmish's daughter, became Sultan in 1236. Minhaj-us-Siraj acknowledged that she was more able and qualified than all her brothers. Nevertheless, he was uncomfortable with a woman occupying the throne.

The nobility, the powerful group of high-ranking men around the ruler, also opposed her attempts to govern independently. She was removed in 1240. Her experience reveals two related tensions: prejudice against a woman ruler and resistance to independent royal authority.

It would be misleading to turn Minhaj's prejudice into a factual judgement that women could not govern. His account itself recognised Raziyya's qualifications. Her fall must be considered alongside the nobles' opposition, rather than explained simply by her gender.

Where does Balban fit in this period?

Ghiyasuddin Balban ruled from 1266 to 1287, later in the early Turkish period. His reign belongs before the Khalji dynasty began in 1290. Keeping this order clear prevents confusion between the early Sultans and the later Khalji and Tughlaq rulers.

Balban strengthened royal authority and enforced strict discipline at court. He sought to curb the power of nobles who could challenge the Sultan. His policies addressed the problem of making royal commands effective despite competing centres of power.

Across these reigns, the central problem was the relationship between the ruler and the people exercising power on the ruler's behalf. Dependable service could strengthen a Sultan, while powerful nobles could also challenge the throne.

Why were expansion and defence difficult?

Territorial expansion means extending control over additional land. The Sultans needed to turn military success into continuing government. Holding territory required officials, soldiers and supplies, while distant rulers and local chiefs could resist orders from Delhi.

The hinterland is the area behind and around a town that supports it with resources. As the Sultans brought urban hinterlands under their control, they forced local landed chiefs and rich landlords to accept their authority.

Under Alauddin Khalji, conquests extended power into Gujarat and Rajasthan. His general Malik Kafur led campaigns into southern India. These campaigns widened the reach of Sultanate power, although conducting a successful expedition and governing the conquered region permanently were different achievements.

What limited the reach of Delhi's government?

Large parts of the subcontinent remained outside Sultanate control. Bengal was difficult to control from Delhi. Soon after the annexation of southern India, meaning its incorporation into the kingdom, the entire region became independent.

Even the Gangetic plain contained forests that Sultanate armies could not penetrate. Local chiefs ruled in these areas. Sometimes Alauddin Khalji and Muhammad Tughluq imposed control there, but only for a short duration. A conquest therefore did not necessarily produce lasting control.

Ibn Battuta, a fourteenth-century traveller from Morocco in Africa, described chiefs defending themselves in mountains, rocky places and bamboo groves. Such terrain helps explain why a powerful army could still face difficulties in extending authority.

How did the Mongol threat affect government?

The Mongols, the people whose armies were led by Genghis Khan, invaded Transoxiana in 1219. The Sultanate faced their attacks soon afterwards. Attacks increased under Alauddin Khalji, who ruled from 1296 to 1316, and in Muhammad Tughluq's early years.

Both rulers had to assemble a large standing army, a force maintained continuously rather than raised for a single campaign. Supporting it in Delhi created a huge administrative challenge. Defence, food supplies, taxation and soldiers' pay became closely connected problems.

How did land revenue and the iqta system support government?

Revenue means the income collected by the government. Agriculture supplied an important part of this income. The Sultans needed revenue to pay troops and officials, making control of the countryside essential to military and political power.

An iqta was a territory assigned to a military commander. Its holder was an iqtadar, also called a muqti. Khalji and Tughlaq rulers, like earlier Sultans, used these commanders as governors of territories of different sizes.

What did a muqti have to do?

1. Lead military campaigns in the Sultan's service.
2. Maintain law and order within the assigned iqta.
3. Collect its revenue as payment for military service.
4. Pay the soldiers under his command from the same revenue.

An iqta linked local resources to military responsibilities. It was not simply an unrestricted gift of land. The Sultan expected the holder to perform duties and subjected him to supervision.

Control over muqtis was most effective when their office was not inheritable and assignments lasted for a short period before transfer. These conditions were rigorously imposed under Alauddin Khalji and Muhammad Tughluq.

State accountants checked revenue collections. Officials also checked that the muqti collected only the taxes prescribed by the state and maintained the required number of soldiers. Transfers and financial checks were therefore ways of limiting a governor's independent power.

What changed under Alauddin Khalji?

The state took control of land-revenue assessment and collection. Assessment means deciding how much tax is due. Administrators measured land and kept careful accounts. Local chiefs lost their right to levy taxes and were themselves required to pay taxes.

Some former chiefs and landlords served as revenue collectors and assessors. The three taxes described here were on cultivation, cattle and houses. The cultivation tax, kharaj, amounted to about 50 per cent of a peasant's produce.

Draw connected boxes for just government, prosperous peasants, revenue, soldiers' salaries and protection of the king. Use arrows to show their dependence on one another, returning to the need for just government.

The thirteenth-century writer Fakhr-i Mudabbir explained this circle of justice: kings needed soldiers, soldiers needed salaries, and salaries depended on peasants' revenue. Peasants could pay when prosperous and happy, which required justice and honest government.

How did different social groups experience Sultanate rule?

What opportunities and risks faced nobles and clients?

A client was a person under another's protection; a patron provided that support. Khalji and Tughlaq Sultans continued using bandagan and promoted people of humble birth, who were often their clients, as generals and governors.

Slaves and clients were loyal to their masters and patrons, but not to their heirs. An heir is someone who succeeds to another person's position or property. A new Sultan had his own servants, creating competing groups around the throne.

The accession of a monarch, meaning the beginning of the ruler's reign, often brought conflict between the old and new nobility. Personal loyalty helped a reigning Sultan but could create instability when the ruler changed.

How were peasants and local chiefs affected?

Peasants, the cultivators of the land, produced the crops from which revenue was collected. Their resources supported soldiers and government. The circle of justice connected the state's strength with their prosperity rather than treating farming as separate from politics.

Local chiefs and rich landlords lost some independent powers as royal control expanded. Under Alauddin Khalji, their tax-collecting rights were cancelled. Some entered the revenue administration, showing that former local leaders could be incorporated into the Sultanate's government.

What did elite criticism reveal?

Many elites, meaning socially powerful or privileged people, were shocked by the promotion of people of humble birth. The chronicler Ziyauddin Barani criticised Muhammad Tughluq for appointing people from occupations such as cooking, gardening and barbering to high offices.

These reactions reveal a disagreement about who should exercise authority. Birth-based privilege mattered to these critics. Their response should be distinguished from evidence about how successfully a particular official actually performed the work.

How did the policies of the Khaljis and Tughlaqs compare?

The Khalji dynasty ruled from 1290 to 1320, followed by the Tughlaq dynasty from 1320 to 1414. A useful comparison focuses on Alauddin Khalji and Muhammad bin Tughlaq, also called Muhammad Tughluq, rather than assuming that every ruler followed identical policies.

Both faced pressure to maintain large armies. Both supervised muqtis strictly, appointed accountants, and imposed conditions intended to prevent governors from treating offices as inherited possessions. Both also depended on revenue from the countryside.

What similarities and differences are important?

Price control means fixing or regulating the prices charged for goods. Alauddin's market regulations connected the cost of food and other necessities with the problem of supporting soldiers. The policy should be understood alongside military expenditure.

Token currency depends on acceptance of a coin's assigned value. Muhammad bin Tughlaq's experiment is therefore different from regulating prices. One policy concerns what goods cost; the other concerns the money used to pay for them.

The comparison also shows continuity between dynasties. The iqta system and reliance on military commanders did not disappear when Khalji rule ended. New experiments operated alongside institutions inherited from earlier Sultans.

Compare each policy through its aim, the method used and its consequences. A shared problem, such as supporting a large army, did not require every Sultan to choose the same solution.

What does the Tughlaq case study reveal about ambitious policies?

The Tughlaq line began with Ghiyasuddin Tughluq, whose reign is dated 1320 to 1324. Muhammad Tughluq ruled from 1324 to 1351, followed by Firuz Shah Tughluq from 1351 to 1388. Muhammad's experiments illustrate the difference between a policy's purpose and its practical outcome.

Why was the capital transfer difficult?

Muhammad bin Tughlaq attempted to transfer the capital from Delhi to Daulatabad in the Deccan, the plateau region of peninsular India. Daulatabad offered a position closer to the southern territories. Moving people and government over a long distance, however, caused hardship.

The transfer was reversed. The episode illustrates that selecting a location is only one part of governing: officials and inhabitants also need the means to make the move and sustain their lives there.

Why did token currency fail?

The Sultan introduced copper or brass token coins with a value assigned to them as money. People produced counterfeit coins, unauthorised imitations intended to pass as genuine currency. The government could not adequately prevent their circulation.

This undermined the experiment, and the token currency was withdrawn. The connection between the problem and the outcome matters: when unofficial coins could circulate as official money, the Sultan could not maintain effective control over the currency.

What happened when taxation met agricultural distress?

The Sultan increased taxation in the Ganga-Yamuna Doab, the land between the Ganga and Yamuna rivers. The heavier demand coincided with famine, a severe shortage of food. It caused hardship and resistance among cultivators.

This outcome can be related to the circle of justice. A government depends on agricultural revenue, but cultivators under severe distress have difficulty meeting demands. A policy's expected income must be considered alongside the circumstances of those paying it.

Firuz Shah Tughluq is associated with the construction of canals to support irrigation, the artificial supply of water to crops. This provides a different example of Tughlaq government from Muhammad's capital and currency experiments.

The case study should therefore examine particular decisions and their results. Simply calling Muhammad bin Tughlaq foolish hides the practical questions raised by capital transfers, currency control and taxation during distress.

What were the main features of Sultanate art and architecture?

Architecture is the art and practice of designing and constructing buildings. Large-scale building activity developed under the Delhi Sultanate in the early thirteenth century. Rulers built structures that served religious, political and practical purposes.

Indo-Islamic architecture combined local architectural traditions with practices associated with Muslim patrons and builders. It developed through the acceptance, modification and rejection of particular features. It was a changing combination of techniques and decoration.

How did building techniques and decoration develop?

An arch is a curved structure spanning an opening; a dome is a rounded roof. Builders gradually introduced construction in which arches supported the weight of domes. Interlocking stone blocks and a central stone called a keystone helped form such arches.

Calligraphy means decorative handwriting. Alongside geometric patterns, it decorated religious buildings. Arabesque decoration used intertwined flowing lines, leaves and flowers. These surface designs complemented the buildings' structural forms.

Why is the Qutb Minar significant?

A minar is a tower. The Qutb Minar in Delhi is a thirteenth-century tapering tower divided into five storeys. It combines circular and polygonal forms, meaning forms with several straight sides, and uses mainly red and buff sandstone.

Some marble appears in its upper storeys. Decorated balconies and bands of inscriptions intertwined with leaf designs distinguish its exterior. A minar's everyday use was the call to prayer; its great height also expressed the ruler's power.

Photograph: Qutub Minar, Delhi (NCERT Class 11, Chapter 8, page 109). The photograph shows a tall tower narrowing upwards, projecting balconies dividing its levels, and a smaller building beside its base. Treat this as a photograph of a monument, not a measured architectural plan.

Tombs, structures built over graves, were another important building type. Ghiyasuddin Tughlaq's tomb in Delhi is an example. Buildings therefore help us study commemoration, religious practice, construction skills and the public display of authority.

How did cities and cultural life develop?

The Sultanate's history includes cities, writing and encounters between people as well as wars and rulers. Delhi already had merchants, temples and widely circulating coins before the Sultanate. Later Sultans built several cities within the area now known as Delhi.

The map labels Dehli-i Kuhna, Siri, Jahanpanah, Tughluqabad and Firuzabad, with the River Yamuna along the eastern side. It shows several urban centres within the Delhi area rather than a single unchanging capital site.

Reference: NCERT Class 7, Map 1

What connected language, poetry and the court?

Persian connected administration and historical writing. Poets were among the learned men who composed tawarikh. These writers both narrated events and discussed good government, showing that literary activity could also have a political purpose.

Amir Khusrau was an important poet associated with the Delhi Sultanate. He wrote in Persian and was associated with the Sufi teacher Nizamuddin Auliya. Sufis were Muslim mystics, people seeking direct experience of the divine, who stressed devotion and a personal relationship with God.

Court historians' position near rulers offered opportunities for patronage, meaning support and encouragement from a powerful person. Yet hopes of rewards could affect what they wrote. The cultural importance of court writing and the need to examine its viewpoint therefore belong together.

How did buildings support encounters between people?

A sarai was a travellers' lodge offering temporary accommodation. In medieval India, sarais served travellers, pilgrims, merchants and traders from varied cultural backgrounds. Their shared use encouraged interaction and the exchange of cultural practices.

Architectural development also depended on the resources, materials, skills and preferences available to builders and patrons. Local forms influenced Indo-Islamic buildings. Cultural change involved adaptation in buildings and everyday contact, alongside the activities of royal courts.

These developments do not mean that social divisions disappeared. The same period included birth-based privilege, opposition to women rulers and criticism of officials of humble origin. Cultural interaction and social inequality could exist together.

What caused the decline, and what was the Sultanate's legacy?

Decline means a weakening of political authority, while legacy means lasting influence. Sultanate control was uneven even during powerful reigns. Its later decline should therefore be explained through several connected difficulties.

Which pressures weakened authority?

• Succession conflicts: The arrival of a new ruler often brought conflict between old and new nobles because loyalties centred on particular masters.
• Distant territories: Provinces such as Bengal were difficult to control from Delhi, and southern territories became independent after annexation.
• Local resistance: Chiefs maintained power in difficult terrain, and some royal conquests produced only short-lived control.
• Independent states: Jaunpur, Bengal, Malwa, Gujarat, Rajasthan and the south developed independent rulers and prosperous capitals.

Timur captured Delhi in 1398. This event preceded the end of Tughlaq rule in 1414. The Sayyids then ruled until 1451, followed by the Lodis until 1526. These later dynasties belonged to a political landscape with strong regional powers.

In 1526, Babur defeated the Sultan of Delhi, Ibrahim Lodi, at Panipat and captured Delhi and Agra. The first Battle of Panipat marked the end of the Delhi Sultanate and the establishment of Mughal rule.

What influence continued after its end?

The Sultanate left cities, monuments and experience in organising revenue and military government. Sher Shah Sur, whose dynasty ruled from 1540 to 1555, borrowed administrative elements from Alauddin Khalji and made them more efficient.

Sher Shah's administration later provided a model for Akbar, who ruled from 1556 to 1605. The end of a dynasty therefore did not erase all earlier methods of government. Political changes coexisted with the adaptation of earlier institutions.

Glossary

• Sultanate — A territory and government ruled by a Sultan, the title used by the rulers studied here.
• Dynasty — A succession of rulers belonging to the same ruling family or line.
• Tawarikh — Histories written in Persian that recorded events and offered rulers advice about government.
• Birthright — Privileges claimed because of birth, including a noble family's claimed right to govern.
• Bandagan — Slaves purchased for military service and trained for important duties under the Sultans.
• Client — A dependent person living under the protection and support of another person.
• Iqta — A territorial assignment whose revenue supported a commander's military service and soldiers.
• Muqti — The holder of an iqta, responsible for military service, revenue collection and maintaining order.
• Kharaj — A tax on cultivation amounting to about half a peasant's produce in the arrangement described.
• Hinterland — The surrounding area behind a town that supplies it with resources.
• Standing army — An army maintained continuously rather than assembled only for a particular military campaign.
• Token currency — Money whose assigned value exceeds the value of the metal from which it is made.
• Calligraphy — Decorative handwriting used as an art form, including on the surfaces of buildings.
• Arabesque — An ornamental design using intertwined flowing lines, leaves and flowers in architectural decoration.
• Sarai — A travellers' lodge providing temporary accommodation to merchants, pilgrims and other travellers.

Common errors and misconceptions

• Misconception: Mahmud of Ghazni and Muhammad Ghori were the same ruler. Correct: Mahmud's raids occurred between 1000 and 1025; Ghori fought Prithviraja III in 1191 and 1192.
• Misconception: The Sultanate consisted of one dynasty. Correct: Five ruling groups followed one another: early Turkish rulers, Khaljis, Tughlaqs, Sayyids and Lodis.
• Misconception: Raziyya was removed because nobody recognised her ability. Correct: Minhaj acknowledged her qualifications, yet objected to a woman ruler; nobles opposed her independent rule.
• Misconception: A muqti owned an unrestricted hereditary kingdom. Correct: He held an assignment with duties, and effective royal control involved non-inheritance, transfers and financial checks.
• Misconception: Every part of India remained under the Sultans. Correct: Large areas lay outside their control, and some conquests were held only briefly.
• Misconception: Kharaj was exactly half of every harvest everywhere. Correct: The cultivation tax described amounted to about 50 per cent of the peasant's produce; preserve the qualification.
• Misconception: Court histories express everybody's views. Correct: Their authors lived mainly in cities, often sought royal rewards, and held views not shared by everybody.
• Misconception: The Sultanate ended with Timur's capture of Delhi. Correct: Timur captured Delhi in 1398; Sayyid and Lodi rule followed, and the Sultanate ended in 1526.

Exam-style questions with model answers

Q1. Mahmud of Ghazni raided the subcontinent 17 times between 1000 and 1025. Muhammad Ghori lost to Prithviraja III in 1191 and defeated him in 1192. State two differences between these episodes using the information given. [2 marks]

1. Mahmud's raids occurred between 1000 and 1025, whereas Ghori's two encounters with Prithviraja III occurred in 1191 and 1192.
2. Mahmud carried out 17 raids; Ghori's given sequence contains a defeat followed by a victory against the same opponent.

Q2. A muqti led campaigns, maintained order, collected assigned revenue and paid soldiers. His office was not inheritable, he could be transferred, and state accountants checked collections. Explain three ways the Sultan limited a muqti's independence. [3 marks]

1. Making the office non-inheritable prevented the muqti from automatically passing his position to an heir as a family right. Authority remained linked to the Sultan's appointment.
2. Transferring a muqti limited his continuing control of one assigned territory. The governor could not assume that the same iqta would remain under him permanently.
3. Accountants checked collections, subjecting the governor's handling of revenue to state supervision. Collecting local income therefore did not place him beyond the Sultan's financial control.

Q3. Minhaj-us-Siraj recognised Raziyya as more able and qualified than her brothers but disliked a woman ruler. Nobles opposed her independent rule. She became Sultan in 1236 and was removed in 1240. Give four conclusions supported by this evidence. [4 marks]

1. Raziyya occupied the throne from 1236 to 1240. The evidence identifies both her accession and removal, giving a clear chronological setting for the opposition.
2. Minhaj recognised her ability and qualifications. His account does not support the claim that he considered all her brothers more capable.
3. His dislike of a woman ruler reveals a gender-based judgement. Recognition of competence could coexist with prejudice about who should hold power.
4. The nobles opposed her attempts to rule independently. Their resistance concerned her exercise of royal authority as well as the broader setting of opposition to her rule.

Q4. Increased Mongol attacks led Alauddin Khalji and Muhammad Tughluq to maintain large armies. Alauddin regulated market prices to help soldiers live on their pay. Muhammad introduced token coins, but counterfeiting undermined the experiment and the coins were withdrawn. Using these facts, state one military similarity between the rulers, describe Alauddin's market policy, describe Muhammad's currency policy, and explain why Muhammad's token currency was withdrawn. [4 marks]

1. Both rulers faced the military pressure of increased Mongol attacks. Maintaining large armies was therefore a shared response to a common threat.
2. Alauddin addressed the purchasing power of soldiers' pay through market-price regulation. His stated policy connected soldiers' living costs with their earnings.
3. Muhammad experimented with the money itself by introducing token coins. This differed from controlling the prices charged for goods in markets.
4. Muhammad's experiment was undermined by counterfeiting and ended in withdrawal. The given evidence supplies this outcome, but does not describe an equivalent failure of Alauddin's price controls.

Q5. Muhammad bin Tughlaq attempted to move the capital from Delhi to Daulatabad, closer to southern territories; the move caused hardship and was reversed. Counterfeiting undermined his token currency, which was withdrawn. Increased taxation in the Ganga-Yamuna Doab coincided with famine and caused hardship and resistance. Explain five lessons about governing from these facts. [5 marks]

1. A proposed capital can offer a geographical advantage: Daulatabad was closer to the southern territories. This explains the practical attraction identified in the question.
2. A useful location does not ensure an easy transfer. The hardship caused by moving people and government helps explain why the capital experiment was reversed.
3. Currency requires effective control over what circulates as official money. Counterfeiting undermined the token coins, showing that issuing them was insufficient to secure the experiment.
4. The withdrawal of token currency shows a difference between launching a policy and sustaining it. An experiment could be abandoned when practical problems undermined its working.
5. Tax demands have to be considered alongside cultivators' circumstances. Increased taxation during famine brought hardship and resistance, linking agricultural distress with the government's difficulty in collecting revenue.

Q6. Consider these facts: the Qutb Minar is a five-storey tapering tower, built mainly of red and buff sandstone with some upper-storey marble. It has decorated balconies and bands of inscriptions intertwined with leaf designs. A minar served the call to prayer and expressed royal power through height. Describe five features or functions. [5 marks]

1. The tower narrows as it rises and is divided into five storeys. Its tapering form and division into levels are two connected aspects of its overall structure.
2. Red and buff sandstone are its main materials, with some marble in the upper storeys. Its construction therefore combines these materials rather than using marble throughout.
3. Decorated balconies are a distinctive feature of the exterior. They contribute to the ornamentation of a tower whose storeys are arranged one above another.
4. Bands of inscriptions are intertwined with leaf designs. Written decoration and plant-based patterns therefore appear together as part of the treatment of its surface.
5. A minar supported the call to prayer, while its height also expressed the ruler's power. Its religious use and political symbolism existed together.

Q7. Arrange and explain the political sequence using these facts: Timur captured Delhi in 1398; Tughlaq rule ended in 1414; Sayyid rule lasted from 1414 to 1451; Lodi rule lasted from 1451 to 1526; Babur defeated Ibrahim Lodi at Panipat in 1526. Give five separate points. [5 marks]

1. Timur captured Delhi in 1398. This event belongs before the end of the Tughlaq period, so it should not be confused with the Sultanate's final end.
2. Tughlaq rule ended in 1414. The given sequence therefore leaves a period between Timur's capture of Delhi and the change to the next dynasty.
3. The Sayyids ruled from 1414 to 1451. They followed the Tughlaqs and preceded the Lodis, occupying a distinct place among the five ruling groups.
4. The Lodis ruled from 1451 to 1526. Their dynasty was the final Sultanate ruling line in the sequence given in the question.
5. In 1526 Babur defeated Ibrahim Lodi at Panipat. This victory coincided with the end of Lodi rule and marks the Sultanate's final transition in this sequence.

Key takeaways

• Delhi grew as a commercial centre under the Tomaras and Chauhans before becoming the capital of a much larger Sultanate.
• The five successive ruling groups were the early Turkish rulers, Khaljis, Tughlaqs, Sayyids and Lodis, between 1206 and 1526.
• Court historians recorded important events but often sought rewards and expressed views based on birthright and gender distinctions.
• The iqta system connected military service, local government and revenue, while transfers and accountants helped the Sultan supervise governors.
• Mongol attacks made standing armies necessary and connected defence with the problems of soldiers' pay, food prices and taxation.
• Muhammad bin Tughlaq's capital, currency and taxation experiments illustrate the importance of practical conditions when assessing royal policies.
• Indo-Islamic buildings combined architectural traditions; monuments, inscriptions and cities preserve evidence of political authority and cultural activity.
• Regional independence and conflicts around succession weakened authority; Babur's defeat of Ibrahim Lodi in 1526 ended the Delhi Sultanate.

Test yourself

Which five ruling groups made up the Delhi Sultanate?

The early Turkish rulers, also called the Slave or Mamluk dynasty, were followed by the Khaljis, Tughlaqs, Sayyids and Lodis.

What are tawarikh, and what language were they written in?

Tawarikh are histories written in Persian, the language used in administration under the Delhi Sultans.

What does Raziyya's experience reveal about ability and prejudice?

Minhaj recognised her ability and qualifications but disliked a woman ruler. Nobles also opposed her attempts to govern independently.

How did a muqti use the revenue of an iqta?

He collected it as payment for military service and used it to pay the soldiers under his command.

Why must the word “about” be retained when describing kharaj?

The cultivation tax described amounted to about 50 per cent of a peasant's produce, rather than an unqualified exact proportion.

How did the circle of justice connect peasants and soldiers?

Prosperous peasants could pay revenue, which provided soldiers' salaries. Justice and honest government supported the peasants' prosperity.

Why did Muhammad bin Tughlaq withdraw token currency?

Counterfeit coins undermined the experiment because the government could not adequately control their circulation as official money.

Which event ended the Delhi Sultanate?

Babur defeated Ibrahim Lodi at Panipat in 1526 and captured Delhi and Agra, establishing Mughal rule.