A brief review of the previous class (9:19 AM)

Slave/Mamluk dynasty continued (9:25 AM)

Razia Sultan
 She was the first Muslim ruler of the sub-continent.
 She had to contend with Turkish nobles who wanted a puppet ruler
 This group of Turkish nobles was called Turkan-e-chahalgani
 The nobles who had supported her in the hope that she only will remain
a figurehead were disappointed as Razia asserted her authority
 She issued coins in her name
 She removed veils from her coat
 She made public appearances without purdah sitting on an elephant.
 Appointed non-Turks on key positions
 Rebellion against her rule got her imprisoned
 She tried to reclaim thorn by marrying one of her captors
 However, she was defeated and killed by bandits while on run.
Balban (9:40 AM)
 Balban was a Turkish chief who later became sultan
 He carefully and slowly removed all the opposition to his rule
 To strengthen his claim over the throne Balban became a champion of
Turkish nobility
 He employed spies, barids (informers) to inform on his own officials
 Gradually the rule of Balban led to a strong Monarchy with the
consolidation of the Delhi Sultanate in the Ganga Doab region and
control over Eastern Rajasthan
 However, his biggest achievement was dealing with Mongols
 Balban adopted both force and diplomacy to deal with the Mongol
invasion
 Changez Khan had died and Mongol Empire was divided among his
children
 Even though Punjab went under the control of Mongols, Balban made
arrangements that were fruitful to late rulers to resist the invasion of
Mongols.
 One of the sons of Balban, Prince Mahmud, was killed in an encounter
with Mongols
 Another son of Balban, Bugra Khan, who was appointed as governor of
Bengal preferred to rule Bengal over Delhi
 After the death of Balban, his grandson Samshudin was appointed
Sultan but was dethroned by Jalaluddin Khilji
Khilji Dynasty (1290-1320 AD) (9:58 AM)
  Khiljis were of Turkish-Afghan origin who despite their role in resisting
Mongol invasion was not recognized much by Delhi
 Balban example has shown that with the support of the nobility and a
strong army even a successful general can become a ruler
 Jalaluddin rebelled against Shamshudin and captured Delhi
 He was welcomed by non-Turkish nobility and he adopted a policy of
tolerance and avoided stricter punishments
 He was treacherously killed by his nephew/son-in-law
Alaudin Khilji (1296-1316)
 He was a ruthless ruler who severely punished anyone, including his
family members for any conspiracy.
 He took a series of measures to strengthen his rule and prevent the
nobles from conspiring against him
 Campaigns:
 1. He successfully fended off the Mongol invasion.
 In fact, in 1306, his forces achieve the decisive victory near the Ravi
river bank
 2. He also conquered the kingdoms of Gujarat, Ranthambhor, Chhitor,
Malwa
 3. His general Malik Kafur led a number of campaigns to South India
like Devagiri, Warangal.
 His victories forced the Yadava King Ramachandra, Kakatiyas,
Hoysalas and Pandyas to became tributaries of Alaudin
 After the death of Alaudin, Malik Kafur appointed his minor son to the
throne
 However, the power was seized by an elder son Mubarak Shah. But he
was killed by Khusro Khan
 Khusro Khan was killed within 3 months and Tughlaqs came to power.
Reforms by Alaudin Khilji:
 1. To stop any conspiring activity, he forbade all festivities, wines, and
intoxicants and instituted a powerful spy network
 2. His market issues were considered as the wonder of the world (at
that time).
 He established 3 separate markets:
 For food grains,
 For expensive clothes, and
 for horses and slaves
 3. No iqtas were issued in the Ganga doab region and tax was collected
directly by the State
 4. Hoarding was not allowed
 5. Good quality horses were sold only to the State
  6. He started paying his soldiers in cash (no other sultan has done this
till now)
 7. Agrarian reforms: Land revenue was assessed on the basis of
measuring the land under cultivation
 Khuts and Muqadams also had to pay high taxes.
 During the Sultanate period, the village headman was known as the
muqadam whereas the landowners were known as khuts.
 Amirs were hired for land revenue collection
Tughlaqs (1320-1413) (10:50 AM)
Ghiyasuddin Tughlaq
 Ghiyasuddin Tughlaq led a successful rebellion against Khusro Khan
 However, he died after returning back from the victorious campaign in
Bengal
 A wooden platform was raised to welcome him.
 This platform broke and he died
 His son Muhammad Bin Tughlaq became the King
Muhammad Bin Tughlaq
 He is known as the wisest of fools for a series of administrative
experiments
 He shifted his capital from Delhi to Daulatabad to effectively rule
Southern India
 However, due to rebellions in different parts of the country, he
abandoned Daultabad after a few years and returned back to Delhi
 He introduced the concept of token currency such that Bronze coins
were to have the same value of a silver taka
 This was because of a shortage of silver during his reign
 However, traders and common men did not accept it and people started
forging fake coins.
 He withdrew token currency and promised to exchange it for silver coins
but forged coins were not exchanged
 He took back the entire Punjab from Mongols
 He recruited a large army to attack Ghazni but later his army was
disbanded
 He led intrusion in hills regions
 He took control of them but at huge costs
 Many important officials in Sultanate were given to commoners such as
barbers, cooks, etc
 Barani considers it as one of the greatest falls of the Tughlaq
 Tughlaq also started agrarian reforms
 A series of famines and peasant rebellions had occurred
  To increase agricultural productivity, he set up a department called
Diwan-e-Amir kohi to provide easy loans to cultivators
 However, funds were misappropriated by the government officials
 Delhi Sultanate reached its zenith but the process of disintegration also
started
 Harihar and Bukka Rai in the South set up a principality which later
became Vijaynagar Empire.
 In Deccan, some nobles established Bahamani Sultanate
Firoz Shah Tughlaq (1351 to 1388)
 He was the nephew of Muhammad Bin Tughlaq
 He appeased nobles and theologians
 He did not assert his authority over the South and Deccan region, lost
Bengal but destroyed temples of Orissa
 He made iqta system hereditary and the same was applied in the army
 Soldiers were not paid in cash but by the assignments on the land
revenue to villages
 He tried to implement elements of Sharia law
 Jaziyah became a separate tax for non-muslims (till now it was a part of
land revenue)
 He also established many new cities such as Firozabad and Hisar
 After his death in 1388, his successors could not contain the rebellions
 During Nasiruddin Muhammad Tughlaq Delhi sultanate was limited only
to parts of Delhi which is known by the famous phrase 'the dominion of
lord of the universe extends from Delhi to Palam'
 Sultanate was further disintegrated with the Amir Taimur invasion of
India in 1398
 Saiyad and Lodhi Dynasty continued to rule Delhi
 Babur defeated the last ruler of Delhi Sultanate, Ibrahim Lodhi.
Administration of Delhi Sultanate (11:42 AM)
 Sultan: Head of the State and Head of the military (Most important
position after Sultan)
 Wazir: Finance Minister/ Prime Minister
 Diwan-e-risalat: Minister of religious affairs and it was headed by Sadr-
sudar (Minister of Islamic laws)
 Diwan-e-ariz: Defence minister
 The regime was despotic
 Diwan-e-ariz was the controller general of the military department
 Diwan-e-insha was the Minister who looked after the local
correspondence and different offices
 There were many important officials as part of local administration such
as:
  1. Qazi: Religious official
 2. Kotwal: Police head
 3. Amin: Charge of measuring land
 4. Patwari: Village record keeper
Iqta System (11:50 AM):
 It was a Persian system of land distribution and administration which
was introduced by Illtutmish in India
 The Empire was divided into large and small tracts of land called Iqtas
which were assigned to various nobles, officers, and soldiers for
flawless administration and revenue collection.
 The iqtas were transferrable and the holders of iqtas were transferred
from one region to another every 3 to 4 years
 However, during the reign of Firoz Shah Tughlaq, it became hereditary
 Lands were also classified into 3 categories:
 1. Iqta
 2. Khalisa (under the direct control of Sultan)
 3. Inam (assigned to religious institutions)
The topic for the next class: Delhi Sultanate (Saiyads and Lodhi),
Mughals, and Vijaynagar Empire