Delhi Sultanate - Governance and Technology

The Delhi Sultanate consolidated central authority in north India for three centuries and transferred a cluster of Islamicate technologies and institutional vocabulary still embedded in Indian administration. CDS-OTA tests Khalji market controls, Tughlaq tax experiments and the iqta system precisely.

Slave (Mamluk) Dynasty 1206-1290

• Qutbuddin Aibak (1206-1210): Began Qutb Minar (after Sufi saint Qutbuddin Bakhtiyar Kaki). Built Quwwat-ul-Islam mosque at Delhi and Adhai-Din-Ka-Jhonpra at Ajmer. Died playing chaugan (polo) at Lahore.
• Iltutmish (1211-1236): Real consolidator. Suppressed Aibak's rivals. Introduced silver tanka and copper jital. Created Turkan-i-Chahalgani (Forty Turkish nobles). Buried in his Tomb at Mehrauli (earliest true Islamic tomb in Delhi).
• Raziya (1236-1240): Only female sultan of Delhi. Overthrown by the Chahalgani.
• Ghiyasuddin Balban (1266-1287): Crushed the Chahalgani. Asserted divine kingship — Zillullah (shadow of God), prostration (sijda), kissing the feet (paibos). Faced Mongol pressure from the west.

Khalji Dynasty 1290-1320

• Jalaluddin Khalji (1290-1296): Founder. Killed by his nephew Alauddin.
• Alauddin Khalji (1296-1316): Empire-builder. Conquered Gujarat, Ranthambhor, Chittor (Padmavati legend), Malwa. Sent Malik Kafur south — sacked Devagiri, Warangal, Halebid, Madurai (1311).
• Market reforms:
  • Shahna-i-Mandi — superintendent of markets (CDS-II 2015 PYQ).
  • Four separate markets — grain, cloth, horses, slaves and cattle.
  • Price-fixing by decree, with Diwan-i-Riyasat overseeing compliance.
  • To supply cheap grain, land revenue from the Doab was collected directly by the State in kind, eliminating intermediaries.
• Revenue: Raised demand to 50% of produce in the Doab; introduced measurement (masahat) for assessment.
• Standing army: Direct cash payment (naqdi) without iqta; descriptive rolls (huliya) of soldiers; branding (dagh) of horses.

Tughlaq Dynasty 1320-1414

• Ghiyasuddin Tughlaq (1320-1325): Founder. Died when a wooden pavilion collapsed (suspected sabotage by his son).
• Muhammad bin Tughlaq (1325-1351): Most controversial Sultan. Ibn Battuta visited his court and described his projects in Rihla:
  • Transfer of capital from Delhi to Devagiri (renamed Daulatabad) and back.
  • Token currency (1329-32) — copper and brass coins valued at silver. Failed because of widespread forgery.
  • Increased Doab tax during famine — caused peasant flight.
  • Khurasan and Qarachil expeditions — both failed.
• Firoz Shah Tughlaq (1351-1388): Conservative consolidator. Built canals (Hisar canal — earliest perennial canal in N India), rest houses, hospitals. Removed prohibited taxes; abolished torture. Brought two Ashokan pillars to Delhi (Topra and Meerut). Composed Futuhat-i-Firozshahi.
• Timur's invasion (1398): Sacked Delhi during the reign of Nasiruddin Mahmud.

Sayyid and Lodi Dynasties

• Sayyids (1414-1451): Khizr Khan founder (Timur's nominee). Weak; tribute to Timurids.
• Lodis (1451-1526): First Afghan dynasty.
  • Bahlul Lodi (1451-1489): Founder. Annexed Jaunpur.
  • Sikandar Lodi (1489-1517): Founded Agra (1504). Wrote Persian poetry under pen-name Gulrukhi. Standardised gaz-i-Sikandari (a yard of 32 inches).
  • Ibrahim Lodi (1517-1526): Defeated and killed by Babur at First Battle of Panipat (21 April 1526).

Sultanate Administration

• Sultan at apex. Sovereignty derived from the Caliph (Abbasid till 1258, then nominal).
• Wazir: Prime minister; head of Diwan-i-Wizarat (finance).
• Diwans:
  • Diwan-i-Arz — army; under Ariz-i-Mumalik.
  • Diwan-i-Insha — correspondence.
  • Diwan-i-Risalat — religious matters and appeals.
  • Diwan-i-Qaza — chief justice (Qazi-ul-Quzat).
  • Diwan-i-Barid — intelligence.
• Iqta system (2016 CDS-I PYQ): Territorial assignment of revenue rights from defined land to army officers (muqti or iqtadar) in lieu of cash salary. NOT private property — transferable. Iltutmish formalised it; Balban reorganised it; Alauddin reduced it in core areas; Firoz expanded and made it hereditary.
• Local administration: Province (iqta) under muqti; district (shiq) under shiqdar; pargana under amil and qanungo; village under chaudhari, patwari, muqaddam.
• Revenue terms: Kharaj (land tax, 1/3 to 1/2), Jizya (poll tax on non-Muslims), Zakat (alms tax on Muslims, 2.5%), Khams (1/5 of war booty).

Technology, Architecture, Economy

• Persian wheel (saqia) for irrigation, charkha (spinning wheel) revolutionising cotton textile output, true arch and dome (replacing corbelled forms in Indian architecture).
• Paper spread via Sultanate; manuscript culture.
• Architecture:
  • Slave: Quwwat-ul-Islam mosque, Qutb Minar, Iltutmish's tomb.
  • Khalji: Alai Darwaza (true dome and arch, red sandstone), Siri Fort, Alai Minar (unfinished).
  • Tughlaq: Tughlaqabad fort, Adilabad, Firozabad, Kotla. Battered walls.
  • Lodi: Lodi tombs (octagonal type — Sikandar Lodi; square type — Bahlul).
• Coinage: Silver tanka (~11 g) and copper jital introduced by Iltutmish; standardised over centuries.
• Society: Composite culture began — Persian as administrative language, emergence of Urdu / Hindavi (Amir Khusrau), Sufi orders (Chishti, Suhrawardi).
• Bhakti-Sufi cross-fertilisation: Saints like Nizamuddin Auliya (Chishti) lived in Tughlaq Delhi; influenced Hindu bhakti.

CDS/OTA PYQ Examples

Frequently Asked Questions

What was the iqta system?

Iqta was a territorial assignment of revenue rights from a defined area to an officer (muqti) in lieu of cash salary. The muqti collected the kharaj, paid his troops, kept a fixed share for himself, and remitted the rest to the state. Originally not hereditary, it became hereditary under Firoz Tughlaq.

Why did Muhammad bin Tughlaq's experiments fail?

Token currency failed because of widespread forgery (no anti-counterfeiting safeguards). The capital transfer to Daulatabad failed because Delhi was the administrative and economic centre; reversing it caused massive loss. The Doab tax during famine triggered peasant revolts.

How was Alauddin's market control implemented?

Through fixed prices set by decree, a chief market officer (Shahna-i-Mandi) under Diwan-i-Riyasat, descriptive registration of merchants, dual market reports (one from market officer, one from spies), exemplary punishments for short-weighing, and direct procurement of grain from the Doab.

Why did the Delhi Sultanate decline?

Repeated invasions (Mongols, Timur 1398), expensive failed campaigns under Tughlaqs, weak Sayyid succession, growth of independent provincial kingdoms (Jaunpur, Bengal, Gujarat, Malwa), and finally Babur's gunpowder superiority at Panipat (1526).

What lasting institutions did the Sultanate leave?

Persian as administrative language, the iqta-pargana revenue chain inherited by Mughals, mansabdari precursors, true-arch and dome architecture, Sufi networks, the rupee-tanka-jital coinage hierarchy, and a centralised diwan-based bureaucracy.

Related Topics

CDS/OTA HistoryMughal Administration CDS/OTA HistoryVijayanagara CDS/OTA HistoryBhakti and Sufi CDS/OTA HistoryMughal Culture CDS/OTAHistory — Full Syllabus