Home > Delhi Sultanate

During the last quarter of the twelfth century, Muhammad of Ghor invaded the Indo-Gangetic plain, conquering in succession Ghazni, Multan, Sindh, Lahore, and Delhi. Qutb ud-Din , one of his generals, proclaimed himself Sultan of Delhi and established the first dynasty of the Delhi Sultanate, the Mamluk Dynasty (mamluk means "slave") in 1211 (however, the Delhi Sultanate is traditionally held to have been founded in 1206). The territory under control of the Muslim rulers in Delhi expanded rapidly. By mid-century, Bengal and much of central India was under the Delhi Sultanate. Iltutmish (1210-35) and Balban (1266-87) were among the dynasty's most well-known rulers. Faced with revolts by conquered territories and rival families, the Malmuk dynasty came to an end in 1290.

As Muslims extended their rule into southern India, only the Hindu kingdom of VijayanagarThe Vijayanagara empire was based in the Deccan, in peninsular and southern India, from 1336 onwards. It was founded by Harihara, also known as Hakka, and his brother Bukka Raya. It is named after its capital city (now ruined) of Vijayanagara, in modern K remained immune, until it too fell in 1565Events March 1 the city of Rio de Janeiro is founded April 27 Cebu City is established becoming the first Spanish settlement in the Philippines. August 28 St. Augustine, Florida (named after St. Augustine), established. It is the oldest remaining European. Although some kingdoms remained independent of Delhi in the DeccanThe Deccan Plateau is a vast plateau in India, encompassing most of Central and Southern India. It lies south of the Indo-Gangetic plain. It is bounded by the Western Ghats in the west, the Eastern Ghats to the east, the Nilgiris in the south and the Satp and in GujaratJammu and Kashmir not in Indian control are shown to be outside India. Date of formation May 1, 1960 Capital Gandhinagar Governor Nawal Kishore Sharma Chief Minister Narendra Modi Area 196,024 km² Population Total Density 50,600,000 ( 2001)258/km2 Populat, MalwaMalwa is a region of central India, lying in the western part of Madhya Pradesh state. It lies at the headwaters of the Chambal River and its tributaries, the Kali Sindh and the Parbati. Ujjain is the ancient center of the region, and Indore is presently (central India), and Bengal, almost all of the area in present day PakistanIslami Jamhuria Pakistan ( In Detail) ( In Detail) National motto: Iman, Ittehad, Nazm( Urdu: "Faith, Unity, Discipline" Official Language(s) Urdu, English Capital Islamabad Largest City Karachi President General Pervez Musharraf Prime Minister Shaukat Az came under the rule of Delhi.

The sultans of Delhi enjoyed cordial, if superficial, relations with Muslim rulers in the Near East but owed them no allegiance. The sultans based their laws on the Quran and the shariaSharia ( Arabic also Shari'a and Shariah is traditional Islamic law. Like most religious cultures, Islam classically drew no distinction between religious and secular life. Hence Sharia covers not only religious rituals, but many aspects of day-to-day lif and permitted non-Muslim subjects to practice their religion only if they paid jizya or head tax. The sultans ruled from urban centers--while military camps and trading posts provided the nuclei for towns that sprang up in the countryside. Perhaps the greatest contribution of the sultanate was its temporary success in insulating the subcontinent from the potential devastation of the Mongol invasion from Central Asia in the thirteenth century. The sultanate ushered in a period of Indian cultural renaissance resulting from the stimulation of Islam by Hinduism. The resulting "Indo-Muslim" fusion left lasting monuments in architecture, music, literature, and religion. The sultanate suffered from the sacking of Delhi in 1398 by Timur ( Tamerlane) but revived briefly under the Lodhis before it was conquered by the Mughals.

Note: Islamic Empires in India (part of the History of South Asia series) has more information at Islamic_Empires_in_India#Delhi_Sultanate