Medieval History and Culture Booster 2018 The Delhi Sultanate basically refers to the Muslim powerful kingdom; therefore, he decided rulers who ruled India through Delhi. This basically to conquer a part of Central Asia. came into existence after Mohammed Ghori captured Delhi after defeating Prithviraj. After In order to make his large and powerful Prithviraj was captured, the Delhi Sultanate went army, Mahmud had needed a huge into the hands of one of Ghori's generals known as property; hence, he decided to attack Qutub-ud-din Aibak. During the end of the 12th India to rob Indian wealth (to accomplish century, he established a series of rulers and this his great ambition). dynasty was called as the slave dynasty since the rulers had been military slaves. Read more about The first raid of Mahmud began in A.D. the history of the Delhi sultanate in India. 1,000. In a short period of twenty-five years, Mahmud made seventeen raids. The extent of Delhi sultanate was till Bengal in the Meanwhile, he fought battles in Central east and Deccan in the south. Even such a big Asia and in Afghanistan as well. sultanate faced constant threats from the North Between A.D. 1,010 and 1025, Mahmud West and was also under pressure from internal attacked only on the temple towns in politics within independent nobles. There was northern India, as he had heard that there instability and unrest in the kingdom as there five were much gold and jewelry kept in the dynasties that rose and fell which includes Slave big temples in India. dynasty, Khilji dynasty, Tughlaq dynasty, Sayyid dynasty and Lodhi dynasty. It was under the Khilji One of these attacks, which is frequently dynasty that most of South India was conquered. mentioned while discussing Medieval The territory was never fixed and depended upon History, was the destruction of the the ability of the ruler as to how much was he able Somnath temple located in western India. to conquer and control. In 1,030, Mahmud died and the people of The effectiveness of a ruler during this time northern India get relieved. Though depended entirely upon his ability to conquer the Mahmud was destructor for the Indians, places that fell near military highways and trade but in his own country, he was a builder routes, collect land tax for revenue of the state of a beautiful mosque and a large library. and have firm authority over military and state governors. Agriculture and its related activities Mahmud was the patron of the famous were the main source of livelihood in the kingdom Persian poet, Firdausi, who wrote the epic but due to continued political unrest and poem ‘Shah Namah.’ instability, thepeasants suffered greatly. During this time, Persian language developed to a great Mahmud sent the Central Asian scholar extent at the places where power was Alberuni to India, who lived here for many concentrated. years and had written his experience, describing the country and the condition of the people. Mahmud of Ghazni Ghazni was a small kingdom in Afghanistan, which was founded by a Muhammad Ghori Turkish nobleman in the tenth century. Muhammad Ghori was the ruler of the One of its successors, namely Mahmud Ghor kingdom, a small kingdom of wanted to make Ghazni into a big and Afghanistan. He was the supreme ruler of Ghurid Empire. Pscnotes.com Page 1 Medieval History and Culture Booster 2018 Ghori was more ambitious than Mahmud, established in the northern India, as he was not only interested in robbing namely Delhi Sultanate. wealth of India, but also intended in conquering northern India and adding it Over a period of time, the Sultans of Delhi to his kingdom. extended their control up to Bengal in the east and Sind in the west. Since Punjab had already been a part of the Ghazni kingdom; therefore, it made During the Sultanate period, there was the easier to Ghori to plan India campaign. problem of the local Indian rulers who had been conquered. Sultans had taken Muhammad's most important campaign in territories of some rulers and some others India was against the Chauhan ruler, were allowed to keep it. Prithviraj III. In 1191, Prithviraj defeated Ghori; this battle is popularly known as The rulers who were allowed to keep their the ‘first battle of Tarain.’ territories paid a sum of money as a tribute and agreed to help the Sultan with In 1192, Muhammad Ghori defeated military support when required. Prithviraj in the second battle of Tarin. The defeat of Prithviraj opened the Delhi Sultanate had also problems from the area to Muhammad and he began to north-west, for example, the rulers of establish his power. Afghanistan were quiet, but the Mongol people of Central Asia, led by Chenghiz In 1206, Ghori was murdered and his Khan, made fresh conquests. kingdom in northern India was left in the control of his general Qutb-ud-din Aibak. The Sultan Iltutmish had faced the administrative problems. However, when After Muhammad Ghori’s death, slave he died, his daughter Raziya became the sultans were ruled India. sultan and she had to face the problems. After Iltutmish, the next important Sultans was Balban, a strong and iron-willed The Slave Sultans (AD. 1206-1290) Sultan. He was more successful in solving Mamluks were the earliest rulers of the the problems than his predecessors. He Delhi Sultanate. They are also known as defended the Sultanate from the attacks the Slave Kings because many of them of the Mongols. were either slaves or were the sons of slaves and became Sultans. Balban fought against the local rulers who troubled him. His biggest problem was the The first of the slave kings was Qutb-ud- nobles who had become very powerful din Aibak, who was the general of and were threatening the position of the Muhammad Ghori. After the death of Sultan. Slowly but firmly, Balban broke Ghori, Qutb-ud-din stayed in India and their power and finally the position of the established his kingdom. Sultan became all-important. The ruler of Ghazni tried to annex the Balban’s success was integrated into his territory held by Qutb-ud-din, but he strategic administrative policy. He failed. When lltutmish succeeded Qutbud- successfully changed the organization of din as Sultan, a separate kingdom was Pscnotes.com Page 2 Medieval History and Culture Booster 2018 the army and curbed the revolt of the The prices of goods were also closely nobles. controlled so that everyone could afford to pay the price demanded as well as no Balban encouraged people to do the one could make a large profit. ‘sijdah’ in his presence. Sijdah means, people had to kneel and touch the ground Alauddin Khilji made a new policy i.e. he with their forehead in salutation to him ordered a new assessment of the (Balban). cultivated land and the revenue. First, the land under cultivation (of his kingdom) Sijdah, horrified the orthodox Muslims. was measured. And the revenue of these According to Muslims belief, “all men are lands was assessed on the basis of the equal, and therefore, no one should do measurement. the sijdah before anyone else except God.” Alauddin Khilji campaigned against the kingdoms of Gujarat and Malwa. He tried Khilji dynasty came after Mamluks and to establish his control over Rajasthan by ruled until A. D. 1320. capturing the famous forts of Ranthambhor and Chittor. Under the command of Malik Kafur, Ala- Khilji Dynasty (1290 – 1320) ud-din sent a large army towards the In 1,290, the Slave Sultans were succeeded south with the intention to conquer the by a new dynasty, known as Khiljis. Jalal peninsula as well as obtain money and ud din Firuz Khilji was the founder of Khilji wealth. dynasty. Malik Kafur plundered in all directions and Alauddin Khilji, who was the nephew and collected a large amount of gold from the son-in-law of Jalal-ud-din was one of the various kingdoms of the south, including most ambitious and powerful sultans of the Yadavas (of Devagiri), Khilji dynasty. He wanted to conquer the the Kakatiyas (of Warangal), and world (to become second Alexander). the Hoyasalas (of Dvarasamudra). Alauddin Khilji, when became sultan, gave The defeated rulers were allowed to keep presents (of gold) to the citizens. At the their throne provided they paid a tribute. same time, he also contended that he was Malik Kafur also conquered the city of a strong and powerful ruler and hence, he Madurai. By the time, no north Indian would deal severely with anyone who ruler attempted to penetrate so far in the showed signs of disloyalty. south India. Alauddin Khilji raised the land taxes on the In 1,315, Aladdin Khilji died. After his wealthier people of the Doab (the fertile death, there was a chaotic situation for area between the Ganga and Yamuna the succession. Ambitious Malik Kafur rivers). Further, he strictly monitored the made himself as sultan, but lacked revenue, which the nobles got from their support from Muslim amirs and hence, he land and hence, did not allow them to was killed only after few months. keep anything, which was not their due. By 1,320, three more Khilji successors assumed power, but no one sustained Pscnotes.com Page 3 Medieval History and Culture Booster 2018 rather killed brutally. Likewise, a new The moving of the capital was, however, dynasty namely Tughlaq was founded. not successful, as it was too far from northern India, and hence, the Sultan Tughlaq dynasty came after the Khilji could not keep a watch on the northern dynasty and ruled from A.D.