M A HISTORY-SEM 2

HY 222 INDIAN HISTORY -11

 Module -5
SULTANATE OF DELHI

• The period from 1206 to 1526 has been called as the

period of Delhi Sultanate. During this period, India was
ruled by a number of Turkish Sultans who belonged to
the Ilbari Turkish clan. These Sultans were also called
Mamluks. Five dynasties ruled over Delhi during this
period They are the Slave dynasty, Khilji dynasty, Tughlaq
dynasty, the Sayyid dynasty and Lodi dynasty. Except the
Lodis all other Delhi sultans were Turkish in origin. The
Lodis were Afghans.
Introduction
• Though the Sultanate made some economic
improvements in the provinces, their most
notable achievement was holding off Mongol
invasion and unifying Northern India in the
process.
• The Sultanate ushered in a period of Indian
cultural renaissance. As a result of the fusion of
“Indo-Muslim" cultures new developments
occurred in architecture, music, literature,
religion and clothing. It is a fact that
the Urdu language was born during this period as
a result of the intermingling of the local speakers
of Sanskritic Prakrits with immigrants
speaking Persian, Turkic and Arabic under the
Muslim rulers. The Delhi Sultanate is the only
Indo-Islamic empire to have enthroned one of
the few female rulers in India, Raziya Sultana.
 Administration of the Sultanate

• The policy of the rulers of the Delhi sultanate was largely influenced by
their religion, Islam. Their policies were influenced by the Ulemas or
Muslim intellectuals. In theory the Delhi sultanate was a theocracy. It was
based on Islamic law as given in Quran and the Hadis expounded by the
Ulemas.
• The government established by the Turks was a compromise between
Islamic political ideas and institutions on the one hand and the existing
Rajput system of government on the other. Consequently many elements
of the Rajput political system with or without changes became part and
parcel of the Turkish administration in India. Most of the Sultans kept up
the pretence of regarding the caliph as the legal sovereign while they
themselves were the caliph's representatives. Most of them included the
name of the caliph in the Khutba and the Sikka and adopted titles
indicative of their subordination to the caliph.
 Central Government
• The Sultan dominated the central government as
he was the legal head of the state and acted as
the chief executive and the highest court of
appeal.
• Though he owed nominal allegiance to the
Abbasid Caliphs, yet for all practical purposes, he
was totally independent. The chief responsibilities
of the Sultan were the protection of the state, the
settlement of disputes, the defence of the realm
of Islam, the enforcement of laws, the collection
of taxes, and the welfare of people. The nobility,
civil services and ulema supported the Sultan. In
most cases, a predecessor either nominated the
Sultan, or he had to fight a war of succession.
 Central Government

• The Delhi Sultans could make civil and political regulations for
public welfare. Khutba and sikka were recognised as
important attributes of sovereignty. The khutba was the
formal sermon following the congregational prayer on Fridays
wherein the name of the Sultan was mentioned as the head
of the community. Coinage was the ruler's prerogative : his
name was inscribed on the coins (sikka).
 With the exceptions Alauddin Khalji and Mubarak Shah Khalji,
all other sultans styled themselves as duputies of Caliph with
the title such as Nasir-i-amir Ur Momin -assistant of the
leader of the faithful or Yamin ul Khalifa i.e. the right hand
man of Caliph.
 Central Government
• Wazir: The most important post next to the Sultan
was that of the Prime Minister, or the 'Wazir'. He
was in charge of the entire fiscal administration of
the realm and all matters relating to income and
expenditures. His department was known as the
Diwan-i-Wazir.
• Musharraf-i-Mumalik: This post was equal to the
present-day Accountant General.
• Mustauf-i-Mumalik: This post was equal to the
present day Auditor General. The duties involved
auditing the accounts.
• Sadr-us-Sadar: His role was to deal with religious
affairs and immunities to scholars and men of piety.
• Munshi-i-Mumalik: This post dealt with the entire
state correspondence.
 Central Government

• The revenue structure of the empire followed the Islamic

traditions. The state depended on agricultural produce.
• There were various sources of income of the Delhi Sultans. They are (1)
KHARAJ (LAND TAX)- This was the mainstay of the finance of the
government. It was charged from Muslims and non-Muslims ranging
from 1/5 to 1/2 under various reigns (2) KHAMUS (1/5 OF THE WAR
SPOILS)- It also includes the products of mines. According to Islamic law,
1/5 of the booty goes to state and rest 4/5 to soldiers (3) JIZYA- This was
the religious tax on non-Muslims which they had to pay for their
protection (4) ZAKAT- This was a religious tax which was imposed only on
the Muslims collected for the maintenance of the poor Muslims (5)
IRRIGATION TAX- It was imposed by Firoz Tughlaq as 1/10 of the product
on the peasants who used the water of the canals developed by the
state. Ala ud Din also imposed two new taxes i.e. house tax and grazing
tax.
 Military administration
• The army was administered by Ariz-i-
Mumalik,. His office maintained the
descriptive roll of each soldier. He was to
assign different tasks to the soldiers and also
was responsible for the transfers of military
personnel. Even officers of the court who held
military ranks received salaries from his
office. He was not the Commander-in-Chief of
the army but was its Collector General. He
exercised great influence on the state.
 Judicial Administration

• The Sultan used to sit at least twice a week to hear

the complaints against the officials of the state. Qazi-
i-Mumalik used to sit with the Sultan to give him legal
advice. Decisions were made according to the
Shariah. Cases of non-Muslims were decided
according to their own religious laws.
 Provincial administration
• During sultanate period, Sultanate was divide
into lqtas (regions). The head of iqtas has
various names including Muqti or Wali or
Nazim. The main duty of the Muqtis was to
maintain the peace, establishment and
extension of authority of government and
recovery of the state dues. The governors
were in charge of big or more important
provinces exercised wider power.
 Local Administration

• Local administration was vague and undefined and

basically traditional system. The provinces were
divided into 6 parts headed by shiqdars with main
functions to maintain law and order and protect
people against oppression of zamindars and had to
perform military obligation. The shiqs were further
divided into parganas and had different officials.
 Economy of Delhi Sultanate
 Iqta System- Iqtadari System was a
combined mechanism of exploring tax
and distribution of these revenues to the
ruling class. The term Iqtadari system
was coined by Nizamul Mulk to maintain
smooth administration of the Abbassid
Empire.
 The sultans of Delhi Sultanate like
Balban, Iltutmish, Allauddin Khilji etc
effectively used the Iqtadari system for
their centralization of power.
 The Iqtadari system did not confer any
ownership in land and it was subject to
transfer.
 Economy of Delhi Sultanate

• The iqtadar had two functions (a) to collect the revenues

and distribution among the soldiers (b) It was a unique
blend of expansion and consolidation. The iqta was a
territorial assignment and its holder was called the muqti
or the wali.
• The Iqtas were of 4 types:
• Iqta- It was administrative cum military grants
• Iqta-i-Tamlik- Iqta for collection of revenue
• Iqta-i-Istighatal-An Iqta of stipends
• Iqta-i-Waqf-Iqta for charitable purposes.
 Economy of Delhi Sultanate
• The territory whose revenues were directly
collected for the Sultan's own treasury was
designated as khaIisa. lltutmish is credited for
standardizing the coinage of the Delhi
Sultanate. The main coins were tanka and jital
but some smaller currencies were also in
circulation. Muhammad bin Tughlaq
introduced a coin of copper and brass alloy
and reckoned it at the value of a silver tanka.
These coins for the first time carried an
inscription in Persian.
 Economy of Delhi Sultanate

• Hindus occupied an important role in foreign, as in

domestic, trade, although foreign Muslim merchants,
known as khurasani, also had a large share of it. An
organized class of brokers handled the business on the
coast and inside the country. The imports consisted
mainly of certain luxury items for the upper classes,
and a general supply of all kinds of horses and mules, in
which India was deficient.
 Economy of Delhi Sultanate
• The exports included large quantities of food-grains and
cloth. Among the agricultural products were wheat, millet,
rice, pulses, oilseeds, scents, medicinal herbs, and sugar.
Cotton cloth and other textiles were especially important
items of export, particularly to Southeast Asia and East
Africa, although some reached Europe.
• Many industries of considerable size and importance
developed during this period, the most important of which
were textiles, various items of metal work, sugar, indigo, and
in certain localities, paper.
• These industries were mainly privately owned, but the
government equipped and managed large-scale karkhanas,
or factories, for supplying its requirements. The royal
factories at Delhi sometimes employed as many as four
thousand weavers for silk alone.
 Economy of Delhi Sultanate

• Some major towns mentioned in the contemporary

sources are Delhi, Multan, Anhilwara (Patan),
Cambay, Kara, Lakhnauti and Daulatabad. Lahore
was a big town but decayed after the Mongol
invasion in the 13th century.
• Two types of merchants are mentioned in the
sources of the Delhi Sultanate: the karwanis or
nayaks and Multanis.
 Economy of Delhi Sultanate
• Economic Reforms of Alauddin Khilji ( Market Reforms)-
His economic reforms were hailed as the marvel of
medieval times. The external danger from Mongols and
the internal danger of rebellions compelled him to initiate
reforms.
• Firstly he analysed the causes of the dangers as (a) neglect
of state affairs by the Sultan(b) excessive use of wine (c)
intimate relations among nobles (d) abundance of wealth.
• The two aspects of Alauddin's economic reforms were: (a)
Reor-ganization of the land-revenue system and (b)
Control of the market price of the articles of daily use.
• Alauddin's land-revenue reforms aimed at establishing
direct relationship between state and the peasants. Also
he strove (tried) for increasing the income of the state.
 Economy of Delhi Sultanate

• Market Regulations of Alauddin- The steps taken by him are

the following: (a) regulated the prices of grain cloth other
necessities of life. (b) fixed the prices of these basic
commodities far below the usual market rates (c) fought
inflation and reduced the cost of living.
• The Reasons for market regulations are the following: (a)
maintenance of huge permanent army without unduly
straining the resources of the state. (b) to cheapen the cost of
the maintenance of his powerful military establishment (c) to
achieve the economic stability to get rid of social injustice.
 Economy of Delhi Sultanate
• The steps taken by him are the following:
(a) raised large stocks of grain by collecting
its revenue in kind from khalisah lands and
from the territories held by vassals (b)
restriction on purchase of grain from the
tillers of soil except for few permitted
merchants (c) all merchants in Delhi were
required to register themselves in the office
of shana-i-mandi (d) advances were given
to those merchants who did not possess
enough capital of their own (e) the
merchants had to sell all commodities at
the fixed rates and no deviation was
permitted and stood for the elimination of
dalal/middle man.
 Economy of Delhi Sultanate

• The strict rules imposed by him for ensuring the success of market
reforms are the following: (a) all kinds of speculation and black marketing
were rigorously put down (b) merchants were not to hoard grains or
other articles, but must sell them at demand (c) notable persons, nobles,
officers and other well to do people had to get permits from the officer
of sahan-i-mandi, before purchasing costly articles from market (d) if
merchant failed to carry out orders and sold commodity underweight,
the same amount of flesh was cut off from his body.
• The following are the results of the market regulations: (a) corn ,cloth
and other things became very cheap (b) prices of horses, cattle, maid
servants and slaves fell considerably (c) the cost of living remained cheap
and almost constant (d) the prices fixed for once were never altered
during his rule of 14 years.
 Society of Delhi Sultanate
• During the reign of the Delhi Sultanate, the society was
divided into different sections. After the advent of the
Muslims, the society constituted of the foreign Muslims,
the Indian Muslims and the Hindus. Among them, foreign
Muslims constituted the ruling class. The Hindus also
formed the part of the society at that period and were
divided among themselves on the basis of castes.
• The caste-system of the Hindus affected the Muslims,
especially the Indian Muslims. They continued to maintain
divisions among themselves on the basis of their previous
castes.
• The slave system was prevalent among the Muslims and
the Hindus and slaves were sold and purchased in open
market. The slaves were treated well though their
property and lives were the property of their masters. The
slaves of the Muslims were better off as compared to the
slaves of the Hindus. The Sultans and nobles kept slaves in
huge numbers, provided education and gave them training
and opportunity to rise in their lives so that many of them
rose to the position of prominence in the state.
 Society of Delhi Sultanate

• The women in the Hindu society enjoyed respect in the family and participated
in the religious ceremonies. They received education and many of them had
acquired scholarly fame. Yet, in general their status had deteriorated in the
society and they suffered from many social evils. There was no widow
remarriage. Sati system existed. The Purdah system and child marriages
adversely affected the education and position of women in the society. Devadasi
system was another social evil which was prevalent among the Hindus. Muslim
women did not enjoy a respectable status in the society. Polygamy was
extensively prevalent among the Muslims.
• Generally the Hindus were vegetarians and the Muslims were non vegetarians.
Among the Muslims, the Sufis, or the people who were under their influence
avoided eating meat.
• There was a marked progress in the use of clothing and ornaments. The people
engaged themselves in all sorts of entertainments. Different sports such as
hunting, duels among men, fighting among animals, horse-polo etc. were their
usual entertainments. Fairs and religious festivals were also common among
both Hindus and the Muslims.
 Nobles under Delhi Sultanate
• The nobles enjoyed great power under the sultanate. A noble
began his life as a slave and through gradual promotion they
assume the position of Khan and Amir. There was no fixed rules
for promotion but depend upon the wishes of the sultan. There
were Turkish nobles and non-Turkish nobles. Ala-ud-din ignored
the racial heredity of the nobles. The period of Firoz Shah saw the
harmonious blending of Sultan and nobles.
• The nobles enjoyed a highest standard of living. Iltumish set up
forty powerful Turkish slaves known as Turkhan-i- Chahalghani or
Chalisa. The nobles became powerful at the time of weak kings.
Balban, Alauddin Khilji and Muhammad Tughlaq tried to minimise
the power of the nobles. The nobles were a heterogeneous group
with Turks, Arabs, Afghans, Persians, Egyptians, Mughals and
Indians.
• The nobles enjoyed a predominant position in the sultanate and
acted as administrators, generals and some times King makers.
Drinking and gambling became the common weakness of the
nobles. Ala-ud-din Khilji suppressed the nobles with an iron hand.
But they regained their power under his successors. Through out
the sultanate the relation between the crown and the nobles
depended upon the personality and character of the sultans.
 Ulemas under Delhi Sultanate

• Ulemas were Muslim theologians and intellectuals. They enjoyed

major role in the sultanate because it was a theocratic state. The
Ulemas were the commentators of religion. Ulemas acted as the
advisors of the sultans. They got land as the gifts of the sultans.
Ala-ud-din Khilji minimized the power of the Ulemas. The Ulemas
were clergymen, teachers and judges. They enjoyed powers as
judicial officers. Some of them were teachers.
• Except Ala-ud-din Khilji and Muhammad-bin-Tughlaq, all the
sultans consulted the Ulemas in the administrative and religious
matters. The Ulemas were learnt men. But they were not
administrators or politicians. Hence their approach to state
problems were narrow and limited. As a result many sultans faced
troubles when the sought the advice of the Ulemas.
 Slaves under Delhi Sultanate
• Slaves were an important feature of the
royal household. Alauddin Khalji owned
50,000 slaves, while Feroz Tughluq is
reputed to have had 1.80.000 slaves.
During his reign, a separate department
of slaves (diwan-i bandagan) was set up.
The slaves were used for personal service
and acted as body-guards.There was a
large slave market at Delhi.