Delhi Sultanat Qutubuddin Aibak 1206 to 1210 AD

Delhi Sultanat

Qutubuddin Aibak (1206 to 1210 AD) • He was a slave of Mohammad Ghori. • He was the first Sultan of Delhi and founder of the Ghulam dynasty (Mamluk Sultanate) of India. • He died while playing polo(Chaugan) in Lahore. • He built the Quwwat Al Islam mosque in Delhi and the Adhai-din-ka-Jhonpra mosque in Ajmer. • He started the construction of Qutb Minar in Delhi, which is dedicated to a famous Sufi Saint of the time, Qutubuddin Bakhtiar Kaki. • He is also remembered as lakhbaksh or giver of lakhs, because of his generosity.

Minuments of qutubuddin The Quwwat-ul-Islam is best known for its tower of victory, celebrating the Muslim conquest of India. It is built of red sandstone, gray quartz, and white marble, but is probably inspired by the iron "Pillar of the Law" that stands on the site. Built in the Mauryan dynasty in the 6 th century, it is the only piece of the temple that stands in its original location. Qutb built around it when he constructed the mosque. Although made of iron, it has resisted rust for over 1, 500 years, evidence of the Mauryan's superb metallurgical skills.

Qutub minar Construction started in 1192 and completed in 1220. Restoration works/additions were made in 12 th century, 14 th century and 19 th century

Iltutmish (1211– 28 April 1236) • He was the first to issue regular currency and declare Delhi as the capital of his empire. • He introduced the silver tanka and the copper jital — the two basic coins of the Sultanate period, with a standard weight of 175 grains. • He introduced Iqtadari system: division of empire into Iqtas, which were assigned to the nobles and officers in lieu of salary. • He built the Hauz-i-Shamsi reservoir in Mehrauli in 1230.

Hauz-i-Shamsi was a water reservoir built by the Mamluk Emperor Shams -ud-din Iltutmish in 1230 (200 years before Jahaz Mahal). At the edge of this Water body, is the tomb of 17 th century Persian writer of Mughal Court Abul Haqq Dehlavi. A popular legend narrated is of Iltumish’s dream in which Prophet Muhammad directed him to build a reservoir at a particular site. When Iltumish inspected the site the day after his dream, he reported to have found a hoof print of Muhammad’s horse. He then erected a pavilion to mark the sacred location and excavated a large tank (reservoir) around the pavilion to harvest rain water.

• He completed the Qutub Minar started by Qutubuddin Aibak. • Sultan Ghari which is considered the first Islamic Mausoleum in Delhi, was constructed by him in memory of his eldest son, Prince Nasiru’d-Din Mahmud. • Genghis Khan, the Mongolian invader appeared for the first time on the banks of river Indus, during his reign. • He was the longest serving Slave ruler who ruled for 25 years.

Sultan Garhi The Sultan Ghari’s tomb lies about 8 km southwest of the Qutub, near Mahipalpur (originally known as malkapur). It was built in 1231 by Sultan Iltutmish over the remains of his eldest son and heirapparent, prince Nasiru’d. Din Mahmud.

Razia Sultan (0 November 1236– 14 October 1240 ) • Razia was the first lady to sit on the throne of Delhi. • She succeeded her father Shams-ud-din Iltutmish to the Sultanate of Delhi in 1236.

Balban Reign(1266– 1286) • His original name was Baharuddin. • He is considered the greatest Sultan of slave dynasty. • He was a slave bought by Sultan Iltutmish. • He introduced the Persian culture of Zaminbos that is lying flat on one’s face before the emperor. *Sajda and Paibos) • He adopted a policy of blood and iron against rebels, traitors and robbers.

Bilingual inscriptions (reflecting the intersection of Islamic and Hindu cultures): Balban in Arabic in a double circle, Sri Sultan Ghayasadin in nagari around / al-sultan al-azam ghiyath al-dunya wal din in arabic. 16 mm, 3. 56 grams. "The Coins of the Indian Sultanates" D-165; Rajgor 927, 930; Mitchiner WOI 2526. Two-ghani piece (=2 jitals = jital dugani = 1/24 th of a silver tanka). Excellent debased silver coin, decent quality metal. .

• He got the title of Ulagh Khan for defeating the Mongols. • He suppressed the rebellious tribe Meo, the people of Mewat who used to plunder the people of Delhi even in the day light. • Balban ruled with an iron fist. • He broke up the Chahalgani, a group of the forty most important nobles in the court.

Ala-ud-din Khilji (19 July 1296– 4 January 1316) • He was the second ruler of the Khilji dynasty in India and is considered the most powerful ruler of the dynasty. • He became the Sultan after murdering his uncle Jalaluddin Khilji. • He established an effective espionage system to curb any revolt from his followers. • He was the first Sultan to maintain a standing army. • He was the first Sultan to conquer the Deccan. • He created the third city of Delhi known as Siri. • He is known for his economic reforms and price control system. • Alauddin Khilji seized the famous Koh-i-Noor diamond from the ruler of Malwa.

Alauddin commissioned the Alai Darwaza, which was completed in 1311, and serves as the southern gateway leading to the Quwwat-ul-Islam mosque built by Qutb al-Din Aibak. He also started the construction of the Alai Minar, which was intended to be double to size of the Qutb Minar, but the project was abandoned, probably when he died. [142]

Ghiyas ud-Din Tughluq (8 September 1321 — February 1325) • His original name was Ghazi Malik. • He founded the city of Tughluqabad. • He died when a pavilion built for him collapsed.

Ghiyasuddin Tughlaq ordered the construction of Tughlakabad, a city near Delhi with fort to protect Delhi Sultanate from Mongol attacks. [17] Above is the Tughlaq fort, now in ruins.

Muhammad bin Tughluq (1325– 20 March 1351) • His original name was Jauna Khan. • He introduced token currency using brass or copper coins backed by silver or gold in treasury. • However, the measure lead to heavy losses to the treasury. • He shifted his capital from Delhi to Devagiri, which he renamed as Daulatabad, but as the plan failed he shifted back to Delhi. • Ibn Batuta, the famous Moroccan traveler, visited him during his reign.

A base metal coin of Muhammad bin Tughlaq that led to an economic collapse.

Firoz Shah Tughlaq (1351– 20 September 1388) • He was the son of a Hindu princess of Dipalpur. • He is best known for the construction of a network of canals. • He founded several cities, including Jaunpur, Firozpur, Firoz Shah Kotla and Hissar-Firoza. • He rebuilt the top two floors of the Qutub Minar which were damaged by lightning in 1368 AD. • One of his hunting lodges, Shikargah, also known as Kushak Mahal, is situated within the Teen Murti Bhavan complex, Delhi. • Tughlaq Road in Delhi is named after him.

When Firuz Shah came to power, India was suffering from a collapsed economy, abandoned villages and towns, and frequent famines. He undertook many infrastructure projects including an irrigation canals connecting Yamuna-Ghaggar and Yamuna-Sutlej rivers, bridges, madrasas (religious schools), mosques and other Islamic buildings. [2]. Firuz Shah Tughlaq is credited with patronizing Indo-Islamic architecture, including the installation of lats (ancient Hindu and Buddhist pillars) near mosques. The irrigation canals continued to be in use through the 19 th century

• After Firoz Shah: The Delhi Sultanate disintegrated. The final blow to the Tughlaq dynasty was by invasion of Timur in 1398. Timur sacked and plundered Delhi before returning back to Central Asia. Timur was a turk who left his nominee to rule.

Sayyid Dynasty of Delhi Sultanate (1414 -1451 AD): • Timur’s nominee was Khizr Khan, who was the governor of Multan. He captured Delhi and tried to rule. After him, Mubarak Shah, Muhammad Shah ruled for a little while. The last Sayyid ruler descended the throne in favour of Bahlol Lodi. • • 1414– 1421 Khizr Khan Sayyid • • 1421 -1434 Mubarak Shah • • 1434 -1443 Muhammad Shah • • 1443 -1451 Ala-ud-Din Shah

The tomb of Muhammad Shah at Lodi Gardens, New Delhi.

Lodis of Delhi Sultanate (1451 -1526 AD): • The Lodis were Afghans, Bahlol Lodi founded the Lodhi dynasty. He was succeeded by Sikandar Lodhi.

Tomb of Sikandar Lodi (Hindi: स कदर ल ध क मकबर ) is the tomb of the second ruler of the Lodi Dynasty, Sikandar Lodi (reign: 1489– 1517 CE) situated in New Delhi, India. [1] The tomb is situated in Lodhi Gardens in Delhi and was built in 1517– 1518 CE by his son Ibrahim Lodi. Amongst the octagonal and square tombs of the architecture during Sayyid and Lodi dynasty, octagonal tombs were reserved for the rulers and the square type tombs were reserved for the nobles of their courts. All the monuments were supposed to erect within a year or two either before or after their demise.

Sikandar Lodhi (17 July 1489– 21 November 1517) • He founded the modern city of Agra. • Sikandar Lodhi was the greatest of the three Lodi sovereigns. He conquered Bihar, while also defeating many Rajput chiefs. He was a good administrator. He shifted the capital from Delhi to Agra. He was a bigot who destroyed many hindu temples.

Ibrahim Lodhi (1517– 21 April 1526) • The last of Delhi Sultans, he was defeated and killed in the 1 st Battle of Panipat He was defeated by the Afghan Mughal Babur in the 1 st Battle of Panipat in 1526. He was the last king of Delhi sultanate.

References • • Knowindia. gov. in www. jagranjosh. com www. topper. com www. wikipedia. org History of Medieval India- Satish Chandra NCERT books An advanced history of India- V. D. Mahajan

Thankyou • Dr. Neeta Yadav • B. J. R. Institute of Law • Bundelkhand University Jhansi