User:VS Roy/Delhi Sultanate

History
The 'Delhi Sultanate' is a term used to denote a period of India's history ranging from 1206 to 1526 A.D., when parts of India, including the city of Delhi, were governed by five successive Islamic dynasties, each unrelated to the other. The five dynasties to have ruled Delhi during this period were: the Slave dynasty, the Khalji dynasty, the Tuhlaq dynasty, the Sayyid dynasty, and the Lodi dynasty. The areas under these dynasties fluctuated from large parts of India to barely the capital city of Delhi and surrounding regions.

The first of these dynasties was the so-called Slave dynasty, directed into India by Qutb-ud-din Aybak, a Turkic general of Central Asian birth. Aibak's tenure as a Ghorid administrator ranged between 1192 to 1206 A.D., a period during which he led invasions into the Gangetic heartland of India and established control over the new areas. Aibak rose to the Delhi throne following the assassination of a Ghorid superior. His reign as the sultan of Delhi was short lived as he expired in 1210 A.D. and his son Aram Shah rose to the throne, only to be assassinated by Iltutmish in 1211 A.D. The hawkish military and foreign policies of Iltutmish led to further expansion of the Delhi Sultanate. The Sultanate established cordial diplomatic contact with the Abbasid Caliphate between 1228–29 A.D. and had managed to keep India unaffected by the invasions of Genghis Khan. Following the death of Iltutmish in 1236 A.D. a series of weak rulers remained in power as a number of the noblemen gained autonomy over the provinces of the Sultanate. Power shifted hands from Rukn ud din Firuz to Razia Sultana till Ghiyas ud din Balban rose to the throne and successfully repelled both external and internal threats to the Sultanate.

The Khalji dynasty came into being when Jalal ud din Firuz Khilji overthrew the last of the Slave dynasty rulers, Kaiqubad, the grandson of Balban and assumed the throne at Delhi. The Sultanate expanded rapidly into Eastern and Central India between 1290 to 1320 A.D. Alauddin Khilji further strengthened India's defenses and formulated several economic regulations between 1296 to 1316 A.D. Following the death of Alauddin Khilji large areas under Khalji rule regained independence and Malik Kafur, a general loyal to Alauddin Khilji, was killed in mutiny. Again, the lack of worthy successors ultimately led to the decline of the Khaljis.

The Tughluq dynasty rose to power as mutineers against the Khalji dynasty. Founded by Ghiyath al-Din Tughluq the dynasty came under the rule of Muhammad bin Tughluq between 1325 to 1351 A.D., during which the Vijayanagar Empire and several other states challenged Delhi's authority. Firoz Shah Tughlaq of the Tughlaq dynasty reigned between 1351 to 1388 A.D. to rule the Sultanate at Delhi. His reign is remembered for his multiple civilian and military reforms as well as for the establishment of key urban institutions throughout his rule. Disputes over succession and a devastating invasion by Tamarlane in 1398 A.D. led to the collapse of the Tughlaq dynasty.

The Sayyid dynasty ruled Delhi in 1414 A.D. and found themselves increasingly encircled by hostile Rajputs and other enemies as the territorial boundaries of the Sultanates were reduced to little beyond the city of Delhi and neighboring areas by the time of Alauddin Alam Shah in 1451 A.D. Power shifted to the hands of Bahlul Khan Lodhi, a governor under the Sayyid rule, who then ruled Delhi as a sultan from 1451 to 1489 A.D. The Lodhi dynasty ruler Sikandar Lodhi helped in strengthening the Sultanate's defenses. Later, Ibrahim Lodhi's policies antagonized many in his own court and an appeal for assistance was then sent by his noblemen to Zahiruddin Muhammad Babur, who then responded with force and ended the Sultanate's reign to give rise to India's Mughal Empire.

Structure
The sultan was the ultimate authority within the Delhi Sultanate. He was aided by a group of ministers out of which the most powerful was generally the wazir, who held the diwan-i-wazarat office and enjoyed considerable authority and power. There were generally upto five ministers appointed to the Delhi court. The diwan-i-ariz minister controlled the military affairs while the diwan-i-rasalat oversaw diplomatic contact between India and the foreign powers. The majlis-i-khalwat was a council of the sultan's chosen advisers of both official and non official rank. The other depatments were barid-i-mamalik (intelligence and messaging), diwan-i-amir-kohi (agriculture), and the diwan-i-ishtihaq (department of pensions). Administration at the local level consisted of muqti military officers and the slightly more powerful wali officials, who maintained law and order under their charge.

Religion
By the time of the Sultanate Islam had become an important religion of India and had started to rival the country's other major faiths: Buddhism and Hinduism. However, these traditions came to be mutually influenced by each other as in due course of time. R. M. Eaton points to the many incidences of religious tolerance as a state policy of some of the Delhi sultans governing the multi ethnic population of india. In such a case, Muhammad bin Tughluq commissioned the repairs of a Shiva temple at Kalyana, present day Bihar, in 1326 A.D. The logic behind such actions was that anyone who paid the jizya tax was free to practice her/his religion. The Ulema were limited to some extent by their sultans who had to protect their territorial interests and for whom maintaining domestic stability was more important than Islamic proselytism.