History & Culture
The Delhi Sultanate
GS Paper I
Delhi Sultanate — Quick Revision
One-page UPSC revision of the Delhi Sultanate, Vijayanagara and the Bahmanis — sultans and reforms, departments, iqta, monuments, chroniclers and travellers.
SyllabusGS I · History of India (Prelims); Indian culture — salient aspects of art forms, literature and architecture from ancient to modern times (Mains GS I)
A last-week sheet for 1206–1526 and the Deccan. Prelims tests sultan–reform, monument–builder and traveller–ruler pairs.
Sultans at a Glance
| Sultan | Remember for |
|---|---|
| Qutbuddin Aibak | Began Qutb Minar; Quwwat-ul-Islam; Adhai Din ka Jhonpra; lakh-baksh |
| Iltutmish | Delhi as capital; iqta; tanka and jital; the Forty; Caliph’s investiture (1229) |
| Razia | Only woman sultan |
| Balban | Zil-i-Ilahi; sijda, paibos; Nauroz; broke the Forty |
| Alauddin Khalji | Market control; dagh, huliya; revenue at half; Alai Darwaza (1311); Malik Kafur |
| Ghiyasuddin Tughlaq | Tughlaqabad |
| Muhammad bin Tughlaq | Daulatabad (1327); token currency; Diwan-i-Amir-Kohi; Ibn Battuta |
| Firoz Shah Tughlaq | Diwan-i-Khairat, Dar-ul-Shifa, Diwan-i-Bandagan; canals; Ashokan pillars to Delhi |
| Sikandar Lodi | Agra (1504); gaz-i-Sikandari |
| Ibrahim Lodi | Lost Panipat (1526) to Babur |
High-yield facts
- Iqta — revenue assignment to muqtis for military service; organised by Iltutmish; made hereditary by Firoz Shah.
- Taxes: kharaj (land), jizya (non-Muslims), khams (booty), zakat (on Muslims).
- Balban’s tomb — usually cited for the first true arch; Alai Darwaza — the first true dome.
- Tughlaq style — sloping walls; Lodi style — octagonal tombs, double domes.
- Timur sacked Delhi in 1398.
Chroniclers and Travellers
| Writer | Work |
|---|---|
| Minhaj-us-Siraj | Tabaqat-i-Nasiri |
| Ziauddin Barani | Tarikh-i-Firoz Shahi, Fatawa-i-Jahandari |
| Isami | Futuh-us-Salatin |
| Amir Khusrau | Khazain-ul-Futuh, Nuh Sipihr, Tughlaq Nama |
| Ibn Battuta | Rihla |
| Firoz Shah | Futuhat-i-Firoz Shahi |
Vijayanagara and the Bahmanis
| Item | Fact |
|---|---|
| Vijayanagara founded | 1336, Harihara I and Bukka I |
| Dynasties | Sangama, Saluva, Tuluva, Aravidu |
| Krishnadevaraya | 1509–1529; Amuktamalyada; Ashtadiggajas |
| Talikota | 1565; Berar stayed out |
| Systems | Nayankara (amaram); twelve ayagars |
| Bahmani founded | 1347, Hasan Gangu; Gulbarga → Bidar |
| Mahmud Gawan | Madrasa at Bidar (1472); executed 1481 |
| Travellers | Conti (Deva Raya I), Abdur Razzaq (Deva Raya II), Paes (Krishnadevaraya), Nuniz (Achyuta), Nikitin (Bahmani) |
Traps to Avoid
- Token currency — Muhammad bin Tughlaq, not Alauddin.
- Qutb Minar — begun by Aibak, completed by Iltutmish.
- Iqtas became hereditary only under Firoz Shah.
- Nikitin visited the Bahmanis; Berar missed Talikota.
Related Topics
- The Delhi Sultanate: Polity, Administration and Culture
- Vijayanagara and the Bahmani Kingdom
- Delhi Sultanate — practice questions
- The Mughal Empire
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