Medieval India

Medieval India

• ⇨Mohammad bin Qasim invaded India in AD 712 and conquered Sindh.
• ⇨Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni led about 17 expeditions of India.
• ⇨In 1025, he attacked and raided the most celebrated Hindu temple of Somnath, situated on the sea coast of Kathiawar and  its ruler was  Bhima Deva I 

FOUNDATION OF THE DELHI SULTANATE

• ⇨The period between 1206 and 1526 in the Indian history is known as the "Period of the Sultan Rulers" 
• ⇨Mohammad Ghori invaded India and was defeated by Prithviraj Chauhan in First Battle of Tarain (1191).
• ⇨Ghori defeated the Rajput king in Second Battle of Tarain (1192) and laid the foundation of the Muslim dominion in India. He may be considered the ‘founder of Muslim rule’ in India.

Ilbari Dynasty (AD 1206-1290)

Qutub-ud-in-Aibak

• ⇨This dynasty is also known as Yamini or Slave dynasty
• ⇨After the death of Mohd. Ghori, a struggle for supremacy ensued between Taj-ud-din Yalduz, Nasir-ud-din Qubacha and Qutub-ud-din Aibak.Qutubuddin was successful in thwarting the challenge of his adversaries and was crowned unofficially on 25th June 1206.
• ⇨Capital Lahore (initial); Delhi (later) 
• ⇨The founder of the Slave dynasty. Also called Lakh Baksh because of his generosity.
• ⇨Qutub-ud-din Aibak laid the foundation of Qutub Minar, after the name of the famous Sufi saint Khwaja Qutubuddin Bakhtiyar Kaki.
• ⇨Built Quwwat-ul-Islam (first mosque in India) and Adhai Din ka Jhopra (Ajmer).
• ⇨Died while playing Chaugan (polo).
• ⇨After Aibak’s death, Aram Shah ascended the throne but he was deposed and Aibak’s son-in-law, Shams-ud-din Iltutmish was crowned the new Sultan. 
• ⇨Hasan Nizami, the famous historian adorned his court.

Iltutmish (AD 1210-1236)

• ⇨Iltutmish belonged to the Ilbari tribe and hence his dynasty was named as Ilbari dynasty.
• ⇨Attack of Mongols; formed Turkan-e-Chahalgani or Chalisa (a group of 40 powerful Turkish nobles).
• ⇨Divided his empire into Iqtas (assignment of land in lieu of salary).
• ⇨Introduced 2 types of coins-silver (Tanka) and copper (Jital).

Razia (AD 1236-1240)

• ⇨First and last Muslim woman ruler of Medieval India.
• ⇨She disregarded Purdah, married Altunia, the Governor of Bhatinda.
• ⇨Bahram Shah, son of Iltutmish, killed her.
• ⇨ She appointed an Abyssinian slave Yakuth as Master of the Royal Horses

Balban (AD 1266-1286)

• ⇨Separated Military Department (Diwan-e-Ariz) and Finance Department (Diwan-e-Wazarat).
• ⇨He declared that king was the deputy of God (Niyabat-e-Khudai) and shadow of God (Zil-e-Illahi) and introduced the practices of Sijdah or Paibos.
• ⇨When Balban died, one of his grandsons Kaiqubad was made the Sultan of Delhi. After four years of incompetent rule, Jalaluddin Khalji captured the throne of Delhi in 1290.

Khalji Dynasty (AD 1290-1320)

• ⇨Jalaluddin Firuz Khalji was the first ruler, who reviewed that India cannot be a totally Islamic state.
• ⇨Alauddin Khalji His conquests were that of Gujarat ruled by Vaghela King; Ranthambhor, Chittor and Malwa and later to the South (mainly by Malik Kafur).
• ⇨He abolished Zamindari in Khalisa land. No qta was allotted in Doab area.
• ⇨Alauddin adopted the policy of Blood and Iron in tackling the Mongols.
• ⇨He built Khizrabad, Alai Darwaja and his capital city Siri.
• ⇨Also built Hauz Khas in Delhi and added entrance door to Qutub Minar, introduced market reforms.
• ⇨Adopted the title of Sikandar-i-Sani.
• ➢Built a permanent army introduced Chehra and Dagh System.
• ➢First Turkish Sultan’ who separated religion from politics.
• ➣His court poets were Amir Khusrau and Mir Hassan Dehlvi.

Tughlaq Dynasty (AD 1320-1413)

• ➢Founded by Ghiyasuddin Tughlaq, who built the fortified city of Tughlaqabad and made it his capital.
• ➢He was the first sultan to start irrigation works.

Muhammad bin Tughlaq (1325-1351)

• ➢Muhammad-bin-Tughlaq also called the wise fool king on account of five experiments, namely 
• (a) Transfer of capital to Daulatabad 
• (b) Taxation in Doab
•  (c) Qarachil expedition
•  (d) Khurasan expedition 
• (e) Token currency.
• ➢Muhammad bin Tughlaq was the only Delhi Sultan who had received a comprehensive literary, religious and philosophical education.
• ➢The Sultan set-up a separate department Diwan-i-kohi. He gave Sondhar loans to farmers.
• ➢South Indian states of the Vijayanagara empire, the Bahmani kingdom and the Sultanate of Madura were founded.
• ➢The famous traveller Ibn-Batuta visited his court.

Firoz ShahTughlaq (1351-1388)

• ➢After the death of Muhammad-bin-Tughlaq in 1351. Firoz Tughlaq had the unique distinction of being chosen as sultan by the nobles. 
• ➢He appointed Khan-i-Jahan Maqbal, a Telugu Brahmin convert as wazir (prime minister)
• ➢Firoz Shah Tughlaq built new towns of Hissar, Firozpur, Fatehabad, Jaunpur and Firozabad (his capital). During his reign, two Ashokan pillars, one from Topara in Ambala and the other from Meerut were brought. 
• ➢Built canals, fond of slaves and wrote a book Fatuhat Firozshahi.
• ➢He repaired Qutub Minar when it was struck by lightening.
• ➢Firoz Shah Tughlaq also made Iqtadari system hereditary and imposed new taxes like Kharaj (land tax equal to one-tenth of the producer) and Zakat and Khams (one-tenth of the booty captured in war).
• ➢He made Jizya a separate tax and he imposed this tax upon the Brahmans for the first time in the history of Sultanate.
• ➢He introduced the following coins – Aadha, Bhikh, Shashgani and Hasthragani.
• ➢Timur, Mongol leader of Central Asai, ordered general massacre in Delhi (AD 1398) at the time of Nasiruddin Mahmud (later Tughlaq king).

Sayyids (1414-1451)
➢Before his departure from India, Timur appointed Khizr Khan as governor of Multan. He captured Delhi and founded the Sayyid dynasty in 1414. He tried to consolidate the Delhi Sultanate but in vain. He died in 1421
➢Successors--Mubarak Shah-- Muhammad Shah and Alauddin Alam Shah.

Lodis (1451-1526)

• ➢The Lodhis were the first Afghans to rule India.
• ➢Bahlol Lodhi (AD 1451-1481) founded the dynasty.
• ➢Sikander Lodhi (AD 1418-1517) introduced Gaz-i-Sikandari. (unit for measuring cultivated field).
•  ➢He founded Agra in 1504. He wrote the Persian verse ‘Gulrukhi’.
• ➢He was succeeded by Ibrahim Lodhi (1517-1526), who was defeated by Rana Sanga of Mewar. He was also defeated by Babur in April 1526 and led to the establishment of the Mughal rule in India.

PROVINCIAL KINGDOMS

Gujarat 

• ➢Broke away from Delhi in AD 1397 under Zafar Khan, who assumed the title of Sultan Muzaffar Shah.
• ➢His grandson Ahmed Shah I built a new city Ahmedabad.
• ➢The next prominent ruler was Mahmud Beghra. During his rule, the Portuguese set up a factory at Diu.

Kashmir

• ➢Kashmir was ruled by Hindu rulers until Shamsuddin Shah asserted himself in AD 1339. 
• ➢The greatest ruler was Zain-ul-Abidin (AD 1420-70), who is called the Akbar of Kashmir, built Zaina lake, and artificial island in Wular lake.

Mewar

• ➢Rajput rule restored by Rana Hamir after Alauddin Khalji captured Chittor in AD 1303.
• ➢The greatest was Rana Kumbha who built the Vijay Stambh at Chittor to commemorate his victory over Mahmud Khalji of Malwa.

Share: