THE DELHI SULTANATE (1206-1526 AD) – MEDIEVAL INDIA HISTORY NOTES

THE DELHI SULTANATE (1206-1526 AD) – MEDIEVAL INDIA HISTORY NOTES

• Aibak constructed 2 Mosques:

1. Quwwat-ul-Islam (Delhi).

2. Arhai din ka Jhonpara (Ajmer)

• He Started construction of the Qutub Minar dedicated to Sufi Saint, Khwaja Qutubuddin Bakthiyar Kaki – later completed by Iltutmish.
• He patronized Fakhar-ud-Din, author of Tarikh-i-Mubarak Shahi & Hasan Nizami who wrote Tajul-Masir, the first official history of the Delhi Sultanate.

• Separated Diwan-i-wizarat (Finance Department) from the Diwan-i-Arz (Military Department).
• Administered justice with extreme impartiality.
• He followed the policy of blood& iron.
• Excluded non-Turks from administration.
• Indian Muslimsà not given important posts.
• Appointed spies to monitor the activities of the nobles.
• Introduced sijada (prostration) and paibos (kissing the Sultan’s feet) to prove his superiority over the nobles.

• Famous gateway known as Alai Darwaza, Hauz Khas, Mhal Hazaar Satoon, Jamait Khana Mosque, Alai Minar and constructed a new capital at Siri.

• 1st sultan to have a large permanent standing army & paid in cash from royal treasury.
• Innovated: Chehra and Dagh system.
  • Chehra – detailed description of each soldier
  • Dagh– Branding of horses.

• Revenue was half of the produce & was based on land under cultivation.
• First ruler to fix land revenue in cash. It enabled him to pay his soldiers in cash.
• Biswa was a standard unit of measurement. Imposed one fifth of the produce and along with it house tax (Grahi) and pasture tax (Chari).
• Abolished Kismat-i-Khuti (Headman’s cess). Confiscated religious endowments and free lands (Inam and Wakt).
• Mukadam & khuts had to pay taxes.
• He created the post of Mustakraj to collect revenue.
• He brought the area surrounding Delhi directly under the state for revenue purposes. Thus, the Iqta system was not applied there.

• In 1296, Alauddin constructed the Hauz-i-Alai.
• Alauddin built the Siri Fort & camped in Siri during the Mongol invasion in 1303.
• He built the Qasr-i-Hazar Situn palace at the Siri fort.
• Alauddin constructed the Alai Darwaza – entrance gate to Qutub Minar.

• Fixed cost of all commodities. For this purpose, he set up 3 markets – one for food grains, second for cost and third for horses, slaves etc.
• He appointed Shahna-I-Mandi, Naib-I-Riyasat & Diwan-I-Riyasat to keep a check on these markets.
• He also received daily reports of markets from Barids (intelligence officers) and munhiyans (secret spies).
• Not clear whether these reforms were applied to only Delhi or also to other towns.
• Reasons for Market Reforms:
  • To enjoy the support of citizens
  • To sustain a large army with low salaries.
• Market regulations of Allauddin came to an end after his death.

Experiments:

• Transferred capital from Delhi to the Delhi Sultanate to Devagiri (Daulatadab). Shifted back after 2 years because of lack of water supply.
• Token Currency– Issued bronze coins at par with the value of the silver tanka coins in the Delhi Sultanate. He had also introduced the copper currency system. Later withdrew both.
• He launched the Khorasan project to counter the threat of Chinese incursions – Failed.
• Quarachi expedition – launched in Kumaon hills to counter the threat of Chinese incursions – failed.
• He set up Diwan -i- amir- kohi a separated department to extend cultivation by giving loans to cultivators (takkavi loans) – Failed due to corrupt officials.

• Delhi sultanate was a powerful & highly centralized state, for some time it was extended till Madurai covering almost all India.
• The Sultans considered themselves as representatives of the Caliph at Baghdad (lieutenant of the faithful).
• They included the name of the Caliph in the khutba or prayer and inscribed it on their coins.
• The office of the Sultan was the most important and supreme political, military and legal authority.
• He was also the commander in chief of the military forces.
• He was also responsible for the maintenance of law & justice.
• There was no clear law of succession during this period.

• Naib à most powerful, practically enjoyed all the powers of the Sultan and exercised general control over all the departments.
• Next to him à Wazir who was heading the finance department called Diwani Wizarat.
• The military department à Diwani Ariz. Headed by à Ariz-i-mumalik. Responsibility was to recruit the soldiers and administer the military department.
• Diwani Rasalat àdepartment of religious affairs. Headed by chief Sadr. Grants were made by this department for the construction and maintenance of mosques, tombs and madrasas.
• The head of the judicial department was the chief Qazi.
• Muslim personal law or sharia was followed in civil matters.
• The Hindus were governed by their own personal law and their cases were dispensed by the village panchayats.
• The criminal law was based on the rules and regulations made by the Sultans.
• The department of correspondence à called Diwani Insha. All the correspondence between the ruler and the officials was dealt with by this department.
• Wakil-i-Dar – officer responsible for maintenance of proper decorum at the court.

• The provinces were called iqtas under the control of muqtis or walis.
• Their duty was to maintain law and order and collect the land revenue.
• The provinces were divided into shiqs and pargana.
• The shiq was under the control of shiqdar.
• The pargana comprising a number of villages was headed by amil.
• The village headman was known as muqaddam or chaudhri. The village accountant was called patwari.

• The land was classified into three categories:

1. Iqta land – lands assigned to officials as iqtas instead of payment for their services.

2. Khalisa land – land under the direct control of the Sultan and the revenues collected were spent for the maintenance of royal court and royal household.

3. Inam land – land assigned or granted to religious leaders or religious institutions.

• The peasantry paid one third of their produce as land revenue, and sometimes even one half of the produce.
• Sarais or rest houses on the highways were maintained for the convenience of the travelers.
• Sericulture was introduced on a large scale.
• Bengal and Gujrat were famous for fine quality fabrics, Combay (Gujrat) was famous for textile, gold & silver work. Sonargao was famous for raw silk & muslin.
• Indian textiles were exported to China.
• The royal karkhanas supplied the goods needed to the Sultan and his household.
• Gold coins or dinars became popular during the reign of Alauddin Khalji after his South Indian conquests. Copper coins were less in number and dateless.
• Turks introduced many new crafts (manufacturing of paper) and techniques ex- use of iron stirrup, amour. It led to the growth of the metallurgical industry.
• They also introduced spinning wheels.
• Postal system based on relays of horses or fast-runners was developed.

• There was little change in the structure of the Hindu society during this period.
• The practice of sati was widely prevalent.
• The seclusion of women and the wearing of purdah became common among the upper-class women.
• The Arabs and Turks brought the purdah system into India and it became widespread among the Hindu women in the upper classes of north India.
• During the Delhi Sultanate period, the Muslim society remained divided into several ethnic and racial groups. The Turks, Iranians, Afghans and Indian Muslims etc. There were no intermarriages between these groups.
• Very rarely the Hindu nobles were given high positions in the government.
• The Hindus were considered zimmis or protected people for which they were forced to pay a tax called jiziya.

• The Turks introduced: arches, domes, lofty towers or minarets and decorations using the Arabic script.
• Arch or dome was not a Turkish or Muslim invention. They learned from Rome, developed and conducted many experiments in its use.
• Indians knew about Arch & Dome but they didn’t use it on a large scale.
• Turks also used slab and Beam methods in buildings. They also added color to their buildings by using marbles, red and yellow sand stones.
• They used geometrical & floral designs with inscriptions containing verses of the Quran. It was called Arabesque.
• They also freely borrowed Hindu motifs such as Swastik.
• Converted temples and other structures into mosques. The Quwwat-ul-Islam mosque near Qutub Minar in Delhi was built by using the materials obtained from destroying many Hindu and Jain temples.
• The palace complex called Tughlaqabad with its beautiful lake was built during the period of Ghiyasuddin Tughlaq.
• Muhammad bin Tughlaq built the tomb of Ghyasuddin on a high platform.
• The Kotla fort at Delhi was the creation of Firoz Tughlaq.
• Imp features of Tughlaq architecture – Sloping walls, combined principles of arch, lintel and beam e.g. – Hauz khas, use of grey sandstone and minimum decoration.
• Lodi placed a building, especially tombs, on a high platform.
• Some of the tombs are placed in the midst of gardens. ex- The Lodi garden in Delhi.
• Double dome was another feature of Lodis architecture. E.g. Mothi ki Masjid (built by Sikandar Lodi).

• New musical instruments such as sarangi and rabab were introduced during this period.
• Amir Khusrau introduced many new ragas such as ghora and sanam.
• He evolved a new style of light music known as qwalis by blending the Hindu and Iranian systems.
• The invention of sitar was also attributed to him.
• The Indian classical work Ragadarpan was translated into Persian during the reign of Firoz Tughlaq.
• Pir Bhodan, a Sufi saint was one of the great musicians of this period. Raja Man Singh of Gwalior was a great lover of music.
• He encouraged the composition of a great musical work called Man Kautuhal.

• The most famous historians of this period were Hasan Nizami, Minhaj-us-Siraj, Ziauddin Barani, and Shams-Siraj Afif.
• Barani’s Tarikhi- Firoz Shahi contains the history of Tughlaq dynasty. Minhaj-us-Siraj wrote Tabaqat-i-Nasari, a general history of Muslim dynasties up to 1260.
• Sanskrit and Persian functioned as link languages in the Delhi Sultanate.
• Zia Nakshabi was the first to translate Sanskrit stories into Persian.
• The book Tutu Nama or Book of the Parrot became popular and translated into Turkish and later into many European languages.
• The famous Rajatarangini written by Kalhana belonged to the period of Zain-ul-Abidin, the ruler of Kashmir.
• Many Sanskrit works on medicine and music were translated into Persian.
• Regional languages also developed during this period.
• Maldhar Basu, compiler of Sri-Krishna Vijaya was patronized by Bengali Sultans and was granted the title of Gunaraja Khan. His son was honored with the title of Satyaraja Khan.
• Chand Baradi was the famous Hindi poet of this period.
• Bengali literature had also developed and Nusrat Shah patronized the translation of Mahabharata into Bengali.