Important Questions: Delhi 12th To 15th Century - UPSC MCQ

The transformation of Delhi into a capital that controlled vast areas of the subcontinent started with the foundation of the Delhi Sultanate in the beginning of the thirteenth century. The Delhi Sultans built many cities in the area that we now know as Delhi.

The Delhi Sultanate reached its largest extent during the reign of Muhammad bin Tughlaq. His ambitious campaigns and administrative measures expanded the Sultanate's territory to its greatest extent, covering much of the Indian subcontinent.

• Explanation: The histories during the Delhi Sultanate were indeed written in Persian, which was the administrative language of the time. The authors of these histories were educated people like secretaries, administrators, poets, and courtiers. They not only recounted events but also provided advice to rulers on governance, emphasizing the importance of just rule.
• Additional Fact: Persian was a popular language for writing historical accounts during this period in India.

• Fakhr-i Mudabbir in the 13th century explained the "circle of justice" where he said that peasants' happiness depends on the king promoting justice.
• This means when the king ensures fairness and honesty in governance, it leads to the prosperity and joy of the peasants who pay revenue, which in turn supports the soldiers and the king's rule.

The Tomara Rajputs, were defeated in the middle of the twelfth century by the Chauhans of Ajmer. 

Rani Didda’s (r 958-1003 CE) rule represents the peak of women’s power in Kashmir, which unusually had many women rulers both before and after her. She is sometimes called the Catherine of Kashmir, referring to the ruthless Catherine the Great of Russia who ruled long and well with the help of her favourites whom she periodically purged. In spite of a leg disability and her gender, Didda was able to rule Kashmir with an iron hand for more than four decades.

The text mentions that the Khalji and Tughlaq monarchs appointed military commanders as governors of territories, called iqta, and the holder of these lands was called iqtadar or muqti.

Kharaj is a type of individual Islamic tax on agricultural land and its produce developed under Islamic law.  Muslim landowners, on the other hand, paid only ushr, a religious tithe on land, which carried a much lower rate of taxation, and zakat.

The text mentions that histories are known as tarikh (singular) and tawarikh (plural) in Persian, which was the language of administration under the Delhi Sultans.

Rani Rudrama Devi (died 1289 or 1295), or Rudradeva Maharaja, sometimes spelled Rudramadevi or Rudrama-devi, was a monarch of the Kakatiya dynasty in the Deccan Plateau from 1263 until her death. She was one of the very few women to rule as monarchs in India and promoted a male image in order to do so.