Revision Notes: Delhi Sultanate - BPSC (Bihar) PDF Download

Qutbuddin Aibak cannot be called the sovereign ruler of the Sultanate because he did not assume the title of Sultan and issued no coins nor the Khutba was read in his name.

Delhi Sultanate under Qutbuddin Aibak

• The part of Delhi where Qutabuddin Aibak laid the foundation of the first so-called ‘Seven cities’ of medieval Delhi, was Mehrauli.
• Chroniclers of the history of the Sultanate:
  (i) Amir Khusrau
  (ii) Ziauddin Barani
  (iii) Minhaj-us-Siraj.
• The Sultans of the so-called Slave dynasty are also sometimes known as ‘Ilbari Turks’ because they belonged to the tribe of Ilbari in Turkestan.
• The first sovereign ruler of the Sultanate of Delhi was Iltutmish.
• The first Sultan of Delhi to issue regular currency and declare Delhi as the capital of his empire was Iltutmish.
• The Chalisa or the Group of Forty was the nickname of the Turkish nobility created by Iltutmish.
• From the death of Iltutmish till the accession of Balban the actual power was wielded by the nobility.
• The Sultan who called himself Naib-i-Khudai or Deputy of the God, was Balban.
• The Diwan-i-arz or the Department of Military Affairs was created by Balban.
• The greatest contribution of Balban were:
  (i) He propounded the theory of kingship
  (ii) He restored peace in the Doab.
• Khusrau Khan was the low-caste (patwari) Hindu convert who usurped the throne from Khaljis before the establishment of the succeeding Tughladynasty.
• Daulat Khan Lodi came to the throne immediately after the death of Nasiruddin Mahmud, the last ruler of the Tughlaq dynasty.
• During the reign of Nasiruddin Muhammad Tughlaq, Timur (Tamerlane), a Central Asian Turk, invaded India and sacked Delhi.
• The dynasty founded by Khizr Khan, Timur’s nominee, is known as the Saiyid dynasty, because Khizr Khan was a descendant of the Prophet.
• The rulers of the Lodi dynasty were pure Afghans.
• The reign of Muhammad bin Tughluis said to mark the highest point of territorial expansion of the Sultanate.

• About Nasiruddin Mahmud Tughlait is said: “The dominion of the Lord of the Universe extended from Delhi to Palam”.
• Ghiyasuddin Tughlaq founded the fortress-city of Tughluqabad near Delhi.
• The Chalisa or the Group of Forty was liquidated by Balban.
• The coming of the Khaljis to power is known as the Khalji revolution.

Alauddin Khalji 

• To streamline the working of the Military Department Alauddin Khalji introduced:
  (i) Preparation of a regular muster of the armed forces
  (ii) Introduction of the system of branding (dagh) of horses
  (iii) Payment of cash salaries to soldiers.
• Alauddin Khalji captured the throne after securing fabulous wealth from Devagiri.
• The token currency introduced by Muhammad bin Tughluwas the tanka of the inferior metal in place of the prevalent silver tanka. Bronze was used by him for issuing the token currency.
• The original name of Alauddin Khalji was Ali Gurshpa.
• Alauddin’s theory of kingship was based on the concept that: 
  (i) ‘Kingship knows no kinship’
  (ii) As a ruler he was a law unto himself.
  (iii) ‘The good of the state, and the benefit of the people is the highest ideal’.
• Sikander Lodi selected the site for the city of Agra as his capital.
• The sultan who styled himself ‘the Second Alexander’ (Sikander-i-Sani) was Alauddin Khalji.
• Jalaluddin Khalji was the first ruler of the Delhi Sultanate to put forward the view that kingship should be based on the willing support of the governed.
• The first sultan who requested and obtained letters of investiture from the Caliph was Iltutmish.
• The sultan who refused to recognise the autocity of the Caliph was Qutbuddin Mubarak.
• To prevent the frequent occurence of rebellions, Alauddin Khalji ordered:
  (i) Appropriation of all pension land endowments to the state.
  (ii) Establishment of an efficient intelligence system.
  (iii) Total prohibition on the sale of intoxicants.
• The decisive factor in the succession to the throne was wishes of the nobles and the personal power and force of the incumbent.
• The nobility of the Sultanate was largely composed of Turks.
• A group of officers to be collectively known as umarahs were nobles.
• Turkan-i-Chahalgani was the most well-known, powerful and the earliest nobility created during the Sultanate period.
• Diwani-i-Mustakhraj or the Department of Revenue to realise the arrears was created by Alauddin Khalji.
• Diwan-i-Amirkohi or the Department of Agriculture became more prominent during the reign of Muhammad-bin-Tughluq.
• Diwan-i-Bandagan or the Department of Slaves was created by Firuz Tughluq.
• The main factors that went into the making of the administrative policy and organisation of the Sultanate were:
  (i) The model of the government of Caliph and the Persian government,
  (ii) The practices and conventions of the race to which the sultans belonged,
  (iii) The machinery of the government already existing in the country.

• The Majlis-i-Am or Majlis-i-Khalawat was : Council of friends and trusted officers of the sultan, which he consulted on important affairs of state.
• The most hard-earned conquest of Alauddin Khalji, in which he gained success after nearly a year-long campaigning, was of Gujarat.
• A Persian historian of the Sultanate period who accompanied Alauddin Khalji on his expedition to Chittor was Amir Khusrau.
• The military officer of the Sultanate who was the highest in the military gradation was Khan.
• The story of Alauddin Khalji’s invasion of Chittor to secure Padmini, the queen of Rana Ratan Singh of Mewar, was vividly described by Malik Muhammad Jaysi in his epic Padmavat.
• Muhammad-bin-Tughlutried to organise the army on the decimal system on the Mongol pattern.
• The fiscal policy of the Sultanate was modelled on the theory of finance of the Hanafi school of Muslim jurists. Sultanate borrowed this system from the Ghaznavids.
• The largest standing army of the Sultanate directly paid by the state was created by Alauddin Khalji.
• Abwabs were miscellaneous kinds of taxes like the house tax, grazing tax, irrigation tax etc. 
• The exemption of Brahmins from payment of Jeziah was not provided for in the Muslim law. Firuz Tughluwithdrew this exemption and levied jeziah on Brahmins also.
• The provincial governors during the Sultanate period were designated as Wali, Muqti or Muqtai, and Naib.
• Wakil-i-Dar - Controller of the royal household.
• Hamir-i-Hajibn—Master of ceremonies at the Court.
• Akhurbek -Superintendent of royal horses.
• Administrative divisions of the empire—provinces, shiqs, parganas and villages.
• The maximum number of Mongol invasions took place during the reign of Alauddin Khalji.
• One of the following officers who was the chief revenue collector and was empowered to settle revenue disputes at pargana level was Munsif.
• The first sultan to adopt the principle of measurment of cultivable land for determining land revenue was Alauddin Khalji.
• The administrative set-up to look after and regulate the market control system introduced by Alauddin Khalji was under the purview of Diwan-i-Riyasat.
• The principle of hereditary iqta was completely rejected by Balban.
• Iqta system under Alauddin Khalji:
  (i) The muqtais were brought under the increasing control of the central government and their civil and financial powers were curtailed.
  (ii) He abolished small iqtas by which the soldiers of the sultan’s army used to be paid and replaced them with cash salaries.
  (iii) He left the large iqtas assigned to the commanders unaffected.
• To curb hoarding and black marketing Alauddin Khalji ordered that: 
  (i) Land revenue should be collected in kind
  (ii) Cultivators should sell the harvested crops on the field only
  (iii) Merchants should sell the commodities in the open.
• The term iqta means revenue assignment of a particular area in lieu of cash salary.
• The sultan who is said to have raised the land revenue to one-half of the produce was Alauddin Khalji.
• The term used for measurement of land in the Sultanate period was  Masahat.
• The iqta system has been called the ‘central pillar’ of the administrative system of the Sultanate of Delhi because: 
  (i) The collection of land revenue in the non-grown lands was assigned to iqtadars.
  (ii) The troops maintained by iqtadars constituted the largest chunk of the army of the Sultanate.
  (iii) Almost all civil and military officers of the Sultanate were iqtadars.
• Alauddin enjoyed collection of land revenue in kind in lieu of cash because it ensured the availability of good grains in the towns and helped him in his economic regulations or market control. 
• He was the first to introduce the system of measurement of land for the assessment of revenue.
• Muhammad-bin-Tughlaq created the Diwan-i-Kohi or department of agriculture primarily to introduce state-promoted irrigation.

Muhammad-bin-Tughlaq

• Ghiyasuddin Tughluq attempted to improve agricultural production by:
  (i) Discarding the system of measurement of land for the assessment of land revenue.
  (ii) Encouraging the cultivators to bring the unreclaimed lands under the plough.
  (iii) Giving up the oppressive methods for the collection of land revenue.
• The state-promoted canal irrigation system was initiated by Ghiyasuddin Tughlaq.
• The conquest of South India was completed during the reign of Ghiyasuddin Tughlaq.
• The credit for completing the conquest of South India goes to Muhammad Jauna Khan.
• The South India ruler whose kingdom could not be annexed to the Sultanate of Delhi by the Tughlaqs was Hoysalas of Dwarasamudra.
• The sultan who first formulated the ‘Famine Code’ to provide relief to famine-affected people was Muhammad-bin-Tughlaq.
• The most learned medieval Muslim ruler who was well-versed in various branches of learning—including astronomy, mathematics and medicine was Muhammad bin Tughlaq.
• Progressive concepts of Muhammad bin Tughluq:
  (i) He tried to strengthen the geo-political and cultural unity of India.
  (ii) He wanted to break all barriers between North and South India.
  (iii) He discarded all communal discrimination in matters of state policy.
• Muhammad-bin-Tughlaq’s experiment of introducing token currency failed on account of large-scale minting of spurious coins.

Provincial Dynasties: North India and the Deccan

• The Sultan of Delhi who twice made unsuccessful efforts to recover Bengal during the reign of Ilyas Shah and his so Sikander Shah was Firuz Tughluq.
• The Ilyas Shahi Sultan who exchanged embassies with the Chinese emperor of the Ming dynasty was Ghiyasuddin A’zam Shah.
• The Sultans of Bengal issued a rich variety of coins. The coins issued by Fakhruddin Mubarak Shah are said to carry a “refreshing air of refinement” and are regarded as “veritable germs of the art of coin-striking”.
• Sher Shah Suri finally annexed Bengal and brought about the decline and fall of the dynasty of Ilyas Khan.
• The ruler of Bengal who annexed Kamata with the support of Ahoms was Alauddin Husain Shah.
• During the reign of Choda Ganga dynasty of Orissa were the temple of Jagannath at Puri and the temple of the Sun-god at Konark constructed.
• The founder of the Gajapati dynasty of Orissa was Kapilendra.
• The dynasty founded by Govinda came to be known as Bhoi dynasty because Govinda, a former minister of Prataparudra, belonged to the Bhoi or writer caste.
• During the rule of Prataprudra Orissa faced aggression from Krishnadeva Raya of Vijayanagar as well as from the Qutb Shahi Kingdom of Golcunda.
• After the death of Firuz Tughlaq Malik Raja Faruqi, the governor of Khandesh, declared his independence of the Delhi Sultanate.
• Alauddin Khalji annexed Gujarat to the Delhi Sultanate.
• Ahmad Shah built the capital city of Ahmdabad on the site of the old town of Asawal.
• The kingdom of Gujarat reached its extreme limit during the reign of Abdul Fath Khan
• The new town of Mustafabad was founded by Mahmud Begarha after his victory over the fort of Girnar.
• The primary reason for Mahmud Begarha’s attack on Dwarka was to suppress the pirates who preyed on the pilgrim traffic to Mecca.
• Mahmud Begarha attacked the Portuguese in alliance with the Sultan of Egypt, because the Portuguese were interfering with Gujarat’s trade with the countries of West Asia.
• The bitterest rival of the medieval kingdom of Gujarat was Malwa.
• A ruler of Mewar who was a great expert of the art of fortifications and built thirty-two forts, a number of temples, lakes, reservoirs etc. was Rana Kumbha.
• Mahmud Khalji, who usurped the throne of Malwa and founded the dynasty of the Khalji Sultans of Malwa, was a minister of Ghazni Khan.
• Hamir founded the state of Mewar.
• Marwar, which was under Mewar’s occupation, became independent under the leadership of Rao Jodha.
• Before the coming of the Muslim rulers, Kashmir was known to be a centre of Shaivism.
• The ruler of Kashmir who earned the title of But-shikan or idol breaker was Sikander Shah.
• The ruler of Kashmir who has been described as the Akbar of Kashmir was Shahi Khan (Zainul Abidin).
• The ruler of Kashmir who, to get rid of the fanatical flights between the Shias and Sunnis and repeated rebellions and counter-rebellions, sought the intervention of the Mughal emperor Akbar was Yusuf Shah.
• Zainul Abidin was an enthusiastic builder, his greatest engineering achievement being Zaina Lanka, an artificial island in Woolur Lake.
• The city of Jaunpur was founded by Firuz Tughluto perpetuate the memory of Muhammad bin Tughluq.
• Bahlul Lodi annexed the Sharqi kingdom of Jaunpur to the Sultanate.
• Bahman Shah or Alauddin Hasan selected Gulbarga as his capital and renamed it Ahsanabad.
• The Bahmani Sultan who shifted the capital from Gulbarga to Bidar was Ahmad Shah.
• The Bahmani Sultan who got the epithet of zalim or the Tyrant on account of his alleged cruelties was Humayun.
• The afaqis in the Bahmani kingdom were the Muslim immigrants from Iran, Iraq, Turkey, Arabia etc.
• The main reason for the collapse of the Bahmani kingdom was The strife between the two leading groups of nobles—the Deccanis and afaqis.
• Mahmud Gawan, a pardesi, was sentenced to death as a result of a conspiracy of the Deccanis. The Sultan responsible for Mahmud Gawan’s execution was Muhammad Shah II.
• A foreign traveller who visited the Bahmani kingdom during the reign of Muhammad Shah III and observed that the lot of the common people was miserable while the nobles lived in luxury, was Athanasius Nikitin.
• The last Deccani state annexed to the Mughal empire by Aurangzeb was Golcunda.
• The kingdom of Berar was absorbed by Ahmadnagar.
• The Muslim kingdom of Golcunda grew up on the ruins of the old Hindu kingdom of Warangal.
• The Deccani Muslim state which declared ‘Hindvi’ or Dakhini Urdu as the official language of the state instead of Persian, was Bijapur.
• The provinces of the Bahmani kingdom were known as Taraf or Ataraf.
• The five Sultans of the Bahmani succession states after the decline of the Bahmani kingdom, were originally Governors of the Bahmani provinces.
• The Bahmani wazir Mahmud Gawan founded a famous college at Bidar.
• The founder of the city of Hyderabad was Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah.
• The Portuguese founded their kingdom at the expense of the Adilshahi kingdom of Bijapur.
• Chand Bibi the princess of Ahmadnagar was the widow of Ali Adil Shah of Bijapur.
• Shivaji’s father Shahji Bhosle was initially in the service of Ahmadnagar.

Points to Be Remembered

• Rammohan Roy believed that the philosophy of Vedanta was based on the power of human reason which was the final touchstone of the truth of any doctrine.

Rammohan Roy

• Rammohan Roy also raised demands for Indianisation of the superior services, separation of the executive and judiciary, trial by jury, and judicial equality between Indians and Europeans.
• Rammohan Roy was saddened by the news of the failure of the Revolution in Naples (1821) and cancelled all his social engagements. He celebrated the success of the Revolution in Spanish America (1823) by hosting a public dinner.
• H.V. Derozio was removed from Hindu College (Calcutta) in 1831 because of his radicalism and died of cholera at the age of 22.
• The Derozians carried forward Rammohan’s tradition of educating the people in social, economic and political questions through newspapers, pamphlets, and public associations.
• K.P. Ghosh was the famous pupil of H.V. Derozio.
• Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar opened the gates of the Sanskrit College to non-Brahmin students because he was opposed to the monopoly of Sanskrit studies by priests.
• As a Government Inspector of Schools, Vidyasagar organised 35 girls’ schools, many of which he ran at his own expense.
• After the 1880’s when Dufferin hospitals, named after Lady Dufferin, the Viceroy’s wife, were started, efforts were made to make modern medicine and child delivery techniques available to Indian women.
• By the 1880’s the total number of English-educated Indians was about 50,000.Points 
• Pandit Iswardas Nagar, author of Futuhat-i-Alamgiri was the most important Hindu historiographer of the reign of Aurangzeb.
• A valiant Rajput chief who saved Marwar from being annexed by Aurangzeb was Durga Das.
• Attempt to incorporate Marwar in the Mughal empire was Aurangzeb’s “height of political unwisdom”.
• Kavikankan Chandi of Mukundaram Chakravarty was a Bengali book of the period which depicts a graphic picture of the contemporary social and economic conditions of the people of Bengal.
• The most famous poet of Akbar’s court was Ghizali.
• Abul Fazl was considered the ablest writer in Persian during Akbar’s period.
• The most famous musician at the court of Akbar was Tansen. His original name was Ramtanu Pandey.
• The first bill to make primary education compulsory was moved in the Imperial Council by G.K. Gokhale in 1911. It was rejected.
• The 19th century intelligentsia in Bengal considered itself to be the middle class, that is between the zamindars and the peasants.
• Lakshmanarasu Chetti was an important merchant in the Madras Native Association of the 1850’s
• In Maharashtra, Khoti was the petty rent-collecting rights.
• The new Bombay intelligensia leadership of the 1880’s and 1890’s was headed by the lawyer-triumvirate of Pherozeshah Mehta, K.T. Telang and Badruddin Tyabji.
• D. Wacha was the Secretary of the Bombay Presidency Association (1885-1915), General Secretary of the Congress (1896-1913), member for 38 years of the Bombay Millowners’ association executive committee, and managing agent of several textile mills.
• K.T. Telang was a Prarthana Samajist.
• M.G. Ranade died in 1901.
• Virasalingam (Telegu) founded the Rajahmundri Social Reform Association in 1878 with promotion of widow remarriage as its principal objective.
• A Hindu Social Reform Association was started in Madras in 1892 by the ‘Young Madras Party’.
• Hunter is the author of the book Indian Mussalmans.
• Dayanand Saraswati published a pamphlet (with religious inclinations) Gaukarunanidhi in 1881.
• G.G. Agarkar started the Deccan Education Society and the journals Kesari and Mahratta along with B.G. Tilak.
• Prakasam and Krishna Rao started the radical newspaper Kistnapatrika from Masulipatam in 1904.
• C.V. Raman Pillai’s historical novel Martanda Varma attempted an evocation of lost Nair military glory through its hero Ananda Padmanabhan.
• There were 110 strikes in Bengal during the second half of 1920.
• Baba Ramachander was an important peasant leader and founded the Kurmi-Kshtriya Sabha.
• Gandhi started Ahmedabad Mazdoor Mahajan.
• A no-revenue campaign (around 1920) started under Jai Narayan Vyas in Marwar.