INTRODUCTION

Slave Dyansty in India is also referred to as Mamluk dynasty and Ghulam dynasty. It was
founded by Qutubuddin Aibak.

Muhammad Ghori died in 1206 A.D. and his Indian kingdom passed into the hands of his slave,
and general qutub-ud-din-Aibak whom Ghori had earlier appointed as the Governor of India.
Muhammad Ghoris death brought for Aibak his formal recognition as the Sultan of Delhi from
Ghias-ud- din Muhammad, the nephew and successor of Muhammad Ghori in Ghor.

Thus Qutub-ud-din Aibak ascended the throne of Delhi in 1206 and with him started a new line
of successive kings in Delhi hitherto came to be known as the slave dynasty in the history of the
Delhi Sultanate Qutub-ud-din Aibak and all his successors were slaves to their respective
predecessors. Three families of the slaves are known in history after their founders, i.e. Qutub-
ud-din Aibak, Ilutmish and Ghias -ud-din Balban. But excepting Qutub-ud-din Aibak
both Iltutmish and Ghias-ud-din-balban were slaves only in their earlier career.

The slave kings ruled about eighty four years, from 1206 A.D. to 1290 A.D. Out of the ten kings
who ruled during this period five kings rose to prominence and three of them rather reckoned
among the greatest Sultans of history. These three greatest Sultans were Qutub-ud-din
Aibak, Iltutmish and Ghias-ud-din Balban. The achievements of these three Sultans had
enhanced the prestige and importance of the history of the Delhi Sultanate period.

and later sultan muhammad of ghur . Qutb al-Din had been among Muammads most trusted
Turkish officers and had overseen his masters Indian conquests. When Muammad was
assassinated in 1206, Qub The Slave dynasty was founded by qutub al-Din Aibak, a favourite
slave of the Muslim general took power in lahore. He managed to consolidate his position in a
seesawing war with a rival Slave ruler, Tj al-Dn Yildoiz, during which he captured and
lost ghazna. He was eventually confined to being a purely Indian soverisgn. He died in 1210 as a
result of a polo accident, and the crown shortly passed to Iltutmish, his son-in-law.

By the time of Iltutmishs accession, the familys holdings had been severely reduced. Iltutmish,
the greatest of the Slave kings, defeated and put to death Yildoiz (1216), restored
the Bengal governor to obedience, and added considerable new territory to the empire, including
the Lower Sindh.

After the death of Iltutmish, his able daughter Raziyya attempted to serve as sultan but was
defeated by opposing Turkish Slave nobles. After 1246 the sultanate was controlled by Ghiys
al-Dn Balban, who was to be sultan himself from 1266 to 1287. Under Balban
the sultanate fought off several mongol invasions. The Slave dynasty ended when Jall al-Dn
Frz Khalj staged a successful coup on June 13, 1290, and brought the Khaljs to power.

Qutub-ud-din Aibak Founder of the Sultanate of Delhi.

Qutub-ud-din Aibak (also Qutubuddin Aibak, Qutb-ud-din Aibak) ruled for a shorter period of
four years, from 1206 to 1210 A.D. He started the Slave dynasty. Virtually Qutub-ud-din Aibak
is considered to be the founder of the Delhi Sultanate. It was Aibak who saved the infant state
from all its impending dangers and immediate break up and also gave it its required stability.

Aibak realized that it would not be worthwhile to crave for suzerainty over Gazni as that would
cost him heavily. Hence he accepted the over lordship of Tazi-ud-din Yilduz in Gazni and Nasir-
ud-din Qabacha (also Kubacha) on Sindh and Punjab to the west of the Indus. This action of
Qutub-ud-din was indeed prudent enough as that had saved the Sultanate of Delhi from many
dangers in its infancy.

Qutub-ud-din also formed matrimonial alliances with the above noted kings so that these rival
powerful chiefs might not cause any trouble in future. In fact both Yilduz and Kubacha were the
slaves of Muhammad Ghori and they could easily claim their right on the throne of Delhi. But
Aibak cleverly diverted their attention from Delhi politics at least for a while.

It should also be remembered that the Delhi Sultanate was essentially a Muslim State System but
the Muslims were the minority in number. In order to increase the number of these Muslim
subjects, Qutub-ud-din lavishly bestowed munificence on the Muslim subjects and the Hindu
converts. Thus Qutub-ud-din set an ideal which was blindly followed by all the subsequent
monarchs of the Delhi Sultanate.

In fact Qutub- ud-din Aibak ruled for only four years. During this period he made no fresh
conquests. He did not find time for establishing a sound system of administration either. His
administration was purely military and rested absolutely on the strength of his army. Hence we
cannot call him a constructive genius as he could not lay the foundation of a solid structure of
civil administration. But he just saved the Turkish kingdom of Delhi from demise in its infancy.
He subdued the revolting Bengal and Bihar. Ali Mardan, the self styled independent Sultan of
Lakshanauati had to accept his suzerainty.

In fact Qutub-ud- din had been so much occupied with the politics of the north-western region
and those of Bengal that he failed to pursue a policy of aggressive warfare against the Rajputs.
While playing Polo, he fell from the horse and this caused his death in 1210 A.D. He was burned
at Lahore and over his remains a very unpretentious monument was raised which is hardly
worthy of the first independent Turkish Sultan of Northern India. But we shall always
remember him for his greatest achievement of severing Indias connection with Gazni and thus
to put an end to Gaznis sovereignty over Hindustan.
Aram Shah

Aram Shah was the next sultan of Delhi. His reign was short lived. He came to power in 1210.
He ruled for around one year and was soon replaced by Iltutmish in 1211.

Iltutmish

After Aram Shah, the next able ruler was Iltumish. He ruled from 1211 to 1236. Under his strong
governance, the slave dynasty was able to find a strong footing and establish itself as an
important kingdom. The army was organized efficiently under Iltumish and he also introduced a
coin currency known as Tanka. He was not the rightful heir on the throne of Delhi for which
some modern writers called him a usurper. But in reality he was not a usurper because at that
time there was no unified Turkish State in the country. Iltutmish, also called Shams al-Dn
Iltutmish, Iltutmish also spelled Altamsh.

As the Turks conquered Hindustan, they divided the land into four independent principalities
namely Lahore, Badaun, Lakhnauti, Multan and Uch. Iltutmish was selected by the nobility and
the officials of Delhi who ruled practically over the rest. Iltutmish was a great military general
and an able administrator too. Thus he was indeed a good choice for the throne and cannot be
called a usurper in any sense of the term.
When Iltutmish became the Sultan, the Sultanate of Delhi was almost non-existent. However, he
became the master of Delhi and Badaun and the outlying districts extending from Banaras in the
East to the Sivalik hills on the West. Punjab was hostile. Kubachah, the master of Multan
extended his boundaries up to Bhatinda, Khuram and Lahore. Ali Mardan the king of Lakhnauti
(also Lakshanauati) became independent. The Rajput kings including Jalor, Ajmer, Gwalior and
Doab assumed independence. Taj-ud-din Yalduz again claimed the sovereignty of entire
Hindustan. Even the royal guards of Delhi allied with Aram Shah and revolted. Thus Iltutmishs
position from the very beginning became precarious.

Iltutmish was a shrewd and able king. Iltutmish pretended to recognize Yalduz as his sovereign
master so as to avoid all controversies and tactfully put down Aram Shahs party at Delhi who
were creating menace for him. Thus making himself free from internal troubles he turned to
settle his scores with Yalduz who by that time had occupied vast area of Punjab. Iltutmish was
not ready to allow the Khwarizm Shah to claim Hindustan as a dependency of Gazni. Hence as
Yalduz was driven out of Gazni by the Khwarizm Shah and took shelter at Lahore. Iltutmish
marched against him and defeated the later. He also subdued Kubacha. Each of them accepted
his complete subjugation.
But greater danger was waiting for Iltutmish. Changiz Khan, the great Mongol chief had
dethroned the Khwarizm Shah and chased the Khwarizm Prince Zalal-ud-din up to Sind, the
border region of Iltutmishs empire. Zalal-ud-din sought refuge at Iltutmishs court but the later
was unwilling to become a party in the Central Asian politics either. Moreover it was very hard
as well as dangerous game to resist the great Mongol who always carried death and destruction
trailing behind him. Iltutmish was not in a position to resist this tyrant which would possibly
crush the young Turkish empire of India. The Sultan realized the gravity of the situation and
hence refused shelter to prince Zalal-ud-din. Changiz Khan retired from the gateway of India.
Delhi was saved from a possible disaster.

Another achievement of Sultan Iltutmish was to give a legal status to the Sultanate of Delhi by
the investiture which he received from the hands of the Caliph. This brought honor and prestige
to the Sultanate in the Muslim world and served to consolidate the Turkish authority in India. He
struck coins on which he described himself as the lieutenant of the Caliph. The coinage was
issued in silver and was called the Tanka. It became the standard coins of the Sultanate and
maintained its value even during the reign of Muhammad-bin-Tughluq where his own token
coins had failed.

Rukn-ud-din Firuz

Iltutmish was succeeded by his son, Rukn-ud-din Firuz. He could continue as sultan for seven
months only. He was a weak ruler. He spent most of his time in pleasure and enjoyment. Rukn-
ud-din Firuz was the ruler of the Slave dynasty who was placed on the throne of Delhi Sultanate
by the nobles of the court in deference to the wishes of the Slave Sultan Iltutmish who had
nominated his daughter Razia as his successor before his death in April, 1236.

Rukn-ud-din Firuzs reign did not last long as the kingdom plunged into utter chaos and disorder
due to the undue influencne of his mother Shah Turkhan, an inordinately ambitious woman of
low origin, who let loose a reign of terror by persecuting her co-wives and their children. The
provincial governors of Badaun, Multan, Hansi, Lahore, Oudh and Bengal threw off their
allegiance to the Delhi Sultanate.

Razia Sultan
Razia Sultan, a brave sultan belonged to slave dynasty was the first mulim women to rule India
and only women to occupy the throne of Delhi. She was talented, wise, brave, excellent
administrator, and a great warrior. Once Razias father, Iltutmish was busy with the siege of the
Gwalior fort, he had entrusted the government in Delhi to Razia, and on his return was so
impressed with her performance that he decided to appoint her as his successor. One of Iltutmish
sons, Rukn-ud-din Firuz occupied the throne after fathers death. He ruled Delhi for about seven
months. In 1236, Razia Sultana defeated her brother.

Being an efficient ruler Razia Sultana set up proper and complete law and order in her in his
empire. During three years of her ruling, she tried to improve the infrastructure of the country by
encouraging trade, building roads, digging wells. And also she established schools, academies,
centers for research, and public libraries that included the works of ancient philosophers along
with the Quran and the traditions of Muhammad. Hindu works in the sciences, philosophy,
astronomy, and literature were reportedly studied in schools. Despite having been nominated by
her father, Razia wasnt supported by the court of nobles, who refused to be ruled by a woman.
Her oldest surviving brother Rukn-ud-din Firuz was raised to the throne instead.
The reason behind end of her was her unacceptable love. Jamal-ud-Din Yaqut, an
African Siddi slave turned nobleman who was a close confidante to her and was speculated to be
her lover. Though it happened behind many veils and doors, their relationship was no secret in
the Delhi court. Malik Ikhtiar-ud-din Altunia, the governor of Bhatinda, was against such
relationship of Razia. The story goes that Altunia and Raziya were childhood friends. As they
grew up together, he fell in love with Raziya and the rebellion was simply a way of getting back
Raziya. When she was trying to curb a rebellion, the Turkish nobles who were against such
female throne, took advantage of her absence at Delhi and dethroned her. Her brother Bahram
was crowned.

Yaqut was murdered and Altunia imprisoned Raziya. To save her own head, Raziya sensibly
decided to marry Altunia, the governor of Batinda and marched towards Delhi with her husband.
On October 13, 1240, she was defeated by Bahram and the unfortunate couple was put to death
the very next day.

Nasiruddin Mahmud (Nasir-ud-din Firuz Shah)

Nasiruddin Mahmud (also Nasir-ud-din Firuz Shah) was the eighth sultan of Slave or Malmuk
dynasty. He was the grandson of Iltutmish. He was a kind hearted, pious and religious person.
During his reign from 1246 to 1266, the real authority of Delhi Sultanate was in the hands of his
minister, Balban. Balban was the father-in-law of Nasiruddin Mahmud.

Nasir-ud-din Mahmuds accession to the throne after Razias death and as a matter of fact while
she was away from Delhi in connection with checking revolts, the Corps of forty had made
Bahram Shah, (1240- 1242) the son of Iltutmish as the Sultan of Delhi. The Corps of Forty
pressurised the Sultan to work according to their dictates.The Sultan, however, tried to exert
himself which cost him his life.

After Bahram Shah, the Corps of Forty managed to make Masood Shah (1242-46) the Sultan of
Delhi. The Sultan was forced to delegate all his power to the Corps of Forty. A conspiracy was
hatched against the Sultan and he was murdered. After the deposition of Masood, the Corps of
Forty made Nasir-ud- din the youngest son of Iltutmish, as the Sultan of Delhi. Balban one of
the Corps of Forty became so powerful that he assumed all the real powers of the Sultan. Nasir-
ud-din remained the Sultan in name only.

The new Sultan knew the power of the Turkish nobles and was aware of the fact that his two
predecessors who had dared to challenge the authority of the nobles were murdered. Balban was
the Naib or the Deputy to the Sultan and enjoyed vast powers. He married his daughter to the
Sultan.
An estimate of Nasir-ud-din:

Some historians hold the view that Nasir-ud-Din was a religious minded man. He had no wordly
desires or ambitions. Several anecdotes became popular about him. It is said that he earned his
living by copying the Quran and selling it.

Again it is stated that his wife prepared his meals. One day, her fingers were burnt and she
requested the Sultan to keep a maid-servant. But the Sultan refused to do soon the plea that he
was simply a trustee of the state and therefore, could not utilise public money for his personal
convenience. It may also be remembered that his wife was the daughter of Balban, his Naib-
holding the most important post.
It is stated by several historians that such claims are exaggerated. According to P. Saran, the
Sultan was very much afraid of the Turkish nobles and therefore kept himself aloof from active
politics. It is accepted that he possessed the virtues of continence, frugality and practical piety
and simplicity but more than that the circumstances had forced him to behave like that. He knew
the power of the Turkish nobility.

Therefore, as Prof. K.A. Nizami writes, The surrender was absolute the Sultan did nothing
which could provoke the displeasure of forty. According to historian Islami, He expressed no
opinion without their prior permission; he did not move his hands or feet except at their order.
He would never drink nor go to sleep except with their knowledge. In the words of Thomas,
Mahmud (Nasir-ud-Din) seems, like the sons of Iltutmish to have been but little fitted to
dominate over his own turbulent nobles or to coerce imperfectly conquered native, races,
nominally subject to his sway.

Ilbari Turk Baha-ud din Balban (Ghiyas-ud-din Balban 1246-1287)

Ghiyas-ud-din Balban (or Baha-ud-din Balban) was the next remarkable sultan of slave dynasty.
He was earlier known as Baha-ud-din. Since, he was a Ilbari Turk, he was also known as Ilbari
Turk Bahaud-din Balban. The last effective emperor of the slave dynasty was Ghiyasuddin
Balban. He ruled from 1266 to 1286. During his reign, the administration was strengthened and
he paid much attention to governance in his empire. The army was trained effectively to use
weapons and the production of arms and other war weaponry was at its peak. This is what helped
them fight against attacks by the Mongols. He died in 1286.
His father was a Khan of 10,000 families but in his early youth he was captured by the Mongols
who sold him as a slave at Ghazni. He was brought to Delhi and was sold to Sultan Iltutmish.

His intelligence, ability and loyalty had pleased Razia Sultant who promoted him to the post of
Amir-i-Sikar. After the fall of the Sultana, Balban gradually rose into prominence and in 1246 he
became the principal adviser of the young Sultan Nasir-ud-din Mahmud.

In 1266, he became the Sultan of Delhi assuming the title of Ghiyas-ud-din Balban. He was the
sultan of delhi from 1266 to 1287. During this period his only aim was to consolidate the
prestige, power and position of the crown which had fallen low in the days of his predecessors.
He crushed the big feudal lords of the Turkish aristocracy and thereby gave a new colour to the
Turkish State in the country.

He achieved his object ruthlessly and by striking terror all round. He reorganized the army and
sub pressed the revolting chiefs of Rajputana and also recovered Bengal from the revolting
general Tughril Khan, the governor of Bengal.

During his reign the menacing Mongols made several attempts to invade India but was
successfully resisted. Thus when he died, Balban had ensured the safety of the Turkish state and
gave it a new lease of life. He also ensured peace and order in the country possibly for the first
time during the early Sultanate regime, which was not mean achievement in that age of Indian
history. Balban was determined to break the power of the Forty, the Turkish nobles. He spared
only the most obedient nobles and eliminated all others by fair or foul means. Malik Baqbaq, the
governor of Badaun, was publicly flogged for his cruelty towards his servants. Haybat Khan, the
governor of Oudh, was also punished for killing a man who was drunk. Sher Khan, the governor
of Bhatinda was poisoned. Instead of expanding his kingdom, Balban paid more attention to the
restoration of law and order. He established a separate military department diwan-i-arz and
reorganized the army. The outskirts of Delhi were often plundered by the Mewatis. Balban took
severe action against them and prevented such robberies. Robbers were mercilessly pursued and
put to death. As a result, the roads became safe for travel.

In 1279, Tughril Khan, the governor of Bengal revolted against Balban. It was suppressed and he
was beheaded. In the northwest the Mongols reappeared and Balban sent his son Prince Mahmud
against them. But the prince was killed in the battle and it was a moral blow to the Sultan.
Balban died in 1287. He was undoubtedly one of the main architects of the Delhi Sultanate. He
enhanced the power of the monarchy. However, he could not fully safeguard India from the
Mongol invasions.

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.

Muiz-ud-din Muhammad Qaiqabad

He was the grandson of Balban and the last sultan of Slave dynasty. Muiz-ud-din Muhammad
Qaiqabad reigned from 1287 to 1290. He was only eighteen years old when he ascended to the
throne. He was completely under the influence of his wazir. The administration of the state fell
into disorder. With the death of Qaiqabad, the slave dynasty came to an end. The slave dynasty
was succeeded by Khilji dynasty. The first sultan of Khilji dynasty was Jalal-ud-din Firuz Khilji.

Administration of Delhi Sultanate

The administration system of Delhi Sultanate were directed and governed by the Quranic
injunctions. The Quranic law was the supreme law of the empire.

The Caliph was the supreme sovereign according to the Islamic theory of sovereignty. All
Muslim kings through the world were his subordinates. During the Sultanate period, the power of
the Caliph was at its zenith.

Even if a governor became an independent king, he had to invoke the sanction of the Caliphs
name and called himself his vassal. In fact, the rulers of the Sultanate period always tried to
maintain a formal relation with the Islamic world.
Sultan Head of the Sultanate Administration

The real head of the administration of Delhi Sultanate was the king or Sultan himself. The
Sultan was the independent sovereign and all-powerful man. His will was the law of the country.
The Sultan at his death bed could also nominate his heirs and that was recognized by all other
nobles. There was no hereditary principle of succession.

Theoretically the office of the Sultan was open to all real Muslims, but in practice the Sultanate
was restricted to the immigrant Turkes. Later on it became restricted to a smaller oligarchy and
at last to the members of the royal family only. During the 15th and 16th centuries the Arab and
Afghan people also could become the Sultan.

The Sultans regarded themselves as a part of the Islamic world. Following the Islamic theory the
Sultans of Delhi were considered to be the agent of Allah, i.e. God and it was his duty to enforce
the divine laws expressed by the Holy Quran. He was thus the chief executive. It was his duty
not only to enforce the Quranic laws but also to interpret them.

Judicial Administration of Delhi Sultanate

The Sultan was the highest judicial authority of Delhi Sultanate. He was a perfect autocrat with
wide powers and unfettered authority. His power was based on two pillarsreligion and military.
As long as he was upholding the Quranic law he enjoyed enormous and supreme power. Of
course, the entire matter depended on the personality and military strength of Sultan himself.
Nobody dared to challenge the powerful sultans like Ala-ud-din-Khilji and Muhammad-Bin-
Tughluq. In fact there were no constitutional devices to remove a Sultan from the throne
peacefully. The only way to remove him was rebellion and civil war. The Sultans of Delhi were
not only the kings, they were also the religious head of the Muslim people in India.

Military Administration of Delhi Sultanate

The Sultan was also the head of the Military Administration of Delhi Sultanate. He was the
commander-in-chief of the army as well. The Sultan of Delhi was thus a military despot having
all powers of the State concentrated in his hands.

Central Administration of Delhi Sultanate

The Sultanate government was essentially a centralized one though it had the original democratic
nature of an Islamic State. In fact, the circumstances had forced them to become a centralized
one. During this period the Hindu chiefs were not altogether suppressed and being hostile to the
Muslim rule they were always rebellious. There was the danger of repeated Mongal invasion. In
view of this the Sultans were compelled to keep a large army and a centralized government.

The Sultan in his administration had to keep a good number of ministers the member of which
varied from time to time. During the rule of the slave dynasty there were four ministers

(1) the wazir,

(2) the arizimamalik,

(3) the diwaniinsha and

(4) the diwanirasalat.

Sometimes there was also the post of naib or naibimamalik. He was superior to the wazir and
next only to the Sultan. During the normal period he remained merely a deputy Sultan much
inferior to the Wazir. But when the Sultan himself became weak and inefficient, this naib used to
wield great authority later on, the posts of SadrusSudur and diwani-qaza was raised to the
status of ministers. Thus, there were altogether six ministers during the prime period of Sultanate
administration though sometimes the post of the comptroller of the royal household used to exert
greater power than the other ministers.

The Wazir or the Prime Minister

In fact, the wazir stood midway between the sovereign and the subjects. He had great authority
and often exercised the Sultans power and prerogatives though with some restrictions. All
important officers of the state were appointed by him in the name of the Sultan. He used to hear
complaints against all officials of the administration.

During the illness or absence of the Sultan or when he was a minor, the Wazir acted for the king.
He was the adviser of the Sultan in the affairs of administration and always kept him informed
about the sentiments and needs of the subjects.

The Wazir was also the head of the finance department. He used to lay down the rules and
regulations of revenue settlement, fixed the rate of other taxes and controlled the expenditure of
the empire.

He was the superintendent of the civil servants and controlled the military establishment. All the
requirements of the army were to be referred to him. The duty of his subordinates was to keep
the accounts and disburse the salary of the military officers and troops.
He was also to look after the stipends and subsistence allowances to learned men and the poor
people. He was to look after every branch of public administration. As he had wide power he
also enjoyed great prestige and was handsomely paid the revenue of a large estate.

His office was called the diwan-i-wazarat. The in-charge of the office was naib wazir. There was
also the other stuffs like the mushrif-i-mamalik (accountant general), mustaufimamalik
(auditor general). It was the duty of the accountant general to enter all accounts received from
the provinces and various departments. The auditor general used to audit them. During Firoz
Tughluqs reign there was, however, a change while the accountant general used to deal with
income and the auditor general with that of expenditure. The accountant general was assisted by
a Nazir while the auditor general too had his assistants. Both the offices had many subordinate
clerks.

Diwan-i-ariz or diwan-i-arz or the army master

The post of Diwan-i-ariz was next to the Wazir. He was the controller general of the military
establishment. It was his duty to recruit troops and to maintain the descriptive rolls of men and
horses. He was also to arrange to held review in order to inspect the forces. The Sultan was the
commander-in-chief of the army. So the Ariz-i-mamalik was not to command the royal troops
generally, but sometimes he had to do it, at least a part of the army. He particularly looked after
the discipline of the army, their equipments and their dispositions on the battle field. It was a
very important department. Sometimes the Sultan himself performed some of its tasks. Ala-ud-
din Khilji often paid personal attention to it.

Diwan-i-insha or the in-charge of royal correspondence

Diwan-i-insha was the third important minister. He was in charge of the royal correspondence. A
member of Dabir (writers) assisted him. They were all masters of style. This department used to
make all correspondences, even of the confidential matters made between the Sultan and the
rulers of other states or of the important vassals and officials of the kingdom. They drafted the
important royal orders and sent to the Sultan for his sanction. They were then copied, registered
and dispatched. Thus the department performed very confidential nature of work. Naturally the
head of the department was always a very trusted person of the Sultan.

Diwan-i-risalat or the minister for foreign affairs

There is, however, a controversy about the function of this officer. Dr. I.H. Qureshi told us that
the minister used to deal with the religious matters and also look after grant and stipends to
scholars and pious men. Dr. A. B. M. Habibullah, on the other hand, said that he was the minister
for foreign affairs and was the in-charge of diplomatic correspondences and the ambassadors and
envoys sent to and received from the foreign rulers. It seems that Dr. Habibullahas view was
correct. The diwanirasalat was an important officer as all the Sultans of Delhi were always
eager to maintain diplomatic relations with the Central Asian powers and other powers of the
country.

Sadr-us-Sudur or Minister of the department of religions

The Sadr-us-Sudur was the minister of the department of religion, religious endowment and
charity. It was the duty of the chief Sadr (Sadr-us-Sudur) to enforce the Islamic rules and
regulations and to look after that the Muslims strictly follow those regulations in their daily life.
He also disbursed money in charity and rewarded the learned Muslim divines. He also paid the
grants of subsistence allowances to scholars and men of piety.

Diwan-i-Qaza or the Chief Qazi

The chief Qazi was the head of the judicial department. He supervised the administration of
justice in the kingdom. Very often, only one man was appointed to carry on the works of both the
departments of the religious endowment and charity and the department of justice.

All these ministers were not of the same rank or importance. Only the Wazir enjoyed higher
status and privileges. The other ministers were like secretaries to the Sultan and very ordinary in
status. There was no council of ministers. The Sultans often appointed and dismissed the
ministers at his own sweet will. The Sultan had a large number of non-official advisers. This
circle of advisors was known as MajlisiKhalwat. They consisted of the Sultans personal
friends, trusted officials and ulemas. Though the Sultan was not bound to accept their advices yet
often they exerted great influence on him. There were some other departmental heads as well like
baridimamalik (head of the intelligence and posts department) diwaniamir
kohi (department of agriculture), diwanimustakhraj, diwani-khairat (department of
charity), diwaniistihqak (department of pension), Sarijandar (Chief of the royal bodyguards)
and diwan-i-bandagan (chief of the slaves). The latter two chiefs had great influences on the
Sultans.

Provincial Administration
Provincial administration was run by Muqti, Iqtadars and other government officials. Iqtadars
were the landholders. It was the responsibility of the Muqtis and Iqtadars to provide the Sultans
with troops. Each province was divided into a number of parganas. Each parganas was further
divided into several villagers.

The Sultanate of Delhi was never divided into homogeneous provinces with uniform
administrative system. The Sultanate of Delhi was a centralized monarchy and no Sultan of
Delhi ever thought of rearranging the provinces on a uniform basis.

During the thirteenth century, the entire Sultanate was consisted of military commands. These
were known as the Iqtas. Iqta means part or share of a land and land revenue given to a person by
the ruler, the Sultan. The system was introduced by Sultan Iltutmish who had distributed Iqtas in
a wide scale among his Turkish followers. Each Iqta was under a powerful military officer
known as Muqti.

During the time of the so-called slave kings of Delhi, the important Iqtas were Mandawar,
Amraha, Sambhal, Badaun, Baran (Bulandshahr), Koli (Aligarh), Awadh, Kara, Manikpur,
Bayana, Gwalior, Nagpur, Hansi, Multan, Uch, Lahore, Samana, Sunam, Kluhram, Bhatinda and
Sanhind.

When Alaud-din-Khilji conquered practically the whole of the country including the Deccan, he
had allowed the big and small provinces to remain as they were. Thus during his time there were
two types of provinces that is, the lqtas which he had inherited from his predecessors and the
new areas which he had conquered. Alaud-din retained the old Iqtas. To the newly acquired
provinces he appointed new military governors. As all these provinces had been big and
flourishing states before they were conquered, they were naturally larger in area and income.
The principalities or some vassals were also reduced to the position of governors. Thus from the
time of Sultan Alauddin Khilji there were three kinds of provinces in the Sultanate. The officers-
in-charge of an lqta continued to be known as the Muqti and those appointed in-charge of the
new military provinces were called walis or sometimes the amirs. These walis or amirs obviously
enjoyed higher status and powers than the muqtis. Thus the muqtis were the governors of their
respective jurisdictions and enjoyed great powers. The size or the administrative system of the
Iqtas were never uniform and even the degree of the political and military power of the muqtis
differed from Iqta to lqta.

However, the Muqti was free to carry on his own administration though, of course, he had to
follow the local traditional usages. It was his duty to employ his own officials, to collect the
revenues, to defray the expenditure of his own administration. He was also to pay the surplus
revenue to the central government. Though in theory, he was subjected to the central audit, in
practice he was practically fully independent. His principal duty was to maintain law and order in
his province and to carry out the kings commands. It was also his duty to furnish a contingent of
troops to the Sultan of Delhi whenever the latter asked him to do so. The Muqti enjoyed a high
salary which was charged on the revenue of his province. He had a big army of his own and a big
official establishment as well. He was also required to collect revenues from the Sultans vassals
whose kingdoms were situated within his province. These vassals were required to pay Kharaj or
land revenue and also the Jizyas. Though the muqtis acknowledged the suzerainty of the Sultan
of Delhi they were otherwise independent in their own Iqtas. Both the muqtis and walis were
required to do the same task. They were required to keep powerful military establishments, to
maintain law and order in their jurisdiction and to punish the refractory Zamindars. They were
also required to furnish an account of their income and expenditure and to pay the residue to the
central government. They were advised to protect and enforce the Muslim laws, to protect the
Ulemas, to arrange for the administration of justice, to enforce the decisions of the courts, to
keep the high way free from robbers and to encourage trade and commerce. In each province
there were the staffs to collect the revenues known as Nazirs and Waqufs. There was also a
higher officer known as Sohib-i-diwan or Khwaja appointed by the Sultan to keep accounts.
There were also a Quazi and other subordinate officers. The most important provinces during the
Sultanate period were Bengal, Gujrat, Jaunpur, Malwa, Khandish and the Dakhin.

Society and culture under the sultanate

Whilwthe historians of the Delhi Sultanate have left full accounts that make possible a
reconstruction of military and political affairs, unfortunately no such records exist for social and
economic history. Scattered comments in the histories, however, as well as such works as the
Travels of Ibn Battuta, the narrative poems of Amir Khusrau, and the table talk of Hazrat Nizam-
ud-din, illuminate the social life of the time.

Muslim society during the period was dominated by the Turkish rulers and nobles who sought to
maintain their position not only against non-Muslims or the Muslims of indigenous origin, but
also against other non-Turkish immigrants, or over other Turks whose long separation from the
Turkish homeland marked them off themselves. It can be argued that most of the sultans and
nobles were ultimately Turkish in origin, even though they bear different designations, but the
first hundred years of the Delhi Sultanate was clearly a period of Turkish supremacy: rule by
groups that regarded themselves as Turks, and heirs of a definite cultural and historical tradition.
During this time they produced not only three great rulers, Iltutmish, Ala-ud-din Khalji, and
Balban, but also a great poetAmir Khusrau.

One of the most interesting features of Islamic society during the sultanate is the long struggle
of Indian MuslimsHindu and Buddhist converts or their descendantsto assert themselves.
They tried to gain power in the middle of the thirteenth century, but Balban and other Turkish
nobles were too powerful for them. Their position gradually improved under the Khaljis, and
under the Tughluqs a distinct change can be seen. Ghiyas-ud-din Tughluq had an Indian mother,
Muhammed Tughluq appointed a Hindu as the governor of Upper Sind, and the dominant
personality of the reign of Firuz Tughluq was Khan-i-Jahan, a Hindu convert from Telingana.

Although it took a long time for the Indo-Muslims to reach positions of power, local usages
and customs influenced social life and behavior at an early period. The Indian pan (betel leaf)
soon became popular among the Muslims; the use of spices for seasoning food became common;
and standard Muslim dishes such as pilau were transformed. The newcomers also adopted Indian
headgear; but, more significantly, religious ceremonies, especially those related to marriage and
death, showed a definite Indian influence. The popularity of music, as well as its forms, reflected
the local atmosphere.

The lives of the Muslim upper classes, especially in Delhi, were modeled on those of their
Turkish and Persian counterparts, with the sports of a society that valued the horsepolo, riding,
racingbeing the chief outdoor amusements; these were the prerogatives of the rich. All classes
enjoyed chess and backgammon, although the more orthodox regarded them with disapproval.
Most of the Muslims, at least during the earliest period of the sultanate, were city dwellers, many
of them attached to the garrisons. For this reason there was a good deal of communal life among
the ordinary people. There were, for example, bakeries instead of individual kitchens, and
hammams (Turkish baths) in the larger towns.

As for the Hindus, their social life was relatively unchanged, although during military
operations they suffered losses in property and life. Even when the harsh laws of war gave place
to peace, the Hindus were burdened by certain handicaps. The loss of sovereignty itself was a
major loss, especially in the case of the Brahmans and the Kshatriyas. The sultanate period was
more difficult for them than any other period of Muslim rule. The liberal and conciliatory policy
adopted by Muhammad ibn Qasim had given place to a new relationship, and the integration of
the Hindu population into the political and administrative structure was not to come about until
later. Muslim conquest of Sind and Multan and even of Lahore and Peshawar had not led to the
same tensions and conflicts which followed their domination over the heart of Aryavarta. Even
the indirect effect of the Mongol invasion of Muslim lands led to a stiffening of attitude, as the
Muslim refugees, who had suffered so much at the hands of the pagan Mongols, were not
disposed to be friendly towards the non-Muslims of India.

All these factors make the sultanate a period of tensions and conflicts. The theory of Turkish
racial superiority which held sway during the rule of early Slave kings was not favorable to the
employment of Hindusor even indigenous Muslimsin high civil and military appointments,
as was the case under the Arabs in Sind or even under the Ghaznavids. It would, however, be
wrong to think that the Hindus were completely excluded from service. In rural areas the Hindu
landed aristocracy still occupied a position of prestige and power, and the muqaddams, the
chaudharis, and the khuts had important roles in the administration. The land system was not
altered, and the Hindu peasant must have led much the same kind of life as he did before the
coming of the Muslims. Trade and commerce also remained in Hindu control, for to the Muslim
invader from Central Asia, the complex Hindu banking system would be unfamiliar and
unworkable. The Hindu merchant might be heavily assessed, or, during a war have his movable
goods confiscated, but he was too much a part of the intricate commercial structure to be easily
replaced. The money-lender thrived under the new, as under the old, dispensation. We hear, for
example, about the large incomes of the Muslim grandees and the splendor of their households,
but Barani leaves us in no doubt that most, if not all, borrowed from the Hindu money lenders.
"The maliks and the khans and the nobles of those days were constantly in debt, owing to their
excessive generosity, expenditures, and beneficence. Except in their public halls no gold or silver
could be found, and they had no savings on account of their excessive liberality. The wealth and
riches of the Multani merchants and the shahs [money lenders] were from the interest realized
from the old maliks and nobles of Delhi, who borrowed money from them to the maximum limit,
and repaid their debts along with additional gifts from their [lands]. Whenever a malik or a khan
held a banquet and invited notables, his agents would rush to the Multanis and shahs, sign
documents, and borrow money with interest." That the money lenders recovered their money
along with interest (forbidden under Islamic law), is an indication of how vital they were to the
system. Even the powerful Ala-ud-din Khalji who, seeing the danger to his government from the
power of the Hindu rural chiefs, made a determined attempt to curb their power and reduce their
wealth, found it necessary to make Hindu traders the main instrument of his price control
measures.

Industry and Trade

Hindus occupied an important role in foreign, as in domestic, trade, although foreign

Muslim merchants, known as khurasani, also had a large share of it. The rulers of the coastal
kingdoms in the Deccan accorded to foreign merchants certain extra-territorial rights and special
concessions, in consideration of the heavy taxes which they paid to the treasury. An organized
class of brokers handled the business on the coast and inside the country. The imports consisted
mainly of certain luxury items for the upper classes, and a general supply of all kinds of horses
and mules, in which India was deficient. Hindus had never attached any importance to cavalry,
but seeing the success of the Muslim horsemen, they started to substitute horses for elephants.
The exports included large quantities of food-grains and cloth. Among the agricultural products
were wheat, millet, rice, pulses, oilseeds, scents, medicinal herbs, and sugar. Some of the
countries around the Persian Gulf depended on the subcontinent for their entire food supply.
Cotton cloth and other textiles were especially important items of export, particularly to
Southeast Asia and East Africa, although some reached Europe. They were carried by the Arabs
to the Red Sea and from there found their way to Damascus and Alexandria, from where they
were distributed to the Mediterranean countries and beyond.
 Many industries of considerable size and importance developed during this period, the most
important of which were textiles, various items of metal work, sugar, indigo, and in certain
localities, paper. The Indian textile industry is very old, but the variety of cloth produced was
originally limited. Taking advantage of the local talent, the Muslims introduced a number of fine
varieties of textiles, most of which had Persian or Arabic origin. Bengal was the main center of
this industry, but Gujarat rivaled it as a supplier of the export trade during the sultanate period.

Next in importance were a number of industries connected with metal work: the
manufacture of swords, guns, and knives, as well as household needs such as trays and basins.
Manufacture of sugar was also carried on on a fairly large scale, and in Bengal enough was
produced to leave a surplus for export after meeting the local demand. Paper-making was a
minor industry, of which little is known except that Delhi was the center of a considerable
market.

These industries were mainly privately owned, but the government equipped and managed
large-scale karkhanas, or factories, for supplying its requirements. The royal factories at Delhi
sometimes employed as many as four thousand weavers for silk alone. The example of the sultan
of Delhi was followed by the rulers of the regional kingdoms, and the contribution of the state to
the development of the industry was not a minor one.

In certain aspects of social life, the Hindus had virtual autonomy during the sultanate. This
was in accordance with the established axiom of Islamic law that while Muslims are governed by
the Shariat, non-Muslim zimmis are subject to their own laws and social organization, but it was
also a product of the Indian situation. The Muslim rulers from the days of the Arab occupation of
Sind accepted the right of the village and caste panchayats to settle the affairs of their
community. This meant that the Hindu villages remained small autonomous republics, as they
had been since ancient times, and in commerce and industry the Hindu guilds were supreme.
This position continued throughout the Muslim rule, but during the sultanate, when the
provincial administration had not been properly organized, Hindu autonomy outside the principal
towns was particularly effective.

It is often forgottenand Muslim court chroniclers were not anxious to mention itthat a
large number of independent or quasi-independent Hindu chiefs remained after the establishment
of the sultanate. Some of them were rajas, or kings; others were only petty chieftains, controlling
a few villages. Many of them belonged to old families, but new principalities grew up even after
the establishment of Muslim power at Delhi. Rajputs often found new kingdoms for themselves
in remote, easily defended areas in Rajputana and the Himalayas. From such movements during
the sultanate come also some of the large landed estates still held by Rajputs in Oudh and in
Bihar. In these predominantly Hindu areas the old religion was fostered, and its cultural
expressions kept alive even in the periods of greatest Islamic power.
Learning, Literature and Arts

After the sack of Baghdad in 1258, Delhi was perhaps the most important cultural center in the
Muslim East. Heir to the traditions of Ghazni and Lahore, its importance increased when the
Mongols destroyed the cultural centers of Central and Western Asia, and the poets, scholars and
men of letters from these areas took refuge in Muslim India. Balban, who gave high offices of
the state only to persons of good families, welcomed these distinguished refugees, and many
illustrious families of Muslim India trace their origin to this period. This influx bore fruit in a
large number of works, many of which are lost, but the contemporary historians attest to their
worth. During the reign (12961316) of Ala-ud-din Khalji the general prosperity engendered by
his conquests enabled the nobles, and not just the sultan, to become literary patrons. This
probably explains why Barani could devote fourteen pages to an account of the scholars, poets,
preachers, philosophers, physicians, astronomers, and historians who thronged Delhi in the days
of Ala-ud-din Khalji. If the surviving poetry of Khusrau, the historical works of Barani, and the
table talk of Hazrat Nizam-ud-din Auliya are any indication of the cultural vitality and richness
of the age, one can well understand why Amir Khusrau and others felt that Delhi was the
metropolis of the Muslim East.

Yet despite the cultural eminence of the capital, it cannot be claimed that the sultanate is a
period marked by that solid scholarship and study of sciences which distinguished Baghdad and
Cordova. The reason is obvious. Learned and gifted men had come to India, but [[113]] without
their libraries. Those who were escaping with their lives could not be expected to carry heavy
loads of books over long distances. We get a glimpse of this in the case of Fakhr-i-Mudabbir,
who fled from Ghazni without even his family papers, and had to wait for an opportunity to go
back to reclaim them. The result was that only those cultural activities gained prominence which,
like poetry, belles-lettres, local history, architecture, and music, were not dependent on
accumulated stores of knowledge.

Probably for the same reasonthe lack of librariesgreat educational institutions of the
kind found in Baghdad and Cairo did not develop in India. There were, however, schools and
colleges in Delhi and all the important provincial capitals.

In Muslim society, teaching and the promotion of educational enterprises are regarded as
necessary marks of religious vocation, and the Muslim state is expected to facilitate this by
providing teachers with ample means of subsistence. This was the procedure generally adopted
during Muslim rule in India, and the official in charge of religious endowments, the sadr-i-jahan,
arranged for the grant of tax-free lands to imams, qazis, and other religious groups who provided
education, particularly in Islamic subjects. This education was usually on the elementary level,
but the system also provided for the maintenance of scholars who had specialized in different
branches of learning. We find even nobles and distinguished men of affairs teaching subjects in
which they had become proficient. Hazrat Nizam-ud-din Auliya, for example, studied under
Shams-ul-Mulk, who became the wazir of Balban. The children of nobles were taught at their
own residences by private tutors, whose guidance was often available for other students also.

For advanced students madrasas, or colleges, were set up by pious and public-spirited
rulers, and this activity received special attention during the early period. Two major madrasas
called Muizziya and Nasiriya were established during the beginning of Muslim rule at Delhi.
Details about these madrasas are lacking, but probably one of them was the college built by
Iltutmish and repaired a century later by Firuz Tughluq. Similar steps to establish educational
institutions were taken by Muslim rulers in the distant provinces, and we read [[114]] of
Muhammad Bakhtiyar Khalji setting up madrasas at Devkot and other places in Bengal. Firuz
Tughluq was unusual in that he looked after the institutions established by his predecessors;
probably most of these establishments fell into decay when the original founders passed away,
and the grants made for the madrasas were diverted to other purposes.

Historians give little information about the staff or the curriculum of madrasas, but some
details are available for one founded by Firuz Tughluq near Hauz-i-Alai in Delhi. Barani has
given a lengthy account of the beautiful building and gardens which provided a center around
which people built their houses. Both Barani and Mutahar, a well-known poet, praise the
comprehensive knowledge of Maulana Jala-ud-din Rumi, the head of the institution. The main
subjects taught seem to have been religioustafsir (interpretation of the
Quran), hadith (tradition), and fiqh (jurisprudence).

The intellectual activity of the schools owed much to the refugee scholars from Central
Asia, Persia, and Iraq who came to Delhi in the thirteenth century. After this influx had ceased
and the Mongols had established their rule in the northwestern borderland, communication
between Central Asia and northern India became difficult. It appears that in the Deccan, where
contact was maintained with Iran by the sea route, intellectual activity during the later centuries
encompassed a wider range than was the position in the north. In northern India, apart from
religious subjects, literature, history, mysticism, and ethics were the principal subjects studied. In
the Deccan, scientific subjects also received attention. The great Bahmani king, Firuz (1397
1422), for example, encouraged botany, geometry, and logic. He was interested also in
astronomy, and in 1407 started work on an observatory near Daulatabad. The untimely death of
Hakim Hashim Gilani, the astronomer who was to supervise the observatory, put an end to the
project. When Sayyid Gisu Daraz, who has left a large number of books on mysticism and who
was famous for his knowledge of religious subjects, reached the Deccan, Firuz went to meet him.
The historian Firishta records that the sultan found the saint lacking in solid scholarship, and
made no secret of his disappointment. The fact that Firuz was not alone in intellectual pursuits is
evident from the [[115]] account of a prince who used to teach students mathematics (including
Euclid), theology, and rhetoric./3/ Promotion of learning in the Deccan was largely the work of
Persian statesmen and scholars whom the rulers had attracted from Iran, and an interesting
monument to the age is the ruined college of the Bahmani minister, Mahmud Gawan, in Bidar. It
was a magnificent building, as can be seen from its beautiful minarets and facade, but it was
badly damaged during the wars of the Deccan kings with Aurangzeb.

The one scientific subject that received considerable attention in the schools was medicine.
The earliest work on medicine, of which an imperfect manuscript copy has survived, was written
about 1329 in the reign of Muhammad bin Tughluq. Its author, Zia Muhammad, went to the
Deccan under the orders of the sultan. His book, Majmua-i-ziai, based on Arabic and Indian
sources, gives local counterparts for Arabian medicines as well as the prescriptions of Hindu
physicians. Following this work, other writers combined Greek and Indian works. The history of
Indo-Islamic medicine has not yet been carefully studied, but it is reasonably certain that in the
books written in India during the sultanate one sees the blending of the three streams of Greek,
Arabic, and Hindu medical knowledge. The most famous of these works is the Tibb-i-Sikandari,
written by the court physician Mian Bhuwa about 1512. It draws freely on the classical Sanskrit
writers, and it long remained a standard textbook for followers of the indigenous medical
systems.

Of the purely literary works of the early period, very few have survived. This is especially
true of poetry, for barring the works of major poets like Amir Khusrau and Hasan, only those
poems have been preserved which, because of their topical nature, were included in general
histories. Examples are the poems of Sangreza on the arrival of Iltutmish's patent of sovereignty
from the Abbasid caliphate and his verses on the accession of Iltutmish's son or Ruhani's poem
on Iltutmish's conquest of Ranthambhor. While these poems have the usual limitations of
occasional poetry, they indicate high poetic skill.

The early men of letters represented a trans-Indus tradition. Most of them had received
their education beyond the border, and although they had settled down in Islamic India, an
indigenous literary tradition was slow in developing. The two most important representatives of
the early tradition were Muhammad Aufi and Muhammad bin Mansur Qureshi, generally known
as Fakhr-i-Mudabbir. Aufi (c.11721242), a native of Bukhara who lived in Lahore and Delhi,
was the author of the earliest extant collection of biographies of Persian poets, Lubabul-Albab.
He also completed the voluminous encyclopedia of anecdotes, Jawami-al-Hikayat, which, apart
from its literary interest, is a mine of curious and interesting information relating to this and
earlier periods. The major work of Fakhr-i-Mudabbir, who lived in Lahore at the beginning of
the thirteenth century, was a study of statecraft; this has already been discussed in Chapter VII.

The first Persian poet of eminence who was born in India was Reza, or, as he was
sometimes known, Sangreza. He was Iltutmish's secretary. The most distinguished writer of the
early sultanate, however, was Amir Khusrau (c.12531325). His father, a junior Turkish officer
under Iltutmish, had married a daughter of Rawat-i-Arz, Balban's famous minister. Khusrau
showed literary promise at an early age, and, after spending some time at the provincial court of
Oudh, became attached at first to Prince Bughra Khan, the governor of Samana and later of
Bengal, and subsequently to Prince Muhammad, the heir-designate of Balban, who maintained a
magnificent court at Multan. The prince lost his life in a skirmish with the Mongols in 1285, and
the poet went to Delhi. Balban's successor, Kaiqubad, was Khusrau's first royal patron. In all,
seven rulers were to be his patrons, but it is doubtful whether he was greatly concerned by the
kaleidoscopic changes of royalty.

Apart from lyrics, Khusrau wrote poems relating to contemporary events. Qiran-us-
Saadain, completed in 1289, gives an account of the historic meeting of Bughra Khan and
Kaiqubad on the banks of the river Sarju, and contains an interesting description of the Delhi of
those days. Miftah-ul-Futuh (1291) is a versified account of the exploits of Jalal-ud-din Firuz
Khalji; in Ashiqa (1315) is an account of the romance of the Gujarati princess Deval Devi and
Prince Khizr Khan, son of Ala-ud-din Khalji. The latter's conquests are the subject matter
of Khazain-ul-Futuh (1311), an ornate prose work, while Nuh Sipihr, completed in 1318,
celebrates the reign of Qutb-ud-din Mubarik Shah. In this book Amir Khusrau challenged the
poets of Iran and sang of his native land, its hoary past, its love of learning, its flowers, and its
fair, intelligent people. Tughlaq Nama describes the successful expedition of Ghiyas-ud-din
Tughluq against the usurper Khusrau Khan. Khusrau was also among the earliest writers of
Hindi poetry, and though the origins of the Hindi poems attributed to him are doubtful, he
referred to his Hindi verses in the introduction to one of his Persian diwans. He also played a
major role in the development of Indian music, as noted below.

The work of Hasan (c.12521337), a friend of Khusrau, was praised by Jami, the great
Persian poet, a rare distinction for an Indian writer. He wrote prose as well as verse, and
his Fawaid-ul-Fuad, a record of the table-talk of his spiritual guide, Nizam-ud-din Auliya, is a
literary classic. Equally interesting, though not so well known, was Ziya Nakhshabi (d.1350),
who was a master of simple and eloquent prose. His Tuti Nama (The Book of the Parrot) was
based on a Sanskrit original. It has been translated into Turkish, German, English, and many
Indian languages. His other translations include the Kok Shastra, a Sanskrit text on erotics.

While there were many distinguished names in poetry, perhaps the most important literary
contribution during the sultanate was in the field of history. Since classical Hindu culture
produced almost no historical literature, the Muslim works are of special significance for Indian
historiography. Written by contemporaries who had taken part in the events they describe, these
histories are of enormous value for an understanding of the period. They are marred, however, by
certain defects which their very excellence tends to conceal. One is that many of the chronicles
were written specifically for certain rulers and nobles whom the historians glorified at the
expense of rivals; another is the tendency to picture the conquerors as actuated by unselfish and
religious motives. These peculiarities of method can generally be discounted, however, and the
historians do not seem to have falsified historical facts even when they were writing panegyrics.

The number of historical works of the sultanate period which have reached us is not large,
but the works possess rich variety. The historians of the period, many of whom have already
been mentioned, include Barani, Fakhr-i-Mudabbir, Hasan Nizami, Minhaj-us-Siraj, Aufi,
Khusrau, Yahya, and Isami. Most of them occupied high official positions and wrote from
personal knowledge. Barani is the most interesting, but he is not very particular about dates
(normally the strong point of the Muslim historians), and this detracts from the value of his
book, Tarikh-i-Firuz Shahi. But he wrote history as an artist, selecting and carefully arranging
his material so that his book, instead of being a chronicle of events, emphasized the
characteristics of various rulers and different reigns. He does not confine himself to the kings,
but gives details about the political philosophies of different monarchs and leading men of the
times, the literary and the religious history, the prices in the market, and other matters of concern
to the ordinary people. Even more interesting is the gallery of portraits which he has brought to
life by a skillful analysis of personalities and by providing those significant small details which
most Indian historians omit.

As already noted, the rise of regional kingdoms in the fifteenth century played an extremely
important role in the dissemination of Islamic culture. One significant feature of this
disintegration of the central authority, with its dependence on Persian as the official language,
was the rise of regional languages. Hindu kings had given their patronage to Sanskrit as the
language of religion and the classics; Muslim rulers felt no such compulsion, and supported the
common languages of the people. It was Muslim rulers, therefore, who were responsible for
many of the first translations of the Sanskrit classics into the provincial languages. The Muslim
rulers of Bengal engaged scholars to translate the Ramayana and the Mahabharata into Bengali.
Maladhar Vasu translated the Bhagavata Purana into Bengali under the patronage of Sultan
Husain Shah (r. 14931518), and Chuti Khan, governor of Chittagong, employed Srikara Nadi to
translate parts of the Asvamedha Parva of the Mahabharata into Bengali. In Kashmir, Hindu
literature and philosophy were studied enthusiastically at the court of Zain-ul-Abidin (1420
1470). Rajatarangini, one of the few histories written in Sanskrit, was translated into Persian,
with a supplement to bring the account up to date. Other works on music and mathematics were
composed by Hindu scholars at the Kashmir court. In the south the Muslim rulers of Golkunda
and Bijapur employed Hindus as ministers, and maintained the state records in the Marathi
language. Cultural histories of the various provincial governments are yet to be written, but a
similar process was at work at all places.

Among the nonliterary arts, music, rather than painting or sculpture, underwent important
developments during the period of the sultanate. As already noted, Indian music had made an
impact on the Arab systems as early as the conquest of Sind, and the interchange between the
two forms was even more fruitful when the rich heritage of Persia and Central Asia was added.
The result was the creation in North India of a new type of music, quite different from traditional
Indian music which maintained its hold in South India.

Credit for this important work of synthesis is given to the poet Amir Khusrau, whose fame
helped to give prestige to the new music, which had as its rival in the Delhi court the musical
modes favored by the Turkish rulers. The interest of the Chishti Sufis in "Hindustani" music and
its practical cultivation by them further ensured its popularity. The next stage was reached during
the establishment of the independent Muslim kingdom at Jaunpur, not far from Benares, and
Kanauj, the old centers of Hindu arts. Here music received special attention, both at the royal
court and in the Sufi monasteries. The two most important Indian Muslim musicians of the day
were Sultan Husain Sharqi, the last king of Jaunpur, and the contemporary saint, Pir Bodhan of
Barnawa. The saint's dwelling became a rendezvous for musicians from Delhi, the Deccan, and
Jaunpur. The contribution of Sultan Husain to the development of Indian music was much more
specific. He is regarded as the original founder of the khiyal (or romantic) school of music,
which slowly matured and took its final shape in the days of the later Mughals, particularly under
Muhammad Shah. Related to a Hindu devotional form that dealt with the love of Krishna for the
milkmaids, the khiyal transformed the devotional theme to thinly veiled invocations of human
love and romance.

Another regional kingdom where music was highly cultivated after the breakdown of the
sultanate was Gwalior. Here the ruler, Raja Man Singh (r.14861516), was a Hindu, but the chief
musician at his court, Nayak Mahmud, was a Muslim. Under his leadership a band of musicians
systematized Indian music in the light of the changes it had undergone since the advent of the
Muslims. This resulted in the compilation of Man Kautuhal, which contains almost all the airs
introduced by the Muslim musicians.

Probably the greatest artistic achievement of the sultanate was neither literature nor music,
but architecture. As with the musicians, the creativity of the Muslim architects was nourished by
the mature styles of both the existing Islamic and Hindu traditions. The Muslims brought to India
the experience gained in the great buildings of Cairo, Baghdad, Cordova, and Damascus, and
they were able to draw upon the skill of Indian stonemasons. The result was a profusion of
mosques, palaces, and tombs unmatched in any other Islamic country.

In the same year in which Delhi was occupied, the foundation of the mosque of Quwwat-ul-
Islam was laid by Qutb-ud-din Aibak to commemorate the capture of Delhi and, as the name
implies, to glorify the power of Islam. Aibak however spent most of his brief reign at Lahore,
and adornment of the new Muslim capital was essentially the work of his successor, Iltutmish.
He more than doubled the size of the Quwwat-ul-Islam mosque, built the Qutb Minar, one of the
world's loveliest towers, erected the buildings for Nasiriya Madrasa, and, to meet the needs of
the growing population of Delhi for water, excavated the great water reservoir, the Hauz-i-
Shamsi. He also changed architectural methods. Previously material from Hindu buildings had
been used for constructing mosques, but in 1230, when he extended the Quwwat-ul-Islam
mosque, he used stone especially quarried for the purpose. This gave the addition a more Islamic
appearance.

In architecture, as in other spheres of culture, the Indo-Islamic society was enriched by the
dislocation in Central Asia and Persia caused by the Mongol invasion. Not only scholars but
artisans as well came to Delhi as refugees, and they found a ready market for their skills in the
expanding Muslim state. One important result was that the indigenous Indian artistic element
ceased to be dominant in Delhi during this period. By the time of Ala-ud-din Khalji, Muslim
traditions had become firmly established on Indian soil, with the result that methods of
construction were revolutionized and ornament became an integral part of the scheme, rather
than a quasi-independent accessory, as was the case in the earlier buildings. The Jama'at Khana
mosque, constructed in the reign of Ala-ud-din, is the earliest surviving example in India of a
mosque built wholly in accordance with Muslim ideas.

In the provincial capitals, however, the influence of the refugee artisans was slight, and the
indigenous styles remained important. In Bengal the Muslim rulers decorated their buildings
with carving which is obviously the work of Hindu craftsmen, and in Gujarat they adapted the
local style to Muslim needs to create some of India's most beautiful buildings. Yet even where
most was owed to native Indian skills and tradition, the peculiar Muslim architectural
characteristics of spaciousness and graceful forms are present. Furthermore, the Muslims made
full use of concrete and mortar, which were known but scarcely used before their arrival in India.
"Thanks to the strength of their binding properties, it was possible for the Muslim rulers to span
wide spaces with their arches, to roof immense areas with their domes, and in other ways to
achieve effects of grandeur such as the Indians had never dreamt of.

The Tughluqs in the fourteenth century introduced a new and austere phase in architecture.
Muhammad Tughluq, who shifted his capital from Delhi to Daulatabad, had no interest in the old
city. The many buildings erected in Delhi during the reign of his successor Firuz show a severe
simplicity, possibly due as much to the need for economy as Firuz's own strict orthodoxy. Hindu
influences were reduced to the minimum, and Tughluq buildings are lacking in elegance and
refinement. Under the Lodis there reemerged a vigorous and catholic spirit of design, replete
with creative energy and imagination. The explanation is probably that with the conversion of
the Mongols to Islam and the reduction of chaos in Central Asia, inspiration from Persia was
now available in architecture as in literature. The Lodis were soon replaced by the Mughals,
under whom Persian influences became even more dominant.