The Delhi Sultans

In twelfth century, Delhi first became the capital of the kingdom of Tomara Rajputs. It was established as a capital by Ananga Pala.

We found inscriptions and coins which helps us to know that Persian was the language of administration under the Delhi Sultans.

Under the reign of Aluaddin Khalji and Muhammad Tughluq the Sultanate reached its farthest end.

Ibn Batuta was a fourteenth century traveler from Morocco, Africa.

According to the Circle of Justice, it was important for the military commanders to keep the interests of the peasants in mind because a king can’t survive without his soldiers and soldiers need motivation to work for the king so as a reward for their services king have to give them salary which came from the revenue collected from the peasants and peasants could pay the revenue only when they were prosperous and happy.

1. The ‘Internal’ frontiers of the sultanate consisted of the ‘hinterland’ of the garrison towns. These places lied in the close neighbourhood of the capital city of Delhi. The area of internal frontier extended up to the forests of Ganga and Yamuna Doab.

2. The ‘external’ frontiers refer to the unconquered territories especially the southern parts of the subcontinent.

1. Muqtis were selected on the basis of certain qualification.

2. Their office was not inheritable.

3. They were assigned iqtas for a short period of time.

4. They were shifted from time to time from one iqta to another.

5. The duty of the muqtis was to lead military campaigns and maintain law and order in their iqtas.

6. Accountants were appointed by the state to check the amount of revenue collected.

Reasonsto defy the orders of the Sultans:

1. Muqti collected the taxes prescribed by the state and kept the required number of soldiers. They may have wanted to defy the orders of the Sultans to exercise control over the money collected and the military.

2. Sometimes, the harsh conditions of service can be the reason for defying the orders of the Sultans.

The impacts of the Mongol invasions in Delhi sultanate are as follows:

1) Mongol attacks on Delhi sultanate increased during the reign of Alauddin Khilji and Mohammad Tughlaq.

2) This forced the Delhi sultanate to increase their army base.

3) Due to the increased army base, the administrative expenses increased because of the strength of the soldiers and they had to pay comparatively more salaries to the soldiers.

4) The Alauddin Khilji created garrison town for the soldiers to live whereas Mohammad Tuglaq emptied the garrison towns from the soldiers.

5) The financial burden on the Delhi sultanate led to the imposition of heavy taxes on the peasants.

The authors of tawarikh were mainly the city men who worked for the king and never lived in villages. These authors advised the king on the need to preserve an ideal social order based on birthright and gender distinctions. Their ideas were not shared by everybody.

They did not provide information about ordinary men and women. This was because they wrote in expectation of rewards by the sultan.

Delhi Sultans were interested in cutting down forests because they wanted to encourage agriculture on the land.