Chapter 3 — The Delhi Sultans

Delhi became an important city only in the twelfth century. It was first part of a kingdom under the Tomara Rajputs, who were defeated in the middle of the twelfth century by the Chauhans (Chahamanas) of Ajmer. Under both, Delhi developed into an important commercial centre.

The circle of justice is a concept recorded by Fakhr-i Mudabbir in the thirteenth century: a king cannot survive without soldiers; soldiers cannot live without salaries; salaries come from revenue collected from peasants; but peasants can pay revenue only when they are prosperous and happy; and this happens when the king promotes justice and honest governance.

Raziyya was the daughter of Sultan Iltutmish and became Sultan in 1236. The chronicler Minhaj-us-Siraj recognised that she was more able than her predecessors, but neither the people nor the nobles were comfortable with a queen ruling independently. She was removed from the throne in 1240.

Persian was the language of administration under the Delhi Sultans. Historical accounts were written in Persian by learned men who served as secretaries, administrators, poets, and courtiers. They both recounted events and advised rulers on governance.

Early Sultans, especially Iltutmish, favoured specially trained military slaves because they were totally dependent upon their master, the Sultan. This dependence meant the Sultan could trust and rely upon them to govern provinces and lead military campaigns.

Under Alauddin Khalji there were three types of taxes: (1) a tax on cultivation amounting to about 50 per cent of the peasant's produce, (2) a tax on cattle, and (3) a tax on houses. State accountants were appointed to check the revenue collected by governors.

Ibn Battuta was a fourteenth-century traveller from Morocco, Africa. He is mentioned in the chapter in connection with how chieftains in the Sultanate arranged for their defence.

Mongol attacks on the Delhi Sultanate increased during the reign of Alauddin Khalji and in the early years of Muhammad Tughluq's rule. The Mongols under Genghis Khan had invaded Transoxiana in north-east Iran in 1219, and the Sultanate faced their onslaught soon after.

Rudramadevi (1262–1289) was a queen of the Kakatiya dynasty of Warangal, part of modern Andhra Pradesh. Unlike Raziyya, she changed her name on her inscriptions and pretended to be a man in order to rule.

The mid-fourteenth-century chronicler Ziyauddin Barani criticised Sultan Muhammad Tughluq for appointing people of humble birth to high administrative posts — including Aziz Khummar (a wine distiller), Firuz Hajjam (a barber), Manka Tabbakh (a cook), and two gardeners, Ladha and Pira. Barani reported these appointments as a sign of the Sultan's loss of political judgement.

After the Tughluqs, the Sayyid and Lodi dynasties ruled from Delhi. By this period, regions such as Bengal, Malwa, Gujarat, Rajasthan, and all of south India had independent rulers. New ruling groups such as the Afghans and Rajputs had also emerged.

Queen Didda ruled in Kashmir from 980 to 1003. Her title comes from 'didi' or 'elder sister', which was an affectionate term given to her by her subjects.

Sher Shah ruled from 1540 to 1555 and introduced an administration that borrowed elements from Alauddin Khalji's system. This model was then followed by the Mughal emperor Akbar (1556–1605) when he consolidated the Mughal Empire.

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