Delhi Sultanate facts for kids

The Delhi Sultanate (دلی سلطنت), or Sulthanath-e-Hind (سلطنتِ ہند) or Sulthanath-e-Dilli (سلطنتِ دلی) were the Persian-speaking dynasties of Turkic and Afghan origin, which were controlling most of the Indian subcontinent from 1210 to 1526. Many of these dynasties ruled from Delhi. This includes the Slave dynasty (1206-90), the Khilji dynasty (1290-1320), the Tughlaq dynasty (1320-1413), the Sayyid dynasty (1414-51), and the Lodi dynasty (1451-1526). Later on, after the region fell to the Mughals, there was again a brief period when Humayun, son of the Mughal Babur and father of Akbar the Great, was deposed by the Pathan Suri dynasty who enjoyed a short rule then, before Humayun was reinstated in 1555.

Sultans of Delhi

Mamluk, or Slave dynasty (1206 - 1290)

• Qutb-ud-din Aibak (1206 - 1210)
• Aram Shah (1210 - 1211)
• Shams-ud-din Iltutmish (1211 - 1236)
• Rukn ud din Firuz (1236)
• Raziyyat ud din Sultana (1236 - 1240) (Raziyya Sultana)
• Muiz ud din Bahram (1240 - 1242)
• Ala ud din Masud (1242 - 1246)
• Nasir ud din Mahmud (1246 - 1266)
• Ghiyas ud din Balban (1266 - 1286)
• Muiz ud din Qaiqabad (1286 - 1290)
• Shamsuddin Kayumars (1290)

Khilji (Khalji) dynasty (1290 - 1320)

• Jalal ud din Firuz Khilji (1290 - 1294)
• Ala ud din Khilji (1294 - 1316)
• Qutb ud din Mubarak Shah (1316 - 1321)

Tughlaq dynasty (1321 - 1398)

• Ghiyas ud din Tughluq Shah I (1321 - 1325)
• Muhammad Shah II (1325 - 1351)
• Mahmud Ibn Muhammad ( March 1351)
• Firuz Shah Tughluq (1351 - 1388)
• Ghiyas ud din Tughluq II (1388 - 1389)
• Abu Bakar (1389 - 1390)
• Nasir ud din Muhammad Shah III (1390 - 1393)
• Sikander Shah I ( March - April 1393)
• Mahmud Nasir ud din (Sultan Mahmud II) at Delhi (1393 - 1394)
• Nusrat Shah at Firuzabad (1394 - 1398)

Sayyid (Syed) Dynasty (1414 - 1451)

• Khizr Khan (1414 - 1421)
• Mubarrak Shah II (1421 - 1435)
• Muhammad Shah IV (1435 - 1445)
• Aladdin Alam Shah (1445 - 1451)

Lodi (Lodhi) dynasty (1451 - 1526)

• Bahlol Khan Lodi (1451-1489)
• Sikandar Lodi (1489-1517)
• Ibrahim II (1517-1526)

1526-1540: Mughal rule after the First Battle of Panipat

Suri, or Sur dynasty (1540 - 1555)

• Sher Shah Suri (Farid Khan Suri) (1540 - 1545)
• Islam Shah (1545 - 1553)
• Muhammad V (1553 - 1554)
• Firuz Shah ( 29 April - 2 May 1554)
• Ibrahim III (1554 - 1554/5)
• Sikander Shah (1554/5 - 1555)

1555: Return to Mughal Rule after brief interregnum

Related pages

• The History of South Asia series) has more information at Islamic Empires in India#Delhi Sultanate
• List of Indian monarchs

• Braudel, Fernand, The perspective of the World, vol III of Civilization and Capitalism 1984 (original French ed. 1979)

Literature

• Elliot and Dowson: The History of India as told by its own Historians, (New Delhi) reprint, 1990.
• Peter Jackson The Delhi Sultanate. A Political and Military History (Cambridge) 1999
• Majumdar, R. C. (ed.), The History and Culture of the Indian People, Volume VI, The Delhi Sultanate, (Bombay) 1960; Volume VII, The Mughal Empire, (Bombay) 1973.
• Nizami, Khaliq Ahmad Some Aspects of Religion and Politics in India in the Thirteenth Century (Delhi) 1961 (Revised Edition Delhi 2002)

Images for kids

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  Delhi Sultanate from 1206 to 1290 AD under the Mamluk dynasty.

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  Alai Gate and Qutub Minar were built during the Mamluk and Khalji dynasties of the Delhi Sultanate.

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  Delhi Sultanate from 1321 to 1330 AD under the Tughlaq dynasty. After 1330, various regions rebelled against the Sultanate and the kingdom shrank.

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  Daulatabad Fort in the 1700s

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  A base metal coin of Muhammad bin Tughlaq that led to an economic collapse.

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  The Mahmud Gawan Madrasah built by the resultant Bahmanid kingdom

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  Delhi Sultanate during Babur's invasion.

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  The Qutb Minar (left, begun c. 1200) next to the Alai Darwaza gatehouse (1311); Qutb Complex in Delhi

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  Tomb of Ghiyath al-Din Tughluq (d. 1325), Delhi

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  Screen of the Adhai Din Ka Jhonpra mosque, Ajmer, c. 1229; Corbel arches, some cusped.

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  Mausoleum of Iltutmish, Delhi, by 1236, with corbel arches

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  Possibly the first "true" arches in India; Tomb of Balban (d. 1287) in Delhi

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  Pavilions in the Hauz Khas Complex, Delhi

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  The Sheesh Gumbad in the Lodi Gardens, Delhi

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  Tomb of Sikander Lodi in the Lodi Gardens, Delhi

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  The Somnath Temple in Gujarat was repeatedly destroyed by Muslim armies and rebuilt by Hindus. It was destroyed by Delhi Sultanate's army in 1299 CE.

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  The Kashi Vishwanath Temple was destroyed by the army of Qutb-ud-din Aibak.

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  Muhammad bin Bakhtiyar Khilji, the military general of Delhi Sultan Qutb al-Din Aibak, was responsible for the destruction of Nalanda university.

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  The armies of Delhi Sultanate led by Muslim Commander Malik Kafur plundered the Meenakshi Temple and looted it of its valuables.

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  Kakatiya Kala Thoranam (Warangal Gate) built by the Kakatiya dynasty in ruins; one of the many temple complexes destroyed by the Delhi Sultanate.

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  Rani ki vav is a stepwell, built by the Chaulukya dynasty, located in Patan; the city was sacked by Sultan of Delhi Qutb-ud-din Aybak between 1200 and 1210, and again by the Allauddin Khilji in 1298.

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  Artistic rendition of the Kirtistambh at Rudra Mahalaya Temple. The temple was destroyed by Alauddin Khalji.

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  Exterior wall reliefs at Hoysaleswara Temple. The temple was twice sacked and plundered by the Delhi Sultanate.