Sultanate of Delhi

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Sultanate of Delhi
1206-1526
Flag of delhi
flag coat of arms
Capital Delhi
founding 1206
resolution 1526
State religion: Islam ( Sunni )
Dynasty: Various
Expansion of the Sultanate of Delhi under the individual dynasties
Expansion of the Sultanate of Delhi under the individual dynasties
Largest extension of the Delhi Sultanate at the beginning of the Tughluq dynasty
Largest extension of the Delhi Sultanate at the beginning of the Tughluq dynasty
The Qutb Minar in the Quwwat-ul-Islam Mosque in Delhi was the victory sign of the Sultan Qutb-ud-Din Aibak (around 1200)
The Qutb Minar in the Quwwat-ul-Islam Mosque in Delhi was the victory sign of the Sultan Qutb-ud-Din Aibak (around 1200)

Sultanate of Delhi is the name of an important Islamic empire in northern India that existed from 1206 to 1526 and was replaced by the Mughal Empire . The capital was Delhi , which became a metropolis. The Sultanate was inwardly not very stable; Revolts of the governors and subjugated princes (mostly Hindus ) as well as attempts to overthrow at court filled its history.

State formation and consolidation

"Slave dynasty" (1206-1290)

The sultanate emerged from the bankrupt estate of the Ghurid Empire . General Qutb ad-Din Aibak took over the government in the country after the assassination of Muizz ad-Din Muhammad of Ghur on the Indus in 1206 and founded (as Mamluk ) the so-called " slave dynasty ". After four years of rule, he died of an accident while playing polo .

Aibak's son-in-law Iltutmish followed as sultan and had to conquer northern India in a long struggle (lasting a good 17 years). To this end, he had himself legitimized as sultan by the caliph in Baghdad in 1229 . His government was largely religiously tolerant. He was once criticized by a mullah for this and replied that otherwise he would lose his throne. After Iltutmisch's death (1236) attempts were made to introduce a kind of succession, and his favorite daughter Radiyya Begum ascended the throne. This made her one of the few queens in the history of Islam. Radiyya was deposed by her Mamluks (because of an affair with an Abyssinian slave) and murdered on her unsuccessful return.

Then several of Iltutmisch's sons took turns. From 1242 to 1246, Masud, a weak sultan, ruled, under whose rule the provinces of Sindh , Multan , the upper Punjab , Bengal and Bihar were again lost to rebellions. After that, Delhi came to Masud's brother Nasir ad-Din Mahmud (1246–1265), a pious man who only kept in power with the help of his father-in-law, the former Mongol slave Balban , because the “Council of Forty”, d. H. the Mamluks were in charge of Delhi. Balban was banned for a short time, but had to be brought back.

After Mahmud's death, Balban (r. 1265–1287) became sultan himself. He suppressed any revolt among the now persecuted Mamluks, the Muslim governors and the Hindu princes (e.g. Rajputs ) with unprecedented severity. No sooner had he regained Lahore than he secured the sultanate against the constant raids of the Mongols by reinforcing the frontier fortresses and sending troops. The governor of Bengal revolted unsuccessfully in 1280/82. However, Balban was unable to arrange the succession because his son Muhammad, the gifted heir to the throne, was killed in an ambush by Mongols in 1285 . Balban's grandson Kaikobad was a voluptuary and was murdered (1290).

Peak of power

Khalji Dynasty (1290-1320)

The mild army commander Jalal ud-Din usurped the throne for a few years, experienced the Mongols before Delhi in 1292 and was murdered by his nephew and son-in-law Ala ud-Din Khalji in 1297. Ala ud-Din Khalji led the Sultanate to its peak of power and personally fought off the (Chagatai) Mongols in front of Delhi in 1299 and 1303. During the same period the fortresses of the Rajputs (e.g. Chittor 1303) fell into his hands, so that his eunuch general Malik Kafur could penetrate into the Deccan . In an unprecedented campaign in the years 1307-1311 this succeeded in the formal subjugation of the local Hindu states (e.g. the Hoysala ) and the robbery of immense riches.

Domestically, Ala ud-Din Khalji ruled with a severity that exceeded that of Balban's. The defense of the Mongols required the establishment of a huge cavalry army, which is said to have numbered up to half a million men. This required very high taxes, the farmers (mostly Hindus) paid half of the harvest for it and were thus pushed to the absolute subsistence level . (In return, however, additional taxes were forbidden.) The fiefs were confiscated and exchanged for fixed salaries at court. Marriages and relationships between noble families were strictly controlled. Gold in private hands was confiscated and alcohol was banned.

However, the old Ala ud-Din Khalji became dependent on Malik Kafur, who staged an attack on his rivals in 1316 when the Sultan was on his deathbed. A depraved son of Ala ud-Din ascended the throne and was also killed by a favorite.

Tughluq Dynasty (1320-1413)

In 1320 the governor of Panjab , Ghiyas-ud-din Tughluq Shah I took over the government, lowered taxes and promoted agriculture until he and the heir to the throne were slain by a collapsing pavilion. The assassin, his own son Muhammad bin Tughluq (1325-1351), who is described in contemporary sources as a highly educated but unrealistic theorist, now became sultan.

Muhammad Tughluq's generosity and bloodshed are vividly described by the traveler Ibn Battuta . Muhammad finally occupied almost all of India (excluding Kashmir, Orissa and the southern tip of the continent), led the sultanate to the last peak of power and, with his wrong decisions, also caused its decline. In 1327, for example, he moved the capital from Delhi to Deogir ( Daulatabad , 230 km northeast of Bombay ), which was centrally located but not a natural center of power. The population of Delhi was resettled, but the new capital was abandoned after a few years. A campaign in Tibet ended in a catastrophe, the army perished in the high mountains. Third, the introduction of a copper currency became a financial disaster. The currency was not controlled, so every house turned into a mint.

Rebellions broke out and led to the independence of existing or the formation of new kingdoms (e.g. 1334 Madurai , 1338 Bengal , 1336/46 Vijayanagar and 1345 Bahmani Sultanate ). Finally, in 1407, the Sultanate of Gujarat made itself independent.

Decline and decline

Muhammad Tughluq was followed by his cousin Firuz-Shah (1351-1388), who ruled in the spirit of Islam and left an autobiography. He accepted the independence of the dean , but undertook military campaigns against Bengal, Orissa and Sindh (where the sultan almost disappeared in 1362). As a builder, Firuz-Shah had mosques, fortresses, canals and even a new capital called Firuzabad built. Torture has been abolished. The religious taxes for Hindus ( Jizya ) were now also levied by Brahmins . Even his predecessor's victims were compensated whenever possible.

Firuz-Shah was followed by weak sultans who fought each other in the capital until Timur Lenk conquered Delhi in 1398. After the massacre and the looting of Timur in Delhi, the last provinces also declared their independence, so that the sultans only controlled the area around the city.

Sayyid Dynasty (1414-1451)

The Timur of the governor of Punjab used Khizr Khan conquered 1414 Delhi and so established the dynasty sayyids. In nominal terms, the new ruling house initially remained a vassal of the Timurid Shāh Ruch .

Lodi Dynasty (1451-1526)

In 1451 the Afghan tribal princes of the Lodi followed. A resurgence of the sultanate was not connected with this, only a certain stabilization of the administration, on which the first great Mughals could build later .

Most recently, firearms (muskets and cannons) and the superiority of his cavalry helped the Timurid Babur to defeat Sultan Ibrahim Lodi in the First Battle of Panipat in 1526. Babur occupied Delhi and Agra and thus became the founder of the Mughal Empire .

See also

literature

Web links

Commons : Sultanate of Delhi  - Collection of images, videos and audio files