Foundation and the Slave Dynasty
NCERT Class 7 - Our Pasts II • NCERT Class 12 - Themes in Indian History Part II
Foundation and the Slave Dynasty
The Delhi Sultanate began in 1206 when Qutbuddin Aibak took charge of the Indian conquests of Muhammad Ghori. Over the next eighty-four years the Slave or Mamluk dynasty turned a military occupation into a working state centred on Delhi.
The Ghurid invasions
- First Battle of Tarain, 1191 - Prithviraj Chauhan defeated Muhammad Ghori.
- Second Battle of Tarain, 1192 - Ghori returned and defeated Prithviraj. This battle decided the fate of north India.
- Battle of Chandawar, 1194 - Ghori defeated Jaichand of Kanauj, opening the Ganga valley.
- Ghori left his Indian territories to his slave generals, which is why the dynasty that followed is called the Slave dynasty.
Qutbuddin Aibak and Iltutmish
- Qutbuddin Aibak ruled from 1206 to 1210 with Lahore as his base. He was called Lakh Baksh, giver of lakhs, for his generosity.
- He began the Qutb Minar in honour of the Sufi saint Qutbuddin Bakhtiyar Kaki, and built the Quwwat-ul-Islam mosque at Delhi and the Adhai Din ka Jhonpra at Ajmer. He died in an accident while playing chaugan, an early form of polo.
- Iltutmish, ruling 1211-1236, is regarded as the real consolidator of the Sultanate. He shifted the capital to Delhi.
- He organised the iqta system, assigning revenue of a territory to an officer in place of a salary, which tied the nobility to the state.
- He introduced the silver tanka and the copper jital, the basis of the Sultanate currency, and completed the Qutb Minar.
- He obtained formal investiture from the Caliph in 1229, which gave his rule legal standing in the Islamic world.
- He created the Chihalgani or Turkan-i-Chihalgani, a corps of forty loyal Turkish nobles.
Razia and Balban
- Razia Sultan, daughter of Iltutmish, ruled from 1236 to 1240 and is the only woman to sit on the throne of Delhi. Her appointment of non-Turkish officers and her public style provoked the Turkish nobility, and she was overthrown.
- Balban, ruling 1266-1287, restored the authority of the Sultan against the Chihalgani, which he systematically destroyed.
- His theory of kingship made the Sultan Zil-i-Ilahi, the shadow of God on earth, and his office niyabat-i-khudai, deputyship of God.
- He enforced court ceremonies of sijda (prostration) and paibos (kissing the feet), and kept a solemn, distant court.
- His blood and iron policy crushed revolts, and he reorganised the military department, the Diwan-i-Arz.
| Ruler | Years | Remembered for |
|---|---|---|
| Qutbuddin Aibak | 1206-1210 | Began Qutb Minar, Lakh Baksh |
| Iltutmish | 1211-1236 | Iqta system, tanka and jital, Caliph's investiture |
| Razia | 1236-1240 | Only woman ruler of Delhi |
| Balban | 1266-1287 | Zil-i-Ilahi, sijda and paibos, blood and iron |
हिंदी संकेत: इक्ता वेतन के बदले दी गई भू-राजस्व की व्यवस्था थी, जागीर की तरह स्थायी संपत्ति नहीं। इक्ता बदला जा सकता था - यही सुल्तान का नियंत्रण बनाए रखता था।
Exam me kaise aata hai
Factual questions ask the years of the Tarain battles, who began and who completed the Qutb Minar, and who introduced the tanka. Match-the-following links ruler with title or policy. Statement-based questions test whether Aibak or Iltutmish founded the iqta system.
UPSC / State PSC ke liye
Iltutmish matters more than Aibak analytically - the iqta, the currency and the Caliph's recognition converted a war camp into a state with revenue, coinage and legitimacy. Balban's theory of kingship is the standard example of divine-right theory in Indian history.
Yahan confuse hote hain
✗ Prithviraj Chauhan won the second battle of Tarain | ✓ He won the first in 1191 and lost the second in 1192
✗ Qutbuddin Aibak completed the Qutb Minar | ✓ He began it; Iltutmish completed it
✗ Balban strengthened the Chihalgani | ✓ He destroyed the Chihalgani to restore the Sultan's authority
Ek nazar me
- Tarain I in 1191 won by Prithviraj; Tarain II in 1192 won by Muhammad Ghori.
- Delhi Sultanate begins in 1206 under Qutbuddin Aibak, called Lakh Baksh.
- Iltutmish consolidated the state - iqta system, tanka and jital, Caliph's investiture in 1229.
- Razia ruled 1236-1240, the only woman ruler of Delhi.
- Balban called himself Zil-i-Ilahi and enforced sijda and paibos.
- Balban destroyed the Chihalgani and followed a blood and iron policy.