The Delhi Sultanate

The Delhi Sultanate was formed after the defeat in 1192 of King Prithviraj Chauhan, who ruled parts of northwestern India.

A 'Sultanate' is simply a land ruled by a 'Sultan', a title some Muslim rulers used.

Five dynasties, one after another, all of Turkic–Afghan origin, ruled it:

• the Mamluks (also called the 'Slave dynasty');
• the Khiljis;
• the Tughlaqs;
• the Sayyids;
• the Lodis.

But the Sultanate never held all of India. The Eastern Gangas in the east and the Hoysalas in the south resisted it, and both became thriving centres of art, culture and government in their own right.

What the period did do was raise Delhi: the city became far more important in the politics of northern India.

The period was marked by political instability together with efforts to grab more land. Armies raided villages and cities, and plundered and destroyed temples and centres of learning.

One fact explains much of the rest: power often changed hands violently. Almost two sultans out of three took power by getting rid of the ruler before them (their predecessor).

So a sultan's average reign was hardly more than nine years. And one piece of evidence still stands in Delhi: an inscription at the Quwwat-ul-Islam mosque says that materials from 27 destroyed Hindu and Jain temples were used to build it.