Sultanate of Delhi (1206–1526)

Sultanate of Delhi سلطنت دهلی
1206–1526
Flag
Capital	Delhi
Dominant mode of production	Feudalism
Government	Monarchy
History
• Founded	1206
• Khalji Revolution	1290
• Sack of Delhi	1398
• Fall of the Sultanate	1526
• Dissolution	1526
Preceded by Succeeded by Ghurid dynasty Gahadavala dynasty Mughal Empire Bengal Sultanate

The Delhi Sultanate was a medieval state that existed from 1206 to 1526. Turkic, Persian, and other Muslim-led dynasties ruled large parts of the Indian subcontinent from their capital of Delhi. It emerged in the wake of the Ghurid conquests, establishing a centralized feudal state that integrated much of northern India into a broader network of the medieval Islamic world. While the Sultanate played a role in developing trade, architecture, and cultural exchange across Asia, it was also characterized by heavy taxation, military expansion, and the exploitation of peasant and artisan labor to enrich the ruling aristocracy. Its rule deepened the subcontinent’s feudal structures, maintained by a combination of military force, religious authority, and alliances with landed elites. The Delhi Sultanate’s history reflects both the material transformations of medieval India—such as the spread of irrigation, urban growth, and craft specialization—and the social contradictions of a state sustained by extraction and coercion, laying part of the groundwork for later Mughal consolidation.

Economic system

The economy of the Delhi Sultanate was fundamentally feudal in character, with the bulk of surplus extracted from the peasantry through land revenue, forced labor, and tribute. Agriculture formed the backbone of production, with peasants cultivating wheat, rice, millet, sugarcane, cotton, and pulses. In many regions, the Sultanate expanded irrigation systems, dug canals, and promoted new crops, not out of altruism but to increase taxable yields for the state and landlords.

The landholding system was dominated by the iqta arrangement, in which the Sultan granted revenue rights over a territory to military officers, nobles, and court officials in lieu of direct salary. These iqtadars did not own the land outright, but they extracted taxes from the peasants and were responsible for maintaining order and supplying troops when called upon. This system reinforced a parasitic ruling stratum whose wealth rested on peasant labor and whose loyalty to the Sultan was mediated through patronage networks.

History

The Delhi Sultanate emerged in 1206 CE after the assassination of Muhammad of Ghor, whose conquests in northern India had shattered several Rajput and regional kingdoms. His former slave general, Qutb al-Din Aibak, seized Delhi and declared himself Sultan, inaugurating the Mamluk (Slave) Dynasty. Initially, the Sultanate’s power was confined to the Indo-Gangetic plain, but it rapidly expanded through military campaigns, subduing regional rulers and incorporating new territories into its tribute-based economy. Over the next three centuries, five successive dynasties ruled from Delhi: the Mamluks (1206–1290), Khiljis (1290–1320), Tughlaqs (1320–1414), Sayyids (1414–1451), and Lodis (1451–1526). Each dynasty relied on the iqta system to bind military elites to the Sultan, while maintaining a standing army for campaigns against both rival Indian kingdoms and Mongol invasions. By the 15th century, the Sultanate’s power was confined mainly to northern India. The Lodi Dynasty, of Afghan origin, attempted to restore centralized control, but faced growing disloyalty among nobles, Rajput resistance, and economic strain. In 1526, Babur, a Central Asian ruler descended from Timur and Genghis Khan, invaded with a well-trained army and advanced artillery. At the First Battle of Panipat, Babur decisively defeated Sultan Ibrahim Lodi, ending the Delhi Sultanate and paving the way for the establishment of the Mughal Empire. While the Delhi Sultanate collapsed politically, many of its administrative systems, military structures, and cultural legacies were absorbed and reworked by the Mughals, ensuring that its influence persisted long after its formal demise.