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SpreadLove · #2 Monday, October 15, 2012

• Delhi Sultanate
• Mohamed of Ghur's expedition in 1175 against Multan and subsequent invasion of Gujarat, Peshawar and Lahore and his victory over Rajputs in 1192 laid foundations of Muslim domination in India. Qtub-ud-din Aibak, his slave general annexed different parts of North India during the years followed.
• Qutub-ud-din Aibak: After the death of Mohamed of Ghur, Aibak declared himself as the Sultan of Delhi. He also occupied the throne of Gazni for forty years after defeating Yildiz. But the people drove him out owing to his excesses. This confined him to Delhi and was assassinated in 1210. Qutub-ud-din Aibak built Qutub Minar in Delhi, a land mark in history.
• Iltutmish: Aram Baksh succeeded him as Sultan Aram Shah. But Iltutmish of Ilbari deposed him and accented to the throne. He brought control over different rebellious parts of the Sultanate. Before his death in 1236, he captured Mundawar, Malwa and Ujjain and defeated Malik of Bengal, Yildiz and Qabacha.
• Rukh-ud-din Firoze Shah who succeeded Iltutmish was a misfit and was dethroned and killed in Nov. 1236. The Amirs and Nobles accepted Razzia, daughter of Iltutmish, to the throne. But being a woman she had a tough time and rebellious nobles put her to death in 1240.
• Muiz-ud-din Bahram and Ala-ud-din Masud are the rulers who succeeded Razzia. Both were regarded as worthless and incompetent. During their reign Mongols plundered Punjab.
• Nasir-ud-din Mahmud: By 1246, the Amirs and Maliks crowned Nasir-ud-din Mohamed, a younger son of Iltutmish. Since he spent most of his time in prayers, his minister, Giyas-ud-din Balban was running the country.
• Giyas-ud-din Balban: After the death of Nasir-ud-din, Gias-ud-din accented to the throne. He strengthened the army and subdued rebellions. Balbans's strong army helped him to check the Mongol advances to India. He died in 1287 after a reign of 22 years.
• The rulers who succeeded Balban were weak and unworthy. In1290, Jalal-ud-din Firoz Shah deposed Muiz-ud-din Khaliqubad, grandson of Balban and established Khalji Dynasty.
• Jalal-ud-din Khalji was 70 when he became Sultan. He was a peace-loving sultan. During his reign ala-ud-din, his nephew and son-in-law, marched into Devagiri and defeated Raja Ramachandradeva. Ala-ud-din returned with an enormous booty. The treacherous Ala-ud-din lured the Sultan into a trap and killed him.
• Ala-ud-din Khalji: In 1296, immediately after the murder of Sultan, Ala-ud-din proclaimed himself as the Sultan of Delhi. To safeguard his throne, he eliminated the supporters of former Sultan.
• Ala-ud-din fought with the Mongols and defeated them. He strengthened his army and took up military expeditions and annexed Gujarat, Ranthanbhor and Mewar. His passion for the beautiful queen Padmini lead to the siege of Chitor. When finally Chitor fell, the queen burned herself to death. Ala-ud-din conquered Deccan under the command of Malik Kafur. His expedition between 1307 and 1311 took him up to Cape-Comorin, the southern tip of India. Thus the whole of India was under the Sultanate of Delhi.
• Qutub-ud-din Mubarak: Ala-ud-din died in 1316. His son Qutub-ud-din Mubarak ruled India till 1320. In 1320, one of Khursarv's Parvari (low caste convert) associates stabbed him to death. After his death Khursrav ascended to the throne as Nassir-ud-din Khursrav Shah. His brief reign of four month was enough to alienate the Alai nobles who under the leadership of Ghasi Malik defeated and beheaded him in Delhi.
• Ghiaz-ud-din Tughluq: Since there were no male descendants for Ala-ud-din, The nobles persuaded Malik to sit on the throne under the name of Gias-ud-din Tughluq. He introduced many reforms on all walks of life and administration. He crushed the rebellions in Deccan and Bengal. In 1325 he died from the collapse of a wooden structure built by his son Jauna.
• Mohamed Bin Tughluq: After the death of Gias-ud-din, his son Jauna declared himself as the Sultan under the name of Mohamed Bin Tughluq. During his reign, the boundaries of Delhi Sultanate stretched from Peshwar in the north to Madurai in the south and Sind in the west to Assam in the east.
• Mohamed Bin Tughluq was a learned ruler but lacked practical judgement. His well intentioned reforms created confusion and hardships. He shifted his capital to Devagiri, the centre of his empire. But because of inadequate arrangements, the capital was moved back. He introduced token coins in copper and brass at par with silver and gold coins in value. Improper management lead to counterfeiting and as a result, the token coins were withdrawn. He died in 1351.
• Feroz Shah Tughluq who succeeded Mohamed Bin Tughluq was a weak personality and could not contain the rebellions those broke out in the Sultanate. After the death of Feroz Tughluq, civil wars broke out in the Sultanate. During Nasar-ud-din Mohamed Tughluq's reign (1394-1412), the Mongol leader Timur invaded India and captured Delhi. Mohamed came back to Delhi when Timur returned after 15 years. In 1414, Khizi Khan Sayyidoccupied the throne. He was succeeded by the Lodis. Ibrahim Lodi was the last ruler of Delhi. In 1526, Babur defeated him at the first battle of Panipat and established the rule of Mughuls in India ending the Sultanate of Delhi
• Dateline: 1206AD-1526AD
• With the dawn of the second millennia, Indian history entered a phase of volatility, with new ideas and religions making an appearance. India which had largely developed indigenously over the past thousand years of its history, would become a centre for invaders from Central Asia and Persia. Such events were significant because the invaders would bring with them a new set of ideas which would have a lasting impact on Indian culture. Until the rise of the Mughal Empire in 1526, North India and South India would have separate kingdoms. The North would be ruled by the new Sultans who formed the Delhi Sultanate whereas the South would be divided amongst many kings, out of which the Chola dynasty would emerge as the dominant force. The Mughal empire would however, once again reunite the two parts of the country.
• In 1000 AD, the peaceful balance of power in North India was shattered by an invasion of an Afghan conqueror, Mahmud of Ghazni. Over the next 25 years he would launch 17 campaigns and each campaign was one of massive plunder. The kingdom of Ghazni in Afghanistan was adjacent to Punjab, separated by the Hindu Kush mountains. The lush, fertile plains of Punjab lay below them, and the temptation to conquer India was strong. Mahmud in his several invasions of India, amassed a massive amount of wealth which was used to replenish the treasury at Ghazni. His main targets were the prosperous temple towns of North India, like Mathura, Thanesar, Kanauk and Somnath. These towns had a high concentration of wealth, and it was inevitable that they would be prime targets for Ghazni's invasions. Mahmud died in 1030 AD, much to the relief of the Indian population, but he had in his lifetime laid the foundations for Islamic kings in India. The Indian kings failed to realize the impact his invasions had, dismissing him as just another invader, a passing phenomena, not worth worrying about.
• In 1182 another Afghan was entering India. Muhammad Ghauri .His entry is important, because unlike Mahmud, he was not interested in looting India but was looking at it to settle down and establish a kingdom. He reliazed that even more fertile land lay east, and he slowly inched into India. This brought him into conflict with the Indian kings, and in 1191 the Rajputs in a rare show of unity, rallied around Prithviraja and defeated Muhammad. Muhammad was imprisoned, but Prithviraja released him and sent him back to Afghanistan. A year later Muhammad returned with re-inforcements and defeated Prithviraja. Muhammad became the ruler of Delhi, and went on to conquer other regions in North India. He appointed a general, Qutab-ud-din-Aibak to look after his India possessions. The years between 1193 and 1206 were of great uncertainty and had the Indian kings been more united, they might have been able to defeat the invaders. However, the opportunity to do so slipped by and the invaders slowly began consolidating their position. In 1206, Muhammed was assassinated. His general Qutab-ud-din-Aibak then declared himself independent of the Afghan state and founded what came to be known as the Slave Dynasty (for its founder was a former slave of Muhammed). This dynasty is the beginning of what came to be known as the Delhi Sultanate period.
• Dateline: 1206AD-1526AD
• With the dawn of the second millennia, Indian history entered a phase of volatility, with new ideas and religions making an appearance. India which had largely developed indigenously over the past thousand years of its history, would become a centre for invaders from Central Asia and Persia. Such events were significant because the invaders would bring with them a new set of ideas which would have a lasting impact on Indian culture. Until the rise of the Mughal Empire in 1526, North India and South India would have separate kingdoms. The North would be ruled by the new Sultans who formed the Delhi Sultanate whereas the South would be divided amongst many kings, out of which the Chola dynasty would emerge as the dominant force. The Mughal empire would however, once again reunite the two parts of the country.
• In 1000 AD, the peaceful balance of power in North India was shattered by an invasion of an Afghan conqueror, Mahmud of Ghazni. Over the next 25 years he would launch 17 campaigns and each campaign was one of massive plunder. The kingdom of Ghazni in Afghanistan was adjacent to Punjab, separated by the Hindu Kush mountains. The lush, fertile plains of Punjab lay below them, and the temptation to conquer India was strong. Mahmud in his several invasions of India, amassed a massive amount of wealth which was used to replenish the treasury at Ghazni. His main targets were the prosperous temple towns of North India, like Mathura, Thanesar, Kanauk and Somnath. These towns had a high concentration of wealth, and it was inevitable that they would be prime targets for Ghazni's invasions. Mahmud died in 1030 AD, much to the relief of the Indian population, but he had in his lifetime laid the foundations for Islamic kings in India. The Indian kings failed to realize the impact his invasions had, dismissing him as just another invader, a passing phenomena, not worth worrying about.
• In 1182 another Afghan was entering India. Muhammad Ghauri .His entry is important, because unlike Mahmud, he was not interested in looting India but was looking at it to settle down and establish a kingdom. He reliazed that even more fertile land lay east, and he slowly inched into India. This brought him into conflict with the Indian kings, and in 1191 the Rajputs in a rare show of unity, rallied around Prithviraja and defeated Muhammad. Muhammad was imprisoned, but Prithviraja released him and sent him back to Afghanistan. A year later Muhammad returned with re-inforcements and defeated Prithviraja. Muhammad became the ruler of Delhi, and went on to conquer other regions in North India. He appointed a general, Qutab-ud-din-Aibak to look after his India possessions. The years between 1193 and 1206 were of great uncertainty and had the Indian kings been more united, they might have been able to defeat the invaders. However, the opportunity to do so slipped by and the invaders slowly began consolidating their position. In 1206, Muhammed was assassinated. His general Qutab-ud-din-Aibak then declared himself independent of the Afghan state and founded what came to be known as the Slave Dynasty (for its founder was a former slave of Muhammed). This dynasty is the beginning of what came to be known as the Delhi Sultanate period.