Page 24 - Journeys Through Society-7

chiefs. The khalsa land was parceled out into iqtas, the end of the Tughluq rule. No single emperor can be
which comprised rent free land held by Muslim held responsible for the disintegration of the Delhi
nobility. This comprised the regions of Lahore and Sultanate. There were a lot of reasons for the decline
Multan, the Doab and the Gangetic Valley of the Delhi Sultanate. Some major reasons are as
stretching up to the borders of Bihar and Bengal. follows:
The far-off provinces of Gujarat, Malwa, Bihar, 1. Many rulers were weak which made the nobles
Bengal and Deccan were placed under the charge themselves assume power.
of governors called walis or muqtas. The provincial
2. The wars of succession after the king had died,
government was an exact imitation of the central
weakened the kingdom.
government. The governor was directly
3. The invasion of foreign rulers gave the final blow to
responsible to the sultan.
the empire.
The central government levied four taxes namely
4. The imposition of Jazia, a tax for non-Muslims,
zakat, kharaj, kham and jaziya.
conversion of people to Islam, destruction of
Decline and Disintegration of the Delhi temples and other places of worship made the
rulers unpopular.
Sultanate
5. Many revolts led to the formation of independent
The disintegration of Delhi Sultanate began towards
kingdoms such as Vijaynagar and Bahamani.

Revision Notes

• The important dynasties of Delhi Sultanate were the Slave/Mamluk dynasty, Khalji dynasty, Tughluq
dynasty, Sayyid dynasty and Lodi dynasty.

• Qutbuddin Aibak laid the foundation of the Slave dynasty.
• The three important Mamluk rulers were: Qutbuddin Aibak, Iltutmish and Balban.
• Alauddin Khalji was the most important ruler of the Khalji dynasty.
• Alauddin Khalji introduced market reforms and implemented administrative measures in order to
maintain a large army.

• Muhammd bin Tughluq shifted his capital from Delhi to Daulatabad and introduced a lot of reform
measures but most of them failed on account of ill planning.

• After the Tughluqs, came the Sayyids and the Lodis.
• The disintegration of the Delhi Sultanate began towards the end of the Tughluq rule.

Evaluation Corner

Multiple Choice Questions

• Choose the correct option.
1. _____________ laid the foundation of the Delhi Sultanate.
a. Muhammad Ghori b. Qutbuddin Aibak
c. Shamsuddin Iltutmish d. Raziya Sultana
2. The Persian customs were introduced in India by _____________.
a. Raziya b. Iltutmish
c. Balban d. Alauddin Khalji

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