Introduction

The present-day capital of India, Delhi, has seen many kingdoms come and go. It has been influenced by a variety of cultures. The region became an important part only in the twelfth century. That was when the Tomara Rajputs made Delhi its capital. They were later defeated in the middle of the twelfth century by Chauhans (also referred to as Chahamanas) of Ajmer. During this time the city of Delhi became an important commercial centre. After the Rajput dynasty, then Turkish invaders came in. This part of India’s mediaeval history is also referred to as the Delhi Sultanate. The most prominent part of this period was the reign of Khaljis and Tughlaqs. They played a big role in the cultural and economic prosperity of India. This also was a hard time for the Hindus and Buddhists, as other religions were not tolerated by the Muslim rulers. Let’s have a deeper look into the two dynasties, the Khaljis and Tughluqs.

The Delhi Sultanate saw its expansion especially during the reigns of Khaljis and Tughlaqs. There were mainly two sets of campaigns for expansion. 

• One was the “interior frontier” where the forests were cleared in the Ganga-Yamuna doab. The hunter-gatherers and pastoralists were banished from their territory. This land was given to peasants to encourage agriculture. New fortresses and towns were raised to promote regional trade as well as to protect the trade routes
• The second expansion was along the “exterior frontier” of the Sultanate. Military expeditions were made to the southern part of India during the reign of Alauddin Khilji and peaked with Muhammad Tughluq. Horses, elephants, slaves, and precious metals were captured. Cities were seized and taxes were collected from the peasantries. The Sultanate had gained control over a vast territory of the subcontinent

Bandagan system 

• Such a vast territory to control wasn’t easy for the Delhi Sultanate. This consolidation of the kingdom required them to have an effective administration
• Instead of appointing the aristocrats and chieftains as governors and administrators, the early Delhi Sultans favoured their special slaves for the role. These special slaves who are called bandagan in Persian were purchased for military service. They were carefully trained to handle the most important political centres of the kingdom. These slaves were completely dependent on the Sultans, and that is why they could be relied upon and trusted
• The Khaljis and Tughluqs also brought in people of humble birth into the political hierarchy. They were usually their clients. Often, they were appointed to high political positions. The slaves and clients surely were loyal to their masters but not always to their heirs
• The use of slaves was criticised by the elite in the kingdom. The authors of Persian tawarikh condemned the Delhi Sultans for appointing the “low and base-born” to high-ranking office positions. The chroniclers of the time reported these appointments as the Sultan’s incapacity to rule and loss of political judgement

Iqta System

• The Iqta system was a type of land distribution and administrative system. Iltutmish established the “Iqta’ system based on Mohammad Ghori’s ideas. Khilji and Tughlaq rulers appointed military commanders as the governor of their lands of varying sizes. These given lands or provinces were called iqta and their holder was called iqtadar or muqti
• Unlike the original hereditary system, these provinces were given to the commanders based on their military excellence and loyalty. The Iqta system evolved from tribal practises and can somewhat loosely be described as feudal
• The duty of the muqtis was to lead military campaigns and maintain law and order in their iqtas. In exchange for these services, they collected revenues. This revenue acted as their salaries and as well as the salary of their soldiers. The surplus amount (fawazil) was sent to the centre
• Accountants were appointed by the State to check the amount of revenue collected by the muqtis. It was just an administrative unit, which meant the Iqtas were transferable and had no right over the land

Controlling distant provinces

• It was back-breaking for the Sultans to control such a vast empire from Delhi. Large parts of the subcontinent remained outside their control
• After annexing southern India, the difficulty was to control distant provinces like Bengal or even parts of the Gangetic plains. Soon after the entire region became independent. These plains had largely forested areas which the Sultan’s army couldn’t penetrate. Local chieftains were ruling these areas
• Even the iqta system of tax collection was starting to become hereditary. In the reign of weaker Sultans, the iqtadar proclaimed independence. Some iqtas or provinces became separate states such as Malwa, Gujarat, Bengal, Jaunpur, etc

Genghis khan 

• The Mongols under the rule of Genghis Khan repeatedly attacked the Delhi Sultanate. This was during the reign of Alauddin Khalji and the early years of Muhammad Tughluq’s rule. These attacks were a huge administrative challenge and forced the two rulers to mobilise a large standing army in Delhi
• Delhi was attacked twice by Genghis Khan during Khalji’s rule. He, therefore, constructed a new garrison town named Siri for his standing soldiers The soldiers here were fed through the tax collected from the peasants in the form of their yielded produce. The tax was called ‘Kharaj’ and it was 50% of the peasant’s yield. He successfully withstood the threat of Mongol invasions
• The Sultanate was attacked during the early years of Muhammad Tughluq’s reign by the Mongols. The Mongol army was defeated. This increased Tughluq’s confidence in his army’s strength. He later planned an attack on Transoxiana and hence prepared a standing army. The soldiers were garrisoned in the oldest of the four cities of Delhi (Delhi-i Kuhna) after it was emptied of its residents. To feed the army, the produce from the same area was used but additional taxes were levied. This coincided with Famine in the area

Conclusion

During the reign of Khaljis and Tughuqs, the Sultanate reached its farthest extent. The army of Muhammed Tughluq marched across a large part of the subcontinent. They defeated rival armies, seized cities, and collected taxes. There were many economic reforms, market regulations introduced. New trade routes were made, towns and fortresses were established. This played a big role in the cultural and economic prosperity in India. The sultans also built several mosques throughout the subcontinent to be the protectors of Islam.