The Delhi Sultanate: foundations under the Slave dynasty

The Delhi Sultanate began in 1206, when Qutb-ud-din Aibak, a former slave commander of Muhammad Ghori, established himself as ruler at Delhi after Ghori's death. His successors are known as the Slave dynasty or Mamluk dynasty, because several of its rulers had begun their careers as military slaves, a common route to power in the Islamic world of the time. Aibak began the Qutb Minar at Delhi, a victory tower that his successor Iltutmish completed in later stages.

Iltutmish, who reigned from 1211 to 1236, gave the Sultanate its institutions. He made Delhi the capital, introduced the silver tanka and copper jital coins, organised the administration into iqtas, revenue assignments given to officers in return for military service, and secured recognition from the Abbasid Caliph in Baghdad. His daughter Razia, who reigned from 1236 to 1240, is remembered as the only woman to sit on the throne of Delhi, though the nobility resisted her and she was deposed and killed.

After Razia, power passed through weak rulers until Ghiyas-ud-din Balban took the throne in 1266. Balban strengthened the monarchy with a strict court etiquette and a policy of blood and iron against rebels and Mongol invaders, who repeatedly threatened the north-west frontier. He also reorganised the army and kept the nobility under close control, establishing the principle that the Sultan's authority came from his own power rather than from election by the nobles.

The early Sultanate's importance lies in its institutions rather than its extent, which remained largely northern. The iqta system, a standing army, a Persian-speaking court, and a coinage system tied the new state together, while Indian craftsmen, merchants, and local chiefs continued to run much of daily life. The period also began the long interaction between Persian court culture and Indian traditions that shaped the art, language, and administration of medieval India.