Challenges Faced by the Sultanate

With the establishment of the Mughal Empire the, rule of Delhi sultanate came to an end. During more than 300 years of its rule the Delhi sultanate went through various ups and downs but survived as a political force.

Attacks by Mongols and others

Since its inception the major threat to the sultanate came in the form of Mongol invasions. Mongols were nomadic groups who inhabited the steppes north of China and east of Lake Baikal. They formed a huge nomadic empire under Chengiz Khan in the 12th century.

From 13th century onwards they repeatedly attacked the Delhi Sultanate. The Sultans as a policy appeased them and also at times confronted. Balban and Allauddin Khalji confronted them with full military might. During Khalji’s time Mongols under Qultlug Khwaja even besieged Delhi and caused a lot of damage.

The last significant attack of Mongols was by Tarmashirin during the reign of Muhammad Tughlaq. A lot of energy and resources of the Sultans were spent in facing these invasions but they could not destroy the sultanate.

Another important attack which shook the foundation of the sultanate was by Timur in 1398. The weakness of the Delhi Sultanate was made even worse by Timur’s invasion of Delhi (1398). Timur was a son of the Chief of Chagtai branch of Turks. When he invaded India, he was the master of almost whole of Central Asia. Timur’s raid into India was a plundering raid and his motive was to seize the wealth accumulated by the Sultans of Delhi over the last 200 years.

Sultan Nasiruddin and his Wazir Mallu Iqbasl faced Timur but were defeated. Timur entered Delhi and stayed for 15 days. He ordered general massacre and large number of Hindu and Muslim including women and children were murdered. Before leaving India Timur’s invasion indicated the downfall of Delhi Sultanate.

Delhi Sultanate lost control over Punjab. Timur appointed Khizr Khan, the ruler for Multan who controlled Punjab also. After the fall of Tughlaq dynasty he occupied Delhi and became the ruler of Delhi Sultanate. He laid the foundation of Saiyyid Dynasty.

Inner Conflict of Nobility

Three hundred years of Delhi Sultanate witnessed five dynasties ruling over it. The main reason for change of dynasties and deposing of rulers was a constant struggle between the Sultan and the nobility (Umara). Soon after the death of Aibak they started fighting over the question of succession.

Finally Iltutimish emerged victorious. Iltutimish created a group of loyal nobles called Turkan-i-Chihiligani (‘The Forty’). After the death of Iltutimish various factions of the group of forty got involved in making their favourite son or daughter as the sultan. In ten years five sultans were changed.

After that the Sultan who occupied the throne (Nasiruddin Mahmud) for 20 years hardly ruled and one of the powerful noble Balban was defacto sultan. The same Balban succeeded Nasiruddin after his death. Almost similar events happened after the death of each powerful sultan (Balban, Alauddin Khalji, Firoz Tughlaq and others).

Since there was no well defined law of succession each noble tried to either crown himself or support some favourite heir of the dead sultan. Finally Afghans replaced the Turks as sultan with the accession of Bahlol Lodi.

Provincial Kingdoms

Another consequence of this conflict was declaration of independence by various provincial heads in the regions. As a result a number of independent Afghan and Turkish kingdoms emerged.

Important ones of such states were Bengal (Lakhnouti), Jaunpur, Malwa, Gujarat, the Bahmani kingdom in the Deccan, etc. Quite often these states were at war with the Sultanate. The whole process weakened the sultanate.

Resistance by Indian Chiefs

The sultans had to face the resistance from Indian chiefs at regular intervals. The Rajput chiefs in Rajputana (Mewar, Ranthambhor, Chittor, etc.), Warangal, Deogiri & Ma’bar in Deccan and South, the king of Dhar, Malwa in Central India, Jajnagar in Orissa and a host of smaller chieftains were constantly at war even after successive defeats. All these struggles weakened the sultanate.

The Delhi sultanate was considerably weakened after the Khalji and Tughlaq reign. Finally the invasion of Babur in AD 1526 brought it to an end. Now a much more centralised and strong empire under the Mughals established itself in India and ruled for a further period of more than two hundred years.

Rise of The Provincial Kingdoms

The process of disintegration of the Delhi Sultanate had started during the reign of Muhammad bin Tughlaq. However, Firuz Shah Tughlaq tried to control the situation but failed. During this period, some of the provincial rulers declared their independence from the rule of the Sultanate.