Advent Of Arab And Turks Online Test 11th History Lesson 5 Questions in English

The period from the thirteenth to the sixteenth centuries (1200-1550 CE) saw the arrival of Islamic institutions and Islamic culture in India.

A few historians critiquing this personality oriented history have evaluated the Sultanate as having contributed to material and cultural development leading to the evolution of a composite culture in India.

The geographical location of Arabia facilitated trade contact between India and Arabia. As sea-faring traders the pre-Islamic Arabs had maritime contacts with the western and eastern coasts of India.

Arab military expedition in 712 and subsequent Ghaznavid and the Ghori military raids, intended to loot and use the resources seized to strengthen their power in Central Asia, created a relationship of the conqueror and the conquered.

The Invasion of Afghanistan by Khurasan (Eastern Iran) Shah and later by Chengiz Khan severed the ties of North India Sultanate with Afghanistan. Mongol invasions destroyed the Ghurid Sultanate and Ghazni and cut into the resources of Sultan Nasir-ud-din Qubacha (1206-1228) the ruler of Uchch and Multan.

Arabs, Turks, Persians, and Central Asians were involved militarily and administratively. Iltumish was an Olperli Turk and many of his military slaves were of different Turkish and Mongol ancestries brought to Delhi by merchants from Bukhara, Samarkand and Baghdad.

The Sultanate (1206–1526) itself was not homogenous. Its rulers belonged to five distinct categories: Slave Dynasty (1206-1290) Khalji Dynasty (1290-1320) Tughlaq Dynasty (1320-1414) Sayyid Dynasty (1414-1451) Lodi Dynasty (1451-1526).

Sources for the Study of Delhi Sultanate Al-Beruni: Tarikh-Al-Hind (Indian Philosophy and Religion written in Arabic) Minhaj us Siraj: Tabaqat-i-Nasiri (1260) (World Islamic History written in Arabic) Ziauddin Barani: Tarikh-i-Firoz Shahi(1357) History of Delhi Sultanate up to Firuz Tughlaq Ghulam Yahya Bin Ahmad: Tarikh-i- Mubarak Shahi (Written in Persian during the reign of Sayyid ruler Mubarak Shah)

The Arab governor of Iraq, Hajjaj Bin Yusuf under the pretext of acting against the pirates, sent two military expeditions against Dahar, the ruler of Sind, one by land and the other by sea. Both were defeated and commanders killed.

Hajjaj sent with the Caliph’s permission a full-fledged army, with 6000 strong cavalry and a large camel corps carrying all war requirements under the command of his son-in-law a 17-year-old Muhammad Bin Qasim.

The Arab conquest of Sind has been described as a “triumph without results” because it touched but a fringe of the country, which, after Qasim expedition had a respite from invasions for about three centuries.

In the meantime of Mahmud of Ghazni rule the Arab empire in Central Asia had collapsed with several of its provinces declaring them as independent. One of the major kingdoms that emerged out of the broken Arab empire was the Samanid kingdom which also splintered, leading to several independent states.

In 963 Alaptigin, a Turkic slave who had served Samanid as their governor in Khurasan, seized the city of Ghazni in eastern Afghanistan and established an independent kingdom. Alaptigin died soon after. After the failure of three of his successors, the nobles enthroned Sabuktigin.

Mahmud, aged twenty-seven ascended the throne and the Caliph acknowledged his accession by sending him a robe of investiture and by conferring on him the title Yamini-ud-Daulah (‘Right-hand of the Empire’).

Mahmud ruled for thirty-two years. During this period, he conducted as many as seventeen military campaigns into India. He targeted Hindu temples that were depositories of vast treasures.

Though the motive was to loot, there was also a military advantage in demolishing temples and smashing idols. The Ghaznavid soldiers viewed it also as a demonstration of the invincible power of their god. The religious passions of Mahmud’s army expressed itself in slaughter of ‘infidels’ and plunder and destruction of their places of worship.

In 1186, Ghuri prince Muizzud- din Muhammad invaded Punjab and seized Lahore. The last ruler Khurav Shah was imprisoned and murdered in 1192. With his death the Ghaznavid house of Mahmud came to an end.

Sultan Ibrahim who ruled for over forty-two years and his son Masud who ruled for seventeen years. The ever hanging threat from Ghuris from the north and the Seljuq Turks from the west proved to be disastrous for the kingdom. The later rulers of Ghaznavid dynasty could exercise their authority only in the Lahore region and even this lasted only for three decades.

In 1186, Ghuri prince Muizzud- din Muhammad invaded Punjab and seized Lahore. The last ruler Khurav Shah was imprisoned and murdered in 1192. With his death the Ghaznavid house of Mahmud came to an end.

Al-Beruni, mathematician, philosopher, astronomer, and historian, came to India along with Mahmud of Ghazni. He learned Sanskrit, studied religious and philosophical texts before composing his work Kitab Ul Hind. He also translated the Greek work of Euclid into Sanskrit. He transmitted Aryabhata’s magnum opus Aryabattiyam. He was the inter-civilizational connect between India and the rest of the world.

The Sultan’s military commanders in north India were drawn from his elite military class. Specially trained in warfare and governance these slaves were different from agrestic and domestic slaves. Lahore, then Uchch and Multan were initially considered significant centers of power.

In 1175 Ghori headed for the city of Multan which he seized from its Ismaili ruler. The fort of Uchch fell without a fight.

The Chalukyas of Gujarat inflicted a crushing defeat on Muhammad Ghori at Mt.Abu (1179). After this defeat Ghori changed the course of his expedition, consolidating his position in Sind and the Punjab.

The ruler of Ajmer Prithviraj Chauhan marched to Tabarhinda and faced the invader in the First Battle of Tarain (1191). Prithviraj scored a brilliant victory in this battle but failed to consolidate his position believing this battle to be a frontier fight, and did not expect the Ghurids to make regular attacks.

Muhammad Ghori marched into India in the following year (1192). Prithviraj underestimated the potential danger of the enemy. In the Second Battle of Tarain, one of the turning points in Indian history, Prithviraj suffered a crushing defeat and was eventually captured. Ghori restored him to his throne in Ajmer. But on charges of treason he was later executed, and Ghori’s trusted general Qutb-ud-din Aibak was appointed as his deputy in India.

Ghori easily defeated Jaya Chandra and returned to Ghazni with an enormous booty. On the way while camping on the banks of Indus, he was killed by some unidentified assassins.

By the beginning of the tenth century two powerful Rajput Kingdoms Gurjar Prathihara and Rashtrakutas had lost their power. Tomaras (Delhi), Chauhans (Rajasthan), Solankis (Gujarat), Paramaras (Malwa), Gahadavalas (Kanauj) and Chandelas (Bundelkhand) had become important ruling dynasties of Northern India.

Vighraharaja and Prithviraj, two prominent Chauhan rulers, Bhoja of Paramara dynasty, Ghadavala king Jayachandra, Yasovarman, Kirti Varman of Chandelas were all strong in their own regions

The world famous Khajuraho temple complex consisting of many temples including the Lakshmana temple, Vishwanatha temple and Kandariya Mahadeva temple was built by the Chandelas of Bundelkhand who ruled from Khajuraho.

The Rajput’s had a long tradition of martial spirit, courage and bravery. There was little difference between the weapons used by the Turks and the Rajput’s. But in regimental discipline and training the Rajput’s were lax. In planning their tactics to suit the conditions, the Turks excelled. The Rajput forces depended more on war elephants, which were spectacular but slow moving compared to the Turkish cavalry. The Turkish horsemen had greater mobility and were skilled in mounted archery. This was a definite military advantage which the Turks used well against their enemies and emerged triumphant in the battles.

The Slave dynasty is also known as the Mamluk dynasty. Mamluk means property. It is also the term for the Arabic designation of a slave.

Muhammad Bin Bhakthiyar Khalji a Turkish general from Afghanistan assisted him in conquering Bihar and Bengal. Qutb-ud-din Aibak reigned for four years.

Shams-ud-din Iltutmish (1210-36) of Turkish extraction was a slave of Qutbud-din Aibak. Many of his elite slaves were also of Turkish and Mongol ancestry. They were brought to Delhi by merchants from trade centers like Bukhara, Samarqand and Baghdad. (There were some slaves of other ethnicities as well). But Iltutmish gave them all Turkish Titles.

Shams-ud-din Iltutmish diplomatically saved India by refusing to support the Khwarizmi Shah Jalal ud din of Central Asia against the Mongol ruler Chengiz Khan. Had he supported Jalaluddin, the Mongols would have overrun India with ease.

Iltutmish reign was remarkable for the completion of Qutb Minar, a colossal victory tower of 243 feet at Delhi, and for the introduction of copper and silver tanka, the two basic coins of the Sultanate period.

Iltutmish descendants fought long but in vain with their father’s military slaves who had been appointed as governors of vast territories and generals of large armies. They constantly interfered in Delhi politics, dictating terms to Iltutmish successors. Though Iltutmish royal slaves (bandagan-i-khas) were replaced by junior bandagan, the latter were not oriented to their master’s vision of a paramount, monolithic Sultanate to the same extent as their predecessors.

The slave governors located in the eastern province of Lakhnauti (modern Bengal) and the Punjab and Sind provinces in the west were the first to break free from Delhi. Those in the ‘core territories’ from Awadh-Kara on the River Sarayu in the east, to Samana-Sunam in the Punjab on the west, sought to resist the intervention of Delhi by consolidating their home bases and allied with neighboring chieftains.

After two decades of conflict amongst the Shamsi bandagan and successive Delhi Sultans, in 1254, Ulugh Khan, a junior, newly purchased slave in Iltutmish’s reign and now the commander of the Shivalikh territories in the North-West, seized Delhi. He took the title of na’ib-i mulk, the Deputy of the Realm, seizing the throne as Sultan Ghiyas al-Din Balban in 1266.

Raziya Sultana (1236-1240). Raziya was daughter of Iltutmish, who ascended the throne after a lot of hurdles put up by the Turkish nobles. According to Ibn Battuta, the Moroccan traveller, ‘Raziya rode on horseback as men ride, armed with a bow and quiver, and surrounded by courtiers. She did not veil her face.’ Yet Raziya ruled for only three and half years.

Meos, a Muslim community from north-western region, living in the heavily forested region around Mewat was plundering the area with impunity. Balban took it as a challenge and personally undertook a campaign to destroy the Mewatis. Meos were pursued and slaughtered mercilessly. In the Doab region the Rajput strongholds were destroyed, jungles cleared. Colonies of Afghan soldiers were established throughout the region to safeguard the roads and deal with rebellions.

Balban was ruthless in dealing with rebellions. He appointed one of his favorite slaves Tughril Khan as the Governor of Bengal. But Tughril Khan soon became rebellious. Amin Khan the governor of Oudh sent by Balban to suppress the rebellion meekly retreated. Enraged by this Balban sent two more expeditions.

Balban took efforts to maintain a good relationship with Hulagu Khan, the Mongol Viceroy of Iran and a grandson of Chengiz Khan. Balban succeeded in obtaining from him the assurance that Mongols would not advance beyond Satluj. Halagu Khan reciprocated this gesture by sending a goodwill mission to Delhi in 1259.

Muhammad Khan, the favorite son of Balban, who was given the charge of governor of Multan to protect the frontiers from Mongol aggression, was killed in an encounter. Saddened by this tragedy, Balban fell ill and died in 1286.

Malik Jalal-ud-din Khalji, the commander of the army, emerged supreme. While he ruled the kingdom for some time in the name of Kaiqubad, he soon sent one of his officers to get Kaiqubad murdered and Jalal-ud-din formally ascended the throne.

Ala-ud-din, a nephew and son-in-law of Jalaluddin Khalji, who was appointed governor of Kara, invaded Malwa and this campaign yielded a huge booty. The success of this campaign stimulated his urge to embark on a campaign to raid Devagiri, the capital city of the Yadava kingdom in Deccan.

During the second year of his rule (1298), when Mongols stormed Delhi, the army sent by Ala-ud-din succeeded in driving them back. But when they returned the following year with more men, people of the suburbs of Delhi had to flee and take refuge in the city. Ala-uddin had to meet the problem head-on. In the ensuing battle, Mongols were routed. Yet raids continued until 1305. The last major Mongol incursion took place in 1307–08.

Ala-ud-din’s campaigns into Devagiri (1296, 1307, 1314), Gujarat (1299–1300), Ranthambhor (1301), Chittor (1303) and Malwa (1305) were meant to proclaim his political and military power as well as to collect loot from the defeated kingdoms. It was with the same plan that he unleashed his forces into the Deccan.

The first target in the peninsula was Devagiri in the western Deccan. Ala-ud-din sent a large army commanded by Malik Kafur in 1307 to capture Devagiri fort. Following Devagiri, Prataparudradeva, the Kakatiya ruler of Warangal in the Telangana region, was defeated in 1309.

In 1310 the Hoysala ruler Vira Ballala III surrendered all his treasures to the Delhi forces because of Malik Kafur invasion into Deccan region.

After Malik Kafur’s invasion, the Pandya kingdom suffered an eclipse and a Muslim state subordinate to the Delhi Sultan came to be established in Madurai. In 1335 the Muslim Governor of Madurai Jalal-ud-din Asan Shah threw off his allegiance to Delhi kingdom and declared his independence.

Ala-ud-din was the first Sultan to pay his soldiers in cash rather than give them a share In order to restrict prices of essential commodities, Ala-ud-din set up an elaborate intelligence network to collect information on black-marketing and hoarding. Violators of the price regulations were severely punished.

Balban therefore abolished the Corps of Forty and thereby put an end to the domination of “Turkish nobles”. Alauddin Khalji also took stern measures against the “Turkish nobles” by employing spies to report to him directly on their clandestine.

Ghiyas-ud-din Thuglaq murdered the incumbent Khalji ruler Khusrau and thereby prevented anyone from Khalji dynasty claiming the throne. Thus began the rule of the Tughlaq Dynasty which lasted until 1414.

Ghiyas-ud-din Tughlaq followed a policy of reconciliation with the nobles. But in the fifth year of his reign (1325) Ghiyas-uddin died. Three days later Jauna ascended the throne and took the title Muhammad bin Tughlaq.

Muhammad Tughlaq attempt to shift the capital from Delhi to Devagiri in Maharashtra, which he named Daulatabad, was a bold initiative. This was after his realization that it was difficult to rule south India form Delhi. Centrally located, Devagiri also had the advantage of possessing a strong fort atop a rocky hill.

The Important experiment of Muhammad was the introduction of token currency. This currency system had already been experimented in China and Iran. For India it was much ahead of its time, given that it was a time when coins were based on silver content.

The Sultan established a separate department (Diwan-i-Amir Kohi) to take care of agriculture. Loans were advanced to farmers for purchase of cattle, seeds and digging of wells but to no avail. Officers appointed to monitor the crops were not efficient; the nobility and important officials were of diverse background.

Ala-ud-din Khalji had not annexed distant territories knowing full well that they could not be effectively governed. He preferred to establish his suzerainty over them. But Muhammad annexed all the lands he conquered. Therefore, at the end of his reign, while he faced a series of rebellions, his repressive measures further alienated his subjects.

Firuz’s father, Rajab, was the younger brother of Ghiyas-ud-din Tughlaq. Both had come from Khurasan during the reign of Alaud-din Khalji.

The vizier of Firuz Tughlaq, the famous Khan-i- Jahan was a Brahmin convert to Islam. Originally known as Kannu he was captured during the Sultanate campaigns in Warangal (present-day Telangana).

Firuz waged no wars of annexation though he was not averse to putting down rebellions challenging his authority. There were only two Mongol incursions during his times, and both of them were successfully repulsed.

A major military campaign of his period was against Sind (1362). He succeeded in routing the enemies on the way. Yet his enemies and a famine that broke out during this period gave Sultan and his army a trying time. Firuz's army, however, managed to reach Sind. The ruler of Sind agreed to surrender and pay tribute to the Sultan.

Firuz Tughlaq imposed Jizya a head tax on non-Muslims, which even the Brahmins were compelled to pay. Yet Firuz did not prohibit the building of new Hindu temples and shrines. His cultural interest led to translation of many Sanskrit works relating to religion, medicine and music. As an accomplished scholar himself Firuz was a liberal patron of the learned including non-Islamic scholars.

The last Tughlaq ruler was Nasir-ud-din Muhammad Shah (1394–1412) whose reign witnessed the invasion of Timur.

The Sayyid dynasty established by Khizr Khan had four sultans ruling up to 1451. The early Sayyid Sultans ruled paying tribute to Timur’s son. By the end of their rule the empire was largely confined to the city of Delhi.

Timur appointed Khizr Khan as his deputy to oversee Timur interests in the Punjab marches. Khizr Khan (1414-21) went on to seize Delhi and establish the Sayyid dynasty (1414–51).

The Sayyid rule is marked for the composing of Tarikh-i- Mubarak Shahi by Yahiya bin Ahmad Sirhindi.

In the entire history of the Delhi Sultanate there was only one Sultan who voluntarily abdicated his throne and moved to a small town away from Delhi, where he lived for three full decades in contentment and peace. He was Alam Shah of the Sayyid dynasty.

The Lodi Dynasty was established by Bahlol Lodi (1451–1489) whose reign witnessed the conquest of Sharqi Kingdom (Bengal).

Sikander Lodi (1489–1517) shifted the capital from Delhi to Agra in 1504.

The last Lodi ruler Ibrahim Lodi was defeated by Babur in the First Battle of Panipat, which resulted in the establishment of Mughal Dynasty.

Balban claimed that he ruled as the representative of god on earth. Ala-ud-din Khalji claimed absolute power saying he did not care for theological prescriptions, but did what was essential for the good of the state and the benefit of the people. The Delhi Sultanate deserves to be considered an all-India empire. Virtually all of India, except Kashmir and Kerala at the far ends of the subcontinent, and a few small tracts in between them had come under the direct rule of Delhi towards the close of Muhammad bin Tughlaq rule.

The Sultans required the holders of iqta’s (called muqtis or walis) to maintain troops for royal service out of the taxes collected by them. Certain areas were retained by the Sultans under their direct control (khalisa). It was out of the revenue collected from such areas that they paid the officers and soldiers of the sultan’s own troops (hashm-i qalb).

Two little known figures who played a part in transmitting the southern Bhakti and monotheism to Northern India were Namdev of Maharashtra, a rigorous monotheist who opposed image worship and caste distinctions and Ramanand a follower of Ramanujar.

The Gujaratis and Tamils dominated the sea trade, the Hindu Multanis and Muslim Khurasan, Afghans and Iranians dominated the overland trade with Central Asia.

The Paper-making technology evolved by the Chinese and learnt by the Arabs was introduced in India during the rule of the Delhi Sultans.

The spinning wheel invented by the Chinese came to India through Iran in the fourteenth century and enabled the spinner to increase her output some six fold and enlarged yarn production greatly. The subsequent introduction of treadles in the loom similarly helped speed-up weaving.

Sericulture was established in Bengal by the fifteenth century.

The Madrasa had a building where instruction was given by individual teachers. Often there was a provision of some cells for resident students, a library and a mosque. Firoz Thuglaq built a large madrasa at Delhi whose splendid building still stands.

The collection of witnesses’ narratives and documents that the Chachnama thirteenth-century Persian translation of a ninth-century Arabic original in its account of the Arab conquest of Sind, represents advancement in historical research.

Considered to be the successor of Prophet Muhammad, the Caliph wielded authority over civil and religious affairs of the entire Islamic world. The Caliph ruled Baghdad until it fell before Mongols in 1258. The Caliphs then ruled in Egypt until the conquest of Ottomans in 1516- 17.

Muslim women despite purdah enjoyed in certain respects higher status and greater freedom in society than most Hindu women. They could inherit property from their parents and obtain divorce, privileges that Hindu women did not have. In several Hindu communities such as among the Rajput’s the birth of a girl child was considered a misfortune. Islam was not against women being taught to read and write. But it tolerated polygamy.

Qutb-ud-din Aibak’s Quwwat-ul-Islam mosque situated adjacent to Qutb Minar in Delhi and the Adhai din ka Jhopra in Ajmer illustrate these examples. A Hindu temple built over a Jain temple was modified into Quwwat-ul-Islam mosque.

The Alai Darwaza built by Alaud-din Khalji as a gateway to the Quwwatul-Islam Mosque is adorned with the first true dome.

The buildings of Firuz Tughlaq, especially his pleasure resort, Hauz Khas, combined Indian and Saracen features in alternate store are, displaying a sense of integration.

Amir Khusrau emerged as a major figure of Persian prose and poetry. Amir Khusrau felt elated to call himself an Indian in his Nu Siphr (‘Nine Skies’). In this work, he praises India’s climate, its languages –notably Sanskrit – its arts, its music, its people, even its animals.

Tuti Namah, the Book of Parrots, is a collection of Sanskrit stories translated into Persian by Zia Nakshabi.

A strong school of historical writing emerged with the writings of Zia-ud-din Barani, Shams-ud-din Siraj Afif and Abdul Malik Isami. Zia-ud-din Barani emerged as a master of Persian prose. Abdul Malik Isami, in his poetic composition of Futuh-us-Salatin, records the history of Muslim rule from Ghaznavid period to Muhammad bin Tughlaq’s reign.

Bhattavatara took Firdausi’s Shah Namah as a model for composing Zainavilas, a history of the rulers of Kashmir.

Delhi Sultanate did not hamper the progress of Sanskrit Literature. Sanskrit continued to be the language of high intellectual thought. The Sanskrit schools and academies established in different parts of the empire continued to flourish.