Last reviewed 22 Sept 2026 · 4 min read
Before the Sultanate
After Harsha, north India was divided among the Gurjara-Pratiharas, Palas and Rashtrakutas, whose three-way contest for Kanauj is called the tripartite struggle. In the south the Chola empire reached its height under Rajaraja I and Rajendra I, with naval expeditions to South-East Asia and the Brihadeshwara temple at Thanjavur.
Invasions from the north-west: Mahmud of Ghazni raided seventeen times (1000–1027), and Muhammad Ghuri was defeated at the first battle of Tarain (1191) by Prithviraj Chauhan and won the second battle of Tarain (1192), which opened north India to Turkish rule.
The Delhi Sultanate (1206–1526)
| Dynasty | Years | Remembered for |
|---|---|---|
| Slave (Mamluk) | 1206–1290 | Qutbuddin Aibak began the Qutb Minar; Iltutmish organised the iqta system; Razia was the only woman to rule Delhi; Balban's theory of kingship |
| Khalji | 1290–1320 | Alauddin Khalji's market control, revenue reforms and Deccan campaigns under Malik Kafur |
| Tughlaq | 1320–1414 | Muhammad bin Tughlaq's token currency and transfer of the capital to Daulatabad; Firoz Shah's canals and Diwan-i-Khairat |
| Sayyid | 1414–1451 | a weak successor state after Timur's invasion of 1398 |
| Lodi | 1451–1526 | Sikandar Lodi founded Agra; Ibrahim Lodi lost at Panipat |
Institutions: the iqta (a revenue assignment in place of salary), the diwan-i-arz (military department), branding of horses (dagh) and descriptive rolls (chehra) under Alauddin.
The south
- Vijayanagara (1336–1646): founded by Harihara and Bukka; greatest ruler Krishnadeva Raya; capital Hampi; defeated at Talikota (1565).
- Bahmani kingdom (1347): later split into five Deccan sultanates, of which Bijapur (Gol Gumbaz) and Golconda are the best known.
Bhakti and Sufi movements
Bhakti saints taught devotion in the local language and rejected ritual and caste barriers: Kabir, Guru Nanak, Mirabai, Tulsidas, Surdas, Chaitanya, Namdev, Tukaram, Ramananda and, in the south, the Alvars and Nayanars. Sufi orders — Chishti (Moinuddin Chishti at Ajmer, Nizamuddin Auliya at Delhi) and Suhrawardi — stressed love and service.