Muslim Rule in the Subcontinent (711–1526)
Muslim political contact with the subcontinent began with the Arab conquest of Sindh in 711 CE by the seventeen-year-old Umayyad general Muhammad bin Qasim, dispatched by the governor of Iraq, Hajjaj bin Yusuf. Pretext for the campaign was the seizure of Muslim ships near Debal by sea-pirates operating under Raja Dahir of Sindh. After defeating Dahir at the Battle of Rawar (712), Muhammad bin Qasim consolidated Arab control as far as Multan, earning Sindh the title "Bab-ul-Islam" — the Gateway of Islam.
Literally "the Gateway of Islam" — the honorific given to Sindh because it was the first region of the Indian subcontinent to come under Muslim rule, in 711 CE under Muhammad bin Qasim.
The Ghaznavid and Ghorid invasions
After the Abbasid decline, the Ghaznavids carried Islam deeper into the subcontinent. Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni (r. 998–1030) launched seventeen raids between 1000 and 1027, the most famous being the sack of Somnath in 1025. He never aimed at permanent settlement east of the Indus; that task fell to the Ghorids.
Muhammad Ghori suffered defeat at the First Battle of Tarain (1191) at the hands of Prithviraj Chauhan, only to return and decisively rout the Rajput confederacy at the Second Battle of Tarain (1192). This victory opened the Gangetic plain to Turkish armies and laid the foundation of Muslim rule in north India.
The Delhi Sultanate (1206–1526)
After Ghori's assassination in 1206, his trusted slave-general Qutb-ud-din Aibak founded the Mamluk (Slave) Dynasty, the first of five dynasties of the Delhi Sultanate.
| Dynasty | Period | Key Ruler |
|---|---|---|
| Mamluk (Slave) | 1206–1290 | Iltutmish, Razia Sultana, Balban |
| Khilji | 1290–1320 | Alauddin Khilji |
| Tughlaq | 1320–1414 | Muhammad bin Tughlaq, Firoz Shah |
| Sayyid | 1414–1451 | Khizr Khan |
| Lodi | 1451–1526 | Bahlul, Sikandar, Ibrahim Lodi |
Highlights of each dynasty
- Iltutmish (r. 1211–1236) introduced the silver tanka and copper jital, and obtained an investiture from the Abbasid caliph in 1229.
- Razia Sultana (r. 1236–1240) — the only female sovereign of Delhi.
- Alauddin Khilji (r. 1296–1316) crushed Mongol invasions, conquered Gujarat, Ranthambhor, Chittor and the Deccan, and imposed strict price controls.
- Muhammad bin Tughlaq (r. 1325–1351) attempted the disastrous transfer of capital from Delhi to Daulatabad (Deogir) and the issue of token copper currency.
- Ibrahim Lodi, the last Sultan, was defeated and killed by Babur at the First Battle of Panipat (21 April 1526), ending the Delhi Sultanate.
- 711 CE — Muhammad bin Qasim conquers Sindh.
- 1025 — Mahmud of Ghazni sacks Somnath.
- 1192 — Second Battle of Tarain establishes Muslim rule in north India.
- 1206 — Delhi Sultanate founded by Qutb-ud-din Aibak.
- 1398 — Timur sacks Delhi, hastening the Tughlaq collapse.
- 1526 — First Battle of Panipat ends the Sultanate.
Administration and society
The Sultans modelled their administration on the Abbasid-Persian template. The Sultan was the supreme political and military authority; the wazir headed the civil bureaucracy; the diwan-i-arz managed the military, the diwan-i-insha the chancery and the diwan-i-risalat religious affairs. The land-revenue system rested on the iqta — assignments of revenue from a tract of land granted to nobles in lieu of cash salary, a system later refined into the Mughal jagir.
Indo-Islamic culture flourished under this dual heritage. The Qutb Minar (begun 1199), the Quwwat-ul-Islam Mosque, and Alai Darwaza (1311) are the surviving icons of Sultanate architecture. The Persian language took root as the court tongue and the seeds of Urdu were sown in the camp bazars of Delhi.
Remember the order of Sultanate dynasties with "Slave Khilji Tughlaq Sayyid Lodi" — mnemonic "Sons Keep Their Sweet Lassi". All five dynasties span exactly 320 years (1206–1526).
Sufi influence and conversion
The spread of Islam in the subcontinent owed more to the Sufi silsilas than to the sword. The four major orders were:
- Chishti — established by Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti (d. 1236) at Ajmer; emphasised devotional music (sama) and service to the poor.
- Suhrawardi — based in Multan under Bahauddin Zakariya.
- Qadiri — popular in Sindh and Punjab.
- Naqshbandi — strict Shariah-based order, gained ascendancy under the Mughals.
These saints — including Baba Farid, Nizamuddin Auliya, Lal Shahbaz Qalandar, and Shaikh Nasiruddin Chiragh-i-Dehli — built the cultural bridges that kept Hindu and Muslim communities in close contact for centuries.
Decline of the Sultanate
The Sultanate's centripetal grip loosened after Muhammad bin Tughlaq's misadventures. Timur's invasion in 1398 delivered a near-fatal blow: Delhi was sacked, the treasury looted, and Tughlaq authority shattered. The Sayyid and Lodi successors held a shrunken state confined to the Doab. When Babur, a Timurid prince from Ferghana, defeated Ibrahim Lodi at Panipat in 1526, he inherited a Sultanate already in fragments — a transition that opened the Mughal era proper.