The Delhi Sultanate marked a high point for Muslim rule in India up
To that point, and the Delhi sultans made their capital city a great cultural center. They founded an outstanding library, acknowledged as the greatest establishment of Islamic learning in the East, and Muslim mosques and other buildings—often built from the ruins of Hindu temples—sprouted up throughout their realm. Ironically, the sultanate owed some of its success to the Mongol invasions threatening the Muslim lands to the west, which brought an influx of wealthy and talented refugees.
A number of able rulers followed Aybak, among them his son-inlaw Iltutmish (il-TUT-mush), who consolidated the power of the sultanate and built a number of impressive structures around Delhi. A power struggle followed his death in 1236, and eventually the former slave Balban took control, even though Iltutmish's son actually occupied the throne. Facing a Mongol threat from the west, Balban built up India's military.
Yet another scramble followed Balban's death, with the Khalji (kal-JEE) family assuming control in 1290. The most outstanding figure of this dynasty was the ruthless Ala-ud-din (uh-LAH-ood-deen; ruled 1296-1316), who seized the throne after having his uncle assassinated. He greatly expanded the sultanate's realms, conquering the Deccan and much of southern India, and might have kept going had his advisors not urged him to consolidate his power. Instead he contented himself with the vast wealth he had acquired in his conquests of the south. Like Indian rulers of ancient times, he built a vast and efficient spy network. Ala-ud-din's conquests in the south became the stuff of legend (see box, "The Face That Launched a Siege"), and indirectly influenced the founding of Vijayanagar (vi-juh-yah-NAH-gar), the most powerful kingdom in southern India. Founded in 1336 by Hindus who had become united by their opposition to Ala-ud-din, Vijayanagar would withstand Muslim onslaughts for some two centuries.
In 1320, four years after the death of Ala-ud-din, the Tughluq (tug-LUK) family assumed the throne. Muhammad ibn Tughluq (ruled 1325-51) made Ala-ud-din seem mild by comparison. It was said, for instance, that he punished a rebellious noble by having the man skinned alive and cooked with rice, and then he sent the remains to the wife and children— and the noble happened to be his cousin. His successor, Firuz (fee-ROOZ; ruled 1351-88), was much more evenhanded and became noted for his many building projects. After his death, however, the sultanate dissolved into civil war, which left it ripe for attack by Mongol leader Tamerlane in 1398.
World History
