Chp 8

• The history of the Delhi Sultanate has been reconstructed from a variety of sources including official records, administrative manuals, biographies, autobiographies, court histories, chronicles, foreign travellers accounts and private correspondence.
• Inscriptions, found on coins, monuments, milestones and tombstones, have proved to be a significant source in reconstructing the history of the Sultans.
• The Qutub Minar, built by Qutb ud din Aibak and completed by Iltutmish, was dedicated to the Sufi Saint Qutub ud din Bakhtiyar Kaki and is the most significant monument built by the Delhi Sultans.
• Alauddin fixed the price of foodgrains, cooking oil and sugar and set up 3 markets for food grains, cloth and horses.
• Alauddin sent an Expedition to the Deccan under Malik Kafur which conquered the kingdoms of Devagiri, Warangal, Madurai and Dwarasamudra but not annexed.
• The rulers of the Deccan were forced to accept Alauddin's overlordship.
• Nobles were not allowed to hold parties or festivities without permission from the Sultan.
• Alauddin laid the foundation of a Permanent Standing army and imported quality horses.
• Cash salaries were paid to soldiers and each soldier was issued a Chehra or Identity Card.
• Dagh (branding of horses) was introduced so that soldiers would not exchange horses.
• Recruitment to the army was approved by the Sultan.
• Alauddin brought all the land of the empire under his direct control and introduced the practice of measuring land and fixing the state share accordingly.
• The increase in taxes led to a severe famine and people refused to pay the extra taxes, leading to rebellion.
• The Sultan kept an eye on revenue and expenditure.
• Provinces were divided into shiqs and parganas or districts.
• Muhammad bin Tughlaq increased the taxes in the Ganga Yamuna Doab to pay for his army.
• On realizing the threat in the North West, Muhammad bin Tughlaq decided to shift back to Delhi.
• The experiment of token currency failed due to circulation of counterfeit or fake coins on a very large scale.
• The empire was divided into provinces called iqtas placed under officials called muqtis.
• The Sultan was assisted by a number of Ministers including the Wazir, Prime Minister, Diwan-i-Risalat, Ariq-i-Mamaliq, Diwan-i-Insha, Qazi, and others.
• Muhammad bin Tughlaq appointed special officers to collect the land revenue.
• Muhammad bin Tughlaq ordered the people including the religious heads to shift to Daulatabad.
• Muhammad bin Tughlaq introduced the Bronze tanka in place of silver due to a shortage of silver.
• Muhammad bin Tughlaq shifted his capital from Delhi to Devagiri and renamed it Daulatabad as Delhi was in the grip of a severe famine and constantly under Mongol threat.
• The Sultan was the Supreme Legislative, Executive, Judicial and Military authority.
• Muhammad bin Tughlaq increased the land revenue from one third to one half which had to be paid in cash not in kind.
• The village was the lowest administrative unit.
• Each village had a panchayat to settle local disputes.
• The Sultanate administration was established at the end of the 12th century AD in Northern India.
• The officials who worked at the village level were Muqaddam, Patwari, Mushrif.
• Muhammad bin Tughlaq tried to save the situation by ordering free distribution of grains, advanced loans to farmers and improved irrigation facilities.
• The shift of capital to Devagiri caused lots of hardships to the people.
• Daulatabad was also centrally located.
• The Khurasan Expedition of Muhammad bin Tughlaq failed due to the failure of his token currency.