The Delhi Sultans

Iqta System: The most distinctive administrative feature of the Delhi Sultanate.

• The Sultan granted revenue-collection rights over a territory (iqta) to a military officer (iqtadar/muqti)
• The iqtadar collected land revenue and in return maintained a cavalry contingent for the Sultan
• Iqtas were NOT hereditary — they were transferred periodically to prevent iqtadars from becoming powerful local lords
• Iqtadars also acted as local administrators and judges

Significance: The iqta system was a sophisticated solution to the problem of governing a vast empire without a standing army paid directly from the treasury. It decentralised administration while keeping military power with the Sultan.

Evolution: Under Alauddin Khalji, iqtas were more tightly controlled — iqtadars' accounts reviewed, iqtas transferred frequently. Under Firuz Shah, iqtas became more hereditary — weakening central control.

Muhammad bin Tughlaq (1325–1351): Called "the wisest fool" — highly educated (philosophy, science, mathematics) but his policies were practical disasters.

Three famous experiments:

1. Transfer of capital to Daulatabad (1327):

• Moved capital from Delhi to Devagiri (renamed Daulatabad, Maharashtra)
• Rationale: Central location for the whole empire; protect from Mongol attacks
• Forced the entire population of Delhi to march ~1,100 km to Daulatabad
• Ibn Battuta describes the devastation — people died on the road; Delhi became a ghost city
• Had to move back to Delhi within a few years — humiliating reversal

2. Token currency experiment (~1329):

• Shortage of silver → issued copper and brass coins at the same face value as silver tankas
• Rationale: Expand money supply without enough silver
• Problem: Easy to counterfeit; people minted coins at home → hyperinflation → economic chaos
• Had to withdraw the token currency — accepted copper coins back for gold/silver at face value (massive treasury loss)

3. Taxation in the Doab:

• Raised taxes in the Doab (fertile land between Ganga and Yamuna) at a time of drought
• Led to peasant revolts; widespread desertion of villages
• Contributed to famine and economic crisis

Ibn Battuta's account: The Moroccan traveller visited Muhammad bin Tughlaq's court (served as qadi/judge); describes the Sultan as simultaneously generous (giving gifts worth thousands of dinars) and cruelly violent. Rihla (Ibn Battuta's travelogue) is a key primary source for this period.

Qutb Minar (Delhi):

• Started by Qutbuddin Aibak (~1193); first storey completed
• Completed by Iltutmish (1220s) — added 3 more storeys
• 5th storey added by Firuz Shah Tughlaq (after lightning damage)
• 72.5 metres tall; tapering sandstone tower; intricate calligraphy
• UNESCO World Heritage Site
• Adjacent: Quwwat-ul-Islam Mosque ("Might of Islam") — first mosque built in Delhi after Islamic conquest; columns reused from 27 Hindu and Jain temples

Iron Pillar (within Qutb Complex):

• Not built by Sultans — a Gupta-era pillar (~4th–5th century CE) originally from Mathura/elsewhere; installed here
• Famous for corrosion resistance (1,600+ years without significant rusting) — due to high phosphorus content
• Inscription mentions a king named Chandra — likely Chandragupta II

Tughlaqabad Fort: Built by Ghiyasuddin Tughlaq (1321); massive fortifications; now in ruins

Siri Fort: Alauddin Khalji's fort; Delhi's 2nd city; now largely vanished (used as building material)