Tag: government, society and culture under the delhi sultanate

Minhaj-i-Siraj said that the Queen's rule went against the ideal social order created by god, in which women were supposed to be subordinate to men. He said these words when Razia Sultana, daughter of Iltutmish was, made the Queen of Delhi Sultanate. Though he thought that the queen was most eligible of all those at the time, he was not comfortable with the idea of queen being made the ruler of Delhi.

Five dynasties ruled over Delhi Sultanate sequentially, the first four of which were of Turkic origin: the Mamluk dynasty (1206–90), the Khilji dynasty (1290–1320), the Tughlaq dynasty (1320–1414), the Sayyid dynasty (1414–51), and the Afghan Lodi dynasty (1451–1526).

Tanka, the silver coin and Jital, the copper coins were used during the Delhi Sultanate rule. They were introduced by Iltutmish. The Silver Tanka issued by Iltutmish was weighing 175 grains. The new system served as the basis for coinage for much of the Sultanate period and even beyond.

When Akbar's father Humayun was out of the country, it was Sher Shah Suri who played an important role in establishing the Suri dynasty. Sher Shah is considered a brilliant administrator who worked on creating a strong political province in the North of India. Hence, this laid the foundation for Akbar and with him the coming back of the Mughal rule. 

Nobles (aristocrats) included Sultan and his relatives, courtiers and holders of Iqta, Hindu and Muslim chieftains, merchants, bankers etc. Almost all the wealth and power was concentrated in this group. They lived in luxury and style.

The rulers of Delhi were great patons of art and architecture. New musical instruments such as sarangi and rabab were introduced during this period. Amir Khusrau, a musician patronized by Sultan Alauddin Khalji invented the sitar and tabla.

 During the Delhi Sultanate period, some of the evil social practices like Sati, Child marriage and Purdah became prevalent. In Sati, widow burns herself on her husband's pyre or takes her own life in another fashion shortly after her husband's death. No measures were taken by the Sultans for abolishing these practices, it was the Mughal emperor Akbar who came forward to stop these evil practices.

The lowest stratum of the society of Delhi Sultanate was peasants. They lived in villages, paid taxes to state as land revenue. Peasants life was in severe poverty.

During the Sultanate period, Islam was opposite to the Hinduism of the day as it talked of equality, brotherhood, and monotheism. Hence many lower class people attracted to Islamic principles and converted to Islam.