Delhi Sultanate – Administration, Art & Culture

delhi sultanate

Administration

Sultans considered themselves as representative of Caliphs (as inscribed on their coins & Khutba (Prayer)) & were of Islamic origin
Balban considered himself as shadow of god & of divine originality
Iltutmish, Muhammad bin tughlaq & Firoz tughlaq received Mansur or letter of permission from Caliphs
Sultans were most important administrators & had ultimate authority of the military (Commander in chief of military)
Greatest post was of Naib who practically enjoyed all the powers of sultan & exercised general control over all departments

Diwan – i – wazirat	Head of finance department
Diwan – i – Ariz	Military department headed by Ariz – i – Mumalik Responsible for recruiting soldiers & administering military department
Diwan – i – Rasalat	Department of religious affairs headed by chief Sadr
Diwan – i – Insha	Department of correspondence, dealt with correspondence b/w rulers & officials

Head of judicial department of chief Qazi & Muslim sharia law was followed in civil matters
Hindus were governed by their own personal laws & their cases were dispensed by village panchayats

Local Administration

Iqtas	Provinces were called Iqtas under the charge of nobles Mainly to maintain law & collect revenue Later came under the charge of Governors called “Muqtis or Walis”.
Shiqs	Iqtas were divided in Shiqs (districts) under Shiqdars
Pargana	Shiqs were further divided into Pargana (no. of villages) headed by Amils
Village headman was known as Mukaddam or chaudhary & Village accountant Patwari

Economy

Land was mainly divided into 3 categories viz.

Iqta land → Land assigned to officials as iqtas instead of payments for their services.

Khalisa Land → Land under direct control of sultan

Inam Land → Land assigned / granted to religious leaders or religious institutions.

Peasants paid 1/3 or even 1 / 2 of their produce as land revenue along with other taxes
Taxes + frequent famines → Peasants always lived hand to mouth living
Cotton & silk industries flourished in this period along with paper industry
1 silver Tanka = 48 jitals in Khalji time = 50 jitals in tughlaq time

Traditional caste system with Brahamans at the top
Prevalent sati & parda system for women
No intermarriage b/w Turks, Iranian, Afgans & Indian Muslims
Hindus were considered zimmis or protected people for whom they were forced to pay a tax called Jiziya
In beginning, Jiziya it was collected as a part of land tax but Firoz tughlaq separated it from land revenue & collected it as a separate tax.

Art & Architecture

Quwwat ul islam mosque near Qutub minar was built using materials obtained from destroying Hindu & Jain temples
Buildings were constructed by combining Arch, Minarets & Dome
Muhammad bin tughlaq built the tomb of Ghiyasuddin tughlaq on a high platform

Music

New music instruments such as Sarangi & Rabab were introduced in this period
Indian classical work Rangdarpan was translated to Persian during Firoz Tughlaq reign
Raja Man Singh (Gwalior) was a great music lover of this period & loved man Kautuhal
Pir Bhodan → famous Sufi Saint of this period

Amir Khusro (1252 – 1325)

Introduced Ragas like ghora & Sanam
Evolved Qawwali mixing Indian & Iranian music
Invented Sitar & Tabla

Literature

Barani’s “Tariq – i – Firoz – Shahi“ contains history of Tughlaq dynasty
Minhaj Us Siraj wrote “Tabaqat – i – Nasari” contains general history of Muslims dynasty upto 1260
Amir Khusro (famous Persian writer)

Created new style of Persian poetry called Sabaq – i – hind / Indian styled Persian poetry

Wrote Khazain – ul – Fatah about Alaunddin conquests

Wrote Tughlaq nama about the rise of Ghiyasuddin tughlaq

Zia Nakshabi → 1^st one to translate Sanskrit stories into Persian (1^st one was Tuti nama or book of parrot)
Rajat Rangini written by Kalhana was also translated to Persian during this period
Chand Bharati → Famous Hindi poet of this time