Introduction

This project encompasses a brief about the administration of Delhi Sultanate. It describes all
about the government setup during the Sultanate period in India. It has vividly covered the role
of Islam in governance of a mixed culture. It discusses about the various administrative posts
involved in administering the rules in state. This project has emphasised more on the
importance of Quran and Khalifa in Delhi Sultanate. It has also focussed on the reforms taken
up by different Sultans at different time. It covers about the judicial system during the Delhi
Sultanate. This project is a gist of the administration of the Delhi Sultanate.

Literature Review
The only literature I have referred is the ‘History of India Part-1’ by H.V. Sreenivasa Murthy.
I preferred this book only because probably all other book authors write it with their prejudice
and biases. But this book shows all the possible aspects of history following no bias or
prejudice. This book has been greatly emphasised on the legal area as well of the administration
of the Delhi Sultanate.
But this book also had some drawbacks as in, it should have emphasised more eminently on
the Delhi Sultanate and Mughal Period as two different aspects of the medieval era of Indian
History.

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The Delhi Sultanate
The year 1206 AD constitutes an important landmark in the history of India. It was in that year
Qutub-ud-Din Aibak laid the foundations of the Delhi Sultanate, which ruled over three
centuries. The throne of the Delhi Sultanate was shared by four dynasties in succession, the
first dynasty or the Aibak dynasty called the Slave Dynasty, which is a misnomer (1206-1290),
the Khaljis (1290-1320), the Tughluqs (13201413) and the Sayyids and Lodis (1413-1526).
The first three dynasties were of Turkish origin while the last, that of the Afghans. The first
two dynasties were able to establish the sovereignty of the Delhi Sultanate over the whole of
Northern India. Ala-ud-din Khalji and his trusted general, Malik Naib Kafur, invaded the
Deccan and the far south more than once, but these invasions had the intentions of looting the
wealth and not to establish their sovereignty over the Deccan and South India. The first attempt
at the establishment of sovereignty was made by Muhammad-bin-Tughluq who Victoriously
marched down to the southernmost part of India, which he constituted as a province under his
governor. This arrangement did not last long. It broke up around 1325 AD and before the
completion of another decade, there was no Turkish empire in India. On its ruins arose the
Bahamani Kingdom in the Deccan and Vijayanagara in South India.

The rule of the Sayyids was preceded by the invasion of Timur which inflicted “on India more
misery than had ever been inflicted by any conqueror in a single invasion”. They had to repair
the damage first before consolidating their rule. The consolidation of their rule became
daunting in the face of repeated insurrections and treachery of the ministers. The Lodis had, by
now, immensely increased their power and Buhlul, the Amir of Sirhind, who was waiting in
the wings, seized power and established himself on the throne of Delhi in 1451 AD. Now the
power was transferred from the Sayyids to the Lodis.

The Lodi dynasty comprised of three rulers, Buhlul, Sikandar Shah and Ibrahim Lodi. Sikandar
reunited the kingdom, made the noble show due respect and regard to the throne and ushered
in an era of peace and prosperity. He was a patron of literature and learning. “A happy result
of the cultural activity of the period was the mutual interest it aroused among Hindus and
Muslims for each other’s learning, thus conducing to a rapprochement which was in
consonance with the progressive spirit of the time”. This trend was not to continue for long.
His successor, Ibrahim Lodi was “rash and impolitic in his actions”. By his tyrannical
behaviour, he encountered the opposition of the nobles “who began to contemplate drastic
measures for their own safety”. In that surcharged atmosphere of mutual suspicion and
jealously Daulat Khan Lodi, governor of the Punjab, invited Babur to invade India. Babur, who
was anxious to get a foothold in India, welcomed this opportunity, defeated Ibrahim Lodi in
the battle that was fought at Panipat (1526) and laid the foundations of the Mughal rule.

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The Government Setup
The Turks who came and settled down in India possessed the knowledge of the working of the
political institutions of the land that they had to govern. They lived in military camps, had to
spend most of their energy and time to subdue the rulers of the land who were out to dislodge
them from their possession and could think of nothing else than to defend and extend their
authority over larger areas. Even the rulers in their sphere of influence allowed them no peace
and instances are not wanting to show how they were compelled to use force to collect taxes.
In such an environment, the Turks found it impossible to undertake full responsibility for
government and much less to orient it to approximate to their ideals. India though a vast country
lacked political unity, but her rich cultural tradition remained vibrant, which the Turks could
either, suppress or assimilate. Indians suffered from superiority complex, had utter contempt
for the foreigners whom they regarded low and vulgar and dubbed the Turks mlechchas or
unclean, The attitude of the Indians was one of indifference towards the Turks.

In such a situation the only course open to the Turks was to bid for their time and in the
meanwhile to win over some local people to their side, accept as valid the existing practises,
”retain most of the civil servants in office and establish their direct personal government only
at the central and provincial levels by occupying and strongly garrisoning important forts and
towns”. The Turks were realists and not idealists; they read the prevailing situation well and
established a government with a blend of Islamic political ideas and institutions and the existing
Indian structure of polity. Consequently, many elements of the Indian political system with
some modifications, when found necessary, were incorporated into the set-up of their
governments. The Lodis had no time for innovations.

Importance of Quran in Delhi Sultanate

Muslim political ideas were derived from Muslim theology and to an extent, Greek thought.
The Greek thinkers ”provided the ideas which were put forward as the rational justification for
the institutions adopted or developed by the Muslims”. The Muslim theology had its roots in
the Quran, the traditions of the Prophet and the precedent. The Quran, which has a divine origin
and possesses a sacred character, contains injunctions for the regulation of social life and
political organisation. The principles enunciated in the Quran guided the community and polity.
With the spread of Islam in other continents and with it the growing complexities in life and
governments the injunctions of the Quran were found to be inadequate to meet the changing
situation. This inadequacy was made up by the Muslim orthodox by including the traditions of
the Prophet, his sayings and doings, as a supplement to Quran. This tradition has come to be
called the Hadis. There are numerous instances of the Ulema (learned theologians) settling
vexed problems by giving ruling on the basis of both the Quran and the Hadis. The rulings also
have acquired the status of law. The Shariat or the law of Islam has defined certain functions
and responsibilities, which the Muslims as an organised community have to observe. The
Shariat enshrines the Muslim code of ethics and good life. According to Islam, Shariat is above
everyone and every law and even the Imam or Khalifah is under it. These are the basic sources
on which was based the political ideas of the Muslims. To these may be added the contributions
of great legists who, based on their elaborate study of the Shariat, Muslim theology and
jurisprudence have outlined their views on political problems. Among such renowned scholars
and thinkers were Iba Khaldun, Abu Hanifa, Shafi, Malik, Hanbal, Abu Yusuf, Marwardi and

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Ghazzali. These legists versed in theology could not go beyond the canonical law, and accept
and enunciate the philosophical concepts of change. As I.H. Qureshi aptly remarks, ”...Muslim
political thinkers seldom ventured beyond the realm of apology and justification. They never
struck a bold path... . Perhaps, with more independent thinking, the principle of election and
consultation could be translated into more democratic political institutions. They had
considerable scope for growth among Muslims, whose religious, social and economic systems
would have nurtured democracy. But it is, perhaps, unjust to expect men to rise above their
environment.” Consequently, Muslim political institutions were coloured by theology.
Importance of Khalifa in Delhi Sultanate
The behest of Allah, namely, “Obey me, obey the Prophet and all those that are in authority
among you” was faithfully followed by all the Muslims and the Sultans of Delhi were no
exception to this. They were not the head of a religion but only head of their state. In matters
concerning the state, the primary duty was the observance of the laws of Shariat. They
respected the Khalifah, called themselves as his Naib (deputy) and accepted Abbasid Khalifahs
as their overlords. Most of them at least kept up the pretence of regarding the Khalifah as the
legal sovereign. There were Sultans who refused to recognise the Khalifah as their overlord.
Balban called himself the Shadow of God. Muhammad bin-Tughluq assumed this title in the
early period of his reign, but gave it up later with a View to gain support of the Ulema.
However, he made no mention of the Khalifah in the Khutba. But none of them, though
powerful, went to the extent of calling themselves the Khalifah. It was left to Qutb-ud-din
Mubarak Khalji, son of Ala-ud-din Khalji, to discontinue this practise of showing
subordination to the Khalifah. He called himself Khalifah-i-rabb-ul-Alimin, Khalifat-ul-Allah,
and Amir-ul-Mowinin. Generally, the Sultans of Delhi accepted the overlordship of the
Khalifah only in name, but in practise, they behaved as independent monarchs with no overlord
to obey. This pretence of accepting the Khalifah as their overlord and showing respect to him
was intended to win over to their side Sunni subjects as well as the Ulema who commanded
greater religious influence among the Muslims. ”But this gave to the Khalifah no right to
interfere in the affairs of the Sultans nor did he receive any regular tribute or presents. The
Sultans dangled him like a Shikhandi but exercised all the rights of sovereignty by themselves”.

Administrative Structure of Delhi Sultanate

The head of the State was the Sultan who enjoyed position and power similar to that of the
Caliph the only difference being the subordinate or interior position in which he was placed in
relation to the Caliph. He concentrated in his hand all executive and judicial powers. He was
the head of his armed forces and often led his army in person to the battle. field. He made all
appointments to the higher civil and military posts.
Law of Succession
The Turko-Afghans failed to evolve a definite law of succession to the throne. The Islamic
ideals required a sovereign to ”be a male adult, suffering from no physical disability, a free-
born Muslim having faith in Islam and acquainted with its doctrines, capable of leadership, fit
to govern on principles of equity and justice and that he should be elected by the people”. These
ideals were followed only in breaches. Razia was raised to the throne though a woman and
Kaiquubad remained the Sultan as a paralytic. Thus, there was no law of succession to the
throne. The principle of hereditary succession and nomination of successor by the last ruling
Sultan came into vogue, but if somebody usurped authority by force they did not hesitate to

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offer homage to him. The sword also sometimes decided the issue of succession as the instances
of Ala-ud-din Khalji and Buhlul Lodi show.

Administrative Officers

In administering the State, the Sultan was assisted by a number of officials. They included:
The Naib or Deputy Sultan, a post created during the reign of Bahrain Shah. Appointment to
this post was made when a ruler was weak or minor, and he ranked above the wazir. Ala-ud-
din gave this office to a nobleman as a mark of special favour.

Wazir: He was the Prime Minister and was placed at the head of the finance department called
the Diwan-i-Wazarat. He supervised not only the income and expenditure of the state but all
other departments also. Many officers and subordinates, most important among them being the
Naib-Wazir, Mushrif-Mamalik (auditor general) and Mustaufi-i-Mamalik who was entrusted
with the supervision over expenditure, assisted him.

Ariz-i-Mumalik: He was the head of the military department called Diwan-i-arz. He was
responsible for the organisation, maintenance and control of the armed forces.

Dabir-i-Khas: He was the head of department of records called Diwan-i-Insha. He was in

charge of all formal or confidential correspondence between the Sultan with other high
dignitaries and officials.

Sadr-us-Sudur: He was the head of the ecclesiastical department. The propagation of Islam,
observance of its principles and protection of privileges of Muslims were his primary duties.
He maintained a separate treasury which received all collections from Zakat (a religious tax on
the Muslims) and utilised it for providing financial assistance to Mosques, Maqtabs
(educational institutions), learned men, saints, the orphaned or the disabled.

Qazi-ul-quzat: He was the head of the judicial department and Was the highest judicial officer
in the state after the Sultan. Usually the posts of Sadr-us-sudur and the Chief Qazi were
combined in a single person.

Barid-i-Mumalik: He headed the information and intelligence department. He controlled the

dakchaukis or news outposts. He was responsible for the espionage system.

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Besides these, there were numerous other officers of various grades and ranks created from
time to time to meet special needs. For instance, Muhammad bin Tughluq created the
department of agriculture called Diwan-i-Amir Kohi. The royal Karkhanas, the royal kitchen,
the royal stables and the royal household were manned by officers of different ranks. The Sultan
maintained his personal bodyguards, which consisted of trusted men.

Administrative divisions
For the sake of administrative convenience, the empire was divided into provinces called Iqtas.
The head of the lqtas was variously called as naib, Sultan, nazim, muqti or wali. The
administrative machinery of the provinces resembled those of the Central Government. The
heads of the provinces were required to send annual report of their income and expenditure to
the Sultan and deposit the balance in the central exchequer. In the event of waging war and
achieving victory the share of the state in the spoils of war was to be sent to the Sultan. The
Sultans kept a watchful eye on the provincial heads.

Prior to the end of the thirteenth century, there were no smaller administrative units below the
provinces. Later the Iqtas were divided into smaller units called shiqqs and they were placed
in charge of shiqqdars. The shiqqs were further subdivided into sarkars and the sarkars into
parganas. They were respectively placed in charge of shiqqdar-isiqq-daran and awil. Greater
emphasis was laid on the pargana administration as it was there that the government came into
direct contact with the peasants. The village was the lowest unit of administration, administered
by local hereditary officers and the village panchayat. The hereditary village officials like the
Chaudhri, the Patwari, the Khut, the Muqaddam and the Chaukidar helped the government in
the collection of revenue. They continued to enjoy certain privileges as was before, except
during the reign of Ala-ud-din. The village panchayat settled disputes among the villagers and
looked after the sociological needs of the village community.

Reforms of Ala-ud-din Khilji

Ala-ud-din tried to establish a strong government at the Centre. He established a military

regime and did not claim sovereignty on the basis of heredity or election by the nobles. He had
the courage to say that he was not prepared to be dictated by the Ulema. The early period of
his reign was plagued with frequent revolts, which he suppressed. He was so disturbed by the
internal disorder that he wanted to trace the root causes of the revolts. Even during the siege of
Ranthambhor Alaud-din consulted his prominent counsellors and after careful deliberations,
he concluded that four primary factors caused the disease in the body politic. Firstly, due to the
inefficiency of the spy system, the Sultan was ignorant of the condition of the people. Secondly,
drinking parties among one nobles brought them close to each other and encouraged them for
conspiracies. Thirdly, social intercourse and inter-marriages among the nobles made them a
compact body, which posed a serious threat to the state. And lastly, excess wealth gave the
people both power and leisure for evil thoughts and rebellions. After returning to Delhi, with a
view to prevent recurrence of rebellions in future he issued four ordinances. The first was
directed against the wealth of the people. The religious endowments were withdrawn and all

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grants of land and pensions were cancelled. The collectors of taxes were instructed to extract
money from the people on every kind of pretext. The object of the sultan was to reduce the
nobles and the rich people to abject poverty 50 that they would be so absorbed in securing
means of livelihood that the very thought of rebellion Would not occur to their mind. The
second ordinance established an elaborate espionage system, Barids (spyofficers) and Munhis
(spies) were appointed in the houses of the rich, the officers, governors, in markets and in towns
and villages. They had to keep the Sultan informed of the conduct of the people. So, thorough
and universal was this espionage system that the nobles spoke in whispers and third ordinance
prohibited liquor, drugs and dicing. The Sultan himself gave up drinking and all his wine-
vessels were broken before the public. When Delhi did not go dry in spite of this ordinance,
the Sultan permitted private manufacture and use of wine; but banned public parties and use of
wine in public places. The fourth ordinance prohibited social gathering among the nobles and
forbade inter marriages among them without the permission of the Sultan.

By these measures, the Sultan was able to control the nobility and there occurred no revolt
during his reign. ”The amenities of social life disappeared and life became an intolerable
burden”. Ala-ud-din introduced economic measures for political purposes. The first ordinance
affected the Turks and other Muslims. For the Hindus the revenue was fixed at half the gross
produce of the land and their burden was further increased by grazing and house taxes. He
introduced the practise of the measurement of land as a preliminary to land settlements. He was
the first Muslim ruler to do so.

Again, Ala-ud-din was the first Sultan to reorganise the army. He created a large standing army
directly recruited and paid by the state. He instituted the practise of maintaining descriptive
role of individual soldiers and the branding of horses. He paid personal attention to the
equipment and discipline of the armed forces. He maintained a big and able army at a minimum
cost by fixing the prices far below the usual market rates of all articles from the absolute
necessaries of life to things of luxury, so that a soldier could maintain comfortable standard on
a low salary. This leads us to Ala-ud-din’s market reforms.

Market regulations

Perhaps the most remarkable of Ala-ud-din’s regulations were his experiments in political
economy. He fixed the prices of not only all varieties of grain, pulses, cloth, slaves, cattle and
horses but also of meat, fish, dry fruits, sugarcane, vegetables, needles, colours, betel. leaves,
etc., in fact, all necessary articles. The revenue was realised in kind and the grain thus secured
was stored in State granaries to pro. vide against years of scarcity. The peasants were to sell
their produce only to the controlled merchants and no public hoarding was tolerated. The
merchants were required to register themselves. Cloth merchants were given advances to
purchase cloth from outside and sell it in Delhi at fixed prices. Other merchants were compelled
to bring certain quantities of different articles to Delhi so that there was no scarcity of anything.
The merchants had to keep their wives and children as hostages at Delhi to force them to bring
regular supplies to the market at the capital. The merchants were allowed a margin of profit,
which offered no incentive.

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A superintendent of market with a strong staff of assistants was appointed for the strict
enforcement of the price regulations. Punishments for the Violation of regulations were severe
and even barbarous. A shopkeeper defrauding his customer by giving short weight had to make
up for the deficiency by an equivalent amount of flesh. The essence of the system of political
economy consisted in the control of supplies, control of transport and rationing of consumption
if necessary. Barani remarks that ”the unvarying price of grain in the markets was looked upon
as one of the wonders of the time”. The commodities were cheap only in and near Delhi and
elsewhere in the country they ruled high. Hence, the army and the people in and around Delhi
were the beneficiaries of the market regulations. ”Judged by the objectives which inspired
them, they proved highly successful. Opposed as they were to economic laws, they died with
their author.” Thus, the market system of Ala-ud-din was a novel and successful experiment.
It certainly led to the stability of the government. But in the long run, it was neither in the
interest of the people nor in the permanent interest of the state. KS. Lal is perhaps right when
he writes, “The motive of the Sultan may not have been to crush the poor peasants against
whom he possibly could have no grudge, but the exigencies of the state required him to take
such steps under which the interests of commerce and cultivation were sacrificed to those of
the army”.

Reforms of Muhammad-bin-Tughluq
Muhammad-bin-Tughluq launched many schemes and made experiments in administrative,
political and financial matters. lie issued several ordinances for the improvement of the revenue
administration. The first ordinance required all the provincial governors to submit the reports
of income and expenditure of their respective provinces to centre. They were further required
to prepare a register giving these details. The ordinance had two-fold objects; first was to enable
the Sultan to introduce a uniform standard of revenue throughout the empire; and two, to see
that villages are assessed.

Another of his administrative acts was the enhancement of the taxation in the Doab. The Sultan
wanted to increase the resources of the government and hence this measure. According to
Barani, the taxation was increased ten and twenty times and rigorous attempts were made to
collect the newly imposed taxes. The Sultan chose to increase the taxes when the Doab was
reeling under severe famine. The people were hard hit and the ryots were ”reduced to
impotence, poverty and ruin”. The peasants deserted their land and took to highway robbery.
Some took refuge in the forests. There were rebellions on all sides and they were crushed with
a heavy hand. Agriculture suffered terribly and a fertile province was devastated. Even the
usual revenue could not be collected from the Doab. The Sultan forced back the cultivators to
their work, abolished taxes, gave them seeds, bullocks, etc., and arranged for the digging of
wells for irrigation. The wound that was created could not be healed by these measures soon
and this unrealistic approach was responsible for the failure of his revenue policy.

The Sultan was interested in promoting agriculture to increase the revenue. He set-up a new
agricultural department called the Diwan-i-Amir-i-Kohi with a staff of about a hundred
officials. Accordingly, certain agricultural reforms were introduced, and a large area of land in
the Doab was divided into plots, each sixty miles square. On each of these, workers were
appointed to till the soil and to see that the produce was not less than necessary. Contractors
were called for and the government advanced nearly seventy lakh tanka in the course of two

8
years to them on the condition that they promoted agriculture. "The corruption of the officers,
poor quality of land chosen for farming and indifference of cultivators who were assigned land
under government supervision were responsible for the failure of the scheme”. What is more,
in spite of the expenditure of this magnitude not even one-hundredth or the one-thousandth part
of-the promised cultivation was carried out. The scheme, like other schemes of the Sultan, was
abandoned in haste after an experiment lasting for three years.

The two noted Sultans of the Delhi Sultanate, Ala-ud-din Khalji and Muhammad-bin-Tughluq
introduced series of administrative reforms to strengthen the fabric of the state. Though sound,
these reforms became unpopular. They were either were implemented in a haste, or were
introduced at inappropriate times, or failed to anticipate the public mind. For some of these
reforms were later implemented with success by the Mughals.
Judicial System

The sultans implemented shariat or the Islamic law of crime and punis hment the main
sources of which were the Quran, the Hadis and Ijma. The ecclesiastical cases were
separated from the criminal and civil suits.

The durbar of the sultan constituted the highest civil and criminal court of justice which
took original as well as appellate cases. Below the sultan there was the court of qazi -i-
quzat or the chief justice of the empire. Muhtasib the censor of public morals acted as
police cum judge in the observance of the canon law by the Muslims. The village
panchayats enjoyed the sanction of the state to administer justice according to the local
tradition, customs and the personal law of the populace. The penal code was severe,
physical torture and capital punishment constituted an essential part of it.

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Analysis and Conclusion

The Delhi Sultanate which was established after the decline of Rajputs in India was an
Islamic Sultanate. For the first time there was rulers of Islamic background. It was very
difficult for them to adapt with the mixed culture of religions and formulates rule in
accordance with that. But the Sultans did the job greatly to hold the heterogeneity in the
society. But the most important aspect of the Sultanate was the flexibility to reform the
laws in accordance to the benefit of society and the great hierarchy of administrators
where different posts were given to different persons.

But Delhi Sultanate rulers gave more importance to sharia and the ulem mas which is
widely criticized. Most of the Islamic rulers are criticized for giving importance to
ulemmas. Very few rulers from Islam background didn't give them the importance.

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Bibliography
 History of India Part-1 by H.V. Sreenivasa Murthy
 The Wonder that was India by S.A.A Rizvi
References
 www.historytution.com
 www.columbia.edu

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