Medieval India — (B) The Delhi Sultanate

Who among the following was not involved in the construction of the Qutub Minar?

1. Qutubuddin Aibak
2. Iltutmish
3. Alauddin Khilji
4. Feroz Shah Tughluq

Answer

Alauddin Khilji

Which is the chronological order of the dynasties of the Delhi-Sultanate?

(i) Khilji (ii) Slave (iii) Lodhi (iv) Sayyid (v) Tughluq

1. (ii); (iii); (iv); (v); (i)
2. (ii); (i); (v); (iv); (iii)
3. (ii); (i); (iii); (iv); (v)
4. (ii); (i); (v); (iii); (iv)

Answer

(ii); (i); (v); (iv); (iii)

Alauddin Khilji is best known for his market regulations. Which amongst the following was not one of the markets set up by him?

1. Costly cloth
2. Horses, Slaves and Cattle
3. Gold, Silver, Copper
4. Food grains

Answer

Gold, Silver, Copper

Name the first ruler of Delhi to lay the foundation of a permanent standing army.

1. Alauddin Khilji
2. Shihabuddin Masud
3. Muhammad Bin Tughlaq
4. Jauna Khan

Answer

Alauddin Khilji

Complete the analogy with reference to Khilji administration

Market controller : Shahna :: Identity card :

1. Dagh
2. Chehra
3. Tanka
4. None of the above

Answer

Chehra

Complete the following analogy with respect to the Sultanate administration

diwan-i-risalat : religious matters :: diwan-i-insha :

1. army
2. state correspondence
3. land grants
4. provincial administration

Answer

state correspondence

(A) It was during the 10th and 11th centuries that Turks began their conquests in India.

(B) By this period a number of small kingdoms emerged in North India, who were constantly at conflict with one another.

1. (B) contradicts (A)
2. (B) is the reason for (A)
3. (A) is true but (B) is false.
4. (A) and (B) are independent of each other.

Answer

(B) is the reason for (A)

Explanation — Emergence of small kingdoms in North India and lack of central strong power and unity was the reason of conquest by Turks.

(A) Qutub Minar was dedicated to the Sufi saint, Qutb-ud-din Bakhtiyar Kaki.

(B) The construction of Qutub was started by Iltutmish.

1. (B) contradicts (A)
2. (B) is the reason for (A)
3. (A) is true but (B) is false.
4. (A) and (B) are independent of each other.

Answer

(A) is true but (B) is false.

Explanation — The construction of Qutub was started by Qutub-ud-din Aibak.

(A) Iltutmish nominated his daughter, Razia as his successor.

(B) Iltutmish knew that his sons were incapable to rule.

1. (B) contradicts (A)
2. (B) is the reason for (A)
3. (A) is true but (B) is false.
4. (A) and (B) are independent of each other.

Answer

(B) is the reason for (A)

Explanation — Iltutmish knew that his sons were incapable of becoming Sultan. Therefore, he nominated his daughter Razia as his successor.

(A) Alauddin Khilji was the founder of the Khilji dynasty.

(B) On ascending the throne, Alauddin had to face a rebellion by the Mongols.

1. (B) contradicts (A)
2. (B) is the reason for (A)
3. (A) is true but (B) is false.
4. (A) and (B) are independent of each other.

Answer

(B) contradicts (A)

Explanation — Jalaluddin Khilji was the founder of the Khilji dynasty. He was murdered by his nephew Alauddin Khilji. When Alauddin Khilji ascended the throne, he had to face a rebellion of Mongols. He got many of the Mongols massacred to crush the rebellion.

(A) Alauddin Khilji was the first ruler who laid foundation of a permanent standing army.

(B) He also started the system of Chehra, i.e., giving a kind identity card.

1. (B) contradicts (A)
2. (B) is the reason for (A)
3. (A) is true but (B) is false.
4. (A) and (B) are independent of each other.

Answer

(B) is the reason for (A)

Explanation — Alauddin Khilji was the first ruler who laid the foundation of a permanent standing army. He also introduced the system of Chehra i.e., giving a kind of identity card for every soldier.

Who was the founder of the Slave dynasty in India? Give the other name of this dynasty.

Answer

Qutubuddin Aibak was the founder of the Slave dynasty.

The rulers of this dynasty were also known as Mamluk sultans. Since these Sultans were earlier either the slaves of Turks or were the sons of the slaves, they were called 'Mamluk' which means 'owned'.

Why was Qutubuddin known as Lakhbaksh? List any two of his qualities.

Answer

Qutubuddin was known as Lakhbaksh because he was liberal in distributing money.

Two of his qualities were:

1. He was a brave and capable military general.
2. He was a man of letters. Scholars like Hasan Nizami and Fakhre Mudir adorned his court.

State any two architectural features of Qutub Minar.

Answer

Two architectural features of Qutub Minar are:

1. It has five storeys tapering as they ascend. Each storey is separated from the other by projecting balcony.
2. The Minar is a circular tower about 13.8 metres in diameter at the base and tapers to the width of around 3 metres at the summit. It has a circular stairway of 379 steps leading to the top.

Mention any two military reforms introduced by Alauddin Khilji.

Answer

Two military reforms introduced by Alauddin Khilji were:

1. He imported quality horses and started the system of branding horses (dagh) so that the soldiers could not replace them with inferior quality horses.
2. He introduced the system of chehra which meant giving a kind of identity card for every soldier.

How did Alauddin Khilji expand his empire?

Answer

After conquering the bulk of northern India, Alauddin Khilji sent an expedition to Deccan under Malik Kafur. The kingdoms of Devagiri, Warangal, Dwarasamudra and Madurai were conquered but not annexed. Alauddin Khilji knew that it was difficult to control these distant lands from Delhi and also he was only interested in acquiring the wealth of these Deccan kingdoms for the maintenance of his huge army. That is why he forced the rulers of Deccan to accept his overlordship and to pay annual tribute to him.

Mention the two controversial steps taken by Muhammad Bin Tughlaq.

Answer

The two controversial steps taken by Muhammad Bin Tughlaq were:

1. Shifting of Capital from Delhi to Devagiri (Daulatabad) and back to Delhi which caused lots of hardships to the people.
2. Introduction of token currency or bronze tanka to replace the silver tanka but the experiment failed due to the circulation of counterfeit or fake coins.

Who was the commander-in-chief of the army during the Sultanate period? Name the department which dealt with state correspondence during the Sultanate period.

Answer

The Sultan himself was the commander-in-chief of the army during the Sultanate period.

The department which dealt with state correspondence during the Sultanate period was the diwan-i-insha.

What was the iqta system?

Answer

The practice of giving grants of revenue from a territory came to be known as the iqta system. Those who were given iqtas were called iqtadars. Out of this grant, the iqtadars had to maintain themselves, their families and some soldiers for use by the Sultan during war.

With reference to the Khilji Dynasty, answer the following question:

(a) What were the steps taken by Alauddin Khilji to regulate prices?

(b) What were the methods adopted by Alauddin Khilji to crush the power of the nobility?

(c) What measures did Alauddin Khilji take to increase the revenue?

Answer

(a) The steps taken by Alauddin Khilji to regulate prices were:

1. He fixed the cost of all commodities such as foodgrains, sugar and cooking oil.
2. He set up three different markets at Delhi — one market for food grains, the second for costly cloth and the third for horses, slaves and cattle. Each market was put under the charge of a controller of market or Shahna.
3. There were strict punishments for cheating and underweighing goods.

(b) Alauddin Khilji had to face a series of rebellions from the nobles. That's why he took steps to crush their power. The methods adopted by Alauddin Khilji to crush the power of the nobility were:

1. The nobles were not allowed to hold functions or parties or to form marriage alliances without the permission of the Sultan.
2. The use of wine and intoxicants was banned.
3. Gambling was forbidden and gamblers were severely punished.
4. He started paying soldiers in cash instead of land.
5. He established an efficient spy system to keep a check on the activities of the nobles.

(c) The measures Alauddin Khilji took to increase the revenue were:

1. He brought all the land of the empire under his direct control.
2. He introduced the practice of measuring the land and fixed the state share accordingly.
3. He increased the state revenue from one-third to one-half.
4. He demanded the revenue in cash and not in kind.
5. He appointed special officers for revenue collection.

With reference to the reign of Muhammad Bin Tughlaq, explain the following:

(a) His attempts to transfer the capital from Delhi to Daulatabad.

(b) Introduction of token currency.

(c) Increased taxation in Doab and its consequences.

Answer

(a) Muhammad Bin Tughlaq shifted his capital from Delhi to Devagiri near Aurangabad and renamed it Daulatabad. He did this for following reasons:

1. His intention was to control Deccan from there as Daulatabad was centrally located.
2. Delhi was in grip of severe famine.
3. Delhi was constantly threatened by the Mongol invasions.

He ordered the people of Delhi including the religious heads to shift to Daulatabad. On realising the gravity of threat from north west, he decided to shift the capital back to Delhi. This caused lots of hardships to the people.

(b) Introduction of token currency was one of the controversial steps taken by Muhammad Bin Tughlaq. There was shortage of silver, so Muhammad Bin Tughlaq introduced bronze Tankas in place of silver Tankas. But this experiment failed due to the circulation of counterfeit or fake coins on a very large scale, which caused a chaos in trade and commerce. Consequently, he withdrew the token currency.

(c) Muhammad Bin Tughlaq wanted to conquer territories not only in India but also in Central Asia. For this he needed more money to maintain a big army, so he increased taxes in fertile regions of Ganga-Yamuna Doab. At the same time, a severe famine broke out in the area and people refused to pay the extra taxes and rose in rebellion. But the tax collectors showed no mercy and took stern measures to collect the taxes. This made some of the peasants to abandon their lands and flee to jungles. Though Muhammad Bin Tughlaq took effective actions to fight the famine but it was too late and many people were starved to death as agriculture suffered a heavy setback in the doab area.

With reference to the administrative system of the Delhi Sultanate, give the functions of each of the officials:

(a) Ariz-i-mumalik

(b) Wazir

(c) Diwan-i-risalat

Answer

(a) Ariz-i-mumalik — He was the minister in charge of the army but not the commander-in-chief, since Sultan himself commanded all the armed forces. The responsibility of the ariz's department was to recruit, equip and pay the army.

(b) Wazir — He was the key figure in administration who acted as the Prime Minister. The Wazir supervised the work of the other officials. The final decisions were always taken by the Sultan.

(c) Diwan-i-risalat — He dealt with religious matters and was presided over by the chief Sadar, who was generally a leading qazi.

Study the picture and answer the following questions:

(a) Who began erecting this monument? Who completed it? Where is it located?

(b) Name the saint after whom the monument is named. What information do the monuments of the Sultanate period provide about the Sultanate era?

(c) Mention any four architectural features of the monument.

Answer

(a) Qutub-ud-din Aibak began erecting this monument. It was completed by Iltutmish. It is situated in Delhi.

(b) It is named after Sufi Saint Qutub-ud-din Bakhtiyar Kaki.
The monuments of the Sultanate period reveal the cultural trends, the living conditions, faiths and beliefs of the period. They also reveal the socio-cultural outlook of the rulers.

(c) Four architectural features of the Qutub Minar are:

1. When originally completed, it rose to a height of 71.4 metres with four storeys. The tower was damaged due to lightning in 1369. Feroz Shah Tughlaq repaired it and rose its height further.
2. It has five storeys tapering as they ascend. Each storey is separated from the other by projecting balcony.
3. The base of the Minar has a diameter of 13.8 metres and the top of Minar has a diameter of 3 metres. It has a circular stairway of 379 steps leading to the top.
4. The projecting balconies are supported in such a way that the whole structure takes the load of the weight.

Besides the lack of political unity in northern India by the 13th century, what were the other factors that made it possible for the Turks to establish their empire in northern India?

Answer

Besides the lack of political unity in northern India by the 13th century, following were the factors that made it possible for the Turks to establish their empire in northern India:

1. Lack of powerful central authority led to weakening of the resistence offered to invasions.
2. Internal feuds resulted in weak frontier policy.
3. Lack of appropriate military strategy as compared to turks.
4. Turks used horses and modern weapons.
5. Turks were united and their army was motivated.
6. The society was in grips of hatred, inequality, prejudices and untouchability.
7. Indian kings had no spy system.
8. Turks were attracted by the wealth of India. They, therefore, fought with full zeal.

Imagine that you are transported in a time-machine to Alauddin Khilji's reign. You visited a number of markets. Write what you saw about the commodities being sold, the price regulations and punishments meted out to the sellers for cheating the consumers. Do you think that the market regulations at present match up to Alauddin Khilji's reign or are better or need some changes?

Answer

When I visited the markets in Alauddin Khilji's reign, I witnessed a vastly different market scene than what we see today. Alauddin Khilji brought a historical market reform. He introduced several measures to regulate the market and protect consumers from fraud.

I saw that there were different markets for different goods — there was one market for food grains, the second for costly cloth and the third for horses, slaves and cattle.

The prices of these commodities sold in the markets were not left to the discretion of the sellers. Instead, Alauddin Khilji had set fixed prices for every commodity, which were to be followed by all sellers in the market. The prices were determined based on the cost of production, transportation, and other factors. Any seller found selling above the fixed price was severely punished. The punishments were severe and humiliating like confiscation of goods, fines and even imprisonment. In some cases, the seller's hands were chopped off as a warning to others not to engage in such fraudulent activities. There were spies and supervisors, who ensured the compliance of regulations.

Market regulations of Alauddin Khilji's reign were designed to protect consumers and prevent fraud, which is a common goal of present market regulations as well. However, present market regulations also take into account other factors, such as competition, innovation, intellectual property and globalization, which were not relevant during Alauddin Khilji's reign. In addition, present market regulations aim to strike a balance between consumer protection and business growth, which may involve trade-offs and compromises. One advantage of present market regulations is that they are often more flexible and adaptable to changing circumstances. For example, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, new regulations were introduced aimed at protecting consumers from price gouging and ensuring the availability of essential goods.

However, there is always room for improvement in any regulatory framework, and present market regulations should be continually reviewed and updated to ensure that they are serving the interests of consumers and businesses in a fair and transparent way.

Suppose you met a person belonging to Muhammad Bin Tughlaq's reign, who had to shift to Daulatabad when the capital was shifted there. Write down what he described about the circumstances that forced him to shift, the difficulties which he and others like him faced while moving from Delhi to Daulatabad.

Answer

I met a person belonging to Mohammad Bin Tughlaq's reign and discussed with him, the shifting of capital. He told that the circumstances that forced the capital to be shifted from Delhi to Daulatabad were complex and multifaceted. The move was forced upon them by complex political and military factors.

It was very painful for him to leave his own place. He said that he was very attached to Delhi. But he had no choice because the Sultan (Mohammad Bin tughlaq) was very harsh on him and others. Although, Sultan had made arrangements for smooth shifting of people yet people suffered a lot as these arrangemets were not enough. The journey from Delhi to Daulatabad was long and arduous, and many people died on the way due to illness, hunger, and exhaustion. The person left behind his home, his belongings, and his community, to start afresh in a new place. The pain of exile was too much for him and others like him to bear.