Ghiyas ud din Balban was the ninth sultan of the Mamluk dynasty of Delhi. He was the ruler of a vast empire that stretched from Bengal (Gauda) in the east to Ghazni (Gajjana) in Afghanistan in the west and included all of south India (Dravida). This was mentioned in a Sanskrit prashasti which praised him for his achievements.

• Qutubuddin Aibak was the founder of the Slave dynasty. He was a Turkish of the Aybak tribe and was the sultan for only four years, 1206-1210.
• Prithiviraj Chauhan was a Rajput king of Rajasthan.
• Sayyid Khizr Khan ibn Malik Sulaiman (reigned 28 May 1414 – 20 May 1421) was the founder of the Sayyid dynasty,
• Bahlul Khan Lodi was the chief of the Pashtun Lodi tribe founder of Lodi dynasty of the Delhi Sultanate upon the abdication of the last claimant from the previous Sayyid rule. Bahlul became sultan of the dynasty on 19 April 1451.

c. Slave Dynasty

He shifted his capital to Devagiri near modern Aurangabad and renamed it Daulatabad. He did it for the following reasons:

B. Iltutmish

In 1200 AD, Qutb al-Din Aibak, founder of the Delhi Sultanate, started construction of the Qutb Minar. In 1220, Aibak's successor and son-in-law Iltutmish added three storey’s to the tower. 

Under the Iqta System, the land of the empire was divided into several large and small tracts called Iqta and assigned these Iqtas to his soldiers, officers and nobles. In the beginning, an Iqta was based upon salary. Later, under Firoz Shah Tughlaq it became hereditary. Alauddin Khilji suddenly abolished the system of small Iqtas with a stroke of the pen and brought them under the central Government (thus called Khalsa land). This was regarded as one of the most important agrarian reforms of Alauddin Khilji.

Modern Agra was founded by Sikandar Lodhi (Lodhi dynasty; Delhi Sultanate) in the 16th century and shifted the capital from Delhi to Agra in 1506. Babar (founder of the Mughal dynasty) also stayed for sometime in Agra and introduced the concept of square Persian-styled gardens here. Emperor Akbar built the Agra fort and Fatehpur Sikri near Agra.

The Lodi dynasty was an Afghan dynasty that ruled the Delhi Sultanate from 1451 to 1526. It was the last dynasty of the Delhi Sultanate and was founded by Bahlul Khan Lodi when he replaced the Sayyid dynasty.

The reign of Alauddin Khalji is considered significant due to his military reforms. Alauddin was the first sultan of Delhi to have a standing army. He abolished the Iqta System and paid salary to his soldiers in cash.

In 1360 A.D. Puri had been invaded and plundered by Feroz Shah Tughluq, the Muslim ruler of Delhi. At the time of invasion the King Bhanudeva – III was not in his capital. By the time the King got the news on the invasion and returned to Puri, Feroz Shah returned to Delhi via Jajnagar (Jajpur).

After the death of Rajadhiraj Chola, the Chola kingdom began to decay. Gradually, the Pandyas, the Cheras and the Hoysalas became independent and ultimately, the Chola kingdom vanished altogether when Malik Kafur, a general of Alauddin Khilji, invaded the South. 

The First battle of Panipat was fought in 1526 between the forces of Babur and the Ibrahim Lodhi. Babur's victory marked the beginning of the Mughal Empire. This was one of the earliest battles involving gunpowder firearms and field artillery in India.

Muiz ud din Qaiqubad succeeded the throne after Balban when he was seventeen. In 1290, he was killed by a Jalal ud din Firuz Khilji, his wazir.

Turkan-i-Chihalgani or the forty slaves in the court of Itutmish were present to provide him security and protection against his overthrowing by the Turks. These forty loyal slaves helped the king in the political and administrative activities. These slaves influenced the decision-making of the ruler. Later, they were destroyed by the Balban.

Hasan Nizami wrote Tajul Masir which was protanized by Qutubuddin Aibak and Itutmish of the Slave dynasty. This is a historical narrative and many scholars believe that this is the first work that mentions about the beginning of rule of Slave dynasty in the Political history of India. It is dated to the period between 1217 AD-1229 AD. 

Muhammad bin Tughluq thought that shifting capital from Delhi to Devagiri would help him to establish control over the fertile land of the Deccan plateau. He also felt that it would make him safe from the Mongol invasions which were mainly aimed at Delhi and regions in north India. Daulatabad/ Devagiri was situated at a central place so the administration of both the north and the south could be possible

Iltutmish (reign: 1211-1236) was one of the slaves of Qutb-ud-din Aibak who later became his Son-in-Law. He was from the Ilabari tribe of the Turks and that is why some scholars call the slave dynasty as Ilabari dynasty.

Due to his achievements, Iltutmish was bestowed a title Sultan-i-Azam by the Khalifa of Baghdad. This title increased his position in the Muslim world not only as a ruler but also making him the representative of the Khalifa. Thus, it gave Iltutmish a prestige as well as different powers which were bestowed upon him. 

During the rule of Mohammed- bin- Tughlaq, we observe the presence of gold and silver coins. But, it was difficult to get sufficient supply of these metals for using them as currencies. Hence, Mohammed-bin-Tughlaq replaced the gold and silver coins with copper and brass coins for better trade and commerce. However, the reforms to keep copper and brass coins as currency failed over a period of time. 

Khusrau Khan captured the Delhi Sultanate throne after Alauddin Khilji’s death in the year 1316 AD but he ruled for an extremely short period of time. He was captured and killed by Ghiyasuddin Tughlaq (Ghazi Malik) in 1620 AD. Ghiyasuddin Tughlaq laid the foundation of Tughlaq dynasty. 

Delhi Sultan Ghiyasuddin Balban (1266-1287) was the ruler of a vast empire that stretched from Bengal(Gauda) in the east to Ghazni in Afghanistan.

Muhammad bin Tughlaq transferred his capital from Delhi to Daulatabad primarily because of two reasons:

• Daulatabad was centrally located and equidistant from Delhi and other important places.
• Because Delhi was within the reach of the Mongols, Daulatabad appeared to be at a safe distance from the possible Mongol attacks in the future.

Muhammad bin Tughluq was the Sultan of Delhi from 1325 to 1351. He conquered greater part of south India and annexed it to the Delhi Sultanate. During his reign, he captured Kondhana or Singhara from Nag Nayak. Also, he was the first sultan who attempted for the administrative and cultural unity of the north and south India.

Mohammad-Bin- Tughlaq was succeeded by his cousin, Firoz Shah Tughlaq. He was an orthodox Muslim. He decided not to waste money on wars. He ruled according to Islamic law. He followed constructive policies. He was a great builder. He got repair work done and dug a number of canals from the Sutlej and the Yamuna rivers. He built a number of dams. Hundreds of wells were sunk. He set up hospitals for free treatment and built rest houses. He built a hundred sarais for the travellers and merchants.

Alauddin Khilji maintained a large standing army. He managed to raise such a large army by paying relatively low salaries to his soldiers and introduced market price controls to ensure that the low salaries were acceptable to his soldiers. 

Muhammad bin Tughlaq Shah received a good liberal education and was highly gifted and accomplished. He was well versed in logic, philosophy, mathematics, astronomy and physical sciences also had the knowledge of medicine and dialectics but he lacked practical common sense. 

Alauddin Khalji was the most powerful and successful ruler of Khalji dynasty. He was the first ruler of the Sultanate period who not only established his empire in the north but also in the south. During his reign sultanate reached its farthest extent.  In North he conquered Gujarat, Chittor, Ranthambhore etc. and in South, he conquered Devagiri, Warangal, Dwarasamudra, Madura etc.

Alauddin Khilji was the second and the most powerful ruler of the Khiji. His slave-general and commander Malik Kafur led multiple campaigns to the south India.

On 26th August 1303, Alauddin Khilji of the Khilji Dynasty attacked and captured Chittorgarh by defeating Ratan Singh in a historic battle. This was an unequal battle since Khilji’s army was much bigger than Ratan Singh’s army. After winning Khilji handed over the Chittorgarh to his son Khizr Khan.

Sultan Sikandar Lodi who moved his capital from Delhi to Agra in the year 1506. The first Mughal emperor to crown Agra as the capital of Mughal empire was Akbar in the year 1526. The capital of the Mughal empire was changed from Agra to Delhi by Shah Jahan in the year 1638.

In 1210, Qutub-ud-din Aibak died in an accident while he was playing polo. He fell from a horse and was severely injured. He was buried in Lahore near the Anarkali Bazaar.

Shamsuddin Iltutmish 1210 -1236 was known as the Slave of Slave because he was a slave of Qutub-ud-din-Aibak who was a slave of Sultan of Muhammad Ghor.

Malik Kafur was a prominent slave-general of the Alauddin Khalji. Kafur was Marhatta Hindu before entering the service of Khilji. He was captured by Alauddin's general Nusrat Khan, during the 1299 invasion of Gujarat, and get him converted to Islam.

Token currency was introduced in India for the first time by Muhammad bin Tughluq who was the eldest son of Ghiyas -ud -Din -Tughlaq founder of the Tughluq dynasty. The token currency had inscriptions marking the use of new coins instead of the royal seal and so the citizens could not distinguish between the official and the forged coins.

The Lodi dynasty was an Afghan dynasty that ruled the Delhi Sultanate from 1451 to 1526. It was the last dynasty of the Delhi Sultanate and was founded by Bahlul Khan Lodi when he replaced the Sayyid dynasty.

Alauddin Khalji was an ambitious and powerful ruler. To fulfill his ambition he needed a very large and strong army so he made some reforms to maintain his army.

Qutub-ud-din Aibak was known as Lakh Baksh or giver of lakhs. He was called so because of his generosity and gave liberal donations.

Alauddin Khalji was the first Muslim ruler of Delhi sultanate to conquer southern India. Under the leadership of his general, Malik Kafur, he conquered Devagiri, Warangal, Dwarasamudra, and Madura.

Answer- (A) Turkish nobles under Iltutmish

Answer - Muhammad Bin Tughlaq

• Qutubuddin Aibak - He was the first slave ruler of the slave dynasty He became the Sultan of Delhi in 1206 AD after the death of Muhammad Ghori
• Ittutmish - He was the son-in-law of Qutubuddin Aibak. After Aibak's death, he became the Sultan of Delhi in 1210 AD.
• Nasiruddin- After the death of Raziya Sultan he became the Sultan of Delhi in 1246 AD
• Balban- He became the Sultan of Delhi in 1266AD.

Muhammad bin Tughlaq had imposed taxes on Doab region but the time was wrong and his plan got failed. Along with this his plan of shifting capital got failed. 

Alauddin Khalji was an ambitious ruler. He needed a large army to complete his ambitious conquest. In order to maintain his large army, required money. For that, he fixed the prices of all commodities from the smallest to the biggest things. Besides price control, he kept an eye on prices or weight.

After conquering northern India Alauddin Khalji sent his army to conquer southern India under the leadership of Malik Kafur. Malik Kafur defeated Yadavas of Devagiri, Kakatiyas of Warangal, Hoyasalas of Dwarasamudra and the Pandayas of Madurai.

Alauddin Khilji was the only Muslim ruler who built the imperial empire in India. He extended the boundaries of Delhi sultanate beyond the Vindhyas up to the Deccan.  In the North, he conquered Gujarat, Malwa, Ranthambhore, Chittoor, and Jalore. In the south, his general Malik Kafur defeated rulers of Devagiri, Warangels, Hoysalas and Pandyas.

Muhammad bin Tughlaq introduced monetary reforms. During his reign, there was a shortage of silver so he decided to issue bronze and copper coins as a token currency. Later it was proved a blunder of his ruler life.

Mohammad bin Tughlaq shifted his capital from Delhi to Deogiri in 1327 and renamed it as Daulatabad. There were two reasons behind this step:-

Nalanda and Vikramshila were the two most important centers of learning in India during the Pala Empire. But in 1193  army led by the Turkish leader Bakhtiyar Khilji who was the general of Qutubuddin Aibak destroyed them.

Alauddin Khilji was the most powerful ruler of the Khilji dynasty. His Deccan policy and the battle of Chittor were famous in history. He was the first ruler who fixed the prices for articles and enforced them strictly. In his reign, each and every commodity were priced. This system was known as Market Control Policy.  He also started a subsidized rationing system.

The Sultan of Delhi who is reputed to have built the biggest network of canals in India was Firoz Shah Tughlaq . Canal system of Firoz Shah Tughlaq. To support the newly founded city of Hissar-i-Firoza, in 1355, he constructed a double system of canals from Yamuna to Sutlej.

Muhammad bin Tughluq was the Sultan of Delhi from 1325 to 1351. He created a department of agriculture known as Diwan-i-Kohi. The main object of the department was to increase the land under cultivation.

Alauddin Khilji was one of the powerful rulers of the Khiliji dynasty. He was the first sultan of Delhi who conquered southern India along with Northern part of India. He sent his large army under his able general, Malik Kafur to conquer the Southern part of India. From 1306 to 1311 A.D. Malik Kafur defeated, the Yadavas of Devagiri, the Kakatiyas of Warangal, the Hoyasalas of Dwarasamudra and the Pandyas of Madurai. The rulers of southern states were allowed to keep the throne on conditions of paying tribute to the sultan and accept his supremacy.

Muhammad-bin-Tughlaq who was the Sultan of Delhi from 1325 to 1351. He is also known as a 'Prince of Moneyera' because he carried out several monetary experiments like Introduction of token currency, issuing of several types of coins with the objective of facilitating exchange and circulation.

Firuz Shah Tughluq ruled from Delhi during the medieval period between 1351 and 1388. Firuz Shah, during one of his campaigns, was enthralled by the two spectacular monolithic Pillars by Ashoka and shifted the pillars from these places and got them erected in Delhi.

The Alai Darwaza and Jama'at Khana were the two principal monuments built by second Khalji Sultan of Delhi Ala-ud-din Khalji in 1311 AD at his capital Delhi. Alai Darwaza is the main gateway from the southern side of the Quwwat-ul-Islam Mosque. 

Balaban was also known as Ghiyas-ud-din. He ruled India as the Sultan of Delhi from 1266 to 1287 A.D. was one of the greatest Sultans of the Mediaeval period. 

Answer - (C) - Firuz Tughlaq - Invasion of Timur

Khizr Khan was the founder of the Sayyid Dynasty. He was a Sayyid, so this dynasty is called the Sayyid Dynasty. This dynasty ruled for 37 years. Khizr Khan was said to be a descendant of Prophet Muhammad.

Answer - (B) - 4,3,1,2

Bahlul Lodi was the founder of the first Afgan rule in India. In 1451 after defeating Sayyid ruler Alauddin Alam Shah Sayyid, he founded Lodi dynasty. Sikandar Lodi, Ibrahim Lodi were other rulers of this dynasty. This dynasty was bought to the end by Mughal ruler Babur after defeating Ibrahim Lodi in 1526 in the first battle of Panipat.

Iltutmish was third and greatest Delhi sultan of the Slave dynasty. He was a slave of Qutb-ud-din Aibak and later became his son-in-law. He shifted the capital from Lahore to Delhi, remained the ruler until his death on May 1, 1236.

The Lodi dynasty ruled the Delhi Sultanate from 1451 to 1526. Ibrahim Lodhi was the third and last ruler of Lodhi Dynasty. He was defeated and killed in the First battle of Panipat in 1526 by Babur. With the death of  Ibrahim Lodhi, Lodhi Dynasty ended.