The Delhi Sultanate

A Political and Military History

The Delhi Sultanate was the first Islamic state to be established in India. In a broad-ranging, accessible narrative, Peter Jackson traces the history of the Sultanate from its foundation in 1210 to its demise in 1400 at the sack of Delhi by the Central Asian conqueror, Tamerlane. During the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, the Sultanate was the principal bastion of Islam in the subcontinent. While the book focuses on military and political affairs, tracing the Sultanate's resistance to formidable Mongol invasions from the north-west and the administrative developments that underpinned these exploits, it also explores the Sultans' relations with their non-Muslim subjects. As a comprehensive treatment of the period, the book will make a significant contribution to the literature on medieval Indo-Muslim history. Students of Islamic and Indian history, and those with a general interest in the region, will find it a valuable resource.

The reign of Muhammad b. Tughluq throws up perhaps more problems than any
other in the history of the Sultanate. At the sultan's accession the authority of
Delhi was acknowledged over a larger area of the subcontinent than under any
previous monarch. It is to this process of expansion that Barani refers when he
describes the unprecedented scope and efficiency of the revenue department in
Muhammad's early years.1 And yet the reign appears to be dominated by an
extraordinary ...