The Delhi Sultanate: iqta, army and market reforms

Medieval history questions in UPSC rarely ask for a list of battles. They ask how rulers governed: how they paid their soldiers, collected revenue, controlled prices and kept nobles in check. The Delhi Sultanate (1206–1526) is where many of these institutions first took shape in north India, and several were refined later by the Mughals.

The five dynasties at a glance

The Sultanate ended when Babur defeated Ibrahim Lodi at the First Battle of Panipat in 1526.

Iltutmish and the foundations

Iltutmish (r. 1211–1236) is often considered the real consolidator of the Sultanate.

• He organised the iqta system on a wider scale.
• He introduced the silver tanka and the copper jital as the basic coins.
• He relied on a group of Turkish nobles, later known as the Chahalgani ("the Forty").
• He nominated his daughter Razia as his successor — she ruled from 1236 to 1240, the only woman to sit on the throne of Delhi.

The iqta system

The iqta was the central administrative institution of the Sultanate.

• An iqta was an assignment of the revenue of a territory to a noble or officer, called the muqti or iqtadar.
• In return, the muqti maintained troops for the Sultan and kept order in the territory.
• Iqtas were not hereditary in principle, and they could be transferred — a way of preventing nobles from building local power bases.
• Over time, the central government tried to audit iqta revenue and expenses; under the later Tughlaqs, iqtas tended to become hereditary, weakening central control.

Balban and the theory of kingship

Ghiyasuddin Balban (r. 1266–1287) set out to restore royal authority over the powerful Turkish nobility.

• He broke the power of the Chahalgani.
• He projected kingship as divine: the king as Zill-i-Ilahi ("shadow of God").
• He introduced Persian court customs such as sijda (prostration) and paibos (kissing the monarch's feet).
• He reorganised the military department, the Diwan-i-Arz, and relied on a network of spies.

Alauddin Khalji's reforms

Alauddin Khalji (r. 1296–1316) is the most important Sultan for administrative questions. Facing Mongol invasions, he needed a large standing army paid in cash — and he found ways to pay for it.

Military reforms

• A large standing army paid in cash, recruited and maintained directly by the Sultan.
• Dagh — branding of horses, to prevent substitution of poor horses at inspection.
• Chehra — a descriptive roll of each soldier, to prevent proxies.

Revenue reforms

• Land revenue fixed at half the produce, assessed on the basis of measurement of land.
• Attempts to reduce the privileges of rural intermediaries (khuts, muqaddams and chaudhuris), who had previously kept a share of the revenue.
• Additional taxes on houses and grazing.

Market reforms

To make it possible to pay soldiers modest salaries, Alauddin controlled the prices of essential goods in Delhi.

• Separate markets for grain, for cloth and costly goods, and for horses, slaves and cattle.
• Prices were fixed by the state and enforced by a market controller (shahna-i-mandi).
• Grain was stored in state granaries; merchants were registered; spies reported on violations; punishments for short-weighing were severe.

The chronicler Ziauddin Barani is the main source for these reforms, and historians debate how far they extended beyond Delhi and how long they lasted after Alauddin's death.

Muhammad bin Tughlaq: bold ideas, poor execution

Muhammad bin Tughlaq (r. 1325–1351) is remembered for ambitious experiments that failed:

Some historians see him as a visionary whose ideas were ahead of their time; others as an impulsive ruler. The Moroccan traveller Ibn Battuta, who served at his court, left a vivid account.

Firoz Shah Tughlaq: consolidation and welfare

Firoz Shah Tughlaq (r. 1351–1388) took a different approach:

• Extensive public works — canals (notably the Western Yamuna canal), towns such as Firozabad, and the repair of monuments.
• Welfare measures, including an employment bureau and a hospital.
• He imposed jizya on Brahmans, who had earlier been exempt, and followed a more orthodox religious policy.
• He made iqtas and many offices hereditary, which pleased the nobility but weakened the central state.

Why the Sultanate declined

• Weak successors after Firoz Shah and struggles among nobles.
• Hereditary iqtas and the growth of provincial power.
• Timur's invasion of 1398, which sacked Delhi.
• The rise of independent kingdoms — Bahmani, Vijayanagara, Jaunpur, Malwa, Gujarat, Bengal.

Legacy

Several Sultanate institutions carried forward: the idea of a paid, centrally inspected army (dagh and chehra returned under the Mughals); revenue assessment by measurement; the silver-based currency; and the practice of assigning revenue in lieu of salary, which evolved into the Mughal jagir.

Practice questions

1. Prelims-type: Who introduced the silver tanka? What were dagh and chehra?
2. Mains-type (150 words): Explain the iqta system. How did it change between the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries?
3. Mains-type (250 words): "Alauddin Khalji's market reforms were driven more by military needs than economic vision." Examine.