Delhi Sultanate

Question 1

Influence of Islam on India

Answer 1

1. Social life - Brought visible changes to ceremonies, dresses, mannerisms etc. For ex. Purdah system became widespread among upper caste women, marriages became extravagant. New interests like perfumes and scents were introduced. New fabrics from Persia were picked up by Hindu rules and elites. Urdu as a common language became popular.
2. Relgion - Sufi Saints introduced elements of love, brotherhood and equality. These assimilated into the Bhakti movement later popularised by Kabir, Guru Nanak etc. Though against Hindu Caste system, Islam could not break it down completely.
3. Fine Arts - A new culture that gave lavish patronage to artisans came. Musicians like Tansen became court men and new styles such as Ghazal and Tarana were introduced giving Hindustani music a different flavour. Miniature paintings synonynmous with Mughal period later spread to different regions.
4. Architecture - Assed a distinct Persian touch through new features like Arch and Dome style, Char Bagh style later picked up by the British. Polished sone like marble or sandstone was used for the first time. Intricate geometrical design replaced human figures.
5. An influence to begin with, Islam soon assimilated completely into the Indian culture and co exists till date.

Question 2

Delhi Sultanate - Art and architecture

Answer 2

1. The art and architecture of the Delhi Sultanate period was distinct from Indian style. Turks introduced arches, domes, lofty towers.
2. For decoration, the turks used geometrical and floral designs instead of human and animal figures in Hindu temples. They also added hindu motifs like bell motifs, lotus, swastika etc.
3. They also added colour to their buildings by using marbles. They converted temples and otehr structures demolished into mosques. ex. Quwwat Ul Islam Mosque near Qutub Minar.
4. Qutub Minar was started by Qutub Ud Din Aibak and cimpleted by Iltutmish in the memore of the Sufi Saint Bhaktiyar Khaki.
5. Qutub Ud Din Aibak built the city of Dilli, Iltutmish built the city of Sultangurhi and Balban built the city of Kailagurhi.
6. The tomb of Balban is 1st example of true arch and is located at the archeological park in Mehrauli.
7. Allaudin Khilji built new fort and imperial township of Siri. In Siri, he built the palace of thousand pillars, Hauz i Illahi, a water tank.
8. The palace cum fortress complex of Tughlaqabad was constructed by Ghiyasuddin Tughlaq. Mohd Bin Tughlaq built the tomb of Ghiyasuddin Tughlaq ona high platform which marks a new trend in architecture for imposing skyline.
9. Lodhi gardens is the finest example of the synthesis of dome, arch, slam and beam.

Question 3

Literature

Answer 3

1. Literature was produced not only in Persian and Sanskrit but also in regional languages.
2. Many Muslim scholars from Persia and Central Asia fled away from there because of the Mongols and found shelter at the courts of Sultan Balban and Ala-ud-din Khalji.
3. Each of them participated in the enrichment of Persian literature and therefore, Delhi became one great centre of its learning.
4. Al-beruni’s Kitab-ul-Hind gave a vivid account of India and provides us valuable information regarding affairs of India in the eleventh century.
5. Minhaj-us-siraj served under Iltutmish’s royal patronage. The famous Tabbaqqat-i-nasiri is an important source of information.
6. Amir Khusrau, in prince Mohammad court, made use of Hindi words in his poems which was a novelty. He has written more than four lakhs couplets. He wrote a number of prose books most famous of them being Tughluq-nama. New musical instruments such as sarangi and rabab were introduced during this period. Amir Khusrau introduced many new ragas. He evolved a new style of light music known as qwalis by blending the Hindu and Iranian systems. The invention of sitar was also attributed to him. The famous Rajatarangini written by Kalhana belonged to Kashmir. Many Sanskrit works on medicine and music were translated into Persian.
7. Regional languages also developed during this period. Chand
   Baradi was the famous Hindi poet of this period. Bengali literature had also developed and Nusrat Shah patronised the translation of Mahabaratha into Bengali. The Bhakti cult led to development of Gujarati and Marathi languages. The Vijayanagar empire atronised Telugu and Kannada literature.

Question 4

Allauddin Khilji

Answer 4

1. Elimination of middle men - He levied no extra cess on the farmers and cut zamindars and landowners out of the loop from the tax system. He directly collected tax from the farmers and that left them free from the hands of zamindars.
2. Multiple market structures - Alauddin Khilji setup three markets in Delhi - One for food grains, another for cloth and expensive items like sugar, ghee, oil, and dry fruits etc, and a third one for horses, slaves and cattle. This decentralisation of market, in todays’s more organised setup is more pronounced, with specific items being sold in different markets.
3. Agriculture regulation - Khilji regulated agricultural markets. All the land was brought under Khalisa land and the land revenue was fixed at half the production value and measurement of the land. No extra duties were levied. Khilji’s agrarian reforms are said to have brought villages close to the government (Delhi Sultanat), and created a more integrated relationship between the town and the country.
4. Food price control - Khilji kept a tab on the prices of food by setting up a mechanism to control the supply of food grains from villages.
5. Crackdown on hoardings - Khilji set up royal stores in Delhi to maintain a suffecient stock of food grains so that traders did not try to create an artificial shortage to hike prices and indulge in profiteering.
6. He also kept a large standing army ranging from 100s to 1000s. He also banned drinking, gambling and drug consumption from the public view in the later years of his life.
7. He also defended India from the ravaging Mongols who controlled most of Asia back then. Mongols were utterly ruthless, divided into different tribes and attacked countries from multiple places.

Question 5

Mohammad Bin Tughlaq

Answer 5

1. Taxation in the Doab - The Sultan made a stupid budgetary examination in the Doab between the Ganges and Jamuna. He increased taxes in the doab region when a terrible famine was prevailing in the doab region.
2. Transfer of Capital - He shifted his capital to Daulatabad for administrative convenience. But instead of shifting his govt. officers alone he ordered all the inhabitants of Delhi to move to new capital with their bags. But soon, Delhi witnessed increasing expeditions.
3. Introduction of Token Currency - MBT chose to present Copper coins, which were to have the same worth as teh silver coins. But people started minting these coins in their backyard.
4. Khurasan Expedition - He wanted to win Khurasan and Iraq and raised a gigantic armed force for the reason. He paid regular taxes to his vast army for an year. But becaus eof certain difficulties he changed his idea and disbanded the army after an year. The disgusted soldiers began to plunder their own country.
5. He established a new agricultural dept and gave agricultural loans ‘takavi’ to farmers.