The book represents the first comprehensive history of the Delhi Sultanate from 1210-1400.

Wonderfully well researched . . . engrossing, enlightening' The Hindu The Delhi Sultanate period (1206-1526) is commonly portrayed as an age of chaos and violence-of plundering kings, turbulent dynasties, and the aggressive imposition of Islam on India. But it was also the era that saw the creation of a pan-Indian empire, on the foundations of which the Mughals and the British later built their own Indian empires. The encounter between Islam and Hinduism also transformed, among other things, India's architecture, literature, music and food. Abraham Eraly brings this fascinating period vividly alive, combining erudition with powerful storytelling, and analysis with anecdote.

This book provides an integrated view of the Delhi Sultanate government from 1206 to 1526. It is divided into two parts. The first part deals with the political events and the dynastic history of the Sultans and the second part with the administration, different land issues, social life including two major religious movements and other cultural aspects including architecture and sculpture. The growth of the city of Delhi has been shown here perhaps for the first time. Most of the books on Delhi Sultanate mainly narrate the political events. Here other aspects have been included to show the real character of the Sultanate. It may be mentioned that the English officials from the end of the eighteenth Century had termed the medieval period of India as a ‘dark age’ – a statement that has been accepted by several Indian writers. It is to negate this view that an integrated narrative has been provided here. Please note: Taylor & Francis does not sell or distribute the Hardback in India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka

From the beginning of the 2nd millennium AD northern India began to fall under the sway of a number of Muslim-Turkic rulers who, at the start of the 13th century, founded the series of dynasties known to history as the Delhi Sultanate. For three centuries these sultans expanded their territory, which led to a dramatic rise in the number of fortifications throughout the subcontinent. This period is the defining age of the Indian castle and the combined influence of the Islamic and Hindu architectural tradition lends these fortifications a unique style. This book covers all the major sites of the period including the fabled seven medieval cities on the site of the present-day city of Delhi.

The Delhi Sultanate ruled northern India for over three centuries. The era, marked by the desecration of temples and construction of mosques from temple-rubble, is for many South Asians a lightning rod for debates on communalism, religious identity and inter-faith conflict. Using Persian and Arabic manuscripts, epigraphs and inscriptions, Fouzia Farooq Ahmad demystifies key aspects of governance and religion in this complex and controversial period. Why were small sets of foreign invaders and administrators able to dominate despite the cultural, linguistic and religious divides separating them from the ruled? And to what extent did people comply with the authority of sultans they knew very little about? By focusing for the first time on the relationship between the sultans, the bureaucracy and the ruled Muslim Rule in Medieval India outlines the practical dynamics of medieval Muslim political culture and its reception. This approach shows categorically that sultans did not possess meaningful political authority among the masses, and that their symbols of legitimacy were merely post hoc socio-cultural embellishments.Ahmad's thoroughly researched revisionist account is essential reading for all students and researchers working on the history of South Asia from the medieval period to the present day.