Delhi Sultanate
Islam takes northern India
The Ghurid Aftermath
a manumitted slave-soldier proclaims himself sultan and begins the Qutb Minar
1206–1236
Razia and the Slave Dynasty
the only female sultan, the iron rule of Balban, and the Mongol threat at the frontier
1236–1290
The Khalji Imperial Moment
Alauddin Khalji defeats six Mongol invasions, raids Madurai, and runs the medieval world's most ambitious price-control economy
1290–1320
The Tughlaq Catastrophes
Muhammad bin Tughlaq's brilliant disasters wreck the empire he inherited
1320–1388
The Timurid Sack and the Sayyid Hangover
Timur destroys Delhi in three days and the Sultanate becomes a city-state
1398–1451
The Bhakti and Sufi Revolution
Nizamuddin Auliya, Amir Khusrau, Kabir, Mirabai, Guru Nanak — the cultural synthesis that outlasted the dynasties
1300–1525
The Lodi Afghans and the Provincial Sultanates
the first non-Turkic dynasty, the breakaway sultanates, and Vijayanagara as Hindu counterweight
1451–1526
Panipat 1526 and the End
Babur's matchlocks and field guns end the Sultanate and begin the Mughal Empire
1526