Empire · approximate1206 – 1526 · 320 years
Delhi Sultanate
The Turko-Afghan Muslim dynasties that ruled most of north India for three centuries before the Mughals.
What it was
A succession of five dynasties (Mamluk, Khalji, Tughlaq, Sayyid, Lodi) ruled from Delhi between 1206 and 1526. They repelled the Mongols, briefly conquered most of the south under Muhammad bin Tughlaq, and presided over the establishment of Indo-Islamic architecture and Sufi traditions across the subcontinent.
Why it mattered
The Sultanate established Persian as the language of administration in north India and laid the political and cultural groundwork the Mughals would build on.
From Wikipedia
The Delhi Sultanate or the Sultanate of Delhi was a late medieval empire primarily based in Delhi that stretched over large parts of the Indian subcontinent for more than three centuries. The sultanate was established in 1206 in the former Ghurid territories in India. The sultanate's history is generally divided into five periods: Mamluk (1206–1290), Khalji (1290–1320), Tughlaq (1320–1414), Sayyid (1414–1451), and Lodi (1451–1526). It covered large swaths of territory in modern-day India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, as well as some parts of southern Nepal.
Wikipedia: Delhi Sultanate·CC BY-SA 4.0
Borders & accuracy
Dashed borders mark empires whose extent we can date but whose precise frontiers are contested or undocumented.
- SOURCEreconstructed from Natural Earth country boundaries
- DETAILreconstructed-clipped-country
- SNAPSHOT1330
- POLITY TYPEstate
Wars of this empire18
Conflicts whose belligerents name this polity, best-documented first.
- Mughal Expansion in India1526–1605Major conflict · 2.0M dead
- Major conflict · 1.0M dead
- Delhi Sultanate Expansion1290–1320Significant · 500K dead
- Tughlaq Campaigns1325–51Significant · 300K dead
- Significant · 200K dead
- Timur's Invasion of Delhi1398–99Significant · 100K dead
- Wars of the Delhi Sultanate1206–1526Significant
- Mongol invasions of India1221–1327Significant
- Battle of Kili1299Significant
- Regional
- Battle of Lahore1241Regional
- Regional
- Regional
- Battle of Ravi1306Regional
- Regional
- Regional
- Regional
- Battle of Malda1354Regional
Open in the atlas →Seeks the timeline to 1206 and fits the map to these borders.
Cite as: Delhi Sultanate (1206 – 1526). War Atlas. https://waratlas.org/e/delhi-sultanate · Sources & methodology