Rajput resistance and the Turkish invasions

The late 12th century saw the Ghurid ruler Muhammad of Ghor defeat Prithviraj Chauhan at the Second Battle of Tarain (1192), after Prithviraj had defeated him at the First Battle of Tarain the previous year — the decisive turning point that opened the way for sustained Turkish rule in North India. Muhammad of Ghor’s slave general Qutb-ud-din Aibak went on to found the Delhi Sultanate’s first dynasty (the Mamluk or “Slave” dynasty) after Ghor’s death in 1206, ruling initially from Lahore before Delhi became the seat of power.

Delhi Sultanate: politics and the five dynasties

The Delhi Sultanate (1206–1526) is conventionally studied through five successive dynasties: the Mamluk/Slave dynasty (Qutb-ud-din Aibak, Iltutmish, Razia Sultana, Balban), the Khalji dynasty (Jalal-ud-din and, most significantly, Alauddin Khalji — known for market-control regulations and repelling Mongol invasions), the Tughlaq dynasty (Muhammad bin Tughlaq’s controversial transfer of capital to Daulatabad and token-currency experiment; Firuz Shah Tughlaq’s public-works and tax reforms), the short-lived Sayyid dynasty, and finally the Lodi dynasty (ending with Ibrahim Lodi’s defeat at the First Battle of Panipat, 1526, by Babur).

Delhi Sultanate: administration and economy

The Sultanate’s administrative structure centred on the Iqta system — land assignments given to nobles (muqtis/iqtadars) in exchange for maintaining troops for the Sultan, distinct from private ownership. Key central offices included the Diwan-i-Wizarat (finance), Diwan-i-Arz (military affairs, established prominently under Balban and expanded by Alauddin Khalji), and Diwan-i-Insha (royal correspondence). Alauddin Khalji’s market-control reforms (fixing prices for grain and other essentials to sustain a large standing army economically) are among the most frequently tested administrative episodes in this unit.

The Bhakti movement

The Bhakti movement — devotional worship emphasising a direct, personal relationship with the divine over ritual intermediation — had older South Indian roots (the Alvars and Nayanars) but spread across North India through figures like Kabir (a syncretic saint-poet challenging both Hindu ritualism and Islamic orthodoxy), Guru Nanak (founder of Sikhism), Chaitanya Mahaprabhu (Krishna-devotion in Bengal), Mirabai, and Tulsidas. The movement is broadly categorised into Saguna (worship of a deity with form, e.g. Rama, Krishna) and Nirguna (worship of a formless divine, e.g. Kabir’s teachings) strands.

The Sufi movement

Sufism, Islam’s mystical tradition, organised into silsilas (spiritual orders/chains) in India — most prominently the Chishti order (Moinuddin Chishti at Ajmer; Nizamuddin Auliya in Delhi, whose khanqah became a major centre of spiritual and cultural life) and the Suhrawardi order (more closely engaged with state power than the Chishtis, who deliberately kept a distance from court politics). Sufi practices like sama (devotional music) and the concept of fana (spiritual annihilation/union with the divine) are frequently tested terms.

Vijayanagara and the Bahmani Kingdom

Founded in 1336 by Harihara and Bukka, the Vijayanagara Empire became South India’s dominant power, reaching its peak under Krishnadevaraya (r. 1509–1529) of the Tuluva dynasty — also a noted patron of Telugu literature and author of Amuktamalyada. Its administrative system included the Nayankara system (military chieftains, Nayakas, holding land in exchange for troops, structurally comparable to the north’s Iqta system) and the Ayagar system at the village level. Its northern rival, the Bahmani Sultanate (founded 1347), eventually fragmented into five successor states (the Deccan Sultanates) in the early 16th century; the allied Deccan Sultanates decisively defeated Vijayanagara at the Battle of Talikota (1565).

Mughal Empire: politics and administration

Babur founded the Mughal Empire after Panipat (1526); after a temporary Sur interregnum under Sher Shah Suri (whose administrative reforms — including the Rupiya currency and the Grand Trunk Road’s revival — directly influenced later Mughal administration), Humayun’s son Akbar (r. 1556–1605) built the empire’s lasting institutional structure. Akbar’s Mansabdari system ranked nobles by dual numerical ranks (zat, personal status, and sawar, cavalry to be maintained) and underpins nearly every question on Mughal administration. His policy of Sulh-i-kul (“peace with all”) and the syncretic court order Din-i-Ilahi are frequently tested alongside his revenue reforms.

Mughal land revenue

Akbar’s finance minister Raja Todar Mal implemented the Dahsala system (also called the Zabt system) — average revenue rates calculated from the previous ten years’ crop prices and yields, assessed in cash. Related terms tested alongside it include Jagir (a revenue assignment, structurally descended from the Sultanate’s Iqta) and the broader Mansabdari-Jagirdari relationship connecting military rank to revenue entitlement.

Rise of the Marathas, and Mughal decline

Shivaji (coronated 1674) built the Maratha state on Deccan hill-fort strongholds, organising administration through the Ashtapradhan (a council of eight ministers) and funding the state through the Chauth and Sardeshmukhi levies claimed on neighbouring Mughal territory. Mughal central authority weakened sharply after Aurangzeb’s death (1707) amid Maratha expansion, regional governors’ growing autonomy, and repeated invasions (Nadir Shah, 1739; Ahmad Shah Abdali). The same period saw the rise of Sikh political power under the Sikh misls and, later, Ranjit Singh’s Punjab kingdom.

Quick-reference: dynasty vs. defining feature