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Establishment of The Delhi Sultanate Module - II

Military History of
Intext Questions 5.3 Medieval India

1. What was the name of the Minister under whom the new war ministry was
created?

2. How did reorganization of the military take place?
Note

5.3 Weakening of Delhi Sultanates

Weakening of Sultanate Empire took place for several reasons. It started from the
Tughlaq dynasty itself. It is important to note that unsuccessful campaigns contributed
to the weakening of the empire. For example, the invasion of Timur by the successors
of Tughlaq led to desolation and to several regions demanding autonomy from the
authority of Delhi. Gujarat, Malwa, Punjab and Rajasthan, which were once annexed
and controlled by the Sultans, no longer remained so and they started agitating for
more power and autonomous status.
The second reason was frequent internal power struggle leading to revolts from within
the Sultanate which threatened internal stability. Many times succession of rulers was
not peaceful. Deceit and treachery were common among the royal family where brothers
and descendents attempted to capture power by killing and using other treacherous
means. In fact, this was a common phenomenon in every dynasty.
The third reason was the problem of maintaining large standing army. Salary and payment
issues affected the continuation of large army in due course of time. It placed a financial
burden on the state leading to either levying more taxes on the people or collecting
taxes from neighboring chieftains who refused to pay at times. So they had to conquer
neighboring territories for wealth, which in turn drained their own wealth.
The fourth reason was the failure to control the free-floating mercenaries, who were
hired for money. These mercenaries sold their services to whoever paid more money.
The availability of such mercenaries led to more rebellions as the smaller kings used
these soldiers to rebel against the Sultan.
And finally, internal rebellions contributed to further weakening of the empire. For
example at the time of last of the Delhi Sultanate rule under Ibrahim Lodhi (1517 -
1526) rebellions by his own brother Jalal Khan and others elsewhere led to
dissatisfaction inviting foreign conquest by Babur who defeated Lodhi at the first battle
of Panipat in 1526 and establishing the Mughal rule in India.

Intext Questions 5.4

1. Who are the mercenaries?
2. Explain any three reasons for the weakening of Delhi Sultanate rule.

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