Delhi Sultanate - Quiz

Aram Shah was the second sultan of the Mamluk dynasty of the Delhi Sultanate. He reigned from 1210 to 1211.

The relationship of Aram Shah with Qutb al-Din Aibak (the first sultan of Delhi, who ruled from 1206 to 1210) is a subject of controversy. According to some, he was Aibak's son, but Minhaj-i-Siraj distinctly writes that Qutb al-Din only had three daughters. Abul Fazl has made the "astonishing statement" that Aram Shah was Qutb al-Din's brother. A modern writer has hazarded the opinion that "he was no relation of Qutb al-Din" but was selected as his successor as he was available on the spot.

Shams ud-Din Iltutmish (r.1211-1236) was the third ruler of the Delhi Sultanate, belonging to the Mamluk dynasty. Iltutmish consolidated the position of the sultanate in the Indian subcontinent.

He conquered Multan and Bengal from contesting rulers, and Ranthambhore and Siwalik from their rulers.

Shams ud-din Iltutmish founded the Delhi Sultanate and much strengthened the power of the slave dynasty and of Islam in the India, although his kindred and heirs were not as politically gifted, with no ruler comparable to him in the area until the time of Ghiasuddin Balban.

Iltutmish changes the capital Lahore to Delhi

We know of Firuz Shah Tughlaq in part through his 32-page autobiography, titled Futuhat-e-firozshahi. He was 45 when he became Sultan of Delhi in 1351. He ruled until 1388. At his succession, after the death of Muhammad Tughlaq, he faced many rebellions, including in Bengal, Gujarat and Warangal. Nonetheless he worked to improve the infrastructure of the empire building canals, rest-houses and hospitals, creating and refurbishing reservoirs and digging wells. He founded several cities around Delhi, including Jaunpur, Ferozpur, Hissar, Firuzabad, Fatehabad. Most of Firozabad was destroyed as subsequent rulers dismantled its buildings and reused the spolia as building materials, and the rest was subsumed as New Delhi grew.

Explanation: Mongolian raids on West and Central Asia set the scene for centuries of migration of fleeing soldiers, intelligentsia, mystics, traders, artists, and artisans from those regions into the subcontinent, thereby establishing Islamic culture there.

Explanation: The Tughlaq dynasty ruled most of the Indian subcontinent under Muhammad bin Tughluq and reached the peak of its geographical reach during his reign.

Explanation: Ibrahim Lodi was the last Sultan of Delhi before the Mughal conquest in 1526.

Explanation: The Ghurid Sultan Mu'izz ad-Din Muhammad Ghori (commonly known as Muhammad of Ghor) began a systematic war of expansion into north India in 1173.

Explanation: Alauddin Khilji was the first ruler of the Khilji dynasty in the Delhi Sultanate, which ruled from 1290 to 1320.

Explanation: The Delhi Sultanate was a Muslim kingdom, and Islam was the primary religion of the rulers and the majority of the population.

Explanation: Mahmud of Ghazni raided and plundered kingdoms in North India from east of the Indus river to west of Yamuna river seventeen times between 997 and 1030.