The
Delhi Sultanate basically refers to the Muslim rulers who ruled India
through Delhi. This basically came into existence after Mohammed Ghori
captured Delhi after defeating Prithviraj. After Prithviraj was
captured, the Delhi Sultanate went into the hands of one of Ghori's
generals known as Qutub-ud-din Aibak. During the end of the 12th
century, he established a series of rulers and this dynasty was called
as the slave dynasty since the rulers had been military slaves. Read
more about the history of the Delhi sultanate in India. The extent of Delhi sultanate was till Bengal in the east and Deccan in the south. Even such a big sultanate faced constant threats from the North West and was also under pressure from internal politics within independent nobles. There was instability and unrest in the kingdom as there five dynasties that rose and fell which includes Slave dynasty, Khilji dynasty, Tughlaq dynasty, Sayyid dynasty and Lodhi dynasty. It was under the Khilji dynasty that most of South India was conquered. The territory was never fixed and depended upon the ability of the ruler as to how much was he able to conquer and control.
The effectiveness of a ruler during this time depended entirely upon his ability to conquer the places that fell near military highways and trade routes, collect land tax for revenue of the state and have firm authority over military and state governors. Agriculture and its related activities were the main source of livelihood in the kingdom but due to continued political unrest and instability, the peasants suffered greatly. During this time, Persian language developed to a great extent at the places where power was concentrated.
