Delhi Sultanate << DEHL ee SUHL tuh nayt >> was a Muslim military state that extended across much of what is now Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan from 1206 to 1526. The sultanate’s boundaries shifted, depending on its military strength, but it centered in the Ganges Valley and Punjab. Delhi was the capital. The sultans were of Turkic (central Asian) or Afghan background.
In the late 1100’s, Muhammad of Ghor, an Afghan Muslim king, seized much of northern India. In 1206, a sultanate was established at Delhi. During the 1200’s, the sultans successfully defended their territory from the remaining Hindu and Buddhist kings. They also prevented the Mongols, who had already conquered China and the Middle East, from conquering India.
During the 1300’s, the sultanate temporarily extended its power far into southern India. In 1398, however, the conqueror Timur (also called Tamerlane) looted and destroyed Delhi and massacred most of its people. Although the sultans regained Delhi after Timur left that same year, their former territory was split into regional kingdoms. Babur, a descendant of Timur, defeated the last sultan in 1526 and established the Mughal Empire.
During the sultanate, central Asian and Middle Eastern Muslims migrated to India to serve as soldiers, government or religious officials, or merchants. Holy men converted some Indians to Islam, the religion of the Muslims. Other Indians switched religions to improve their economic position. Most of the converts lived in the northwest and northeast, now Pakistan and Bangladesh.
