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Delhi Sultanate

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A run of five Muslim dynasties that ruled northern India from Delhi between 1206 and 1526. It repelled several Mongol invasions, was sacked by Timur and fell to Babur at Panipat.

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Key events

  1. – Work on the Qutb Minar, a red sandstone tower 72.5 metres high, begins under Aibak around 1199 and is completed about 1220 under IltutmishDisputed

    UNESCO dates the tower only to the early 13th century. Wikipedia gives the start as 1199 under Aibak and completion about 1220 under Iltutmish. Later sultans repaired and added to the upper floors, notably Firuz Shah Tughlaq after a lightning strike in 1369.

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  2. Qutb al-Din Aibak, a former slave and general of Muhammad of Ghur, takes power in Delhi after his master's assassination in 1206 and starts the Mamluk lineDisputed

    Britannica credits Aibak's successor Iltutmish (reigned 1211–36) with establishing the independence of the Delhi sultanate from the Ghurids, so what counts as the founding is a matter of definition.

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  3. – Razia, daughter of Iltutmish, rules in Delhi as sultan, the only woman to hold the throne

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  4. – Alauddin Khalji's forces defeat Mongol invasions: a Mongol army is beaten at Kili in late 1299, and in 1303 another besieges Delhi for over two months but cannot breach his camp at Siri and withdraws

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  5. – Muhammad bin Tughluq moves the capital from Delhi to Daulatabad in the Deccan in 1327, with a large and in some cases forced migration, then returns it to DelhiDisputed

    Britannica dates the move to 1327; Wikipedia dates the return to Delhi to 1335. Historians differ on the exact years and on how many people were forced to go.

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  6. Timur defeats the sultan's army and sacks Delhi in December 1398, then enslaves its artisans and withdraws to Samarkand

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  7. Babur defeats and kills the last Lodi sultan, Ibrahim, at the First Battle of Panipat on 21 April

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