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the time of Sikandar Lodi s death (1517) and opposed Ibrahim
Lodi s accession; subsequently, he remained alienated. In 1523,
Daulat Khan invited Babur to advance into the Punjab, and Ibrahim
Lodi retaliated by evicting him from Lahore. In 1524, Daulat Khan
met Babur at Dipalpur but soon there was a rift between them over
sharing the territory in the Punjab. In 1526, when Babur again ad-
vanced into the Punjab, Daulat Khan submitted to him. He died in the
same year. Daulat Khan was a man of refined literary taste. His per-
sonal library was seized by Babur.
DAULATABAD. Town built by Muhammad bin Tughlaq
(1325 1351) during 1326 1330 at the site of old Deogir, the capital
of the Yadava rulers conquered by  Ala al-Din Khalji (1296 1316).
The court and a large part of the Delhi population shifted to
Daulatabad on Muhammad bin Tughlaq s orders in 1326 1327. One
obvious reason for this transfer was its central location. Some of the
contemporaries, however, ascribe to the eccentric sultan the motive
of causing hardships to the population of Delhi, who were suspected
by him of being hostile toward his person. Eventually the new capi-
tal was found unsuitable and the court returned to Delhi around
1335 1336.
DAYABHAGA. One of the two systems of Hindu family law regulating
the division of land and inheritance since the early medieval period.
According to the dayabhaga school, it was only on the death of fa-
ther that a son can claim rights to the property. See also MITAK-
SHARA.
DEBAL. One of the ports in the Indus delta along the west coast that
is frequently referred to in Arab geographers accounts. In
1182 1183, it was ruled by Sumera princes of Ismaili leanings who
were attacked and beaten by Mu izz al-Din Muhammad Ghauri.
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56 " DECCAN
Iltutmish received the submission of Chanisar, the prince of Debal,
after the suppression of Qubacha in 1227. It remained a part of the
Delhi sultanate until the middle of the 13th century.
DECCAN. The entire tract extending from the valley of the Narbada
River south to the Krishna-Tungbhadra Doab is vaguely referred to
in the medieval Indian historical texts as the Deccan. In the 11th cen-
tury, the northern part of the Deccan was controlled by the Yadavas,
blocking the Chola expansion in the northwesterly direction.
Marathi and Telugu were the two dominant languages of the region.
The kingdoms of the northern Deccan of the period 700 1200 were
in the nature of bridge kingdoms between the north and south. In the
northern Deccan, during the Turkish and Afghan rule, the influence
of Islamic culture found a free field. The Delhi sultanate s failure to
hold onto the Deccan led to abandoning the idea of the whole of the
subcontinent being administered from one center. After 1347, the
Deccan came to be controlled by the Bahmani kingdom from its cap-
ital first at Gulbarga and then Bidar.
DELHI. The city of Delhi (styled Dhillika in a Sanskrit inscription
dated 1328) was built by the Tomaras in the region of Haryana. The
Tomara rulers had paid tribute to the Chahamanas of Ajmer since
the middle of the 12th century. After the defeat of the Prithviraja
Chahamana III and his allies in the second battle of Tarain (1192),
a permanent Ghaurid military camp was established near Delhi at In-
draprasta (Indrapat). On this occasion, Delhi proper was granted by
Mu izz al-Din Muhammad Ghauri to a surviving prince of the
Tomara dynasty as a tributary. Sometime later, it passed to Ghaurid
control. On Qutb al-Din Aibak s death at Lahore in 1210 1211, the
Ghaurid officers present at Delhi invited Iltutmish, then comman-
dant of Baran (Bulandshahar), to come and take power in his hands
there, which marked the creation of the Delhi sultanate.
DELHI SULTANATE. After the defeat of Prithviraja III in the sec-
ond battle of Tarain (1192), the territories annexed to the Ghaurid
Empire in north India came to be administered from Delhi. The rise
of Iltutmish (1211 1236) as the sovereign ruler (sultan) of Delhi
duly recognized by the Abbasid caliph in 1229 may be treated as the
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DEVARAYAII " 57
foundation of Delhi sultanate. It was ruled successively by four dy-
nasties. Two of them were founded by slaves, Shams al-Din Iltutmish
(accession 1211) and Ghiyas al-Din Balban (accession 1266). The
Khaljis (1290 1320) and Tughlaqs (1320 1412) were the other two.
During the 14th century, the Delhi sultanate came to control almost
the entire Indian subcontinent. It also succeeded in checking the ad-
vance into north India of the Mongol hordes located in Central Asia
and Iran.
To begin with, the nobility of the Delhi sultanate comprised mainly
the Persian-speaking Tajiks and the Turkish slaves. Among them, the
latter were more influential. During the 14th century, there came to be
included many nobles not necessarily of Turkish or Tajik origin. In-
dian coverts to Islam were also accommodated as well as Hindu war-
rior elements (rautas), who had a long tradition of military service.
Ziya Barani s perception of the rise of the  lowborn under Muham-
mad bim Tughlaq (1325 1351) seems to reflect this tendency.
A system of land assignments and military organization rooted in
the institution of iqta contributed to a high degree of centralization
within the Delhi sultanate. Two hundred years of its rule gave rise to [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]