The Delhi Sultanate Period

The Delhi Sultanate Period, 1206 to 1526, spanned five successive dynasties, the Mamluk, Khalji, Tughlaq, Sayyid and Lodi, that ruled much of the Indian subcontinent from Delhi following the establishment of Muslim rule in northern India by Qutb al-Din Aibak. The Sultanate repelled repeated Mongol invasions, extended Muslim political control deep into southern India under the Khalji and Tughlaq rulers, and left a lasting architectural legacy, including the Qutb Minar, while overseeing a long period of cultural exchange between Islamic and Indian traditions that shaped the region's language, art and religious life. Weakened by Timur's devastating sack of Delhi in 1398 and by fragmenting regional power, the Sultanate was finally overthrown in 1526 when Babur defeated the last Lodi sultan at the First Battle of Panipat and founded the Mughal Empire.