Founding of the Delhi Sultanate

Timeline

1. 1206–1210Delhi · DelhiQutb al-Din Aibak declared independence at Lahore, establishing a sultanate administration centered on the Mamluk military elite and continuing the Ghurid control network over northern India; he built a mosque and the Qutb Minar in Delhi, laying down the model of symbolic capital construction under Islamic rule.
2. 1211–1220Delhi and the North Indian plains · Northern IndiaAfter acceding in 1211, Iltutmish defeated rival separatist forces such as Yagi Beg and Kutlugh Timar, unifying the sultanate's territory; around 1220 he refused the Khwarazmshah's demand for submission, consolidating an independent diplomatic position and perfecting the iqta land-grant and standing-army systems.
3. 1220–1526Northern India · Northern IndiaFrom Iltutmish's late reign through his successor dynasties, the Mamluk custom of electing sultans continued, with Islamic law and Indian local customs governing side by side, and Delhi became the political and economic center of northern India; through the Khalji, Tughluq, Sayyid, and Lodi dynasties, until 1526 when Ibrahim Lodi was defeated at Panipat and the Mughal Empire replaced the sultanate.