Indian Sultanates

Madurai Sultanates

Madurai Sultanate was a short lived independent Muslim kingdom based in the city of Madurai  in Tamil Nadu, India. The sultanate was proclaimed in 1335 when the then viceroy of Madurai, Jalaluddin Ahsan Khan declared his independence from the Delhi Sultanate. Ahsan Khan and his descendants ruled Madurai and surrounding territories until 1378 when the last sultan, Ala-ud-Din Sikandar Shah fell in battle against the forces of the Vijayanagara Empire led by Kumara Kampana. In this short reign of 43 years, the Sultanate had 8 different rulers.

Sultans of Sind & Punjab

Qubacha was a slave under Muhammad bin Sam just as Iltutmash and Taj ud din Yildiz were. After the death of his master, he came to rule Sind. But when Iltutmash came to rule in Delhi, the picture took a different turn. Qubacha was in conflict with Yildiz and Iltutmash. In 1924, Jalal ud din Mingburnu inflicted a devastating defeat to Qubacha. Iltutmash used this opportunity to invade Sind in 1228. Qubacha tried to flee but failed. He either committed suicide or accidentally drowed in the Indus river. 
Nasir Al-Din Qubacha

GOLKONDA SULTANATE (AH 895-1098 , 1489-1687 AD)

The dynasty's founder, Sultan Quli Qutb-ul-Mulk, migrated to Delhi with his uncle, Allah-Quli, some of his relatives and friends in the beginning of the 16th century. Later he migrated south, to the Deccan and served the Bahmani sultan, Mohammad Shah. He conquered Golconda, after the disintegration of the Bahmani Kingdom into the five Deccan sultanates. Soon after, he declared independence from the Bahmani Sultanate, took the title Qutub Shah, and thus established the Qutb Shahi dynasty of Golconda. Abdullah Qutub Shah became king when he was just 12. He was the child of Sultan Muhammad Qutub Shah. It was during his regime when he faced Mughal invasions. The Mughal emperors raided Golconda in 1656 and the Qutb Shahi kingdom capitulated. Abdullah Qutub Shah breathed his last in 1672. Though the state was Islamic, some Hindus did rise to prominence in the Qutb Shahi state, the most important example being the ministers Madanna and Akkanna. The dynasty ruled Golconda for 171 years, until the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb conquered the Deccan in 1687.

Malwa Sultanate, AH 794-968 / A.D 1392-1561 

Malwa become independent of the Delhi sultanate following Timur’s invasion at the end of A.D 1398. The Governor of the province at that time was Dilawar Khan Gauri. When the Delhi sultan. Mahmud bin Muhammad, fled from his capital, Delhi. Dilawar Khan gave him asylum He never assumed the royal title nor struck coin in his own name, but was independent in all but name. His son Alp Khan, impatient to take over the reigns of power, had his father poisoned and, in A.D 1405 (A.H.808) ascended the throne under the title Husam al-din Hushang Shah.

Akbar sent an army to Malwa, which defeated the last king of Malwa sultan Baz Bahadur who was forced to flee in to Gondwana. This was in A.D 1562 (A.H 969) and independent sultanate of Malwa had finally come to an end.

Jaunpur Sultanate .A.H 796-898 / A.D 1393-1493 ,Sharqi Sultans 

The Jaunpur sultanate was an independent kingdom of Northern India between 1394 CE to 1479 CE, whose rulers ruled from Jaunpur in the present day state of Uttar Pradesh. The Jaunpur sultanate was ruled by the Sharqi dynasty. The Khwajah-i-Jahan Malik Sarwar, the first ruler of the dynasty was a wazir (minister) under Sultan Nasiruddin Muhammad Shah IV Tughluq (1390 – 1394 CE). In 1394 CE, he established himself as an independent ruler of Jaunpur and extended his authority over Awadh and a large part of Ganga-Yamuna doab. The dynasty founded by him was named so because of his title Malik-us-Sharq (the ruler of the east). The most acclaimed ruler of this dynasty was Ibrahim Shah. The last ruler Hussain Shah was overthrown by Bahlul Lodi, and Jaunpur sultanate was permanently annexed to Delhi sultanate by Sikandar Lodi.

Gujarat Sultanates ( 1396 -1583 AD )

 The Gujarat Sultanate was an independent kingdom established in AD 1396 ( A.H 798 ) in Gujarat. The founder of the ruling Muzaffarid dynasty, Zafar Khan (later Muzaffar Shah I) was appointed as governor of Gujarat by Nasir-ud-Din Muhammad bin Tughluq IV in 1391, the ruler of the principal state in north India at the time, the Delhi Sultanate. Zafar Khan defeated Farhat-ul-Mulk near Anhilwada Patan and made the city his capital. He declared himself independent in 1407. The next sultan, his grandson Ahmad Shah I founded the new capital Ahmedabad in 1411 on the banks ofSabarmati River, which he styled as Shahr-i-Mu'azzam (the great city). The prosperity of the sultanate reached its zenith during the rule of Mahmud Shah I Begada. In 1509, Portuguese wrested Diu from Gujarat sultanate following the Battle of Diu . Mughal emperor Humayun attacked Gujarat in 1535. The end of the sultanate came in 1573, when Akbar annexed Gujarat in his empire. Gujarat became a Mughal Subah. The last ruler Muzaffar Shah III was taken prisoner to Agra. In 1583, he escaped from the prison and with the help of the nobles succeeded to regain the throne for a short period before being defeated by Akbar's general Abdur Rahim Khan-i-Khanan.

Muzaffar shah II , 1511- 26 AD

Muhammad Shah III

Muhmmad shah II , 1442 -51 AD .1 1/2 Tanka

Nasir ud din Mahnud shah I 1411-1442 AD, Falus 

 Shams-Ud- Din Muzaffar Shah III 1560-73 AD, Tanka -Copper- 9.5 Grm

Kashmir Sultanates (A.D 1346-1586 ,A.H 747-994 )

 IN 1346 A.D , Shah Mirza ( Shah Mir) an adventurer from Swat, became a minister to the ruling Hindu ruler Ranjan and eventually succeeded in usurping the throne around A.H 747 (A.D 1345/47) adopting the title Shams-ud-din Shah, and founded  Sultanate dynasty  in Kashmir. The first coin was found of reign of Sikandar Shah (A.H 796-816 / A.D1393-1413) He was sixth ruler of Kashmir.
The State of Kashmir annexed by the Mughal Emperor Akbar in A.H 994 (A.D 1586) from then on, Kashmir become part of the Mughal Empire .

 

 

Khandesh Sultanates

 The Faruqi dynasty was the ruling dynasty of the Khandesh sultanate from its inception in 1382 till its annexation by the Mughal emperor Akbar in 1601. The founder of the dynasty, Malik Ahmad (also known as Malik Raja) participated in a rebellion against the Bahmani ruler Muhmmad Shah I in his early years. When he was compelled to flee from Deccan, he established in Thalner on the Tapti River (in present day Dhule district in Maharashtra). After receiving the grant of the fiefdoms of Thalner and Karanda (the present day Karwand, 19 km north of Thalner) from Firuz Shah Tughluq in 1370, he conquered the region around Thalner, which later became known as Khandesh (the land of the Khans)

Dehli Sultanate & their Coinage (1001) (1192 - 1526 A.D.)

                                 Ghaznavids In India

Early Muslim rulers of Sind and  Punjab.

Mahmud Ghazni ( 998-1030 AD) Mahmud of Ghazni a Turkish slave who vowed to undertake every year an expedition against the idolators of India, was the first to carry the banner of Islam into the heart of India and to  tread the path in which so many followed him . Mahmud began raiding the Indian territories on a regular basis between 1001 and 1021 A.D,and said to have raided 17 times  and  destroyed hundreds of Hindu temples and plundered dozens of Indian cities. The plunder taken was enormous : 548 pounds of pure gold from Mathura and 1260 elephants , 53000 human captives ,excluding diamonds ,etc .In January 1025 he plundered the famous temple of Somnath in Gujarath . He made no attempts to rule Indian territory except for the Punjab which was the gateway to India .He established  Ghaznavid province in Punjab, Sindh & Lahore  consistent with his Afghan territories in 1028 A.D.

He issued a  remarkable silver Dirham from Mahmudpur (Lahore) has a unique bilingual legend with the Kalima in Arabic on the obverse and its translation in Sanskrit on the reverse as “ avyaktameka muhammada avatar nripati mahamuda ” (The Invisible is One , Muhammad is the manifestation, Muhammad the King.) Marginal legend in Sanskrit as : avyaktiya name ayam tankam hato muhamuda samvati 418 (In the Name of Invisible , This tanka was struck at Mahmudpur 418 ” Most Islamic coins of India simply  carry legends in Persian .But this early Islamic coin reflects a more compromising attitude ,in that the local population is approached through the presence of Sanskrit on the coin 

Yamin ud daula Bahram-1118-52

He came to the throne executing Arsalan and then he finished his other brothers also. He lost Ghazni to the Ghur ruler and so had to shift capital to Lahore

      
                                                                    - Turks -

Muhammad Ghori (1192 -1206 AD) / Muhammad Bin Same

In 1192 AD Muhammad Ghori invaded India with large army and defeated Prithviraj Chauhan of Rajput Dynasty . this victory of Taraori gave Muhammad  northern India   almost to the gates of Delhi , Muhammad appointed  Qutb-ud- Din Aibak as his viceroy of his new conquests with a discretion to extend them .At the end of 1192 AD Aibak captured Delhi which was destined to be the capital of Islamic power in India . The dynasty of Muhammad Ghori is known as the slave dynasty ..

 Mahmud’s successors adopted the ‘Bull-and-Horseman’ type modifying it into a ‘Bull-and-legend’ type with the name of the ruler in Kufic Arabic script. 
The Ghaznavids were deposed by Ghorids in Ghazni and finally evicted from Lahore by the Ghorid brothers, Ghiyath-uddin and Muizz-uddin in 1186 A.D. Muizzuddin or Muhammad Ghori (known as Muhammad bin Sam on his coins) succeeded in laying down the foundations of the Dehli Sultanate by defeating Prithviraj Chauhan at the Battle of Tarrain in 1192 A.D. 
Muhammad bin Sam copied the ‘Bull-and-Horseman’ coin called Dehliwalas with either side devoted to Arabic inscriptions and issued them in billon and copper. Muhammad  also copied the Lakshmi type gold coin when he captured Kashi from Jayachandra, the famed rival of Prithviraj Chauhan, with the Nagari legend ‘Sri Mahamada bini saame’! In Bengal, his general Bakhthiyar Khilji initiated a new gold prototype with the obverse image of a charging Turkish horseman with a mace and the Nagari legend ‘Gaud Vijaye’ and a reverse Arabic inscription with Muhammad’s titles
Five different families followed the slave at Delhi  and all of them are collectively known as Sultans of Delhi .

These are scarce Bull and horseman Jitals issued by
Mu'izz ad-din Muhammad, (Muhammad Ghori ) who ruled Budaon subsequently, between 1195 and 1206 AD

Taj ud din Yildiz-1212-14  Taj ud din Yildiz became the ruler of Ghazna following the death of Muhammad bin Sam in 1206. When he lost his Kingdom he captured Lahore from Nasir ud din Qubacha. He claimed Delhi also when Iltutmash was ruling Delhi. He issued coins from Lahore between 1212 and 1214. He was defeated by Iltutmash and executed around 1216.
Iltutmash-1210-35 Qutb-ud-din Aibak died in 1206 in a Polo accident in his capital Lahore. Aram Shah acceded to the throne in Lahore in 1211 assisted by some nobles. When Iltutmish claimed the throne in Delhi, Aram Shah marched towards Delhi but was slain in battle at Bagh-i-Jud. In 1215-1216, Yildiz moved towards Punjab and captured Lahore from Qubacha and laid claim to the throne of Delhi. ltutmish defeated Yildiz at Tarain.  By 1220, Jalal ud din Mingburnu fled to the Punjab and captured Lahore and much of the Punjab. Iltutmash marched towards Lahore. Mingburnu retreated from Lahore and moved towards Sind and inflicted heavy defeat on Qabacha. He plundered Sindh and northern Gujarat and returned to Persia in 1224.  Iltutmash captured Sind and Multan defeating Qubacha who committed suicide drowning in Indus river after his defeat. He ruled as a persistent invader of surrounding kingdoms until his death in 1235.

Jalalat al-Din Radiyya (Raziyya) (1236–1240 AD)

Razia Sultana who succeeded her father Shams-ud-din Iltutmish to the Sultanate of Delhi in 1236 AD. Iltutmish became the first sultan to appoint a woman as his successor when he designated his daughter Razia as his heir apparent. Razia was the first and last female ruler of Delhi Sultanate (reigning from 1236 to 1240 AD).