Question : What measures did Balban adopt to combat the Mongol menace?
(2015)
Answer : The north-west frontier of India was unsafe. The fear of Mongol invasion was a standing menace to the stability of Delhi Sultanate.
The Mongol threat was a major preoccupation of Balban. Their constant attacks had created a sense of insecurity among the public, so Balban took many steps against Mongols.Balban adopted both military and diplomatic measures. Following steps were taken by Balban to combat the Mongol menace:
Diplomatic steps by Balban: Balban, as a naib, sent an ....
Question : Discuss in brief the land-revenue-system and judicial administration of the Delhi Sultanate.
(2015)
Answer : The Sultan was the highest judicial authority of Delhi Sultanate. He was a perfect autocrat with wide powers and unfettered authority. His power was based on two pillars-religion and military. As long as he was upholding the Quranic law he enjoyed enormous and supreme power. Of course, the entire matter depended on the personality and military strength of Sultan himself.
Nobody dared to challenge the powerful sultans like Ala-ud-din-Khilji and Muhammad-Bin-Tughluq. In fact there were no ....
Question : Trace the technological and stylistic development in the architecture of the Sultanate period.
(2014)
Answer : Art and architecture of Delhi Sultanate was the period when the Delhi Sultanate flourished in India. This period brought with it new styles of architecture and art to India which were quickly absorbed into the set up present previously. There are reasons for events to move in this direction. The new ideas and the existing Indian styles had several common features, thus enabling them to become accustomed to one another. Both mosque and temple possess ....
Question : Evaluating the theory of kingship of the Sultanate, discuss the deviations seen in the reigns of different Sultans.
(2014)
Answer : Perhaps more than elsewhere in the Muslim east, the political style of the rulers of Delhi reflected traditional concepts of Persian kingship, for Iltutmiš and his successors lacked any other obvious tradition to draw upon. Indigenous Rajput polities offered no meaningful exemplars. The Abbasid caliphate had provided a legitimizing mechanism, but its demise in 658/1258 left a mere fictive device. On the other hand, the culture of the courts of eastern Persia, that is, Samanid ....
Question : Analyze the steps taken by Razia Sultan to strengthen her position as an independent ruler despite various obstacles.
(2013)
Answer : Razia Sultan, the fourth emperor of the Slave Dynasty, who reigned from 1236 to 1240, has the unique distinction of being the only woman to occupy the throne of Delhi.
As a ruler, she refused to be addressed as sultana, because it meant “wife or consort of a sultan”, and insisted on being addressed as sultan. Iltumish would often say, “This daughter of mine is better than many sons.” Once when he was busy with the ....
Question : Critically evaluate the educational development during Sultanate period.
(2013)
Answer : After the establishment of the Delhi Sultanate in beginning of 13th century, the madrasah education developed much, and with the expansion of the Muslim state series of madrasahs were established in different parts of the country. This tradition got firmly established and further developed during the Mughal rule (1526-1857). In fact, it had been a popular practice on the part of Muslim rulers to make arrangements for the construction of mosques and setting up centers ....
Question : Examine critically the agrarian and economic reforms of Alauddin Khalji. How did it strengthen the Sultanate?
(2011)
Answer : The agrarian and economic reforms done by Allauddin was for strengthening the state. But it left a big question mark on the utilitarian aspect.
The tax collectors were instructed to extract money from every kind of pretext and with regard to Hindu chiefs and revenue collectors, special economic pressure (banned Kismat-i-Khote) was applied so as to grind them down to abject poverty. He ordered strict enquiry, audit and control on the accounts of the Iqtadars and ....
Question : What is your assessment of Ibn Batutah’s Rehla as an important source of Indian history.
(2011)
Answer : Ibn Batuta was one of the greatest travellors who visited India and left the useful account of the conditions prevailing in India during the reign of Mohammed Bin Tughlaq who appointed him as the Qazi of Delhi. During his stay of fourteen years, he collected a lot of information and compiled them in Kitab-ul-Rehla. In Rehla, he gives first hand information about Geography, social conditions and day to day life of the people.
He specially deals ....
Question : The ‘Corps of Forty’ and its relations with the Sultans.
(2004)
Answer : Qutbuddin Aibak who sucdeeded to the Indian territories of Muhammad Ghori had no greater right than the other nobles like Yalduz and Qubacha who asserted their independenqe and autonomy at Ghazna and Sind respectively. This was to be a feature of the early history pf the Sultanate. The Sultans needed the support of the nobility to establish and maintain them in power. For instance, lltutmish came to the throne with the support of the nobles ....
Question : Discuss Balban’s concept of kingship. How was it modified by Alauddin Khalji?
(2002)
Answer : The accession of Balban on the throne of Delhi Sultanate marked the beginning of a new era of strong, centralized government in which policy of blood and iron was the greatest principle of governance and political paramouncy. His kingship ideology was basically based on Iranian theory that the king was semi-divine and was only answerable to the God.
He underlined the theory that the sultan was the shadow of the almighty Zil-i-allah, and emphasised it by ....
Question : Give an estimate of Ghiasuddin Balban.
(1996)
Answer : Balban is regarded as the greatest of the slave rulers of Delhi. It is true that Altamash rendered an invaluable service to the infant Muslim empire in India and saved it at a time when it was being threatened from all sides. But for all his great work and invaluable service he can rightly be called the real founder of the Muslim empire in India. But to say that he was the greatest of the ....
Question : Balban’s theory of Kingship.
(1995)
Answer : Balban strove to increase the majesty of the Sultanate. Barni writes: “He never joked with anyone, nor did he allow anyone to joke in his presence: he never laughed, nor did he permit anyone in his court to laugh”. He maintained great pomp and splendour and behaved with great distances to witness the royal procession. In the royal court there was such an atmosphere of awe and majesty that the ambassadors who came to present ....
