Editing History of India (section)

=== Delhi Sultanate ===
{{Main|Delhi Sultanate}}
The Delhi Sultanate was a series of successive Islamic states based in Delhi, ruled by several dynasties of varying origins. The polity ruled over large parts of the Indian subcontinent from the 13th to early 16th centuries.<ref name="delhi">[https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/156530/Delhi-sultanate Delhi Sultanate], ''[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]''</ref> The sultanate was founded in the 12th and 13th centuries by Central Asian Turks, who invaded parts of northern India and established the state atop former Hindu holdings.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sfusd.k12.ca.us/schwww/sch618/Ibn_Battuta/Battuta's_Trip_Seven.html|title=Battuta's Travels: Delhi, capital of Muslim India|last=Bartel|first=Nick|year=1999|website=The Travels of Ibn Battuta – A Virtual Tour with the 14th Century Traveler|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100612001214/http://www.sfusd.k12.ca.us/schwww/sch618/Ibn_Battuta/Battuta%27s_Trip_Seven.html|archive-date=12 June 2010|url-status=dead}}</ref> The subsequent [[Mamluk dynasty (Delhi)|Mamluk dynasty]] of Delhi managed to conquer large areas of northern India. The [[Khalji dynasty]] conquered much of central India while forcing the principal Hindu kingdoms of South India to become [[vassal state]]s.<ref name="delhi" />

The sultanate ushered in a period of Indian cultural renaissance. The resulting "Indo-Muslim" fusion of cultures left lasting syncretic monuments in architecture, music, literature, religion, and clothing. It is surmised that the language of [[Urdu]] was born during the period of the Delhi Sultanate. The sultanate was the only Indo-Islamic state to enthrone one of the few female rulers in India, [[Razia Sultana]] ({{reign|1236|1240}}).

While initially disruptive due to the passing of power from native Indian elites to Turkic Muslim elites, the Delhi Sultanate was responsible for integrating the Indian subcontinent into a growing world system, drawing India into a wider international network, which had a significant impact on Indian culture and society.{{sfn|Asher|Talbot|2006|pp=50–52}} However, the Delhi Sultanate also caused large-scale destruction and desecration of temples in the Indian subcontinent.<ref>Richard Eaton (2000), [https://web.archive.org/web/20150406011408/http://jis.oxfordjournals.org/content/11/3/283.extract Temple Desecration and Indo-Muslim States], Journal of Islamic Studies, 11(3), pp. 283–319</ref>

The [[Mongol invasions of India]] were successfully repelled by the Delhi Sultanate during the rule of [[Alauddin Khalji]]. A major factor in their success was their Turkic [[Mamluk]] slave army, who were highly skilled in the same style of nomadic cavalry warfare as the Mongols. It is possible that the Mongol Empire may have expanded into India were it not for the Delhi Sultanate's role in repelling them.{{sfn|Asher|Talbot|2006|pp=50–51}} By repeatedly repulsing the Mongol raiders,{{sfn|Ludden|2002|p = 67}} the sultanate saved India from the devastation waged on West and Central Asia. Soldiers from that region and learned men and administrators fleeing Mongol invasions of Iran migrated into the subcontinent, thereby creating a syncretic Indo-Islamic culture in the north.{{sfn|Asher|Talbot|2006|pp = 50–51}}

A [[Turco-Mongol]] conqueror from Central Asia, [[Timur]] (Tamerlane), attacked the reigning sultan [[Mahmud Shah II|Nasir-u Din Mehmud]] of the [[Tughlaq dynasty]] in Delhi.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gardenvisit.com/travel/clavijo/timurconquestofindia.htm|title=Timur – conquest of India|website=Gardenvisit|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071012090047/http://gardenvisit.com/travel/clavijo/timurconquestofindia.htm|archive-date=12 October 2007}}</ref> The sultan's army was defeated on 17 December 1398. Timur entered Delhi and the city was sacked, destroyed, and left in ruins after Timur's army had killed and plundered for three days and nights. He ordered the whole city to be sacked except for the [[sayyid]]s, scholars, and the "other Muslims" (artists); 100,000 war prisoners were said to have been put to death in one day.<ref>{{cite book|title=The History of India As told By Its Own Historians Vol III|author=Elliot & Dawson|pages=445–446}}</ref> The sultanate suffered significantly from the sacking of Delhi. Though revived briefly under the [[Sayyid dynasty|Sayyid]] and [[Lodi dynasty|Lodi]] dynasties, it was but a shadow of the former. Lodi rule lasted in Delhi until the defeat of the last sultan, [[Ibrahim Khan Lodi]], [[First Battle of Panipat|in 1526]] to the forces of [[Babur]].<ref>{{Encyclopaedia Islamica|title=Delhi Sultanate|url=https://referenceworks.brill-com/display/entries/ISLO/COM-037181.xml?rskey=FlvuV6|first1=Huda Seyyed|last1=Hussein-zadeh|first2=Isabel|last2=Miller|translator-first=Mushegh|translator-last=Asatryan|date=2018}}</ref>

{{Gallery|align=center
|width=180|File:Qutb minar ruins.jpg|[[Qutb Minar]], a [[UNESCO World Heritage Site]], whose construction was begun by [[Qutb ud-Din Aibak]], the first Sultan of Delhi.
|File:Nizamuddin Dargah and Jamaat Khana Masjid, Delhi.jpg|[[Dargah]]s of [[Suffism|Sufi]]-saint [[Nizamuddin Auliya]], and poet and musician [[Amir Khusro]] in Delhi.
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