Delhi Sultanate — Set 4

Correct Answer: A. Firoz Shah Tughlaq

• **Diwan-i-Khairat** = Charity Department established by **Firoz Shah Tughlaq** for welfare. • Provided **financial aid for marriages** of poor Muslim girls, and supported widows and orphans. • Firoz was known for welfare work: canals, hospitals, free treatment, free education also provided. • 💡 Muhammad Tughlaq = Diwan-i-Kohi (agriculture); Alauddin = Diwan-i-Mustakhraj (revenue); both ≠ charity.

Correct Answer: D. Firoz Shah Tughlaq

• **Firoz Shah Tughlaq** built the maximum canals — most famous: **Western Yamuna Canal** (still used today). • Dug **5 major canals** total to supply water to farms — also built many gardens and rest houses. • Imposed **Haq-i-Sharb** (irrigation tax) = 1/10th of produce from canal-irrigated land. • 💡 Iltutmish, Alauddin, Ghiyasuddin — none built canals on this scale; Firoz = builder Sultan of Sultanate.

Correct Answer: D. Qutbuddin Aibak

• **Adhai Din Ka Jhonpra** in **Ajmer** was built by **Qutbuddin Aibak** — converted from a Sanskrit college. • Name means 'hut of two and a half days' — legend says it was built in just 2.5 days. • One of the **oldest mosques** in India — built on ruins of Vigraharaja IV's Sanskrit school. • 💡 Iltutmish = completed Qutub Minar; Firoz Tughlaq = Firozabad city; Alauddin = Alai Darwaza — not Ajmer mosque.

Correct Answer: A. Balban

• **Balban** destroyed the **Turkan-i-Chahalgani** (Group of Forty) to remove threats to the throne. • He himself was once a member — knew their power and internal politics intimately. • Eliminated key members through **exile, imprisonment, and assassination** — restored Sultan's absolute authority. • 💡 Iltutmish = organized the Chahalgani; Razia = undermined by it; Alauddin = had no Chahalgani threat.

Correct Answer: D. Balban

• **'Zill-i-Ilahi'** = Shadow of God on Earth — title assumed by **Balban** to claim divine authority. • Believed king was **Niyabat-i-Khudai** (Vice-regent of God) — demanded unquestioning obedience. • Also enforced **Sijda and Paibos** — distanced himself from nobles and commoners to appear godlike. • 💡 Muhammad Tughlaq = Wise Fool; Alauddin = Sikandar-i-Sani; Iltutmish = real founder — not Zill-i-Ilahi.

Correct Answer: B. Iltutmish

• **Iltutmish** institutionalized the **Iqta system** — land revenue rights given to officers (Iqtadars) as salary. • **Iqtadars** (holders) maintained law and order and supplied troops from their assigned territories. • Replaced by cash salaries under **Alauddin Khilji** — Alauddin paid soldiers directly from treasury. • 💡 Aibak = began Iqta informally; Balban = continued it; Alauddin = abolished Iqta for soldiers; Firoz = revived it.

Correct Answer: C. Balban

• **Diwan-i-Arz** = Military Department created by **Balban**, headed by **Ariz-i-Mumalik**. • Reorganized the army to better defend against **Mongol invasions** threatening northwest India. • Balban built a chain of forts and posted garrisons along **Delhi's frontier** to stop Mongols. • 💡 Iltutmish = Turkan-i-Chahalgani (nobles group); Alauddin = Hilyah/Dagh; Firoz = Diwan-i-Bandagan — not military dept.

Correct Answer: D. Alauddin Khilji

• **Alauddin Khilji** = first Sultan to pay soldiers **in cash** instead of Iqta land grants. • Fixed commodity prices (**Market Control Policy**) so soldiers could live comfortably on low cash wages. • Maintained **4–5 lakh soldiers** — the largest standing army of the Sultanate period. • 💡 Firoz Tughlaq = revived Iqta; Iltutmish = introduced Iqta; Balban = used Iqta — all paid via Iqta, not cash.

Correct Answer: C. Ziauddin Barani

• **Ziauddin Barani** wrote **'Tarikh-i-Firoz Shahi'** — covers Balban to early Firoz Shah Tughlaq period. • Barani was a courtier of **Muhammad bin Tughlaq** and then **Firoz Shah** — eyewitness to events. • Also wrote **'Fatwa-i-Jahandari'** (political treatise) — key medieval historical sources. • 💡 Minhaj-i-Siraj = Tabaqat-i-Nasiri; Amir Khusrau = Tughlaq Nama; Ibn Battuta = Rihla — not Tarikh-i-Firoz Shahi.

Correct Answer: C. Firoz Shah Tughlaq

• **Firoz Shah Tughlaq** founded the city of **Jaunpur** — named after cousin Muhammad bin Tughlaq (real name Jauna Khan). • Jaunpur later became **'Shiraz-e-Hind'** (Shiraz of India) — a major center of learning and culture. • The **Sharqi dynasty** (1394–1479) made Jaunpur prosperous after Tughlaqs declined. • 💡 Muhammad bin Tughlaq = capital moved to Daulatabad; Alauddin = built Siri; Iltutmish = Delhi capital.