[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Studies](https://indike.org/pramana/ins) › [General history and culture](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general) › [The Sultanate of Delhi, 711–1526 A.D.](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.srivastava-1950) › c19.s7.3 # The Sultanate of Delhi, 711–1526 A.D. c19.s7.3 The Sultanate of Delhi, 711–1526 A.D. c19.s7.3 - **Language:** English ### [c19.s7.3](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.srivastava-1950.c19.s7.3) It is, however, universally admitted that Ala-ud-din was a very brave soldier and a successful general. His basic qualities were ambition, energy, courage, daring and resourcefulness. He could command the most faithful service from his subordinates and make them serve his interest. He was, besides, an able administrator and statesman. He was possessed of originality of a high order. He did not rest satisfied with administering the institutions that came to him as an inheritance from his predecessors; he was anxious to reform them. He even brought new institutions into existence for the benefit of himself and his kingdom. He was the first Turkish Sultan of Delhi to lay the foundation of a powerful standing army and to do away with corruption that had crept into the organisation. To him belongs the credit of being the first Turkish ruler in the land to reform the revenue rules and regulations and to introduce a system of measurement as a preliminary to fixing the State demand of the produce of the soil. He was, again, the first to revolutionise the conservative branch of revenue administration by his successful policy of putting an end to the privileges of the hereditary revenue officers and assignees of land. His successful control of the market and the tariff system had no parallel before or after him throughout the medieval period of our country's history. He was, also, the first Turkish conqueror who set his foot beyond the Vindhyachala mountains. He subjugated the whole of the Dakhin, making it subservient to the crown of Delhi. He thus gave political unity to almost the whole of the sub-continent of India. He completed Balban's work of consolidation by bringing the provinces under a more rigorous control of the central government and giving the Sultanate some measure of administrative uniformity. He had the wisdom and the courage to brush aside the interference of the Muslim \*ulema\* in the affairs of the State and to avow openly that in political and administrative matters secular considerations alone must prevail. Such an attitude was unknown to all his predecessors on the throne of Delhi. - [Previous: c19.s7.2](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.srivastava-1950.c19.s7.2) - [Next: c19.s7.4](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.srivastava-1950.c19.s7.4) - [Up: c19.s7](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.srivastava-1950.c19.s7) --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.srivastava-1950.c19.s7.3](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.srivastava-1950.c19.s7.3) · Pramāṇa