The Administration of the Sultanate of Dehli c7.1

c7.1

THE division of time into epochs is but a historical convention; for life never stands still. No change, however fundamental, overtakes a people in a moment; every revolution in human affairs is only the culmination of long simmering forces. Yet, humanity would lose its way in the expanse of time without landmarks. In the history of India, the foundation of the sultanate of Dehlī is one; the restoration of Humāyūn is another. It was in 1193 that Qutb-u'd-dīn Aibak captured Dehlī and made it his headquarters as the viceroy of his royal master, Sultān Mu'izz-u'd-dīn Muhammad bin Sām of Ghūr; but officially the sultanate came into existence in 1206, when the viceroy became the first independent sultan of Dehlī. There was a succession of Turkish, Sayyid and Afghān dynasties until the hereditary Mongol foe, now a brother Muslim and led by the cultured prince, Bābur, entered the domains of Ibrāhīm Lodī at the invitation of disaffected nobles and established the first Mughal empire in 1526. The sultanate was, however, revived by Sher Shāh Sūr in 1539-40; but Humāyūn watched his opportunity and for once in his life, he seized it and re-established himself at Dehlī in 1555.