The Administration of the Sultanate of Dehli c7.78

c7.78

Religious belief and tradition, therefore, made allegiance to the caliphate a foregone conclusion when the sultanate of Dehlī was founded by Quṭb-u’d-dīn Aibak who assumed the royal dignity on 18th Dhu’l-Qa’dah 602 A.H.⁷ He received his insignia from Ghiyāth-u’d-dīn Maḥmūd, the nephew of his late lord and master, Mu‘izz-u’d-dīn Muḥammad bin Sām, it is true, and not from the caliph but there seems to have grown up a theory that what the caliph did not forbid, he permitted, for instances of rulers owning allegiance to the caliph and not receiving explicit recognition from him are too numerous to justify any other legal theory. It was certainly better to receive a diploma of investiture, but the jurists do not seem to have considered it essential. It should not be considered, however, that the suzerainty of the Abbasids remained unquestioned.