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commodities were made cheap. He took keen He was the advisor of the Sultan in the adminis-
interest in agriculture.
The Lodis built tombs in gardens. The Mughals
later adopted this style.
IBRAHIM LODI (1517-1526)
Sikandar Shah was succeeded simultaneously by
his two sons Ibrahim on the throne of Agra and
Jalal on the throne of Jaunpur. Later, Ibrahim
killed Jalal and succeeded his father. There were
many revolts during his reign; Bihar declared its
independence under Dariya Khan Lohani. His
repressive policy towards the Lohani, Formuli
and Lodhi tribes and his unsympathetic treat-
ment of Dilawar Khan, the governor of Lahore,
turned the nobles against him. Daulat Khan
Lodhi (father of Dilawar Khan) and Alam Khan
invited Babu, the Timurid ruler of Kabul, to
invade India.
In the first battle of Panipat (1526 AD), Babur
defeated Ibrahim and killed him. He became the
master of Delhi and Agra. This puts an end to the
Sultanate and the rise of Mughal dynasty in
India.
THE SULTANATE ADMINISTRAITION
Central Administration
The Sultanate government was a centralised
entity having democratic nature of an Islamic
State. The Sultan used to appoint numerous
ministers. At the time of Slave dynasty, there
were four ministers: the Wazir, the Ariz-i-
Mamalik, the Diwan-i-Insha, and the Diwan-i-
Rasalat. Sometimes, there was also the post of
Naib-i-Mamalik, who was next only to the
Sultan. Usually, Naib acted as Deputy Sultan, but
when the Sultan became weak, the Naib
assumed the power. Also, the posts of Sadr-us- department), Diwan-i-Amirkohi (department of
Sudur and Diwan-i-Qaza were given the status of
ministers. Hence, there were six ministers during
the peak time of sultanate administration.
Wazir or the Prime Minister had great authority,
and all the officers were appointed by him only.
Social Science-7
trative affairs. He was the head of the finance
department, by regulating the revenue settle-
ment, fixing the taxes, and controlling the
expense of the empire. His office was known as
the Diwan-i-Wazarat.
Diwan-i-Ariz was next to the Wazir, and was the
controller general of the military. He recruited
troops and maintain the army men and horses.
Diwan-i-Insha was in-charge of the royal corre-
spondence, and ranked third in the administra-
tive structure. His assistants used to make all
correspondence, even of the confidential matters.
Diwan-i-Risalat or the minister of foreign affairs
was in charge of dealing with diplomatic corre-
spondences and the ambassadors. He was an
important officer as all the Sultans were curious
to maintain diplomatic relations with the Central
Asian powers.
Sadr-us-Sudur or the minister of the department
of religion, used to enforce the Islamic norms and
to monitor whether the Muslims strictly follow
those regulations in their day-to-day lives. He
also expended the money in charity and
rewarded the Muslim scholars.
Diwan-i-Qaza or the head of the judicial depart-
ment, managed the justice in the empire.
Amongst all the ministers, only the Wazir relished
the higher status and privileges. No council of
ministers was available. The Sultans had the
privilege to appoint and dismiss any of the
ministers. There was a circle of non-official
advisors of the Sultan known as Majlis-i-Khalwat.
Some other posts were existing like Barid-i-
Mamalik (head of the intelligence and posts
agriculture), Diwan-i-mustakhraj, Diwan-i-Khairat
(department of charity), Diwan-i-Istihqak (depart-
ment of pension), Sar-i-Jandar (chief of the royal
bodyguards) and Diwan-i-Bandagan (chief of the
slaves).
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