Overview
Previous Year UPSC-CSE Questions By the end you will be able to draft model answers for the following UPSC questions. Each question carries a collapsible framework showing how to approach it in the exam.
- UPSC Prelims 2003 GS-IHow did Sultan Qutb-ud-din Aibak die?
How to approach this Prelims question
Approach: Recall that Aibak's reign was ended by an accident, not by murder or battle: he fell from his horse while playing chaugan (polo) at Lahore in 1210.
Trap to watch: Do not pick the dramatic options (stabbed by a noble, killed by Yildiz, or the wound at Kalinjar); Aibak's death was an accident at the game of chaugan.
Key facts to recall:
- Qutb-ud-din Aibak was the first sultan of Delhi, 1206 to 1210.
- He died in 1210 from a fall from his horse while playing chaugan at Lahore.
- His successor Aram Shah was soon set aside in favour of Iltutmish.
Answer signal: He died after a fall from his horse while playing Chaugan.
- UPSC Prelims 2001 GS-IThe Mongols under Genghis Khan invaded India during the reign of
How to approach this Prelims question
Approach: Anchor on the date: Genghis Khan reached the Indus in 1221, which falls within Iltutmish's reign of 1211 to 1236.
Trap to watch: Do not confuse this with the later Mongol assaults under Balban or the Khaljis, or with the losses to the Mongols under Muhammad bin Tughlaq; the invasion under Genghis Khan himself came in Iltutmish's reign.
Key facts to recall:
- Genghis Khan reached the Indus in 1221, pursuing Jalal al-Din Mangburni.
- Iltutmish ruled from 1211 to 1236 and refused asylum to the fugitive prince.
- Later Mongol raids fell in the reigns of Balban and the Khaljis.
Answer signal: Iltutmish.
The Delhi Sultanate was the first lasting Muslim empire of northern India, and it began in 1206 with Qutb-ud-din Aibak. He was a military slave of Muhammad of Ghor, whose armies had broken Prithviraj Chauhan at Tarain in 1192 and seized the northern plain; on his master's death Aibak made himself the first sultan at Delhi. Because Aibak and his successors had begun as slaves, the line is called the Slave or Mamluk dynasty. Yet it was Iltutmish, not Aibak, who truly built the state, giving it a capital, a coinage and the iqta, and holding off the Mongols of Genghis Khan. This part covers the Ghurid conquest, Aibak the first sultan, Iltutmish the consolidator, and the exam focus.
The Ghurid Conquest and the Birth of the Sultanate
The Ghurid Conquest of Northern India
What is the significance of the Ghurid conquest: it brought the northern plain under a single new power and laid the ground on which the Delhi Sultanate would be built.
The Sultanate had its root in the conquests of Muhammad of Ghor, a ruler from the Afghan hills. At the second battle of Tarain in 1192, near Thanesar, he defeated and overthrew the Rajput king Prithviraj Chauhan, and the gate of northern India stood open.
Ghor did not stay to rule the land himself. He left his Indian conquests to his trusted slave-generals, who carried his arms across the plain: Qutb-ud-din Aibak held Delhi and the centre, while Bakhtiyar Khalji rode east to seize Bihar and Bengal. By the time of Ghor's death the whole northern plain owned the Ghurid power.
The Slave or Mamluk Dynasty and its Realm
Distinguishing the new line: the founders of the Sultanate had themselves been military slaves, and so the dynasty they began is known as the Slave or Mamluk line.
A military slave, or mamluk, was not a bondsman of the fields but a trained soldier, often bought as a boy, raised in his master's household, and risen by merit to high command. Aibak, Iltutmish and the later Balban had all begun in this way, and because the first sultans rose from such slaves the line is called the Slave dynasty.
The realm they ruled stretched across the Indo-Gangetic plain, from Multan and Lahore in the west, through Delhi and the Ganga-Yamuna doab, to Lakhnauti in Bengal and the old land of Bihar. To the north-west lay the river Indus and, beyond it, the Mongol storm. The map sets out the early Sultanate, its chief towns and that dangerous frontier.
Qutb-ud-din Aibak, the First Sultan
The Founder and his Short Reign
What is the significance of Aibak: he was the first sultan of Delhi, the founder of the line, though his reign was brief and his work only a beginning.
Qutb-ud-din Aibak rose to power in 1206 on the death of his master, and held the new throne until 1210. He ruled at first from Lahore, and was famed for an open hand: his gifts won him the name Lakh-baksh, the giver of lakhs. It was he who began the great Qutb Minar at Delhi and the Quwwat-ul-Islam mosque beside it, though he raised only its first storey.
His reign was cut short by an accident. In 1210, while playing chaugan, the game of polo on horseback, at Lahore, Aibak fell from his horse and was killed. His feeble son Aram Shah held the throne for a moment only, and the real making of the Sultanate was left to another. The table below sets out the chief marks of Aibak's short reign.
| Aspect | Detail |
|---|---|
| Reign | The first sultan of Delhi, from 1206 to 1210. |
| Seat | Ruled chiefly from Lahore in the Punjab. |
| Title | Lakh-baksh, the giver of lakhs, for his generosity. |
| Building | Began the Qutb Minar and the Quwwat-ul-Islam mosque at Delhi. |
| Death | Killed in 1210 by a fall from his horse while playing chaugan. |
The Qutb Minar and the Question of its Name
Distinguishing the great tower: the Qutb Minar was begun in Aibak's reign and finished in Iltutmish's, and even its name is a matter of debate.
The Qutb Minar stands as the proudest monument of the early Sultanate. Aibak laid only its lowest storey; it was Iltutmish who carried it up through three further storeys to something near its present height. The tower thus belongs to both reigns, the founder and the consolidator together.
Its very name is disputed. It is often held to be named after Qutb-ud-din Aibak, who began it; but it may instead honour the Sufi saint Qutbuddin Bakhtiar Kaki, to whom Iltutmish was devoted. The two readings still stand side by side, and a careful answer should note both.
Iltutmish, the Real Consolidator of the Sultanate
The Maker of the Sultanate
What is the significance of Iltutmish: he, not Aibak, was the true founder of the Sultanate as a state, giving it a capital, a coinage and a system of revenue.
Iltutmish, who ruled from 1211 to 1236, had himself been a slave of Aibak, and rose to be the greatest of the early sultans. He moved the seat of power to Delhi and made it the capital, set up the iqta system by which land was assigned to his officers for their revenue in place of pay, and struck the silver tanka and the copper jital, the standard coins of the age.
He also bound his nobles. He gathered his chief Turkish lords into a corps known as the Chahalgani, the Forty, on whom the crown leaned and whom later sultans would have to tame. And it was Iltutmish who completed the Qutb Minar. The figure below sets out the work by which he, not Aibak, made the Sultanate a state.
Iltutmish and the Mongol Threat
Distinguishing his greatest danger: in Iltutmish's reign the Mongols of Genghis Khan reached the very border of India, and his wisdom kept them out.
The storm came from the north-west. The Mongol conqueror Genghis Khan, pursuing the fleeing Khwarazmian prince Jalal al-Din Mangburni, reached the river Indus in 1221, on the edge of the Sultanate. Jalal al-Din sought shelter at Iltutmish's court, but the sultan, unwilling to draw the Mongol wrath upon his young kingdom, refused him asylum.
The danger passed, and the Sultanate was spared the ruin that Genghis Khan had carried across Central Asia. Iltutmish lived to name his own daughter, Razia, as his heir, passing over his sons; her reign, and the long contest with the Forty that followed, belong to the next part. The figure below sets out the line of the early Slave sultans.
UPSC Relevance and Exam Focus
Where the Foundation of the Sultanate Fits in the UPSC-CSE Syllabus
This topic belongs to General Studies Paper I: medieval Indian history, and the founding of the Delhi Sultanate is a regular ground for questions on the early sultans.
The questions most often test the two great figures: Qutb-ud-din Aibak, the first sultan and his manner of death, and Iltutmish, the consolidator who faced the Mongols of Genghis Khan.
Several linked points recur and are worth holding in working memory:
- Qutb-ud-din Aibak: The first sultan, 1206, who died from a fall at chaugan in 1210.
- The Slave dynasty: Named because its sultans had begun as military slaves (mamluks).
- Iltutmish: The real consolidator, who made Delhi the capital and struck the silver tanka.
- The iqta: The revenue assignment by which the early Sultanate paid its officers.
- Genghis Khan: Whose Mongols reached the Indus in Iltutmish’s reign, in 1221.
A 2003 question asked how Qutb-ud-din Aibak died; the answer is that he fell from his horse while playing chaugan at Lahore in 1210, a detail worth fixing exactly.
A common trap credits Aibak with all the work of the early Sultanate; in truth it was Iltutmish who gave it a capital, the iqta and the tanka, and who completed the Qutb Minar. Another forgets that the Mongols of Genghis Khan came in Iltutmish's reign, not in a later one.
Prelims MCQ practice
Each question below tests one specific concept on the topic. Click to reveal the answer and a full option-wise explanation.
Q1. The Delhi Sultanate was founded in 1206 by which one of the following, a slave-general of Muhammad of Ghor?
- Qutb-ud-din Aibak
- Iltutmish
- Bakhtiyar Khalji
- Balban
Show answer and explanation
Answer: Qutb-ud-din Aibak
Explanation.
Option (a) is correct. Qutb-ud-din Aibak, a military slave of Muhammad of Ghor, founded the Delhi Sultanate in 1206; Bakhtiyar Khalji was the general who took Bengal. Hence option (a).
Q2. With reference to Iltutmish, consider the following statements:
- He made Delhi the capital of the Sultanate.
- He introduced the silver tanka and the copper jital.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
- 1 only
- 2 only
- Both 1 and 2
- Neither 1 nor 2
Show answer and explanation
Answer: Both 1 and 2
Explanation.
Both statements are correct. Iltutmish made Delhi the capital and introduced the silver tanka and the copper jital, the standard coins of the Sultanate. Hence option (c).
Q3. The Qutb Minar at Delhi was begun by Qutb-ud-din Aibak and completed by which one of the following?
- Aram Shah
- Iltutmish
- Balban
- Alauddin Khalji
Show answer and explanation
Answer: Iltutmish
Explanation.
Option (b) is correct. Aibak raised only the first storey of the Qutb Minar; Iltutmish completed it by adding the further storeys. Hence option (b).
Q4. The Slave or Mamluk dynasty of Delhi is so called for which one of the following reasons?
- Its sultans kept large numbers of slaves
- Its sultans had themselves begun as military slaves
- It traded in slaves across the north-west
- It freed the slaves of the conquered Rajputs
Show answer and explanation
Answer: Its sultans had themselves begun as military slaves
Explanation.
Option (b) is correct. The line is called the Slave or Mamluk dynasty because its early sultans, Aibak, Iltutmish and Balban, had themselves risen from military slaves. Hence option (b).
Q5. With reference to the founding of the Delhi Sultanate, consider the following statements:
- Qutb-ud-din Aibak began the building of the Qutb Minar.
- Iltutmish completed the Qutb Minar.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
- 1 only
- 2 only
- Both 1 and 2
- Neither 1 nor 2
Show answer and explanation
Answer: Both 1 and 2
Explanation.
Both statements are correct. Aibak began the Qutb Minar and raised its first storey, and Iltutmish completed it; the two must not be swapped. Hence option (c).
Q6. The Mongols under Genghis Khan reached the river Indus, on the border of India, in the reign of which one of the following?
- Qutb-ud-din Aibak
- Iltutmish
- Balban
- Alauddin Khalji
Show answer and explanation
Answer: Iltutmish
Explanation.
Option (b) is correct. Genghis Khan reached the Indus in 1221, in the reign of Iltutmish, who refused asylum to the fleeing Jalal al-Din Mangburni. Hence option (b).
Sources and Further Reading
Editorial Disclaimer
This article is for UPSC preparation. The early history of the Sultanate rests on the Persian chronicles, and the account follows the standard scholarship on the period.
