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Polity

Delhi Sultanate

Delhi Sultanate (1206-1526 CE) - A major Islamic sultanate that controlled extensive territories in northern India, serving as a successor to various Islamic empires and predecessor to the Mughal Empire.

Indus / South AsianIslamic

Overview

The Delhi Sultanate (1206-1526 CE) was a major Islamic sultanate that controlled extensive territories in northern India, serving as a successor to various Islamic empires and predecessor to the Mughal Empire. It exemplifies successor state dynamics and Islamic expansion into South Asia.

Formation

  • Formation Date: 1206 CE - Establishment of Delhi Sultanate
  • Formation Event: delhi sultanate formation 1206ce
  • Key Actors: Qutb-ud-din Aibak (founder)
  • Context: Preceded by Ghaznavid Empire (977-1186 CE)
  • Formation Process: Establishment of Delhi Sultanate, expansion

Persistence

  • Key Periods:
    • Early Period (1206-1350 CE): Initial consolidation, expansion
    • Peak Period (1350-1526 CE): Peak expansion, cultural achievements
  • Internal Developments:
    • Administrative systems (Islamic model)
    • Military organization
    • Cultural achievements
  • Administrative Structure: Sultanate administration
  • Territorial Changes:
    • Expansion into northern India
    • Peak expansion (1350 CE)
  • Key Events:
    • Various military campaigns
    • Various cultural achievements
    • Conquest by Mughal Empire (1526 CE)

Transformation

  • Transformation Date: 1526 CE - Conquest by Mughal Empire
  • Transformation Event: delhi sultanate mughal conquest 1526ce
  • Transformation Process: Conquest by Mughal Empire
  • Successor: Mughal Empire (1526-1857 CE)

Dissolution

  • Dissolution Date: 1526 CE - Conquest by Mughal Empire
  • Dissolution Event: delhi sultanate mughal conquest 1526ce
  • Dissolution Process: Conquest by Mughal Empire
  • Successor States: Mughal Empire (1526-1857 CE)

Predecessors

Successors

Concurrent Polities

  • Mughal Empire (1526-1857 CE) - Conquering state (later period)
  • Various South Asian polities
About this entry

A draft entry preserved from civilization.study. Evidence grade: strong. 1 of 2 listed sources are fully documented; the rest are names only. Method and sources

Links to Claims

Links to Patterns

Links to Events

  • Various military campaigns
  • Various cultural achievements
  • Conquest by Mughal Empire (1526 CE)

Links to People

  • Various Delhi sultans

Links to Data

  • Indus/South Asian institutional data (if applicable)
  • Islamic institutional data (if applicable)

Notes

  • Source quality: Strong - well-documented in historical sources
  • Integration: Links to existing claim cards, patterns

Conflicts

Conflicts this polity is recorded in. Cards are generated from Civitas's war records; every one is a draft estimate and none is Official.

How to read the evidence badges
Primary text read
Civitas read the ancient or primary text for at least one figure on this card. Other figures may still be Wikipedia-compiled and are labelled.
Generic placeholder: crossed lines for a battle. Not an image of this event.
battle · 21 April 1526

First Battle of Panipat (1526 CE)

Babur uses field artillery and matchlocks to defeat the Delhi Sultanate and found the Mughal empire; common "gunpowder empire" example.

Evidence: Primary text read Draft estimate

What the record says

  • Note Date 21 April 1526; outcome: Mughal victory.
  • Unverified (Wikipedia-compiled) Wikipedia-compiled (stub): Mughal ~12,000 with 15-20 cannon; Lodi 50,000-70,000 with ~1,000 elephants; Lodi dead ~20,000.
  • Primary text PRIMARY-SOURCE figures: Babur-nama (Beveridge transl. vol. 2, read 2026-10-12): Ibrahim Lodi's standing army reckoned "a lak (100,000)" with about 1,000 elephants ("people estimated the army opposing us at 100,000"); Babur's own force, counting traders and servants, "was 12,000"; dead "five or six thousand ... in one place close to Ibrahim", others on the field estimated at 15,000-16,000, later reported in Agra as 40,000-50,000. The victor's own account.

Confidence. low-medium (single secondary source; add scholarly citation before upgrade).

Where it sits

Sources and evidence

No page-level citation is claimed for any source. Figures marked unverified come from a Wikipedia aggregator and are not for Official use.

Link to this conflict

Art: Patterns of Civilization chronicle art, made with AI: illustrations, not historical evidence. Entries are drafts preserved from civilization.study. Method and sources.