UPSC CSE Prelims – Study plan

Structure

The Delhi Sultanate (1206–1526) included Mamluk/Slave, Khalji, Tughlaq, Sayyid and Lodi dynasties. The Sultan was central, but practical control depended on military strength, distance and local resistance. Central offices included Diwan-i-Wizarat (finance and revenue), Diwan-i-Arz (military affairs), Diwan-i-Insha (royal correspondence) and Diwan-i-Risalat, whose precise functions varied across periods. Qazis and judicial offices worked within Islamic legal-political frameworks alongside customary practices.

Iqta

An iqta was a revenue assignment. An iqtadar or muqti received the right to collect revenue from a territory instead of a salary and was expected to maintain troops and administration. It was not normally private land ownership. The centre could transfer assignees, audit accounts and demand surplus, though actual control varied. Khalisa lands were directly controlled for the central treasury. Iqta helped finance the military without a fully cash-based bureaucracy, but excessive autonomy could threaten central authority.

Policies and rulers

Iltutmish consolidated the Sultanate and is associated with organising iqta and stable silver tanka and copper jital coinage. Alauddin Khalji strengthened central control, maintained a large standing army, branded horses (dagh), recorded soldiers (chehra) and regulated markets to provision the army. Do not confuse his revenue measures with later Mughal zabt. Muhammad bin Tughlaq experimented with token currency, shifted the capital between Delhi and Daulatabad and increased the Doab tax; practical difficulties followed. Firoz Shah Tughlaq is associated with canals, public works and a more hereditary tendency in offices and assignments. Lodi political balance reflected Afghan nobility.

Exam tips

Iqta is a revenue right, not a simple feudal freehold. Distinguish tanka/jital from later rupee usage, Alauddin’s market control from Mughal mansabdari and zabt, and the dynastic sequence. The first Battle of Panipat in 1526 ended Lodi rule and established Babur’s Mughal power.

Prelims revision checklist

Identify the definition first, then connect it to the relevant institution, date, process and example. Do not treat a scientific mechanism as a policy instrument, an international label as automatic domestic legal status, or a rank as ownership. Watch absolute words such as “always” and “only”; they are rarely correct unless part of a formal definition. In current-affairs questions, apply the stable principle and verify changing figures or variants from an official source.

Additional recall

For elimination, ask what is being measured, who has authority, and whether the statement describes a mechanism, a legal category or an outcome. Similar terms often differ by scope and timing. A precise answer should preserve the distinction between a broad umbrella concept and its narrower operational example.

Analogy

Delhi Sultanate administration — Analogy

An iqta was like assigning a manager the right to collect district income in return for running services, not giving permanent ownership of the district.