The Mamluk Sultanate of Delhi (1206-1290)

The Indian lands of the Ghurid state were governed by Qutb al-Din Aibak, a commander of Turkic origin who had been bought as a slave in his youth and rose to lead the army. When his master was killed in 1206, Aibak proclaimed himself sultan in Delhi. "Mamluk" means "owned", that is, a slave.

After Aibak, his son-in-law Iltutmish (1211-1236), an Ilbari Turk, strengthened the sultanate and won recognition from the caliph in Baghdad. Iltutmish's daughter Razia (1236-1240) became the first Muslim woman to rule in India, and Sultan Balban (1266-1287) defended India against the Mongols.

In 1290 the noble Jalal al-Din Khalji overthrew the child sultan and founded the Khalji dynasty, ending the Mamluk line. The Delhi Sultanate itself lived on under other dynasties until Babur's arrival in 1526.