List of sultans of Delhi

The Sultan of Delhi was the absolute monarch of the Delhi Sultanate which stretched over large parts of the subcontinent during the period of Medieval India, for 320 years (1206–1526).^[1][2] Following the conquest of South Asia by the Ghurids, five unrelated heterogeneous dynasties ruled over the Delhi Sultanate sequentially: the Mamluk dynasty (1206–1290), the Khalji dynasty (1290–1320), the Tughlaq dynasty (1320–1414),^[3] the Sayyid dynasty (1414–1451), and the Lodi dynasty (1451–1526). It covered large swaths of territory in modern-day India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh.^[4]

Sultan of Delhi
Sulṯan-i-Dihlī
Flag
Muhammad bin Tughlaq 1 February 1325 – 20 March 1351
Details
Style	Sultan Sultan of Sultans Shah Ghazi Khan Sikander Malik
First monarch	Qutb ud-Din Aibak
Last monarch	Ibrahim Khan Lodi
Formation	25 June 1206
Abolition	21 April 1526 (Total 319 years)
Residence	Lahore (1206–1210) Badayun (1210–1214) Delhi (1214–1327) Daulatabad (1327–1334) Delhi (1334–1506) Agra (1506–1526)
Appointer	Hereditary

This list contains the rulers of Delhi Sultanate in chronological order.^[5]

Mamluk dynasty (1206–1290)

Further information: Mamluk dynasty (Delhi)

S/N	Name of ruler	Birth Date	Death Date	Beginning of reign	End of reign	Notes
1	Qutb-ud-din Aibak	1150	14 November 1210	25 June 1206	14 November 1210
2	Aram Shah	1176	June 1211	December 1210	June 1211
3	Iltutmish	1192	30 April 1236	June 1211	30 April 1236	Son-in-law of Aibak
4	Ruknuddin Firuz (Firuz I)	1211	19 November 1236	30 April 1236	19 November 1236	Son of Iltutmish
5	Razia Sultana	1205[6]	15 October 1240	November 1236	20 April 1240	Daughter of Iltutmish
6	Muiz ud din Bahram	9 July 1212	15 May 1242	20 April 1240	15 May 1242	Son of Iltutmish
7	Ala-ud-Din Masud Shah	1227 or 1232	10 June 1246	May 1242	10 June 1246	Son of Ruknuddin Firuz
8	Nasiruddin Mahmud Shah (Mahmud I)	1229 or 1230	18 February 1266	10 June 1246	18 February 1266	Grandson of Iltutmish
9	Ghiyas ud din Balban	1216	13 January 1287	18 February 1266	13 January 1287	Turkish noble in the court of Iltutmish
10	Muiz ud din Qaiqabad	1269	1 February 1290	1287	1 February 1290	Grandson of Balban
11	Shamsuddin Kayumars	1285/1287	13 June 1290	1 February 1290	13 June 1290	Son of Qaiqabad

Khalji/Khilji dynasty (1290–1320)

Further information: Khalji dynasty

S/N	Name	Birth date	Death date	Beginning of reign	End of reign	Notes
12	Jalal-ud-din Khalji (Firuz II)	1220	19 July 1296	13 June 1290	19 July 1296
–	Ruknuddin Ibrahim (titular)	unknown	1297	19 July 1296	November 1296	Son of Jalal-ud-din Khalji. He ruled for a short time, not always indicating his names on the lists.
13	Alauddin Khalji	1266	4 January 1316	19 July 1296	4 January 1316	Nephew of Jalal-ud-din Khalji
14	Shihabuddin Omar	1310 or 1311	14 April 1316	5 January 1316	14 April 1316	Son of Alauddin Khalji
15	Qutbuddin Mubarak Shah	1299	9 July 1320	14 April 1316	1 May 1320	Son of Alauddin Khalji

Outside of the dynasties (1320)

S/N	Name	Birth date	Death date	Beginning of reign	End of reign	Notes
16	Khusrau Khan	unknown	1320	10 July 1320	5 September 1320	He ruled for a short time, not founding a dynasty.

Tughluq dynasty (1320–1414)

Further information: Tughluq dynasty

S/N	Name	Birth date	Death date	Beginning of reign	End of reign	Notes
17	Ghiyasuddin Tughluq	unknown	1 February 1325	8 September 1320	1 February 1325
18	Muhammad bin Tughluq (Muhammad II)	c. 1290	20 March 1351	1 February 1325	20 March 1351	Son of Ghiyath al-Din Tughluq
19	Firuz Shah Tughlaq (Firuz III)	1309	20 September 1388	23 March 1351	20 September 1388	Son-in-law of Ghiyath al-Din Tughluq
20	Tughluq Khan (Tughluq II)	unknown	14 March 1389	20 September 1388	14 March 1389	Grandson of Firuz Shah Tughlaq
21	Abu Bakr Shah	unknown	after 1390	15 March 1389	August 1390	Grandson of Firuz Shah Tughlaq
22	Nasir ud din Muhammad Shah III (Muhammad III)	unknown	20 January 1394	31 August 1390	20 January 1394	Son of Firuz Shah Tughlaq
23	Ala ud-din Sikandar Shah	unknown	8 March 1394	22 January 1394	8 March 1394	Son of Nasir ud din Muhammad Shah III
24	Nasir-ud-din Mahmud Shah Tughluq	unknown	February 1413	8 March 1394	February 1413	Son of Nasir ud din Muhammad Shah III
–	Nasir-ud-din Nusrat Shah Tughluq	unknown	1398 or 1399	January 1395	1398 or 1399	Brother of Tughluq Khan. Mahmud Shah's anti-king, claimant to the throne, sub-ruler.

Sayyid dynasty (1414–1451)

Further information: Sayyid dynasty

S/N	Name	Birth date	Death date	Beginning of reign	End of reign	Notes
25	Khizr Khan	unknown	20 May 1421	28 May 1414	20 May 1421
26	Mubarak Shah	unknown	19 February 1434	21 May 1421	19 February 1434	Son of Khizr Khan
27	Muhammad Shah (Muhammad IV)	unknown	1 January 1445	February 1434	1 January 1445	Grandson of Khizr Khan
28	Alam Shah	unknown	July 1478	1 January 1445	19 April 1451	Son of Muhammad Shah

Lodi dynasty (1451–1526)

Further information: Lodi dynasty

S/N	Name	Birth date	Death date	Beginning of reign	End of reign	Notes
29	Bahlul Lodi	1420	12 July 1489	19 April 1451	12 July 1489
30	Sikandar Lodi (Sikandar II)	17 July 1458	21 November 1517	17 July 1489	21 November 1517	Son of Bahlul Lodi
31	Ibrahim Lodi	1480	21 April 1526	November 1517	21 April 1526	Son of Sikandar Lodi

Family trees

Mamluk dynasty (1206-1290)

Mamluk dynasty

Qutb ud-Din Aibak (1) r. 1206-1210 Aram Shah (2) r. 1210-1211 Shams ud-Din Iltutmish (3) r. 1211-1236 Rukn ud-Din Firuz (4) r. 1236 Razia Sultana (5) r. 1236-1240 Muiz ud-Din Bahram (6) r. 1240-1242 Nasir ud-Din Mahmud (8) r. 1246-1266 Ala ud-Din Masud (7) r. 1242-1246 Ghiyath ud-Din Balban (9) r. 1266-1286 Nasir ud-Din Bughra Khan Muiz ud-Din Qaiqabad (10) r. 1287-1290 Shams ud-Din Kayumars (11) r. 1290

Khalji/Khilji dynasty (1290-1320)

Khalji dynasty
Yughrush Jalal ud-Din Khalji (12) r. 1290-1296 Shihab ud-Din Mas'ud Ala ud-Din Khalji (13) r. 1296-1316 Shihab ud-Din Omar (14) r. 1316 Qutb ud-Din Mubarak (15) r. 1316-1320 Khusrau Khan (16) r. 1320

Tughluq dynasty (1320-1414)

Tughluq dynasty
Ghiyath al-Din Tughluq I (17) r. 1320-1325 Malik Rajab Muhammad bin Tughluq (18) r. 1325-1351 Firuz Shah Tughlaq (19) r. 1351-1388 Fateh Khan Zafar Khan Nasir ud-Din Muhammad (22) r. 1390-1394 Ghiyath ud-Din Tughluq II (20) r. 1388-1389 Abu Bakr Shah (21) r. 1389-1390 Ala ud-Din Sikandar (23) r. 1394 Nasir ud-Din Mahmud (24) r. 1394-1414

Sayyid dynasty (1414-1451)

Sayyid dynasty
Khizr Khan (25) r. 1414-1421 Mubarak Shah (26) r. 1421-1434 Farid Khan Muhammad Shah (27) r. 1434-1445 Ala ud-Din Alam Shah (28) r. 1445-1451

Lodi dynasty (1451-1526)

Lodi dynasty
Bahlul Khan Lodi (29) r. 1451-1489 Sikandar Khan Lodi (30) r. 1489-1517 Ibrahim Khan Lodi (31) r. 1517-1526

Sources

• Dynastic Chart, The Imperial Gazetteer of India, v. 2, p. 368.
• "Sayyid dynasty". Encyclopedia Britannica.
• Lodī dynasty - Encyclopædia Britannica
• City List – Delhi Sultanate Rulers, First to Last
• The Delhi Sultanate : How Many Lists of Dynasties and Rulers Delhi Sultanate?

References

1. Delhi Sultanate, Encyclopedia Britannica
2. A. Schimmel, Islam in the Indian Subcontinent, Leiden, 1980
3. Sen, Sailendra (2013). A Textbook of Medieval Indian History. Primus Books. pp. 68–102. ISBN 978-9-38060-734-4.
4. Chapman, Graham. "Religious vs. regional determinism: India, Pakistan and Bangladesh as inheritors of empire." Shared space: Divided space. Essays on conflict and territorial organization (1990): 106-134.
5. "سلاطین دہلی - وجود". www.wujood.com (in Urdu). Retrieved 13 November 2023.
6. Smithsonian "TIMELINES OF EVERYONE" (1st ed.). U.S. U.K.: DK. 2020. p. 63. ISBN 9781465499967.

Other literature

• Sen, Sailendra (2013). A Textbook of Medieval Indian History. Primus Books. ISBN 978-9-38060-734-4.