Dhimmi the throne and Malik Firuz Khalji overthrew Balban’s teenage grandson, Kaiqubad The Turk Khaljids adopted Afghan customs after occupying Afghanistan and oversaw the rapid expansion of the sultanate, conquering Gujarat and Deccan during their reign from 1290 to 1320 Sultan Ala ud-Din Khalji (r 1296–1316) enlarged the army and introduced economic and tax reforms Upon his death, he was succeeded by a series of inept rulers and internal strife led to the downfall of the Khaljids soon after his death The Tughlaq dynasty (1320–1412) rose to power and Sultan Muhammad Ibn Tughlaq (r 1325–51) founded a second capital city at Deogir in order to control an increasingly vast empire By moving the active capital south, the sultan could oversee the continued military campaigns in Deccan Under Muhammad a system of currency was introduced and taxes were increased to meet the sultan’s military expenditures Much of the later years of his reign was spent dealing with revolts, trying to head off dissension from the clergy (ulama), and handling external threats, which resulted in the reduction of the empire’s territory Sultan Firuz Shah Tughlaq (r 1351–88) was not as militarily successful as his predecessors, but was perhaps the dynasty’s greatest administrator-ruler He reintroduced the jagir system, which paid army officers in grants of land rather than cash salaries, and introduced a justice system that rigorously enforced the laws Firuz Shah also focused on improving social services and opened up a large hospital, Dar us-Shafa, in Delhi and founded bureaus of employment and marriage During his reign the state financed the expansion of existing cities, the construction of new ones, and the building of mosques, bathhouses, and canals The religious policy of the sultanate under Firuz Shah was strictly Sunni and non-Muslims were required to pay the jizya tax and Shi’ite Muslims were placed under restrictions Upon Firuz Shah’s death in 1388, a succession crisis led to the downfall of the Tughlaq dynasty In the midst of this crisis, Timurlane (Tamerlane) the ruler of Samarkand who was forging an empire in Central Asia, invaded India and captured and sacked Delhi in 1398 Famine and the spread of disease followed the Timurid invasion, with thousands of slaves and much of the city’s wealth being taken back to Central Asia The Tughlaq dynasty was no longer a single entity and several competing states were left to squabble over Muslim India With the fall of the Tughlaqs, the Turkish sultanate of Delhi began its steady decline Despite periods of revival under the Sayyid dynasty (1414–1451) and the Lodi dynasty (1451–1526), 101 the centralized sultanate no longer existed and both dynasties were faced with opposition from India’s Hindu population and rival Indian Muslim states The sultanate was formally ended in 1526 when Zahir ud-Din Muhammad Babur, a Chaghatai Turk who ruled in Kabul, ushered in the period of the great Mughal Empire See also Abbasid dynasty; Sind, Arab conquest of Further reading: Arshad, M D An Advanced History of Muslim Rule in Indo-Pakistan Dacca: Ideal Publications, 1967; Jackson, Peter The Delhi Sultanate: A Political and Military History Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999; Khan, Mir Gholam Hussein The History of Mohamedan Power in India Trans by Johns Briggs Delhi: Idarahi Adabiyat-i-Delli, 1924; Lane-Poole, Stanley Medieval India Under Mohammedan Rule (a.d 712–1764) New York: Haskell House Publishers, 1970; Mahajan, V D The Sultanate of Delhi Delhi: S Chand & Co., 1962; Majumdar, R C., A D Pusalker, and A K Majumdar, eds The History and Culture of the Indian People Bombay: Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, 1966; Nizami, Khaliq Ahmad Religion and Politics in India During the Thirteenth Century Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002; Sharma, S R The Crescent in India: A Study in Medieval History New Delhi: Sanjay Prakashan, 1986 Christopher Anzalone Dhimmi In Islamic ruled territories, Dhimmis were those religious minorities, or People of the Book (ahl al-kitab), who were protected under Islamic law People of the Book included Jews, Christians (of all denominations), and sometimes Zoroastrians As polytheists Hindus were not usually granted protected minority status Under Islamic law and customs adult males of sound mind who had protected status paid a poll tax in addition to the customary land tax but were exempt from military service In Muslim societies nonbelievers were not forced to convert and had freedom of religious practice as well as extensive communal autonomy including education for their children; however, they were not considered as equals to their Muslim counterparts Sometimes stipulations regarding the height of bell towers on churches and dress were enforced, particularly under intolerant or dogmatic rulers Nor were nonbelievers allowed to proselytize The treatment and status of nonbelievers in Muslim realms varied with