Page 157 - Berkshire Encyclopedia Of World History Vol Two

506 berkshire encyclopedia of world history

restrict forest use and preserve it. The tensions between ical norms and as in any case the whole of the Indian sub-
exploitation and preservation will be intense. continent was never controlled by the sultans.

Michael Williams
History
The lure of wealth, religious zeal, and a desire for terri-
Further Reading torial aggrandizement were factors behind the Turkic
conquest from Central Asia.TheTurks’ advanced military
Bechmann, R. (1990). Trees and man: The forest in the Middle Ages (K.
Dunham,Trans.). St. Paul, MN: Paragon House. technology, lack of unity among the regional powers, pre-
Bogucki, P. I. (1988). Forest farmers and stockholders: Early agriculture vailing social tensions, and the apathetic attitude of the
and its consequences in north-central Europe. Cambridge, UK: Cam-
bridge University Press. common folk facilitated theTurkic conquest. Muhammad
Chastellux, F. J., marquis de. (1789). Travels in North America in the Years of Ghor was succeeded by his slave and general, Qutb-ud-
1780, 1781, and 1782 (Vol. 1). New York: White, Gallacher and
White. Din Aybak (d. 1210), and because a number of former
Darby, H. C. (1956). The clearing of the woodland in Europe. In W. L. slaves ruled during the period 1206 to 1290, this period
Thomas (Ed.), Man’s role in changing the face of the Earth (pp. 183– is sometimes called the slave dynasty, though in reality no
216). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Dean, W. (1995). With broadax and firebrand: The destruction of the sultan was a slave at the time he became ruler, and there
Brazilian Atlantic forest. Berkeley: University of California Press. were actually three dynasties during this period (1206–
Ellis, D. M. (1946). Landlords and farmers in Hudson-Mohawk Region,
1790-1850. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press. 1290).
Meiggs, R. (1982). Trees and timber in the ancient Mediterranean world. Under the third sultan, Iltutmish (reigned 1211–
Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
White, L., Jr. (1962). Medieval technology and social change. Oxford, UK: 1236), a permanent capital was established at Delhi; he
Oxford University Press. also expanded the territory controlled by the sultanate.
Williams, M. (1989). The Americans and their forests. Cambridge, UK: Iltutmish bequeathed a strong form of military despotism
Cambridge University Press.
Williams, M. (2003). Deforesting the earth: From prehistory to global cri- to his successors. Raziya Sultana, his worthy daughter
sis. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. and the first Muslim woman ruler of India, became em-
broiled in the conspiracy of the Group of Forty, a group
of Turkic nobles who wished to control the throne. The
latter held sway until the coming of Ghiyas-ud-Din Bal-
Delhi Sultanate ban (reigned 1266–1287), who destroyed the Forty
ruthlessly, strengthened the army, and suppressed any
he Delhi sultanate (1192–1526) was established form of dissent.
Twith the victory in 1192 of Muhammed of Ghor (d. The establishment of the Khalji dynasty marked the
1206), a Turkic ruler, over the Rajput king Prithviraj beginning of the ascendancy of Indian (as opposed to
Chauhan, the ruler of Ajmer and Delhi; it represented the Turkic) Muslims.The most important ruler of the dynasty,
emergence of a ruling power that was not indigenous to ‘Ala’-ud-Din Khalji (reigned 1296–1316) extended the
the region. A new religion (Islam) and culture began to boundary of Delhi sultanate into southern India. His
pervade the northern portion of Indian subcontinent as market reforms, taxation policy, and military administra-
the Delhi sultanate came to control major areas of tion earned him recognition as one of the efficient rulers
present-day India, Bangladesh, and Pakistan. Gradually, of the period. By contrast, the ill-fated experiments of
Indian culture, which was pluralistic in nature, was Muhammad ibn Tughluq (reigned 1325–1351), one
enriched by this new cultural infusion. It would be wrong, ruler of the Tughluq dynasty, which included attempting
however, to think of the period of rule by the Delhi sul- to shift the capital from Delhi to Daulatabad and intro-
tans as a period of Muslim rule, as categorizing historical ducing token currency—copper coins, which the Sultan
periods according to the ruler’s religion is against histor- made as legal tenders. Although without intrinsic value,