By 962 CE, South Asian kingdoms were under invasions from Muslim armies of Central Asia and Persia. This was the beginning of Islamic Invasion of India. Mahmud of Ghazni was the first to invade. He raided kingdoms of the north-western region of India 17 times, but never established territorial rule. He plundered wealth from these regions and carried the loot back to Ghazni.

Muhammad bin Sam, popularly known as Muhammad of Ghor, was the first to establish Islamic rule in India. He occupied northern and north-western territories and his rule spread till the Gangetic Valley and included parts of Bihar and Bengal. Muhammad bin Sam returned to Ghazni leaving his slave and trusted general, Qutbuddin Aibak, to look after his Indian territories in an administrative capacity. After Sam’s death, Aibak ruled over the territory in India as the Sultan, thereby establishing the Delhi Sultanate. His successor, Iltutmish moved the capital from Lahore to Delhi.

After the history of Muhammad Ghori and the Mamluk Dynasty, the Delhi Sultanate saw the rise and fall of five dynasties that ruled successively – The Mamluk Dynasty, The Khilji Dynasty, The Tughlaq Dynasty, The Sayyid Dynasty and The Lodi Dynasty. During the rule of these dynasties, the Sultanate conquered a large part of India. At one point, almost all of India was under the Sultan’s rule.

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