<Ul> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> </Ul> <P> Beginning in the 13th century, several Islamic states were established in the Indian subcontinent in the course of a gradual Muslim conquest in the Indian subcontinent . This process culminated in the Mughal Empire, which ruled most of India during the mid-16th to early - 18th centuries . The Islamic rule gradually declined due to the dominance of Maratha Empire and several other rebellions (case during the entire period of Mughal rule past Akbar). The eventual end of the period of Islamic rule of India is marked by the two main events Indian Rebellion of 1857 and the beginning of British rule, although Islamic rule persisted in Hyderabad State and other minor princely states until Union of India in 1948 . However, most Islamic rules had started to wane in the 17th and 18th century before that . </P> <P> During the last quarter of the 12th century, Muhammad of Ghor invaded the Indo - Gangetic plain, conquering in succession Ghazni, Multan, Sindh, Lahore, and Delhi . Qutb - ud - din Aybak, one of his generals proclaimed himself Sultan of Delhi . In the 13th century, Shamsuddīn Iltutmish (1211--1236), a former slave - warrior, established a Turkic kingdom in Delhi, which enabled future sultans to push in every direction; within the next 100 years, the Delhi Sultanate extended its way east to Bengal and south to the Deccan, while the sultanate itself experienced repeated threats from the northwest and internal revolts from displeased, independent - minded nobles . The sultanate was in constant flux as five dynasties, all of either Turkic or Afghan origin, rose and fell: the Slave dynasty (1206--90), Khalji dynasty (1290--1320), Tughlaq dynasty (1320--1413), Sayyid dynasty (1414--51), and Lodi dynasty (1451--1526). The Khalji dynasty, under' Alā'uddīn (1296--1316), succeeded in bringing most of South India under its control for a time, although conquered areas broke away quickly . Power in Delhi was often gained by violence--nineteen of the thirty - five sultans were assassinated--and was legitimized by reward for tribal loyalty . Factional rivalries and court intrigues were as numerous as they were treacherous; territories controlled by the sultan expanded and shrank depending on his personality and fortunes . </P> <P> Both the Qur'an and sharia (Islamic law) provided the basis for enforcing Islamic administration over the independent Hindu rulers, but the sultanate made only fitful progress in the beginning when many campaigns were undertaken for plunder and temporary reduction of fortresses . The effective rule of a sultan depended largely on his ability to control the strategic places that dominated the military highways and trade routes, extract the annual land tax, and maintain personal authority over military and provincial governors . Sultan' Ala ud - Din made an attempt to reassess, systematize, and unify land revenues and urban taxes and to institute a highly centralized system of administration over his realm, but his efforts were abortive . Although agriculture in North India improved as a result of new canal construction and irrigation methods, including what came to be known as the Persian wheel, prolonged political instability and parasitic methods of tax collection brutalized the peasantry . Yet trade and a market economy, encouraged by the free - spending habits of the aristocracy, acquired new impetus both in and overseas . Experts in metalwork, stonework, and textile manufacture responded to the new patronage with enthusiasm . In this period Persian language and many Persian cultural aspects became dominant in the centers of power in Meric'a, as the rulers of the Delhi Sultanate (who, though being Turkish or Afghan, had been thoroughly Persianized since the era of the Ghaznavids) patronized aspects of the foreign culture and language from their seat of power in India . </P>

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