<Tr> <Th> Today part of </Th> <Td> <Ul> <Li> Bangladesh </Li> <Li> India </Li> <Li> Nepal </Li> <Li> Pakistan </Li> </Ul> </Td> </Tr> <Ul> <Li> Bangladesh </Li> <Li> India </Li> <Li> Nepal </Li> <Li> Pakistan </Li> </Ul> <P> The Delhi Sultanate (Persian: دهلی سلطان, Urdu: دہلی سلطنت ‬) was a Muslim sultanate based mostly in Delhi that stretched over large parts of the Indian subcontinent for 320 years (1206--1526). Five dynasties ruled over the Delhi Sultanate sequentially: the Mamluk dynasty (1206--90), the Khalji dynasty (1290--1320), the Tughlaq dynasty (1320--1414), the Sayyid dynasty (1414--51), and the Lodi dynasty (1451--1526). The sultanate is noted for being one of the few states to repel an attack by the Mongol Empire, and enthroned one of the few female rulers in Islamic history, Razia Sultana, who reigned from 1236 to 1240 . </P> <P> Qutb al - Din Aibak, a former Turkic Mamluk slave of Muhammad Ghori, was the first sultan of Delhi, and his Mamluk dynasty conquered large areas of northern India . Afterwards, the Khalji dynasty was also able to conquer most of central India, but both failed to conquer the whole of the Indian subcontinent . The sultanate reached the peak of its geographical reach during the Tughlaq dynasty, occupying most of the Indian subcontinent . This was followed by decline due to Hindu reconquests, states such as the Vijayanagara Empire asserting independence, and new Muslim sultanates such as the Bengal Sultanate breaking off . </P>

Who is known as the first and last female rules of the delhi sultanate