NCERT Book Class 7 Social Science (History) Chapter 3 Delhi 12th to 15th Century

3 delhI: 12th TO 15th CENTURY

I n Chapter 2 we saw that regions like the Kaveri delta
became the centre of large kingdoms. Did you notice
that there was no mention of a kingdom with Delhi
as its capital? That was because Delhi became an
important city only in the twelfth century.
Take a look at Table 1. Delhi first became the capital
of a kingdom under the Tomara Rajputs, who were
defeated in the middle of the twelfth century by the
Chauhans (also referred to as Chahamanas) of Ajmer.
Map 1
Selected Sultanate It was under the Tomaras and Chauhans that Delhi
cities of Delhi, became an important commercial centre. Many rich
thirteenth-fourteenth Jaina merchants lived in the city and constructed
centuries.
several temples. Coins minted
here, called dehliwal, had a
wide circulation.
The transformation of Delhi
into a capital that controlled vast
areas of the subcontinent started
with the foundation of the Delhi
Sultanate in the beginning of the
thirteenth century. Take a look at
Table 1 again and identify the five
dynasties that together made the
Delhi Sultanate.
The Delhi Sultans built many
-
cities in the area that we now
know as Delhi. Look at Map 1
- and locate Dehli-i Kuhna, Siri and
Jahanpanah.

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