Qutb Minar

The Delhi Sultanate (1206-1526 CE) was a series of five successive Islamic dynasties that ruled northern India for over three centuries, establishing Muslim political power in the subcontinent, creating a unique Indo-Islamic culture, and leaving an enduring architectural and administrative legacy.

Shams al-Din Iltutmish (r. 1211–1236 CE) was the third sultan of Delhi and the ruler who consolidated the Delhi Sultanate into a stable, independent state. A former slave who rose by merit, he won Abbasid recognition, repelled Mongol threats, and built lasting institutions of Muslim rule in India.

Qutbuddin Bakhtiar Kaki (c. 1173-1235) was a Chishti Sufi from Farghana who settled in Delhi under Sultan Iltutmish after training under Mu'in al-Din Chishti. His grave at Mehrauli gave the nearby Qutb Minar its name, and his successor Baba Farid carried the Chishti order into the Punjab.