The Delhi Sultanate was an Islamic empire based 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 powers to repel attacks by the Mongols (from the Chagatai Khanate), causing the decline of Buddhism in East India and Bengal, and enthroning one of the few female rulers in Islamic history, Razia Sultana, who reigned from 1236 to 1240.

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 and Mewar asserting independence, and new Muslim sultanates such as the Bengal Sultanate breaking off.

During and in the Delhi Sultanate, there was a synthesis of Indian civilization with that of Islamic civilization, and the further integration of the Indian subcontinent with a growing world system and wider international networks spanning large parts of Afro-Eurasia, which had a significant impact on Indian culture and society, as well as the wider world. The time of their rule included the earliest forms of Indo-Islamic architecture, greater use of mechanical technology, increased growth rates in India’s population and economy, and the emergence of the Hindustani language. The Delhi Sultanate was also responsible for repelling the Mongol Empire’s potentially devastating invasions of India in the 13th and 14th centuries. The Delhi Sultanate was also responsible for large-scale destruction and desecration of temples in the Indian subcontinent. In 1526, the Sultanate was conquered and succeeded by the Mughal Empire.