The History of the World Podcast, written and presented by Chris Hasler

Volume 4 The Medieval World.

Episode 57 The Delhi Sultanate. Oh, In the classical world volume of the podcast we introduced the Gupta Empire of the lands of India.

The Gupta emerged from humble beginnings in the Ganges River Valley during the third century.

During the fourth century the Gupta Empire expanded and under their king

Chandragukta the second they would control the entirety of the Ganges River Valley and its surroundings

and influence over much of the east coast of the subcontinent.

The emergence of the nomadic cyanites from the steplands of the north

challenge the lands to the northwest of the Gupta Empire pushing them back towards the Ganges Delta.

The defeat of the Sainites by other peoples of the subcontinent did not enable the Gupta

to recover their lost lands,

and they would dwindle away into non-existence

by the end of the sixth century.

By the seventh century, various peoples and dynasties were rising to power and then being replaced in this volatile area of the world.

One of the distinguishable peoples of the northwest are called the Rajputs, and they are really distinguishable by their traditions only as historians cannot agree on their origins.

Various tribes and dynasties have been described as Rajputs.

And the earliest recorded history of a settlement at Delhi was made by the Tamara dynasty in the 8th century.

The Tamara dynasty originated from a Rajput clan called the Tama.

By this time the religion of Islam had emerged in the Arabian Peninsula and its influence rapidly expanded

eastwards to the Indus Valley through the Umayy had caliphate by the 8th century.

Many Indian dynasties and kingdoms would collaborate to prevent Islamic expansion

deeper into the subcontinent during the 8th century.

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