The Delhi Sultanate is a term used to cover five short-lived dynasties, Delhi-based kingdoms or sultanates, the first three of which are of Turkic origin; the fourth is the Sayyid and the last is the Lodi.

The sultanates rule from Delhi 1206 and 1526, when the last is replaced by the Mughal dynasty.

The five dynasties are the Mamluk dynasty (1206–90); the Khilji dynasty (1290–1320); the Tughlaq dynasty (1320–1414); the Sayyid dynasty (1414–51); and the Afghan Lodi dynasty (1451–1526).Qutb-ud-din Aibak, a former slave of Muhammad Ghori, is the first sultan of Delhi and his dynasty conquers large areas of northern India.

Afterwards, the Khilji dynasty is also able to conquer most of central India, but both fail to unite the Indian subcontinent.

The sultanate is also noted for being one of the few states to repeatedly defeat the Mongol Empire.

The Sultanate ushers in a period of Indian cultural renaissance.

The resulting "Indo-Muslim" fusion of cultures leaves lasting syncretic monuments in architecture, music, literature, religion and clothing.

It is surmised that the Urdu language (literally meaning (language of the) "horde" or "camp" in various Turkic dialects) comes into existence during this period as a result of the intermingling of the local speakers of Sanskritic Prakrits with immigrants speaking Persian, Turkic and Arabic under the Muslim rulers.

The Delhi Sultanate is the only Indo-Islamic empire to have enthroned one of the few female rulers in India, Razia Sultana (1236–1240).

In 1526 the Delhi Sultanate is absorbed by the emerging Mughal Empire.