RAS question
Razia Sultana (1236-1240) was significant because:
Correct answer: (C) She was the only woman ruler of the Delhi Sultanate.
Razia Sultana was significant because she was the only woman ruler of the Delhi Sultanate, reigning for about three and a half years from 1236 to 1240.
Explanation
Razia Sultana's significance lies in her rare position at the centre of Delhi Sultanate politics. The Encyclopedia.com account says Iltutmish designated his daughter Razia as heir, but the Turkish nobility resisted the break with tradition and first placed Ruknuddin Feroze Shah on the throne. When Razia did rule, she did not remain confined to court convention: she discarded purdah, rode elephants and led armies. Her promotion of Jamal-ud-din Yaqut angered Turkish nobles, with noble hostility also linked to jealousy over Yaqut and discomfort with her authority as a woman. She was deposed and killed in 1240, yet remains important because she was the Delhi Sultanate's only woman ruler.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) Razia's importance was her unique rule in the Delhi Sultanate, not building the Red Fort.
- (B) Razia's short Delhi Sultanate reign involved conflicts with nobles, but no conquest of the Deccan is attributed to her.
- (D) Razia is linked with succession, military leadership and noble opposition, not with the introduction of paper money.
Concept
This tests the Delhi Sultanate theme in medieval Indian history, especially succession, nobility and gender in the early Sultanate. RAS repeatedly asks such questions because individual rulers often illustrate larger institutional tensions in medieval polity.