Video narration
If you know the Mughals, who ruled from Delhi before them? On a map of India, Delhi is in the north. But today's borders can't show how far its power reached centuries ago. Before Mughal rule, Delhi was the center of the Delhi Sultanate-a period when sultans, or rulers, governed from the city, beginning around 1206. Don't picture one family holding power unchanged. Five dynasties ruled in turn. The name describes a stretch of history, not one dynasty. Its rulers controlled parts of north India; their strength and reach changed over time, so no single outline fits the whole period. In 1526, Babur defeated the last sultan. The Sultanate ended, and Mughal rule began. So who ruled before the Mughals? The Delhi Sultanate ruled parts of north India from Delhi, roughly 1206 to 1526, until Babur defeated its last ruler.