In 1186, the Sultan Muhammad of the city of Ghor, destroys the power of the Ghazna Empire. The Ghazna Empire included most of northern India, Pakistan and Afghanistan. After a first defeat in 1191, Muhammad defeats the loc al Hindu princes of north India, the rajputs, under Prithviraj Chauhan, the next year at the Battle of Taraori. Chauhan himself is killed and Muhammad then makes himself Sultan of Delhi. Islam makes a great expansion in north India.

Muhammad, however, is killed in a revolt by one of his own generals, Qutub-ud-din Aibak, in 1206. Aibak founds what is called the "Slave dynasty" because his supporters were mostly warrior slaves. His descendants successfully defend themselves against the Mongols and expand the Delhi sultanate to include most of north India. Buddhists were persecuted, and their temples and writings were destroyed. Buddhism in India declined into a minor religion.

Mohammad ibn Tughlak, who ruled Delhi from 1325 to 1351, added central and much of south India to the sultanate. He was a very learned man in logic, law, philosophy and other subjects. Though he was quite tolerant, he could also be inhumanly cruel at times. The Empire of Vijayanagar, in the south, became the last major centre of Hindu resistance against the Muslim expansion into India.

Between 1336-1405, Timur establishes a kingdom with his capital at the ancient city of Samarkand, which expands to become the Moghul Empire. "Moghul" is just an Indian word for Mongol, but is closer to the correct pronunciation. Timur was one of a number of independent warlords that rose after the collapse of the centralized Mongol rule. In 1398 and '99, Delhi was plundered and the Punjab came under Moghul rule.

In 1498, the Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama reaches the Swahili ports in East Africa. Guided by an Arab navigator, he sails on to India. Portugal and Spain soon become powers of note in India and Southeast Asia.