Editing Caliphate (section)

==== Indian subcontinent ====
{{Main|Islamic rulers in the Indian subcontinent}}
[[File:Aurangzeb-portrait.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|Hafiz Muhiuddin [[Aurangzeb]], unlike his predecessors, was considered to be a caliph of India.]]
After the [[Umayyad campaigns in India]] and the conquest on small territories of the western part of the Indian peninsula, early Indian Muslim dynasties were founded by the [[Ghurid dynasty]] and the [[Ghaznavids]], most notably the [[Delhi Sultanate]]. The Indian sultanates did not extensively strive for a caliphate since the [[Ottoman Empire]] was already observing the caliphate.<ref>"Truths and Lies: Irony and Intrigue in the Tārīkh-i Bayhaqī", Soheila Amirsoleimani, ''Iranian Studies'', Vol. 32, No. 2, The Uses of Guile: Literary and Historical Moments (Spring, 1999), 243.</ref>

The emperors of the [[Mughal Empire]], who were the only Sunni rulers whose territory and wealth could compete with that of the Ottomans, started assuming the title of caliph and calling their capital as the ''Dar-ul-khilafat'' ("abode of the caliphate") since the time of the third emperor [[Akbar]] like their Timurid ancestors. A gold coin struck under Akbar called him the "great ''sultan'', the exalted ''khalifah''". Although the Mughals did not acknowledge the overlordship of Ottomans, they nevertheless used the title of caliph to honour them in diplomatic exchanges. Akbar's letter to [[Suleiman the Magnificent]] addressed the latter as having attained the rank of the caliphate, while calling Akbar's empire as the "Khilafat of realms of Hind and Sind."<ref>{{cite book |first=Thomas Walker |last=Arnold |author-link=Thomas Walker Arnold |chapter=The Mughal Emperors in India |title=The Caliphate |publisher=Oxford University Press |pages=159, 160 |year=1924}}</ref> The fifth emperor [[Shah Jahan]] also laid claim to the Caliphate.<ref>{{cite book |first=Annemarie |last=Schimmel |author-link=Annemarie Schimmel |chapter=The Historical Background |title=Gabriel's Wing A Study Into the Religious Ideas of Sir Muhammad Iqbal |publisher=Brill |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=goE3AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA30 |page=30 |year=1963}}</ref> Although the Mughal Empire is not recognised as a caliphate, its sixth emperor [[Aurangzeb]] has often been regarded as one of the few Islamic caliphs to have ruled the Indian peninsula.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Jackson |first1=Roy |title=Mawlana Mawdudi and Political Islam: Authority and the Islamic State |year=2010 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-136-95036-0}}</ref> He received support from the [[Ottoman sultans]] such as [[Suleiman II of the Ottoman Empire|Suleiman II]] and [[Mehmed IV]]. As a memoriser of Quran, Aurangzeb fully established [[sharia]] in South Asia via his [[Fatawa 'Alamgiri]].{{citation needed|date=November 2024}} He re-introduced [[jizya]] and banned Islamically unlawful activities. However, Aurangzeb's personal expenses were covered by his own incomes, which included the sewing of caps and trade of his written copies of the Quran. Thus, he has been compared to the second caliph, [[Umar]] bin Khattab, and Kurdish conqueror [[Saladin]].<ref>Dasgupta, K., 1975. How Learned Were the Mughals: Reflections on Muslim Libraries in India. The Journal of Library History, 10(3), pp. 241–254.</ref><ref>Qadir, K.B.S.S.A., 1936. "The Cultural Influences of Islam in India". ''Journal of the Royal Society of Arts'', pp. 228–241.</ref> The Mughal emperors continued to be addressed as caliphs until the reign of [[Shah Alam II]].<ref>{{cite book |first=Thomas Walker |last=Arnold |author-link=Thomas Walker Arnold |chapter=The Mughal Emperors in India |title=The Caliphate |publisher=Oxford University Press |page=162 |year=1924}}</ref>

Other notable rulers such as [[Muhammad bin Bakhtiyar Khalji]], [[Alauddin Khilji]], [[Firuz Shah Tughlaq]], [[Shamsuddin Ilyas Shah]], [[Babur]], [[Sher Shah Suri]], [[Nasir I of Kalat]], [[Tipu Sultan]],  [[Nawabs of Bengal]], and the [[Khwaja Salimullah]] were popularly given the term ''khalifa''.<ref>{{cite book |first=Banarsi Prasad |last=Saksena |author-link=Banarsi Prasad Saksena |chapter=The Khaljis: Alauddin Khalji |editor=Mohammad Habib and Khaliq Ahmad Nizami |title=A Comprehensive History of India: The Delhi Sultanat (A.D. 1206–1526) |volume=5 |edition=2nd |year=1992 |orig-year=1970 |publisher=The Indian History Congress / People's Publishing House |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_9cmAQAAMAAJ |oclc=31870180 |access-date=13 April 2019 |archive-date=17 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230117131632/https://books.google.com/books?id=_9cmAQAAMAAJ |url-status=live}}</ref>