(1) The role of the Sultan:

(i) The Sultan was the central figure in the administrative set up. He was the head of the civil administration and Supreme Commander of the army. He made all the appointments and promotions. He also had the right to remove anybody from the service. He had absolute power in his hand. He was also the head of the judiciary. He used to confer titles and honours upon people.

(ii) Theoretically the Sultan had an exalted position but in actual practice different Sultans enjoyed varying power. The position of the Sultan was always under pressure from the powerful group of nobility and Ulema. Sultans of Delhi, particularly the powerful Sultans, adopted various strategies to keep these groups under control.

(iii) Balban kept the nobles firmly under his control. Thus the personality of the Sultan played a significant role in the administrative structure of the Sultanate. Under the capable and strong Sultans, the administration and the administrative structure functioned well but under the inefficient. and the weak ruler was under pressure.

2.The role of Ulema:

(i) The religious intellectual group of Muslims was collectively referred to  as Ulema. People of this group managed religious matters and interpreted religious regulations for  the Sultan. They were also incharge of judicial matters and worked as Qazis at various levels.

(ii) It was quite  an influential group and commanded respect of Sultan and nobility. They also had influence among Muslim masses. This group used to pressurize the Sultan to run the Sultanate as per the religious laws of Islam.

(iii) The Sultan and nobles generally tried to run the administrative affairs as per the need of the state rather than religious laws. Sultanes like Alauddin Khalji ignored the opinions of Ulema on a number of issues but some followed their line.