The Iqta institution has been the most talked institution in the Delhi Sultanate.

Through a closer reading of H.M. Moreland's sources, I found that when the
Ghurids conquered northern India, the collection of the conquest's booty and
tribute was initially divided between the commander, who maintained
themselves and their troops. Similar was the practice of iqta assignment, in
which commanders were designated as muqtis and their territorial jurisdiction
was called iqta. With the establishment of the sultanate, conditions remained
largely the same, but a gradual process seems to have begun that eventually
led to the transformation of autonomous principalities into de facto Iqtas.
So, here I will be answering how the Iqta system evolved during the different
reigns of the Sultans between 13th to 15th century with the changing political
dynamics of the Delhi Sultanate.
Major changes took place in the Iqta system during the reign of Alauddin Khilji
(1296–1316). Under this sultan, there was a simultaneous great expansion in
the boundaries of the empire and an attempt was made to impose a full land
tax on the peasants of the old regions. This enormous increase in the resources
of the ruling class was accompanied by several important measures affecting
the organization of the Iqta..
During the reign of Alauddin Khilji, the more distant areas became subject to
the empire and were assigned in iqta and the areas nearer the capital were
annexed to the Khalisa (land owned by the Emperor directly.) The system of
paying the sultan’s own cavalry troops by assignment of villages as iqtas was
abolished. The entire revenue of the khalisa went into the treasury and the
soldiers were paid in cash.
Ala-ud-din Khilji maintained the practice of assigning iqta's to his commanders.
What was new was the extent of the intervention of the sultans bureaucracy in
the administration of the iqta. Ala-ud-din Khalji decreed the new system of
assessment and collection of agrarian taxes in a large region, the bulk of which
as Barani himself shows, was under muqtis.
For establish extreme degree of royal control, we observed that in the first half
of the 14th century, The Iqta’s were constantly transferred from one person to
another and the Iqta holders were subject to periodic transfer from one
locality or region to another and could not base their authority upon the
control of any particular rural area or territory assigned to them. Iqfta’s were
not granted on the principle of heredity and then there was no point of right of
ownership. Because of this, Alauddin Khilji held back from giving assignments,
as he believed that this would encourage the nobles to revolt. Because of this
and other causes they were transferred to other Iqta’s so that they may not
strengthen their own power. Such transfers may be observed frequently in the
region of the Ilbari Turks specially in the region of Balban and later on in
Alaudin Khilji’s period.
Under Muhammad Tughluq (1325–51), the dual functions of collection of taxes
and maintenance of troops began to be separated, one of the reasons was that
the Sultan wanted to obtain a large income. Masalik al-Absar, an Arabic work,
says that all the commanders of the army were assigned iqtas in exchange for
their salaries. But the estimated income of the iqta, against which the salary
was adjusted, was always less than the actual. The soldiers were paid by the
treasury in cash and the iqta was given only in lieu of the commander's
personal salary. Importantly, it is said that the soldiers were always paid by the
treasury in cash and that the iqta was given only in lieu of the personal salary
of the commander. This meant that the appointment of Iqta, reserved for
soldiers under Khilji and Ghiyasuddin Tughlaq, was now completely removed
from the hands of the commander; only the part sufficient to yield his own
salary was left to him as his iqta. lt is easy to see that the kind of division
witnessed by lbn Battuta in the hazar of Amroha would be true of all areas
taken out of the old lqta's and reserved for the payment of troops.
It is possible that Muhammad Tughluq's difficulties with his military officers—
Amiran-i-Sada (Century), were rooted among other things, whereby the
commanders were deprived of lqta management. Barani himself ascribes
conflict with the Amiran-i-sada in the Deogir (Daulatabad) region to the new
arrangements for revenue collection there.
From the middle of the 14th Century to the early years of the 16th Century
there was a reversion to the simpler form of Iqta organisation; a series of
concessions were granted by the Sultan to his officers. First of all, the jama or
estimated revenue income was fixed permanently so that the assignees
obtained all benefits of increase in actual revenue collection. Iqta transfers
were still effected but they appear to have become rarer. Firozshah Tughlaq,
by bestowing the Iqta’s to the sons of the holders, made both the assignments
and the posts of troopers practically hereditary. The attitude of Firozshah to
grants in general was indeed such that a right of ownership seemed to develop
to some extent. This in turn led to the development of a feeling in them to
improve the standard of living of their Iqtas. The reign of Firuz Tughluq was
remarkable for the regard paid to the hereditary principle. Ever since the Khalji
coup of 1290, the ruling class of the sultanate had been marked by an acute
instability in composition, a phenomenon tending, in the opinion of Barani, to
open its doors to plebeian elements of all kinds.
Between 15th and 16th century, Under the Lodis (1451-1526), the system
remained essentially similar, but a reorganization occurred. The term iqta now
disappear from view, replaced simply by Sarkars and Parganas. Both of these
were territorial divisions, where each sarkar comprised a number of parganas.
This sarkar was under a noble and each sarkar was assigned a jama or
estimated revenue whose purpose must have been to lay down the military
and other obligations of the noble., The principal assignees under Sikandar
Lodi (1489-1517) used to sub-assign some portion of their territories or
parganas to their sub-ordinates who again paid the soldiers by same means.

From the above developmental stages of the iqta system we can understand
that earlier during the thirteenth century there was a simple division of the
empire among the tribute governors. Then, in the first half of the fourteenth
century the demand for revenue increased, and so did the income of the iqta,
while excessive imperial control was established over the iqta. Finally, from the
middle of the fourteenth century to the early years of the sixteenth century,
there was a reversion to a simpler form of iqta organization, but with the
difference, perhaps, that the assignees appropriated a large part of the
peasant surplus directly to themselves.
With all of this during 14th century an extreme degree of control established
over Iqta. As the central government became stronger and more confident, it
tried to increase its direct control over the regions and the countryside, which
meant reducing the powers and privileges of the chiefs who dominated the
countryside. This led to prolonged struggle, and no clear form had emerged by
the time the Delhi sultanate disintegrated.