Tughluq Dynasty

 

This dynasty is also called Qaraunah Turks, as the father of Ghazi Malik was a Qaraunah

Turk in origin.

Ghiyasuddin Tughlaq/Ghazi Malik (c. 1320 – 1325 CE)

• Founder of the Tughlaq dynasty.

• Ghiyasuddin Tughlaq laid the foundation for Tughlaqabad (a strong fort) near

Delhi.

• Ghiyasuddin Tughlaq sent his son Jauna Khan/Muhammad bin Tughlaq against

Warangal (Kakatiyas) and Madurai (Pandyas).

• His relationship with the Sufi saint Sheikh Nizam ud din Aulia was not cordial.

• It is believed that Jauna Khan treacherously killed his father and ascended the

throne with the title Muhammad bin Tughlaq in c. 1325 CE.

Muhammad Bin Tughlaq/Jauna Khan (c. 1325 – 1351 CE)

• He was a very attractive character in the history of medieval times because of his

ambitious schemes and novel experiments. However, his novel experiments and

enterprises failed miserably as they were far ahead of their time.

• He introduced many reforms:

• Transfer of Capital – Muhammad bin Tughlaq wanted to shift his capital

from Delhi to Devagiri so that he might be able to control south India

better. He forcibly moved the entire population to the new capital,

Devagiri which was renamed as Daulatabad. After two years, the Sultan

abandoned Daulatabad and shifted back to Delhi due to the scarcity of

water supply in Daulatabad. The distance between the two places was

more than 1500 kilometres and many people died during the rigorous

journey in summer.

• Token Currency – In c. 1329 CE, Sultan Muhammad bin Tughlaq

introduced a token currency, made of copper to replace gold and silver

coins. It was modelled based on the Chinese example (Kublai Khan issued

paper money in China). Very few people exchanged gold/silver for copper

and the tokens were easy to forge which led to heavy losses. Later on,

Muhammad bin Tughlaq repealed his verdict and all coins were redeemed

in gold/silver, making the treasury empty.

• Taxation in Doab – The failure of the above two experiments resulted in

a huge loss of money. In order to improve the financial condition,

Muhammad bin Tughlaq increased the land revenue on the farmers of the

doab land between the Ganga and Yamuna rivers. It was an excessive and

arbitrary step on the farmers. A severe famine struck the region at that

time which made the farmers revolt. However, the harsh steps taken by

Muhammad bin Tughlaq crushed the revolt.

• Agricultural Reforms – He launched a scheme by which takkavi

loans (loans for cultivation) were given to the farmers to buy seeds and to

extend cultivation. He set up a separate department for

agriculture, Diwan-i-amir-Kohi. A model farm under the state was created

in an area of 64 square miles for which the government spent around

seventy lakh tankas. This experiment was further continued by Firoz

Tughlaq.

• Muhammad bin Tughlaq was the only Delhi Sultan who had received a

comprehensive literary, religious and philosophical education.

• He was very tolerant in religious matters. He maintained diplomatic relations

with far off countries like Iran, Egypt and China. The famous traveller Ibn Batuta

(author of Safarnama Rehla) visited India during this period (c. 1334 CE) and

was appointed Qazi at Delhi for a period of eight years.

• During the latter part of Muhammad bin Tughlaq’s reign, the kingdom witnessed

a spate of rebellions by the nobles and provincial governors. The Sultanate of

Madurai was established due to the rebellion of Hassan Shah. In c. 1336 CE,

the Vijaynagara kingdom was founded. In c. 1347 CE, the Bahmani kingdom was

established. The governors of Sindh, Multan and Oudh rose in revolt against the

authority of Muhammad bin Tughlaq. In Gujarat, Taghi revolted against the

Sultan who spent nearly three years chasing him.

• Muhammad bin Tughlaq died in c.1351 CE due to the worsening of his health

condition. According to Baduani, the Sultan was freed from his people and the

people from the Sultan. According to Barani, Muhammad bin Tughlaq was a

mixture of opposites. His reign marked the beginning of the process of its

decline.

Firoz Shah Tughlaq (c. 1351 – 1388 CE)

• After the death of Muhammad bin Tughlaq in c.1351 CE, Firoz Shah Tughlaq was

chosen as the Sultan by the nobles.

• He appointed Khan-i-Jahan Maqbal, a Telugu Brahmin convert as wazir (Prime

Minister). He helped the Sultan in his administration and maintained the prestige

of the Sultanate during this period.

Military Campaigns

• After ascending the throne, he focussed on strengthening his position over north

India instead of claiming his authority over south India and Deccan. He led two

expeditions to Bengal which were unsuccessful and as a result, Bengal became

free from the control of the Delhi Sultanate.

• Firoz Shah Tughlaq also attacked Jajnagar (modern Orissa) and collected large

booty from the temples (such as the Puri Jagannath temple). He also marched

against Nagarkot and made its ruler pay tributes. During this campaign, Firoz

Shah collected 1300 Sanskrit manuscripts from the Jwalamukhi temple library

and Arizuddin Khan translated these into the Persian language. Firoz Shah then

marched against Thatta (Sindh region) and crushed a rebellion there.

Administrative Reforms

• He ran his administration in accordance with the advice of the ulemas. He

pleased the nobles and assured hereditary succession to their properties. Thus,

the iqta system was revived and was also made hereditary.

• He levied taxes as per the teachings of Islam. Jiziya was imposed on non-Muslims.

The special tax on 28 items was discarded by him since they were against the

laws of Islam. He showed intolerance towards Shia Muslims and Sufis. He

regarded Hindus as second-grade citizens and in this respect, he was the

precursor of Sikander Lodi and Aurangzeb.

• He was the first sultan to impose an irrigation tax. But at the same time, he also

built a number of irrigation canals and wells. The longest canal was about 200

km in length from Sutlej to Hansi. Another canal was between Yamuna and

Hissar.

• During his reign, there were around 1200 fruit gardens in and around Delhi

generating more revenue.

• He developed royal factories called karkhanas in which thousands of slaves were

employed. He also increased the number of slaves by capturing the defeated

soldiers and young persons. There were around one lakh eighty thousand slaves

during his reign.

• New towns (around 300) were built during his reign. The famous one being

Firozabad near Red Fort (now called Firoz Shah Kotla). Monuments like Qutb

Minar and Jama Masjid were repaired and Ashokan pillars from Meerut and

Topara were brought to Delhi during his reign.

• Diwan-i-Khairat, a new department was established to support orphans and

widows. Free hospitals like Dar-ul-Shifa and marriage bureaus for poor Muslims

were also established.

• Firoz patronised scholars like Barani who wrote Tarikh-i-Firoz Shah, and

Fatawa-i-Jahandari and Khwaja Abdul Malik Islami who wrote Futah-us- Sulatin.

He himself authored the book, Futuhat-e-Firozshahi.

• Firoz Shah Tughlaq died in c. 1388 CE and after that, the struggle for power

between the Sultan and nobles started again. His successors (like Muhammad

Khan, Ghiyasuddin Tughlaq Shah II, Abu Bakr Shah, Nasiruddin Muhammad) had

to face the rebellions of the slaves created by Firoz.

In the following years, the Delhi Sultanate disintegrated and many provinces like

Gujarat and Malwa declared independence. The invasion of Timur in c. 1398 CE, further aggravated the situation. Timur was a Mongol leader of Central Asia, head of Chagatai Turks. His kingdom stretched from lower Volga to river Indus, included modern Turkey, Afghanistan, Transoxiana, Iran, and portions of Punjab. When Timur entered Delhi there was barely any opposition. He sacked Delhi for three days killing thousands of people and gathering huge wealth. He withdrew from India in c. 1399 CE and his invasion gave a death blow to the Tughlaq dynasty.