The Tughlaq Dynasty (CE 1320 – 1414)

1. Ghias-ud-din Tughlaq (CE 1320-25)
   1. After the death of Ala-ud-din, there was chaos in the kingdom, Malik Kafur assumed the power as a regent (someone who actually governs in place of a king or queen in absence of the king or queen). He was killed by the slaves who conspired against him.
   2. Ghazi Malik, assumed the title Ghias-ud-din Tughlaq, became a strong and benevolent ruler.
   3. He died near Afghanpur as a pavilion fell on him, an accident which was alleged to have been planned by his son and successor, Jauna Khan or Ulugh Khan in CE 1325.
2. Muhammad-bin-Tughlaq (CE 1325-51)
   1. Jauna Khan ascended the throne in CE 1325, under the name of muhammad-bin-Tughlaq. he was a learned man but failed as a ruler despite of having a vision ahead of his time, but his reforms were edible roots.
   2. He is known as “mixture of upposites” in history, he was a great philosopher and mathematician, a great general but lacked common sense and practical judgement.
   3. He was a Sunni Muslim but did not allow the ulemas to interfere in state affairs.
   4. Ibn Batuta:
      1. talks about the capital transformation.
   5. Taxation in the Doab (1326):
      1. In order to increase the revenue he increased the taxation in Doab, but this resulted in a famine.
      2. The farmers left their lands to escape the Sultan’s officials, when Sultan became aware of this, he ordered liberal financial help to the farmers like advancing loans, giving seeds and bullocks, digging well for irrigation, but the remady came too late..
   6. Transfer of capital (CE 1326-27)
      1. He shifted the capital from Delhi to Devagiri (renamed Daulatabad).
      2. The capital was shifted because the empire had extended to the south and hence Delhi was no longer centrally located. Devagiri was centrally located, so Sultan thought it would be easier to rule from Devagiri,
      3. Devagiri had another advantage; being away far away from the north-west, it was safe from the threat of frequent Mongol attacks.
      4. It was a long journey of 708 miles from Delhi. many perished on the way. Muhammad soon realised that his absence from Delhi make the capital vulnerable to Mongol invasions.
      5. He could not control the North from distant Daulatabad, he again ordered the inhabitants to return to Delhi.
      6. thousands of people died in the return journey.
   7. Introduction of Token Currency (CE 1330)
      1. The economic burden of the transfer of capital was huge the royal trasury became empty.
      2. In order to make up the the deficit (An excess of expenditure over income) he issued copper coins, but the Sultan did not take any step to prevent forgery (copy of legal document).
      3. The large scele of dublicate coins came to the market, and Sultan withdrew the scheme and paid gold and silver coins instead of copper, this further improvised the state treasury.
   8. Failure of Expenditure:
      1. Muhammad-bin-Tughlaq wanted to expend his empire, so he ordered his army to move tokangra (modern Himachal pradesh). he conquered this region and sent the army further, towards Tibet. but soon, tughlaq realised that it would not be possible to continue with the expedition because of extreme climate conditions, so he had to stop the try.
      2. Tughlaq also sent his army to Khurasan in Central Asia, but failed and suffered heavy loss.
      3. These resulted open revolts in Bengal, Tamil nadu, Warangal, Gujarat, Sindh.
      4. By the end of 14th Century Bengal and Sind were lost to the empire, the region south to Narmada became free from Sultan’s rule,by CE 1347, two independent kingdoms of Vijayanagara and Bahmani were set up.
3. Firoz Shah Tughlaq (CE 1351-1388)
   1. The cousin of Muhammad-bin Tughlaq, succeeded him in CE 1351.
   2. He believed that Muhammad failed because he lacked the support of the Ulemas and the nobles, so he tried to gain them.
   3. he was an ideal and pious king.
   4. He simplified the legal system and discouraged the use of spies, showed humane attitude to slaves, reduced land revenue, and cancelled the loan system and revived agriculture, promoted trade, reduced octroi duty, opened a number of Madrasas.
   5. hereditary rights to the land were given to nobles and people in the army.
   6. He was an incompetent general, bengal and Deccan became independent in his reign.
   7. He founded the towns of Firozbad, Janupur, Fatehabad, Hissar and built a palace-cum-fort complex at Firoz Shah Kotla at Delhi. He also built hospitals and rest houses, Sarais.
   8. He had many Sanskrit scriptures translated into Persian.
   9. Firoz Shah established a department of charity called Diwan-i-Khairat. The department provided relief to the poor and needy such as widows and orphans.
   10. Improved the irrigation system and had many canals and wells dug.
4. Timur’s Invasion (CE 1398)
   1. Amir Timur invaded India in CE 1398, and it called the end of Tughlaq empire.
   2. He set out from Samarkand with 92,000 horsemen to invade India.
   3. Timur plundered Delhi, massacred people and left the city.
   4. His object was to gain wealth, he appointed Khizr Khan as his deputy in India. Khizr Khan was the governor of Multan under the Tughlaq but joined Timur when he attacked India. He attacked Daulat Khan and occupied the throne of Delhi. He also founded the Sayyid Dynasty.