“History, in general, only informs us what bad government is.”- Thomans Jefferson
So far we have travelled till 1320 AD right from the start of our journey from 3300 BC. In the last blogpost 'Delhi Sultanate and the Khilji Dynasty (1290 - 1320 AD)' we have seen rise and fall of two important kings Jalal-ud-din and Ala-ud-din Khilji. Both the Khilji kings possessed qualities that were quite in contrast. However, with the fall of the Khiljis, there was a rise of another dynasty called the Tughlaq dynasty founded by Ghiyath al-din Tughlaq.
Ghiyas-ud-din Tughalq (r. 1320 - 1325 AD)
Originally called Ghazi Malik, belonged to the Gujjar tribe, a pastoral agricultural ethnic group with populations in India and Pakistan and a sm all number in northeastern Afghanistan. After ascending to the throne(after killing Khusro Khan), he rechristened himself as Ghiyath al-din Tughlaq or Ghiyas-ud-din Tughalq(r. 1320-1325 AD). Thus starting and naming the Tuglaq dynasty. Tughlaq is also referred in scholarly works as Tughlak Shah. He was of Turko-Indian origins, with a Turkic father and a Hindu mother.
After becoming the king, Ghiyas-ud-din Tughlaq rewarded all the amirs, maliks and other officials who had supported him and rendered service in battle against Khusro Khan. Also, he punished all those officials who had supported Khusro Khan in the same. In spite of all that, Ghiyasuddin is considered to be an able administrator and able ruler. Being a Sultan, he built a city 6 kms away from Delhi with a fort considered to be much more defensive against Mongol and called it Tughlaqabad.
Very able and honest officers were recruited and various reforms were introduced in the judicial and police departments. The land revenue which had been raised to 1/2 of the total produce during Ala-ud-Din’s reign was reduced to 1/10 and the revenue officers were warned against any harassment of the peasants. Ghiyas-ud-Din carried out many works of public utility, canals were dug, gardens were planted and forts were built to provide shelter to the people against the thieves and robbers reduced various military reforms. The system of branding the horses and writing the descriptive rolls of the soldiers was revived. The Sultan also patronized art and learning. Amir Khusro continued to receive the Sultan’s favour. Ghiyas-ud-Din also built a new city of Tughlakabad near Delhi which still excites our curiosity for its massiveness and simplicity.
About Amir Khusro:
- Back in time, Bughra Khan, son of Balban was invited to listen to Amir Khusrau. He was impressed and became Khusrau's patron. In 1277 A.D. Bughra Khan was then appointed ruler of Bengal but Amir Khusrau decided to return to Delhi.
- The eldest son of Balban, Khan Muhammad (who was in Multan) came to Delhi. When he heard about Amir Khusrau he invited him to his court. Finally Khusrau accompanied him to Multan in 1279 A.D.
- In the year 1283 A.D Jinar Khan a Mongol, invaded India. Khan Muhammad was killed in battle. Khusrau wrote the two elegies in grief of his death. At the old age of eighty, Sultan Balban called his second son Bughra Khan from Bengal, but he refused to come back to Delhi. After King Balban’s death his grandson Kaikubad was made the ruler of Delhi at the age of 17. Khusrau remained in his service for two years (1286 to 1287 AD).
- After the death of Kaikubad, a Turk soldier Jalaluddin Firuz Khilji took power and became the King. He appreciated poetry and invited many poets to his court. Khusrau was honoured and respected in his court and was given the title "Amir". He was given the job of "Mushaf-dar". Court life made Amir Khusrau focus more on his literary works. Khusrau’s ghazals which he composed in quick succession were set to music and were sung by singing girls every night before the king. Khusrauw writes about him:"The King of the world Jalaluddin, in reward for my infinite pain which I undertook in composing verses, bestowed upon me an unimaginable treasure of wealth."
- After Jalaluddin, Alauddin Khilji ascended to the throne of Delhi in 1295 A.D., Amir Khusrau wrote the "Khaza'in ul-Futuh" (The treasures of victory) recording Alauddin’s construction works, wars, administrative services. Then he composed a quintet (khamsa) with five masnavis. The first was "Matla-ul-Anwar" (Rising place of lights) consisting of 3310 verses (completed in 15 days) with ethical and Sufi themes. The second masnavi, "Khusrau and Shirin" consisted of 4000 verses. The third masnavi "Laila Majnun" was a romance. The fourth voluminous masnavi was "Aina-e-Sikandari" in 4500 verses narrating the heroic deeds of Alexander the Great. The fifth masnavi was "Hasht Bihisht" related to the events of King Bahram Gur. All these works made Amir Khusrau a leading luminary in the world of poetry. Alauddin Khilji was highly pleased by his works and rewarded him handsomely.
- After Alauddin Khilji's death, his son Qutubuddin Mubarak Shah became the king. Amir Khusrau wrote a masnavi on Mubarak Shah as "Nuh Sipihr" (Nine Skies), relating the events of Mubarak Shah's reign. He classified his poetry in nine chapters, each part is considered as a sky.
- After Mubarak Shah, Ghiyath al-Din Tughluq came to the throne. Amir Khusrau wrote a historic masnavi "Tughlaq Nama" about his reign and that of other Tughlaq rulers. On 3 April 1325 AD Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya(Spiritual master of Amir Khusro) died, and after six months Khusrow himself. Khusrau's tomb is next to that of his spiritual master in the Nizamuddin Dargah of Delhi.
After the death of Ala-ud-Din, the ruler of Warrangal, Pratap Rudra Deva II, asserted his independence; so two expeditions in 1321 AD and 1323 AD were sent against him. These expeditions were led by Sultan Ghiyas-ud-din's son Muhammad-bin-tughlaq. Prataparudra II was defeated only in the second battle and his empire was annexed to the Delhi Sultanate. In Bengal, a civil war was going on between the two grandsons of Bughra Khan. Taking full advantage of this rift, the Sultan Ghiyas-ud-din leaving(passing) the throne to his son Muhammad Bin Tughlaq, invaded Bengal and brought a great portion of that state under his control. On his way back from the Bengal he made an expedition, defeated the Raja of Tirhut and annexed his dominions.
On his return journey to Delhi, Ghiyas-ud-din had suspicions on his son's intentions and about a general disquiet in Delhi. Ibn Batuta(Explorer from Morocco) narrated that the sultan ordered a wooden palace to be built in Afghanpur, before he would reach Delhi. According to Batuta, the place was designed so that when an elephant passes through that wooden structure, the whole project would tumble down. So when Ghiyas-ud-din was requested by Jauna Khan(Muhammad-bin-tughlaq) to have an elephant ride, the total construction collapsed upon him and his other son Mahmud.
Ibn Batuta(1304 AD – 1368 or 1369 AD), was a Moroccan explorer of Berber(a member of the indigenous people of North Africa) descent. He is known for his extensive travels, accounts of which were published in the Rihla (literally "Journey"). Over a period of thirty years, Ibn Battuta visited most of the known Islamic world as well as many non-Muslim lands. His journeys included trips to North Africa, the Horn of Africa, West Africa and Eastern Europe, and to the Middle East, South Asia, Central Asia, Southeast Asia and China. Ibn Battuta is generally considered one of the greatest travellers of all time.
According to Batuta, Muhammad-bin-tughlaq heard a huge uproar as he was performing the evening prayer, he left the prayer, came and saw the blunder with the whole structure having tumbled down on Sultan, his son Mahmud and 5-6 of his followers. The rescue was deliberately delayed by Jauna Khan(Muhammad-bin-tughlaq), who ordered the rescuing process only after the sunset. Ghiyas-ud-din's body was carried in the course of night to the tomb beside the city of Tughlaqabad. Thus
Muhammad bin Tughlaq (r. 1325 - 1351 AD)
Muhammad bin Tughlaq was the Turkic sultan of Delhi from 1325 to 1351. He was born in Kotla Tolay Khan in Multan, Pakistan and was the eldest son of Ghiyas-ud-din Tughlaq. As a young man Muhammad was sent by his father to campaign against king Prataparudra II of the Kakatiya dynasty, whose capital was at Warangal. Muhammad Tughlaq was a scholar of logic, philosophy, mathematics, astronomy, physical sciences and calligraphy. He was also interested in medicine and was skilled in several languages — Persian, Arabic, Turkish and Sanskrit. Ibn Battuta, the famous traveller from Morocco, was a guest at his court.
During Muhammad bin Tughluq's rule, Delhi Sultanate temporarily expanded to most of the Indian subcontinent, its peak in terms of geographical reach. He attacked and plundered Malwa, Gujarat, Mahratta, Tilang, Kampila, Dhur-samundar, Mabar, Lakhnauti, Chittagong, Sunarganw and Tirhut. His distant campaigns were expensive, although each raid and attack on non-Muslim kingdoms brought new looted wealth and ransom payments from captured people. The extended empire was difficult to retain, and rebellions all over Indian subcontinent became routine.
'Not a day or week passed without spilling of much Musalman blood.'—Ziauddin Barni, Tarikh-I Firoz Shahi
About Ziauddin Barani:
Ziauddin Barani (1285–1357) was a Muslim historian and political thinker who lived in Delhi Sultanate (present day North India) during Muhammad bin Tughlaq and Firuz Shah's reign. He was best known for composing the Tarikh-i-Firuz Shahi(History of Firoz shah), a major historical work on medieval India, which covers the period from the reign of Ghiyas-ud-din Balban(of slave/mamluk dynasty) to the first six years of reign of Firuz Shah Tughluq and the Fatwa-i-Jahandari(Rules of Temporal Government) which details the Muslim Class System in South Asia.
The Sultan next resolved to remove his capital from Delhi to Devagiri. He did not want merely the officials to move down to the new site but insisted that the entire population of Delhi must move to Devagiri. A proclamation issued with the Sultan’s signature declared that any person found loitering at Delhi after a certain date would be executed. The order was given effect so in a relentless manner and untold miseries were caused to the people. Those who refused were killed. One blind person who failed to move to Deogir, was dragged for the entire journey of 40 days - the man died, his body fell apart, and only his tied leg reached Daulatabad. The capital move failed because Daulatabad was arid and did not have enough drinking water to support the new capital. The capital then returned to Delhi. Nevertheless, Muhammad bin Tughlaq orders affected history as large number of Delhi Muslims who came to Deccan area, did not return to Delhi to live near Muhammad bin Tughlaq. This influx of the then Delhi residents into Deccan region led to a growth of Muslim population in central and southern India.
Muhammad bin Tughlaq was an intellectual, with extensive knowledge of Quran, Fiqh, poetry and other fields. He was deeply suspicious of his kinsmen and wazirs (ministers), extremely severe with his opponents, and took decisions that caused economic upheaval. For example, after his expensive campaigns to expand Islamic empire, the state treasury was empty of precious metal coins. So he ordered minting of coins from base metals with face value of silver coins - a decision that failed because ordinary people minted counterfeit coins from base metal they had in their houses. The device proved a complete failure, as no steps were taken against forgeries. It left the State in financial ruin.
The Sultan conceived grand but unpractical schemes of conquest. He planned the conquest of Persia and collected a vast army. He maintained the army for a year at ruinous expense and then thinking that the scheme was impracticable, disbanded it. He also dispatched a large army against Qarachal, lying in Kumaun and Gahrwal region. But the enterprise ended in a total failure. These wild and visionary projects of Muhammad-bin-Tughluq brought untold miseries on his people and hastened the disruption of the Empire. Bengal, Gujrat, Madura, and Warrangal declared independence. Two independent principalities, viz., the Vijayanagar and Bahamani kingdoms were proclaimed in the Deccan. The last years of his reign were spent in futile attempts to suppress these revolts. In 1351 AD the Sultan died while engaged in pursuing a rebel in Thatta or Sind.
Historians have attempted to determine the motivations behind Muhammad bin Tughlaq's behavior and his actions. Some state Tughlaq tried to enforce orthodox Islamic observance and practice, promote jihad in South Asia as al-Mujahid fi sabilillah ('Warrior for the Path of God') under the influence of Ibn Taymiyyah of Syria. Others suggest insanity. At the time of Muhammad bin Tughlaq's death, the geographic control of Delhi Sultanate had shrunk to Vindhya range (now in central India). After Muhammad bin Tughluq died, a collateral relative, Mahmud Ibn Muhammad, ruled for less than a month. Thereafter, Muhammad bin Tughluq's 45 year old nephew Firuz Shah Tughlaq replaced him and assumed the throne. Firoz Shah Tughlaq was born in 1309. He ruled for the period between 1351-1388. His rule lasted 37 years. Firuz Shah was, like his grandfather, of Turko-Indian origins. His Turkic father Sipah Rajab became infatuated with a Hindu princess named Naila.
Firoz Shah Tughlaq (r. 1351 - 1388 AD)
Naila initially refused to marry Sipah Rajab. Her father refused the marriage proposal as well. Sultan Muhammad bin Tughlaq and Sipah Rajab then sent in an army with a demand for one year taxes in advance and a threat of seizure of all property of her family and Dipalpur people. The kingdom was suffering from famines, and could not meet the ransom demand. The princess, after learning about ransom demands against her family and people, offered herself in sacrifice if the army would stop the misery to her people. Sipah Rajab and the Sultan accepted the proposal. Sipah Rajab and Naila were married and Firoz Shah was their first son.
The court historian Ziauddin Barani, who served both Muhammad Tughlaq and first 6 years of Firoz Shah Tughlaq, noted that all those who were in service of Muhammad were dismissed and executed by Firoz Shah. In his second book, Barani states that Firuz Shah was the mildest sovereign since the rule of Islam came to Delhi. Muslim soldiers enjoyed the taxes they collected from Hindu villages they had rights over, without having to constantly go to war as in previous regimes. Firoz Shah Tughlaq tried to regain the old kingdom boundary by waging a war with Bengal for 11 months in 1359 AD. However, Bengal did not fall, and remained outside of Delhi Sultanate. Firuz Shah Tughlaq was somewhat weak militarily, mainly because of inept leadership in the army.
Firoz Shah Tughlaq is remembered in history abolishing about twenty four types of taxes on people. Even land tax was reduced. He only collected four taxes sanctioned in Quran. Trade tariffs we also lowered.The supports of the nobles were won by giving land grants. He set up manufacturing centers popularly known as karkhanas, constructed roads and irrigation canals.He also started a department of charity (Diwan-i-Khairat).Schools were set up to improve Islamic education. Mosques, palaces, factories, orchards and new cities came up at Jaunpur, Firozpur, Azadpur and Tughlaqpur.
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| Wazirabad mosque built by Firoz shah Tuglaq |
An educated sultan, Firoz Shah left a memoir. In it he wrote that he banned torture in practice in Delhi Sultanate by his predecessors, tortures such as amputations, tearing out of eyes, sawing people alive, crushing people's bones as punishment, pouring molten lead into throats, putting people on fire, driving nails into hands and feet, among others. The Sunni Sultan also wrote that he did not tolerate attempts by Rafawiz Shia Muslim and Mahdi sects from proselytizing people into their faith, nor did he tolerate Hindus who tried to rebuild their temples after his armies had destroyed those temples. As punishment, wrote the Sultan, he put many Shias, Mahdi and Hindus to death (siyasat). Shams-i Siraj 'Afif, his court historian, also recorded Firoz Shah Tughlaq burning Hindus alive for secretly following their religion(hinduism) and for refusing to convert to Islam. In his memoirs, Firoz Shah Tughlaq lists his accomplishments to include converting Hindus to Sunni Islam by announcing an exemption from taxes and jizya for those who convert, and by lavishing new converts with presents and honours. Simultaneously, he raised taxes and jizya, assessing it at three levels, and stopping the practice of his predecessors who had historically exempted all Hindu Brahmins from jizya tax. After Feroz died in 1388 AD, the Tughlaq dynasty's power continued to fade, and no more able leaders came to the throne. Firoz Shah Tughlaq's death created anarchy and disintegration of kingdom. In the years preceding his death, internecine strife among his descendants had already erupted.
During this period, two civil wars broke out. The first civil war broke out in 1384 AD four years before the death of aging Firoz Shah Tughlaq, while the second civil war started in 1394 AD six years after Firoz Shah was dead. The Sultanate witnessed some temporary sultans rising and falling in time and the entire empire disintegrating between 1388 AD and 1398 AD until the Timur's invasion of Delhi Sultanate. The lowest point for the dynasty came in 1398, when Turco-Mongol invader, Timur (Tamerlane) defeated four armies of the Sultanate. During the invasion, the then Sultan Mahmud Khan ran away before Tamerlane entered Delhi. For eight days Delhi was plundered, its population massacred, and over 100,000 prisoners were killed as well.
Tamerlane ( life: 1336-1405 AD) was a celebrated Turko-Mongol conqueror whose victories, characterized by acts of inhuman cruelty, made him the master of the greater part of western Asia. His vast empire disintegrated at his death. The battle took place on 17 December 1398 AD. Sultan Nasir-ud-Din Mahmud Shah Tughluq and Mallu Iqbal's army had war elephants armored with chain mail and poison on their tusks. With his Tatar forces afraid of the elephants, Timur ordered his men to dig a trench in front of their positions. Timur then loaded his camels with as much wood and hay as they could carry. When the war elephants charged, Timur set the hay on fire and prodded the camels with iron sticks, causing them to charge at the elephants howling in pain: Timur had understood that elephants were easily panicked. Faced with the strange spectacle of camels flying straight at them with flames leaping from their backs, the elephants turned around and stampeded back toward their own lines. Timur capitalized on the subsequent disruption in Nasir-ud-Din Mahmud Shah Tughluq's forces, securing an easy victory. Delhi was sacked and left in ruins. Before the battle for Delhi, Timur executed 100,000 captives.
The capture of the Delhi Sultanate was one of Timur's greatest victories, arguably surpassing the likes of Alexander the Great and Genghis Khan because of the harsh conditions of the journey and the achievement of taking down one of the richest cities at the time. After Delhi fell to Timur's army, uprisings by its citizens against the Turkic-Mongols began to occur, causing a bloody massacre within the city walls. After three days of citizens uprising within Delhi, it was said that the city reeked of decomposing bodies of its citizens with their heads being erected like structures and the bodies left as food for the birds. Timur's invasion and destruction of Delhi continued the chaos that was still consuming India and the city would not be able to recover from the great loss it suffered for almost a century.
Timur's invasion brings us to the end of Tughlaq dynasty, third of the five unrelated dynasties to rule Delhi Sultanate. Next comes The Sayyids and the Lodis.
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