Delhi Sultanate – Tughlaq Dynasty (Based on NCERT)

Delhi Sultanate – Tughlaq Dynasty

After the end of the Khilji dynasty, a new dynasty emerged in Delhi which is called Tughlaq Dynasty. The Tughlaq Dynasty ruled Delhi from 1320 to 1413 AD. The first ruler of the Tughlaq dynasty was Ghazi Malik, who introduced himself as his Ghiyasuddin Tughlaq.

Tughlaq Dynasty (1320-1413)

Rulers of the Tughlaq Dynasty:-

1.  Ghiyasuddin Tughlaq (1320-25 AD)
2.  Muhammad Tughlaq (1325-51 AD)
3. Firoz Shah Tughlaq (1351-88 AD)
4.  Muhammad Khan (1388 AD)
5.  Ghiyasuddin Tughlaq Shah II (1388 AD)
6.  Abu Bakr (1389-90 AD)
7.  Nasiruddin Muhammad (1390-94 AD)
8.  Humayun (1394-95 AD)
9.  Nasiruddin Mahmud (1395-1412 AD) 

Ghiyath al-Din Tughluq (1320-25 AD)

He was the first ruler to establish the Tughlaq dynasty over the Delhi Sultanate. Its former name was Ghazi Malik, who changed his name to Ghiyasuddin after ascending the throne of the Delhi Sultanate. Ghiyasuddin ascended the throne of Delhi on 8 September 1320 and ruled for the next five years. He was the first ruler to add the word Ghazi (killer of infidels) to his name. It was also called Tughlaq Ghazi. He had thwarted 23 invasions of the Mongols.

• Ghiyasuddin Tughluq made the basis of his economic policy under economic reforms, the balance between restraint, strictness, and softness (Rasm-e-Mian).
• He got the order to take only 1/10 or 1/12 of the produce as rent.
• Ghiyas-ud-din returned the old rights to the intermediate zamindars, especially the muqaddams and the khuts, thereby giving them the same status as they enjoyed during the time of Balban.
• Ghiyasuddin returned to the land of the rich.
• He built wells and canals for irrigation. Probably Ghiyasuddin was the first Sultan to get the canal built.
• The credit for strengthening the postal system during the Sultanate period goes to Ghiyasuddin Tughlaq.
• Against the harsh policy of Alauddin Khilji, he adopted a policy of liberalism, which Barani called 'Rasmiyaan' or 'central policy'.
• He effectively implemented the Dagan and Chehra system introduced by Alauddin Khilji.

significant victory

• Conquest of Warangal and Telangana (1324 AD)
• Tirhuti conquest, Mongol conquest (1324 AD )

Construction work

• He laid the foundation of a fort named Tughlaqabad.

Death

• When Ghiyasuddin Tughluq was returning from the Bengal campaign, while returning, the palace collapsed as soon as Sultan Ghiyasuddin entered a palace in Afghanpur, located 8 kilometers from Tughlaqabad, in which he died on March 1325 AD.
• The tomb of Ghiyasuddin Tughlaq is located in Tughlaqabad.

Muhammad bin Tughluq (1325-51 AD)

Muhammad bin Tughlaq was the ruler of the Tughlaq dynasty in the Delhi Sultanate. After the death of Ghiyasuddin Tughlaq, his son Juna Khan ascended the throne of Delhi under the name of Muhammad bin Tughlaq (1325-1351 AD). Its original name was Ulugh Khan. Among all the medieval sultans, Muhammad Tughluq was the most educated, learned, and capable person. Also, he was a big fan of Persian poetry. His thinking was far ahead of his time. He brainstormed many ideas, but his scales related to the implementation of those ideas were not very strong and durable, so he failed. He established a central capital in his kingdom and established a  token currency (symbol currency). Tried various experiments but it was completely unsuccessful. Due to its whimsical plans, it has been called 'dreams', 'crazy', and 'blood-hungry'.

Works of Muhammad bin Tughlaq 

• The tax increase in the Doab area (1326-27 AD) -  Muhammad Tughluq increased the tax in the fertile region of the Doab (possibly 50 percent), but in the same year, there was a severe famine in the Doab, which affected the yield. The forcible collection of taxes by Tughluq's officers led to a rebellion in that area, making this plan of Tughlaq unsuccessful. Muhammad Tughluq established a new department named 'Diwan-i-Amir Kohi' for the development of agriculture. Due to corruption of government employees, the apathy of farmers, poor land, etc., he ended his plan for agricultural progress after three years. Muhammad bin Tughluq provided loans (sonthar) to the farmers at very low interest.
• Change of capital (1326-27 AD) –  Tughlaq shifted the capital from Delhi to Devgiri under his plan. Devagiri was also called "Quwwatul Islam". Sultan Qutbuddin Mubarak Khilji named Devgiri 'Qutababad' and Muhammad bin Tughlaq changed its name to Daulatabad. The Sultan was most criticized for this plan. This plan of Muhammad Tughluq was also completely unsuccessful and he allowed people from Daulatabad to return to Delhi in 1335 AD. The change of capital resulted in the growth of Muslim culture in the south, which eventually led to the rise of the Bahmani kingdom.
• Circulation of Symbolic Currency (1329-30 AD) – Under this scheme, Muhammad Tughluq got the coins and symbolic coins circulated. Muhammad Tughluq got the coin known as 'Dokani' circulated. Under the token currency, the Sultan probably issued coins of brass (according to the angel) and copper (according to the barani), the value of which was equal to the taka of silver. Due to the lack of state control over coin minting, many counterfeit mints were formed. The rent began to be paid with forged coins, due to which the economy came to a standstill. The inspiration for running a sign currency came from China and Iran., The rulers there carried out these plans successfully, while the experiment of Muhammad Tughluq failed. The sultan had to face terrible financial loss on the failure of his plan.
• Expedition of Khorasan and Karachil
• Under the fourth plan, mention is made of Muhammad Tughlaq's conquest of Khorasan and Karachil. In order to conquer Khorasan, Muhammad Tughluq paid a year's advance salary to a huge army of 370,000 soldiers, but due to political change, the agreement between the two countries was reached, due to which this plan of the Sultan failed and he suffered financially. Had to lift
• Under the Karachil campaign, the Sultan sent a huge army under the leadership of Khusro Malik to conquer the hill states. His entire army was lost in the wild paths, according to Ibn Battuta, in the end only ten officers could come back after escaping. Thus this plan of Muhammad Tughluq also failed.

Death

• Towards the end of his reign, when Sultan Muhammad Tughlaq marched towards Sindh to crush the revolt in Gujarat and end Targi, he became seriously ill on his way to Gondal near Thatta. Here the Sultan died on 20 March 1351.

Firuz Shah Tughlaq (1351-88 AD)

Firoz Shah Tughlaq ascended the throne of Delhi Sultanate at the age of 45. His father's name was Rajab, who was the younger brother of Ghiyasuddin Tughlaq while his mother was a princess of Dipalpur. After ascending the throne, he took back many of the decisions that were taken by his previous ruler. He ruled according to the Shariat and abolished the taxes that were not mentioned in the Shariat.

Works of Firoz Shah Tughlaq 

• Under the revenue system, Firuz abolished 24 painful taxes during his reign and only 4 taxes were 'Kharaj' (Rage), 'Khums' (spoil in war), 'Jaziya', and 'Zakat' (Islam religion ). According to this, two and a half percent of the donation has to be given to those who are wealthy and given to those who are handicapped or helpless and resourceless).
• On the orders of the Ulemas, the Sultan also imposed a new irrigation (Haq-e-Sharb) tax, which was charged at 1/10 of the produce.
• Sultan constructed 5 big canals from the Yamuna river to Hisar, 150 miles long from Sutlej river to Ghaggar river, 96 miles long from Sirmaur hill to Hansi, Ghaggar to Firozabad, and the Yamuna to Firozabad.
• He planted about 1200 orchards of fruits.
• Many taxes were abolished to increase internal trade.
• Under the city and public works, the Sultan established about 300 new cities.
• The foundation of Jaunpur city was laid by Firoz in the memory of his cousin 'Fakhruddin Jauna' (Muhammad bin Tughlaq).
• During his reign, two pillars of Ashoka from Khizrabad and Meerut were brought and established in Delhi.
• As part of his welfare work, Firoz established an employment office and a new department called 'Diwan-e-Khairat' to help Muslim orphan women, widows, and girls.
•  Built a state hospital called 'Darul-Shafa' (Shafa = the last part of life, the last part of life), in which the poor were treated free of cost.
• During the reign of Firuz, the number of slaves reached about 180,000. To take care of them, Sultan de 'Diwan-i-Bandghan' was established.

Protection

• In the field of education, Sultan Firoz got many tombs and madrasas established. He gave his patronage to 'Ziauddin Barani' and 'Shams-e-Siraj Afif'.
• Barani wrote 'Fatwa-e-Jahandari' and 'Tarikh -e-Firozshahi'.
• Firoz composed his autobiography 'Futuhat-e-Firozshahi'.

Death

• Firoz Shah Tughlaq died in September 1388 AD. He was buried at Hauz Khas Complex,  Delhi.

Mohammad Khan (1388 AD)

Firoz Shah Tughlaq died in 1388 AD. After that Mohammed Khan ruled Delhi for a few days in the Delhi Sultanate and was assassinated within a few days.

Gaiusuddin Tughlaq Shah II (1388 AD)

Firoz Shah Tughlaq's grandson Ghiyasuddin became the next ruler in the Delhi Sultanate after the assassination of Firoz Shah Tughlaq and Mohammad Khan, but he was assassinated after a short rule of 5 months.

Abu Bakr (1389-90 AD)

After killing Ghiyasuddin Tughlaq Shah II, in February 1389 AD, Abu Bakr, the son of Zafar Khan himself became the Sultan.

Nasiruddin Mohammad Shah (1390-94 AD)

After killing Tughlaq Shah, Abu Bakr started the rule of the Sultanate in 1389 AD. The Kotwals of Delhi, Multan, Samana, Lahore Akhtadars supported Muhammad Shah and removed Abu Bakr from the rule in 1390 AD and Nasiruddin Muhammad Shah himself became the ruler. Nasiruddin Muhammad Shah ruled from 1390 to 1394 AD.

Humayun (1394-95 AD)

In the Delhi Sultanate of Nasiruddin Muhammad Shah, his son Humayun ruled for about 3 months and died.

Nasiruddin Mehmood Shah (1395-1412 AD) 

In March 1394 AD, Mahmud Shah became the ruler of the Delhi Sultanate. Seeing his plight, it was said with sarcasm - "The kingdom of Tughlaqs, the emperor of the world, was spread from Delhi to Palam." On December 17, 1398, Timur attacked Delhi and the Sultan himself fled to Gujarat. Again Wazir Mallu Khan called the Sultan to Delhi and put him on the throne. In 1412 AD, Mahmud Shah died, which ended the Tughlaq dynasty.