The Tughlaq Dynasty (1320-1414)
The founder of the Tughlaq dynasty was Ghiyasuddin Tughlaq. Ghiyasuddin laid the foundation for Tughlaqabad near Delhi.
UlughKhan was said to have treacherously killed his father and ascended the throne with the title Muhammad bin Tughlaq in 1325.
Muhammad bin Tughlaq (1325-1351)
He was a very attractive character in the history of medievalIndia owing to his ambitious schemes and novel experiments.
Hisenterprises and novel experiments ended in miserable failuresbecause they were all far ahead of their time.
He was very tolerantin religious matters.
He maintained diplomatic relations with far offcountries like Egypt, China and Iran.
He also introduced many liberal and beneficial reforms.
But all his reforms failed. Contemporarywriters like Isami, Barani and Ibn Battutah were unable to give acorrect picture about his personality.
But, Muhammad bin Tughlaq was the only Delhi Sultan who had received a comprehensive literary,religious and philosophical education.
Transfer of Capital
Muhammad bin Tughlaq wanted to make Devagiri his second capital so that he might be able to control South India better.
Token CurrencyIn 1329-30 Muhammad binTughlaq introduced a token currency.
There was a shortage of silver throughout the world in the fourteenthcentury. Kublai Khan issued papermoney in China.
In the same manner, Muhammad bin Tughlaq issuedcopper coins at par with the value of the silver tanka coins.
But hewas not able to prevent forging the new coins.
The goldsmiths beganto forge the token coins on a large scale.
Soon the new coins werenot accepted in the markets.
Finally, Muhammad bin Tughlaqstopped the circulation of token currency and promised to exchange silver coins for the copper coins.
Many people exchanged the newcoins but the treasury became empty.
According the Barani, theheap of copper coins remained lying on roadside in Tughlaqabad.
In order to overcomefinancial difficulties, Muhammad bin Tughlaq increased the landrevenue on the farmers of Doab (land between Ganges and Yamunarivers).
He launched a scheme by which takkaviloans (loans for cultivation) were given to the farmers to buy seed and to extend cultivation.
A separate department for agriculture, Diwan- i- Kohiwas established.In 1336 the Vijayanagar kingdom was founded.
In 1347 Bhamini kingdom was established.
The governors of Oudh, Multanand Sind revolted against the authority of Muhammad bin Tughlaq.
Firoz Tughlaq (1351-1388)
After the death of Muhammad-bin-Tughlaq in 1351 FirozTughlaq had the unique distinction of being chosen as sultan by thenobles.
He appointed Khan-i-JahanMaqbal, a Telugu Brahminconvert as wazir (prime minister).
The wazir helped the Sultan in hisadministration and maintained the prestige of the Sultanate duringthis period.
Military Campaigns-
Firoz led a campaign against Jajnagar (modernOrissa).
He returned with rich booty acquired from the temples.
Hemarched against Nagarkot and made its ruler to pay tributes.
During this campaign the Sultan collected 1300 Sanskrit manuscripts fromthe Jawalamukhi temple library and got them translated into Persian.
Administrative Reforms
The reign of Firoz Tughlaq was more notable for hisadministration.
He strictly followed the advice of the ulemas inrunning the administration.
He pleased the nobles and assuredhereditary succession to their properties.
Thus the iqta system wasnot only revived but also it was made hereditary.
As per the Islamic law he levied the taxes. Jiziya was strictly imposed on non-Muslims.
He was the first Sultan to impose irrigation tax.
But at the same timehe dug irrigation canals and wells.
The longest canal was about 200 kilometres from Sutlej to Hansi.
Another canal was between Yamunaand Hissar.
There were about 1200 fruit gardens in and aroundDelhi yielding more revenue.
The special tax on 28 items wasabolished by him since they were against the Islamic law.
He alsodeveloped royal factories called karkhanasin which thousands ofslaves were employed.
About 300 new towns were built during hisreign.
The famous among them was Firozabad near Red Fort inDelhi, now called Firoz Shah Kotla.
Old monuments like JamaMasjid and Qutb-Minar were also repaired.
A new department called Diwan-i-Khairatwas created totake care of orphans and widows.
Free hospitals and marriagebureaus for poor Muslims were also established. Firoz patronizedscholars like Barani and Afif.
As he was guided by the ulemas, hewas intolerant towards Shia Muslims and Sufis.
He treated Hindusas second grade citizens and imposed Jiziya.
In this respect he was the precursor of Sikandar Lodi and Aurangazeb.
Also he increasedthe number of slaves by capturing the defeated soldiers and youngpersons.
In his regime the number of slaves had increased to onelakh eighty thousand.
When Firoz died in 1388 the struggle for power between the Sultan and the nobles started once again.
His successorshad to face the rebellion of the slaves created by Firoz.
In the following years, the Delhi Sultanate had disintegratedfurther. Many provinces like Malwa and Gujarat declared theirindependence.
The invasion of Timur in 1398 had worsened thesituation.
When Timur entered Delhi there was no opposition andhe sacked Delhi for three days murdering thousands of people andlooting enormous wealth.
He withdrew from India in 1399 and hisinvasion in fact delivered a death blow to the Tughlaq dynasty.
Sayyids (1414-1451)
Before his departure from India, Timur appointed Khizr Khan asgovernor of Multan.
He captured Delhi and founded the Sayyid dynastyin 1414.
He tried to consolidate the Delhi Sultanate but in vain.
He died in 1421 and was succeeded by his son, Mubarak Shah. MuhammadShah who succeeded him was always busy against conspirators andgradually lost control over his nobles.
Buhlul Khan Lodi dominated everything.
Muhammad Shah died in 1445 and was succeeded by hisson Alam Shah (1445-1451) the weakest of the Sayyid princes.
Hehanded over the throne to Buhlul Lodi and retired to Badaun.
Lodis (1451-1526)
The Lodis, who succeeded Sayyids, were Afghans.
Buhlul Lodi was the first Afghan ruler while his predecessors were all Turks.
He died in 1489 and was succeeded by his son, Sikandar Lodi.
Sikandar Lodi (1489-1517)
was the greatest of the three Lodis over eigns.
He brought the whole of Bihar under his control, manyRajput chiefs were defeated.
He attacked Bengal and forced its ruler to conclude a treaty with him, and extended his empire from the Punjabto Bihar.
He was a good administrator.
Roads were laid and manyirrigational facilities were provided for the benefit of the peasantry.
Despite certain laudable qualities, he was a bigot.
He destroyed manyHindu temples and imposed many restrictions on the Hindus.
Yet, hewas one of the great Lodi sultans who made the sultanate strong and powerful.
Sikandar Lodi was succeeded by his eldest son Ibrahim Lodiwho was arrogant.
He insulted his nobles openly in court and humiliatedthem.
Those nobles who revolted were put to death.
His own uncle,Alauddin revolted.
Daulat Khan Lodi, the governor of the Punjab wasinsulted and disaffection between king and courtier became verycommon.
Greatly displeased by the arrogance of Ibrahim, Daulat KhanLodi invited Babur to invade India.
Babur marched against Delhi anddefeated and killed Ibrahim Lodi in the first battle of Panipat (1526).
The Afghan kingdom lasted for only seventy-five years.
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