Tughlaq dynasty

Timeline

1. 1320 Ghiyasuddin Tughlaq (Ghazi Malik) becomes Sultan
2. 1323 Warangal annexed
3. 1324 Bengal campaign; Tirhut (Mithila) overrun and the Karnata dynasty ended
4. 1325 Ghiyasuddin dies when a pavilion collapses at Afghanpur; Muhammad bin Tughlaq succeeds
5. 1327 Capital shifted to Devagiri, renamed Daulatabad
6. 1329–30 Token currency of bronze and copper introduced
7. 1333 Ibn Battuta arrives in Delhi
8. 1336 Vijayanagara founded
9. 1347 Bahmani kingdom founded
10. 1351 Muhammad bin Tughlaq dies in Sindh; Firoz Shah succeeds
11. 1388 Firoz Shah dies
12. 1398 Timur invades and sacks Delhi
13. 1414 Khizr Khan takes Delhi and founds the Sayyid dynasty

Character of the dynasty

• Longest-serving Sultanate dynasty (1320–1414).
• Its first two rulers extended the Sultanate to its greatest size; revolts under Muhammad bin Tughlaq and the weakness of Firoz Shah’s successors broke it up.

Ghiyasuddin Tughlaq (1320–25)

• Also Ghazi Malik — the title “Ghazi” came from his many victories driving out the Mongols.
• Built Tughlaqabad, a fort-city in Delhi.
• Started a canal system for irrigation — the first Sultan credited with building canals.
• Followed a moderate revenue policy (a middle course between Alauddin’s severity and laxity).
• Reannexed Warangal (1323) and campaigned in Bengal; on the way back (1324) he overran Tirhut (Mithila), ending the Karnata dynasty.
• His strained relations with the Sufi Nizamuddin Auliya are remembered in the saying “Hanuz Dilli dur ast” (Delhi is still far away).
• Died in 1325 when a wooden pavilion collapsed at Afghanpur.
• Amir Khusrau wrote Tughlaq Nama on his reign.

Muhammad bin Tughlaq (1325–51)

• Also Jauna Khan (and Ulugh Khan). Highly educated — philosophy, mathematics, astronomy, medicine and Persian poetry.
• His bold experiments failed miserably, earning him the nickname the “wisest fool”.
• Established the Diwan-i-Amir-i-Kohi — a department of agriculture that gave loans to bring more land under cultivation.
• Shifted the capital from Delhi to Devagiri (1327):
• Devagiri was renamed Daulatabad — a central base to control the south
• the huge forced migration caused great hardship
• the court shifted back to Delhi after a few years
• Token currency (1329–30):
• introduced to address a shortage of silver
• issued coins of bronze and copper with the value of silver coins
• mass forgery followed; the tokens were withdrawn and exchanged at a heavy loss to the treasury
• Planned an invasion of Khorasan (Persia); a huge army was raised, but the plan was dropped (due to its high cost) and the army disbanded.
• Sent an army into the Himalaya — the Qarachil expedition (the mindmap says Tibet); the army perished in the mountains.
• Famine in the Doab (1330s): he insisted on raising the land tax at the same time, peasants fled, and revolt followed.
• Built the Begumpuri mosque and the city of Jahanpanah.
• Revolts multiplied: Madurai broke away (1335), and the Vijayanagara (1336) and Bahmani (1347) kingdoms emerged during his reign.
• Ibn Battuta, the Moroccan traveller, lived at his court from 1333; he was made Qazi of Delhi and later sent as envoy to China. His travel account is the Rihla (Kitab-ul-Rihla).
• 1351: died while chasing rebels in Sindh (at Thatta).
• Badauni: “The king was freed from his people, and they from their king.”

Firoz Shah Tughlaq (1351–88)

• Cousin of Muhammad bin Tughlaq; abandoned Muhammad’s harsh policies and relied on the ulema and nobles.
• Lowered taxes to the four taxes sanctioned by sharia: kharaj, khams, jizya and zakat.
• Reinstated jizya and, for the first time, extended it to Brahmins.
• Imposed an irrigation tax (haq-i-sharb) of one-tenth on land watered by state canals.
• Infrastructure projects:
• canals for irrigation (notably from the Yamuna and Sutlej)
• rest houses (sarais)
• hospitals (Dar-ul-Shifa)
• academies (madrasas)
• Founded towns:
• Firozabad, whose citadel is Firoz Shah Kotla
• Jaunpur (named after Muhammad bin Tughlaq, Jauna Khan)
• Hisar and Fatehabad
• Transported Ashokan pillars from Topra and Meerut to Delhi and erected them — the Topra pillar stands in his palace at Firoz Shah Kotla.
• Established departments:
• Diwan-i-Khairat — financial help for poor Muslims, widows and orphans, and for the marriage of poor girls
• Diwan-i-Bandagan — for his large number of slaves
• a department of public works
• State-funded Haj pilgrimage (as listed in the mindmap).
• Sanskrit manuscripts captured at Nagarkot were translated into Persian.
• Repaired the Qutb Minar after lightning damage.
• Made offices and iqtas hereditary — which weakened the Sultanate later.
• His own memoir: Futuhat-i-Firoz Shahi. Barani (Tarikh-i-Firoz Shahi, Fatawa-i-Jahandari) and Shams Siraj Afif wrote histories of his time.

The last Tughlaqs

• Nasiruddin Mahmud Shah (1394–1412) was the last Tughlaq Sultan (the mindmap calls him Nasiruddin Muhammad Shah).
• 1398: invasion of Timur (Timur the Lame) — Delhi was sacked and plundered, and the Sultanate broke into regional states.
• Jaunpur developed as an independent state under Khwaja-i-Jahan (Malik Sarwar), founder of the Sharqi dynasty.
• 1414: Khizr Khan, Timur’s representative in Punjab, took Delhi and started the Sayyid dynasty.

Source check

• Where the mindmap differs from standard textbooks. Use the standard version in the exam.