Skip to main content

Was Delhi Sultan Muhammad bin Tughluq Actually The Insane

Jauna Khan aka Ulugh Khan succeeded his father and first Tughluq ruler Ghiyas -ud -Din –Tughlaq under the title of Muhammad bin Tughluq whose death in 1351 after a 26-year reign, according to the 16th century historian Badauni, liberated the Sultan from his people and freed them from him. 

Muhammad bin Tughluq was among the most remarkable, enigmatic and controversial figures among the Sultans of Delhi. To his contemporaries, he was a mixture of cruelty and kindness.                                                                                                                            
For Barani, who enjoyed his patronage, the ideal ruler was the next Tughlaq monarch Firuz Shah Tughluq. Ibn Batuta, who was appointed Qazi of Delhi by the Sultan, failed to examine all the aspects of the Sultan’s personality in the right perspective. 

With an excellent command on Arabic and Persian, he was well versed in astronomy, jurisprudence, logic, philosophy, medicine, mathematics, and rhetoric.

Muhammad bin Tughluq  is known for taking some of the controversial steps during his rule. In 1327 one such rebellion by his cousin Bahauddin Gurshasp, governor of Sagar, prompted Muhammad bin Tughluq to transfer his capital from Delhi to centrally located Devagiri, which he named Daulatabad. However, this experiment of his did not go down well with the Delhi populace. This forced the Sultan to retransfer the capital to Delhi.    

Introduction of a token currency in 1329-30 by Muhammad bin Tughluq was his second experiment which has drawn controversy. Probably imitating the paper money issued by Kublai Khan in China, the Sultan issued bronze tankas at par with the value of silver tanks. A shortage of silver was the main reason for the introduction of this project. However, the experiment came to naught due to the circulation of counterfeit coins on a large scale, which caused economic chaos. To combat the chaos, the Sultan stopped the circulation of the token currency and was compelled to exchange all the token coins for the silver coins. 

Muhammad bin Tughluq in 1328-29 increased the land tax on the Doab farmers. The increase coincided with a sever famine in the Doab, followed by plague. The Sultan established a department of agriculture (diwan-i-kohli), got wells dug for irrigation and introduced improved agriculture methods through rotation of crops.

During his reign Muhammad bin Tughluq had to encounter as many as thirty four rebellions, twenty seven of them in the south. Three important states – the Vijayanagar Empire, the Bahmani kingdom and the Muslim sultanate of Madurai in extreme south India, came into existence at the cost of Sultanate territory. In fact, his end had come while fighting against the rebels in Thatta in Sindh.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Muhammad Shah Rangila

Aurangzeb, the last great Mughal emperor, died in 1707. Muhammad Shah became Mughal emperor in 1719. During the interregnum, Bahadur Shah I , Jahandar Shah, Farrukhsiyar, Rafi-ud-Darajat and Rafi-ud-Daula ascended the Mughal throne. Jahandar Shah was murdered on the orders of Farrukhsiyar who had the support of the two powerful Mughal nobles Sayyid Abdullah and his brother Sayyid Husain Ali at that time. They are famous in history as Sayyid brothers, the King-makers. In 1719, Farrukhsiyar were murdered in utter disregard of a Mughal emperor by Sayyid brothers. Rafi-ud-Darajat died of consumption in a few months. Rafi-ud-Daula was addicted to opium and died in 4 months. Sayyid brothers now chose Raushan Akhtar, a son of Jahan Shah (the fourth son of Bahadur Shah I), to be the emperor. Raushan Akhtar ascended the throne under the title of Muhamamd Shah in September 1719. In the beginning Muhammad Shah was a puppet in the hands of Sayyid brothers who soon began to lose their gri...
1 comment
Read more

Muzaffarid dynasty of Gujarat

          Champaner’s Jama Masjid, built by Mahmud Begada/Wikimedia Commons Muzaffarid dynasty of Gujarat was founded by Zafar Khan, who was appointed governor of Gujarat in 1391 by the ruler of Delhi Sultanate, with the title Muzaffar Khan. Zafar Khan was son of Sadharan, a Jat convert to Islam. Firuz Shah Tughluq was married to Sadharan’s sister. Muzaffar Khan remained loyal to Delhi sultanate and was able to suppress the rebellions of Muslim and Hindu chieftains. Though deposed by his son Tatar Khan in 1403-4, he was restored to the throne by his uncle, Shams Khan Dandani, who poisoned Tatar Khan. Muzaffar proclaimed his independence as Muzaffer Shah in 1407. After his death in 1411 the throne passed on to Shihabuddin Ahmad Shah who ruled for thirty-one years. During his reign, Ahmad Shah (1411-42), who was son of the dead Tatar Khan, was engaged in continuous warfare and consolidated the Gujarat Sultanate. In 1411 he founded a new walled city which...
Post a Comment
Read more

Turkan-i-Chahalgani, the Group of Forty

Amir-i-Chahalgani, known variously as Turkan-i-Chahalgani and Chalisa (The Forty), was a group of 40 faithful slaves which came into existence with the task of protecting Shamsuddin Iltutmish , the third Slave Sultan of Delhi Sultanate. The idea to form the group was taken by him when he came to realize that Turkish nobles cannot be trusted and could be a threat to his rule. With the passage of time the group went on to become very influential and powerful. Though Iltutmish succeeded in keeping the group under control, after his rule they became notorious and intrigued against nearly all his successors.  The Forty acquired domination on the affairs of the state so much so that no ruler could defy them. Without their support it was utterly out of questions for the rulers to win the battle for succession. The members of this Turkish nobility used to appropriate all the offices of the state to themselves. Some of the rulers of the Slave dynasty after Iltutmish were murdered by these s...
Post a Comment
Read more