Tughlaq Dynasty
Tughlaq dynasty (1320-1414) - It was established by Ghiyas-ud-din Tughlaq. His real name is Ghazi Malik.
Meanwhile, one of his son Mohammad Bin Tughlaq erected a very large wooden platform to welcome the winning army but when the elephant mounted on this platform, it collapsed which resulted into the death of Ghiyas-ud-din Tughlaq.
One of the contemporary of Ghiyas-ud-din Tughlaq was a famous Sufi saint, Nizamuddin Auliya.
Mohammad Bin Tughlaq - The real name of Mohammad Bin Tughlaq was 'Jauna Khan'. Before becoming the ruler of Delhi he was stationed at Deogiri.
He was the most bizarre character of Indian history. On one hand he was a great scholar of mathematics, astrology and knew more than 10 languages while on the other hand he was very cruel, aggressive and psychique.
History knows him better for his cruel capital punishment.
During his lifetime, he initiated 5 ambitious projects which are as follows -
- He increased the rate of taxes in daob areas but unfortunately there was a draught in this area which led to protest and movement and hence it was withdrawn.
- He decided to transfer the capital from Delhi to Daulatabad (as it was central location and also in case of Mongol invasion, it was so far that Tughlaqs can buy time). This experiment also failed because there was no provision of water in Daulatabad and officers started to feel nostalgic about Delhi.
- At that point of time, there was scarcity of silver all over the world. In this scenario, Mohammad Bin Tughlaq decided to issue token currency of copper and bronze on the face value of Gold and Silver. But due to illegal forging of currency, this experiment also failed.
- He wanted to expand his territory to the very north as such he decided for Khorasan expedition. Despite so much preparation and expenditure war did not happen on the ground.
- To punish rebel nobles, he started Qarachil expedition (Kumaon Hills), but due to very harsh winter, this experiment also failed.
At this point of time, Moroccan traveler 'Iban Batuta' came to India in 1333 and soon he was appointed kaji of Delhi. He wrote a book 'Rihla' where he mentioned about the character of Mohammad Bin Tughlaq, his bipolar nature, ill-timed policies and capital punishment.
Mohammad Bin Tughlaq also established a separate department of agriculture known as Diwan-i-Amir Kohi. Under this department he opened credit facility which gave taccavi loans (cheap agricultural loan) to the people.
During the reign of Mohammad Bin Tughlaq, two important kingdoms emerged in South India.
- Vijayanagar Kingdom (1336)
- Bahmani Kingdom (1347)
Badayuin on the death of Mohammad Bin Tughlaq remarked, "The king was freed from his people and they from their king".
Firoz Shah Tughlaq - After the death of Mohammad Bin Tughlaq, Firoz Shan Tughlaq became the next ruler. There were many challenges before him and the most important was to revive the lost glory of the Delhi Sultanate.
He took many initiatives which included the ban on extreme capital punishment and extreme atrocity to the people.
He started to support orthodox section of Islam to suppress the rebellion.
He repealed all the taxes except 4 which are -
- Kharaj - land tax
- Khumsa - tax on looted wealth in a war
- Jizya - it was imposed on non-Muslims. The nature of the tax was that was of a poll tax, i.e., for providing safety and security.
- Zakat - it was imposed on Muslims. It was meant for spreading Islam.
During the reign of Firuz Shah Tughlaq, Jizya became a separate tax. Earlier it was a part of Land revenue.
Jaziya was also extended to the Brahmins who were earlier extempted.
He made the Iqta system hereditary in nature.
He created a separate department of slave known as Diwan-i-Bandagan.
Firoz Shah Tughlaq also opened a new department known as Diwan-i-Khairat. This was for providing financial help to the poor people in marriage of their daughter.
He was also the first sultan who planted many mango gardens in UP.
After the death of Firoz Shah Tughlaq, the weak successor were not able to defend Delhi from the invasion of Turkish invador 'Amir Timur' in 1398 (during the reign of Nasir-ud-din Mahmud). One of the general of Timur, Khizra Khan uprooted Tughlaqs from Delhi and started Sayyid dynasty in Delhi in 1414.
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Note - This is my Vision IAS Notes (Vision IAS Class Notes) and Ashutosh Pandey Sir's Public Administration Class notes. I've also added some of the information on my own.
Hope! It will help you to achieve your dream of getting selected in Civil Services Examination 👍
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