Tughluq Dynasty [1320-1412]
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Muhammad Tughluq |
Ghazi Malik ascended the throne as Sultan Ghiyasuddin Tughluq Shah and founded the third dynasty of the Sultanate. The Tughluqs belonged to the "Qarauna Turk" tribe.
Among the Tughluq dynasty, Muhammad Tughluq and Firuz Tughluq stand out. Muhammad Tughluq has been grossly misunderstood and is assessed on account of his five ambitious projects. These projects were:
Coins from the
Muslim Era (a) transfer of capital
from Delhi to Devagiri (1327), (b) introduction of token currency,
(c) expedition for the conquest of Khurasan and Iraq,
(d) conquest of Qarachil scheme,
(e) increase in land revenue in the Doab
The failure of all these schemes made him very unpopular.
Denounced by the clergy and increasingly deranged, Muhammad died
campaigning in Sind in 1351. The clergy elevated his tractable
cousin Firuz Shah in return for concessions that left the sultan
without adequate material or moral resources to meet any real
challenge to his authority.
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A Hadith in Tughra - a calligraphic style very popular with the Ottoman Turks |
Firuz Shah Tughluq
[1351-88]
Firuz Shah Tughluq’s rule is marked by his
promotion of agriculture through the construction of canals and his
interest in civil works. He founded a number of new cities and
towns, three most famous being Hissar Firuza, Jaunpur and Firuzabad.
During Nasiruddin Mahmud’s reign Timur, the Mongol leader of Central Asia, invaded India and completely ransacked Delhi in 1398. In the fifteenth century, the Sultanate completely disintegrated and the Sultanate of Delhi under the succeeding two dynasties - the Saiyids and the Lodhis - was like any other provincial kingdom
