Muhammad Bin Tughluq was born in Kotla Tolay Khan in Multan in 1290 in Delhi, India. He was one of the remarkable rulers of India after Allaudin Khilji. He had a vast knowledge and education in Arabic and Persian Language. In addition, he mastered subjects about religion, philosophy, astronomy, logic, medicine, and mathematics. 

Early Life

Muhammad Bin Tughluq was the youngest son of Ghiyas Ud Din Tughluq, the founder of the Tughluq dynasty. He received a good education and vast knowledge of the Quran, philosophy, and Muslim jurisprudence. He also received instruction in the Military. Muhammad Bin was very much kind and generous with the poor.

He was also a great Calligraphist. He was highly ambitious and a man of honor and high moral character. and he was very religious and was regular in his prayers. 

Tughluq lived a Courageous Life. He was sent by his father to quell the revolts by many Hindu Rajas. In 1322, he was sent to Warangal and subdued the rebellions there. 

Accession and Reign

Historians write that Tughluq was very impatient. He had an inferior quality of hastiness which led him to fail many of his experiments. Muhammad Bin was also called an ill-starred idealist. One day the emperor Ghiyas Ud din was inspecting an elephant parade on a pavilion. Still, the pavilion collapse, and Ghiyas Ud din and his Second Son get crush and died on the spot. It is said that it is the plan and conspiracy of Tughluq as he is impatient for power. Soon after three days of Muhammad Bin Tughluq’s father’s death, Muhammad Bin declared himself the new Sultan in Tughlaqabad and went back to Delhi after 40 days, where his coronation ceremony was performed in the Red Palace of Balban.

Revolts

Tughluq faced many rebellions during his reign. Almost 22 revolutions he had to face and contend with quell revolts with them. The most severe uprising took place in Deccan from 1326 to 1347. Some other Serious revolts were in Ma’bar in 1334, Bengal in 1338, Gujarat in 1345, and Sindh in 1350.

After claiming the crown, and shifted the capital to Devagiri from Delhi in 1327. He did this to protect the capital from the Mongol invasion, and it helped him consolidate the conquests in south India. 

Due to doing this, the people of Delhi force to move with all their belongings to Devagiri, which made Delhi a devastated city. However, the sultan Tughluq made sure that the travelers had all the luxury during their travel. Unfortunately, this plan turns out to be a big failure, and all the people allow to return to Delhi from 1335 to 1337. 

Revenue Reforms

Muhammad Bin ordered all the governors of the provinces to submit documents of their incomes and expenditures as He wanted to evaluate the country’s total income and spending. The main reason for all this work was introducing a uniform standard of land revenue and asses every village of his Sultanate. For this, Tughluq hired many clerks and made a separate office for it.

Taxation

In the year 1328, he increased the Land tax to which many people in the Doab region revolted. It is an ill measure to take the sultan. The Doab region was the most fertile than any other region, and production of that region was highest. Increasing the taxes was a wrong assessment of revenue. The peasants there were already paying half of the output since Allaudin Khilji, so an increase in the tax causes the peasants to create discontentment. A famine hit this region in 1334, and it lasted seven years.

Establishment of Agriculture Department

He established an agricultural department called Diwan-i-Khas. The department searched all the uncultivated lands and planned for horse land cultivation. A large number of peasants hire and engaged in the cultivation work. All arrangements and instruments provide, and the peasants ask to grow different crops in rotation. However, the scheme failed miserably as the peasants were not able to produce the crops. The main reason was the land was not fertile, and the officers appointed lacked the experience and resulted in lousy implementation. 

Token Currency

The ancestors of used gold and silver as a medium of exchange. But Muhammad Bin introduced a token currency with a massive quantity of coins for various transactions. It was a bold experiment by him The coins introduce in every part of the country. 

Legacy

Muhammad Bin Tughluq was a dauntless soldier. Tughluq was very humble and tolerant in the religion and he had faith incorrectness of his policies. He wanted to make Islam a religion of service. He died in 1351 when he was on his way to Thatta Sindh to intercede in a war between the Gujar tribe.