The year 1309 saw the birth of Firoz Shah Tughlaq. He was a Muslim who ruled the Tughlaq dynasty as its third king. From 1351 until 1388, he reigned as emperor. He succeeded his cousin Muhammad-bin Tughlaq to the throne after his death (ruled from 1324 to 1351 AD).
For the first time in the Delhi Sultanate’s history, a scenario existed in which no one was willing to take the reins of authority. The camp’s adherents persuaded Firoz to take responsibility after considerable persuasion. Indeed, Khwaja Jahan, Muhammad bin Tughlaq’s Wazir, had installed a young child on the throne, claiming him as his son, who quietly resigned after that. His domain was considerably less than Muhammad’s because of widespread discontent. Tughlaq was compelled by revolts to grant Bengal and other regions virtual freedom. He imposed Sharia across his domain.
The dynasty began with Ghiyas-ud-din Tughlaq’s (1320–1324 AD) reign and ended with Nasiruddin Mahmud’s (ruled from 1395 to 1412 AD).
Early Life of Firoz Shah Tughlaq
Firoz Shah was the son of a Hindu princess from Dipalpur, a Rajput dynasty, and was named Rajab by his father. Rajab was the younger brother of Ghazi Malik, the dynasty’s Sipahsalar.
Feroz Shah Tughlaq was dubbed one of the greatest rulers in administration because he implemented initiatives like tax reforms, irrigation projects, charity programs, and public works, garnering acclaim from all sides. However, he lacked growth since he could not replicate the fear of his predecessors and was destroyed in Bengal.
Rise to Power Firoz Shah Tughlaq
Following Muhammad Bin Tughlaq’s death, the obvious option for the throne would have been his sons; instead, the nobility selected Feroz shah Tughlaq to head the Tughlaq dynasty. Historians disagree on this point, with some believing that Feroz Shah Tughlaq was a usurper. The majority believe that Feroz selects as Muhammad Bin Tughlaq’s successor due to the affection between the two cousins Muhammad bin Tughlaq and Feroz Shah Tughlaq.
Reign Firoz Shah Tughlaq
Firoz’s rule was markedly different from that of his predecessor. Forget about capturing additional territory; he attempt to reclaim the regions that were partitioned. Numerous areas gained autonomy during his tenure.
Additionally, Firoz Shah made necessary concessions to Islamic experts. To keep them on his side, he shunned kingdom activities considered un-Islamic by academics. He initiated the imposition of Jaziya.
He established the concept of inheritance in the armed services, allowing commanders to rest and enlist their offspring in their place. They were compensated, however, not in actual money, but inland.
Achievements
He encountered many uprisings, including those in Bengal, Gujarat, and Warangal. Nonetheless, he laboured to enhance the empire’s infrastructure, including the construction of canals, rest houses, and hospitals and the creation and refurbishment of reservoirs and wells.
He established many cities in the vicinity of Delhi, including Jaunpur, Firozpur, Hissar, Firozabad, and Fatehabad. The majority of Firozabad destroy when successive rulers demolish its structures and use the spolia as construction materials, and the remainder absorb into New Delhi as it expanded. He also restored the earthquake-damaged Qutub Minar.
Policies Firoz Shah Tughlaq
Tughlaq was a devout Muslim who adhered to sharia law. To theologians, he made some significant concessions. He placed a levy on all non-Muslims known as Jizya. Firoz attempted to outlaw activities that orthodox theologians deemed un-Islamic, such as Muslim women going out to pray at saints’ tombs. He persecuted several cults that Muslim scholars deemed heretical.
Tughlaq absorbed the errors committed under his cousin Muhammad’s reign. He chose neither to reconquer regions that had secluded nor to prevent other areas from secluding. As a ruler, he was indiscriminately kind and merciful. He chose to keep the nobility, and the Ulema pleased to ensure that he could govern his country peacefully.
Expeditions Firoz Shah Tughlaq
In 1353 and 1358, he was the commander of operations against Bengal. His conquests included the acquisition of Cuttack, the desecration of the Jagannath Temple in Puri, and the forced tribute payment of Raja Gajpati of Jajnagar in Orissa. In the 14th century, he was successful in converting the Chauhan Rajputs from Hinduism to Islam. In Rajasthan, they now referred to as Qaimkhanis.
He besieged Thatta, and he compelled Nagarkot to pay tribute and lay siege to Kangra Fort and thatta. During his reign, the Tatar Khan of Greater Khorasan invaded Punjab on many occasions. During the last battle at Gurdaspur, the sword handed by Feroz Shah Tughlaq to Raja Kailash Pal of Mau-Paithan from the Nagarkot area cut his face.
Feroz Shah Tughlaq marry off his daughter to Raja Kailash Pal converted him to Islam, and sent the pair to govern Khorasan, where the queen gave birth to eleven boys who known as ‘badpagey’, a caste descend from the tribe of Badpagey.
Merit’s Violation and Corruption
After a nobleman’s death, Tughlaq permits his son to accede to his father’s rank and jagir, rather than granting positions base on merit as do before. An elderly soldier might send his son, son-in-law, or even his slave to take his position in the army, similar to what done in the civilian world. The king raised the nobility’ salaries. He put an end to all kinds of severe penalties, such as the chopping off of hands. In addition, he reduced the land taxes that Muhammad had imposed.
This period characterizes as the greatest period of corruption in medieval India: Tughlaq hand golden tanka to a distressed soldier for him to pay a clerk for him to get his sub-standard horse through a checkpoint.
Notable Achievements
Infrastructure and Education
Tughlaq implemented economic measures aimed at improving his people’s material well-being. Numerous Sarai (rest houses), gardens, and graves (Tughluq tombs) construct. Numerous madrasas establish to promote Muslim religious education. He established hospitals for the underprivileged and aided doctors in the development of Unani medicine. He funded the marriages of girls from impoverished families in the Diwan-i-khairat department.
firoz oversaw the construction of the many public buildings in Delhi. In 1354 CE, he constructed the Firoz Shah Palace Complex in Hisar, over 300 villages, and excavated five important canals for irrigation, including the restoration of the Prithviraj Chauhan period Western Yamuna Canal, bringing more area under cultivation for grain and fruit production. Sultan Firoz Shah Tughlaq relied largely on Malik Maqbul, the former commander of Warangal fort who has capture and converted to Islam, for day-to-day administration.
When Tughlaq went on a six-month campaign in Sindh and Gujarat, and no information about his location was available, Maqbul skillfully defended Delhi. He was the most favour of the many lords in Tughlaq’s court and maintained the sultan’s confidence. Maqbul refers to as ‘brother’ by Sultan Feroze Shah Tughlaq. The sultan observed that the true ruler of Delhi was Khan-i-Jahan (Malik Maqbul).
Literature
Hindu holy texts translate from Sanskrit to Persian and Arabic, among other languages. Among his many personal possessions was a vast collection of manuscripts in Persian, Arabic, and other languages. His bullock cart trains transported two Ashokan Pillars from Meerut and Chopra near Radaur in the Yamunanagar region of Haryana, which he meticulously chopped and wrapped in silk before transporting them to Delhi. One of them re-erected on the roof of his palace at Firoz Shah Kotla, while the other demolish.Â
Ever Changing Capitals
The transfer of capital was the crowning achievement of his tenure. When lightning damaged the Qutb Minar in 1368 AD, causing the top story to collapse, he rebuilt it using the two floors already there, coated with red sandstone and white marble. His hunting lodge, Shikargah, also known as Kushak Mahal, is located inside the Teen Murti Bhavan complex in Delhi and is one of his hunting lodges. It is commemorative name of the adjacent Kushak Road and the Tughlaq Road, which is located farther south.
Tax Collection
During his term, he collected the following taxes:
- Kharaj: a land tax equivalent to one-tenth of the land’s output; • Zakat: a two-and-a-half per cent tax on property acquired from Muslims
- Khan: the capture of one-fifth of the booty (four-fifth left for the soldiers)
- Jaziya is a tax impose on non-Muslim subjects, most notably Hindus. Women and children, on the other hand, exclude from the taxes.
Firoz also imposed additional taxes, including an irrigation fee, a garden tax, an octroi tax, and a sales tax.
Other Achievements
- Firoz established hospitals known as Darul-Shifa, Bimaristan, or Shifa Khana
- shah Tuglaq established the Diwan-i-Khairat: office for charity
- shah Tuglaq established the Diwan-i-Bundagan: department of slave
- He established Sarais (rest house) for the benefits of merchants and other travellers
- He adopted the Iqtadari framework
Behaviour Towards Hindus
Firoz refused to participate in activities that were deemed un-Islamic by the standard scholars. He has abused several Muslim organizations that were considered unorthodox by the academics at the time. He demolished Hindu temples and libraries, as well as their books and literature. Various works of Islamic literature have been translated into either the Sanskrit or Persian languages.
Death
Following Tughlaq’s death, a succession battle erupted, with nobles waging a campaign to establish separate kingdoms. His liberal approach had emboldened the nobility, resulting in a deterioration of his status. Ghiyas-ud-Din Tughlaq II, his successor, could not maintain authority over either the slaves or the nobility. The army had deteriorated, and the empire had decreased in size as a result. Timur’s assault of Delhi ten years after his death wreaked havoc on the city. Located in Hauz Khas (New Delhi), near to the tank constructed by Alauddin Khalji, his mausoleum is dedicated to him. A madrasa, constructed by Firoz Shah in 1352–53, is attached to the mausoleum.
