Muhammad bin Tughluq

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Muhammad bin Tughluq (Persian: محمد بن تغلق) (also Prince Fakhr Malik, Jauna Khan and Ulugh Khan) (c.1300 – 1351) was the Turkic Sultan of Delhi from 1325 to 1351. He was the eldest son of Ghiyath al-Din Tughluq. Ghiyath al-din sent the young Muhammad to the Deccan to campaign against king Prataparudra of the Kakatiya dynasty whose capital was at Warangal. Muhammad succeeded to the Delhi throne upon his father's death in 1325.

Muhammad Tughluq was a scholar versed in logic, philosophy, mathematics, astronomy and physical sciences. He had knowledge of medicine and was skillful in dialectics. He was also a calligrapher. Ibn Batuta (Moroccan traveler) visited him during his reign. ^[1]

Contents 1 Rule of Tughluq 2 Campaign against Mokhadaji Gohil in Gujarat 3 Collapse of the empire 4 Experiments with coinage 5 Religious tolerance 6 Play about Muhammad bin Tughluq 7 Popular References 8 External links

[edit] Rule of Tughluq

Tughlaq was committed to maintaining the Sultanate's expansion into the newly conquered provinces of peninsular India. To strengthen the sultanate's hold on its southern parts, Tughluq early in his reign moved the capital from Delhi to Devagiri, 700 miles (1500 km) south in the Deccan, renaming Devagiri as Daulatabad. Instead of moving just his government offices there, he forcibly moved the entire population of Delhi to the new capital. The plan proved disastrous due to Mongol Attack on North.Inadequate water supply arrangements in Daulatabad; after only two years, the capital had to be shifted back again to Delhi. Multitudes died during the two moves, and it was said that Delhi was a ghost town for years after the move back. "When I entered Delhi, it was almost like a desert", wrote the famed North African travel writer, ibn Battuta. Tughluq also introduced token currency for the first time in India, modelled after the Chinese example, using brass or copper coins, backed by silver and gold kept in the treasury. However, very few people exchanged their gold or silver coins for the new copper ones. Moreover, the tokens were easy to forge, which led to heavy losses. It is said that after the plan failed, there were heaps of copper coins lying around the royal offices for years.

[edit] Campaign against Mokhadaji Gohil in Gujarat

Muhammad bin Tughluq was very ambitious and he was planning to attack surrounding countries, probably China. To fund his campaign he decided to accumulate wealth. He started to move his wealth from Devagiri to Delhi through the Gujarati port of Khambhat. During that time Mokhadaji Gohil ruled nearby Ghogha and Piram Bet (presently near Bhavnagar). In 1347, he got information about moving of treasure by the Delhi Sultanate through Khambhat. His navy seized the port and looted the Delhi Sultanate's cargoes. Tughluq sent his army to defeat Mokhadaji Gohil, who skillfully waged a naval war from his base at Piram Bet. The sultanate's army's strategy was to cordon Piram Bet, but they were not well experienced in naval warfare and were easily defeated. Thereafter, Muhammad bin Tughluq himself came to Gujarat to take charge. He established his base in Ghogha and resolved not to leave until Mokhadaji was killed. During the initial few months he didn’t taste any success in his efforts to capture Piram Bet. He therefore schemed to entice Mokhadaji to come ashore in order to engage him in land battle. To this end he recruited a rich Vaishnav merchant of Khambhat, who was promised trade benefits if he could convince Mokhadaji to come on land to fight. The merchant went to Piram and emotionally told Mokhadaji that the local people felt very oppressed by the sultan’s occupying army, and wished to wage battle for Mokhadaji if the latter would come to them. Mokhadaji heeded the plea, lost the battle, was taken prisoner near Khadarpar village, and was beheaded near Ghogha. But his force continued to fight. Muhammad bin Tughluq is said to have been so upset to witness the horrible scene of a beheaded Mokhadaji in battle, that he didn’t sleep for many nights.

[edit] Collapse of the empire

Tughluq died in 1351 on his way to Thatta. He had lived to see his empire fall apart. During the latter years of his reign new kingdoms broke away in the Deccan, such as the Bahmani kingdom founded by Hasan Gangu.^[2]

[edit] Experiments with coinage

Muhammad bin Tughluq is known for his active interest in experimenting with coinage. He memorialized himself and his activities through his coinage and produced more gold coins than had his predecessors. The coins boasted fine calligraphy. He issued a number of fractional denominations.

The large influx of gold from his plundering of south Indian campaign led him to increase coinage weights. He enlarged the gold dinar from 172 grains to 202 grains. He introduced a silver coin, the adlis, which was discontinued after seven years due to lack of popularity and acceptance among his subjects.

All his coins reflect a staunch religiosity, with such inscriptions as "The warrior in the cause of God", "The trustier in support of the four Khalifs - Abubakkar, Umar, Usman and Ali". The kalimah appeared in most of his coinage. Both at Delhi and at Daulatabad coins were minted in memory of his late father. There were also mints at Lakhnauti, Salgaun, Darul-I-Islam, Sultanpur (Warrangal), Tughlaqpur (Tirhut), and Mulk-I-Tilang. More than thirty varieties of billion coins are known so far, and the types show his numismatic interests.

Unique among his coinage was the "forced currency". Tughluq had two scalable versions, issued in Delhi and Daulatabad. The currency obeyed two different standards, probably to satisfy the local standard which preexisted in the North and in the South respectively. Tughluq's skill in forcing the two standards of currency is remarkable. He engraved "He who obeys the Sultan obeys the compassionate" to fascinate people in accepting the new coinage. Inscriptions were even engraved in the Nagari legend, but owing to the alloy used, the coinage underwent deterioration. As well, the copper and brass coins could easily be forged, turning every house into a mint. Tughluq subsequently withdrew the forged currency by exchanging it with bulls and gold.

[edit] Religious tolerance

Muhammad bin Tughluq was relatively liberal and permitted Hindus and Jains to settle in Delhi^[3]. The policy was reversed by his nephew Firuz Shah Tughluq.

[edit] Play about Muhammad bin Tughluq

The prominent Indian playwright, Girish Karnad wrote a play on Tughluq (1964), which has been staged in India multiple times by major Indian directors including Ebrahim Alkazi, Arvind Gaur, Prasanna, and Dinesh Thakur, in several languages of India.

[edit] Popular References

• Mohammad bin Thuglak (Tamil: முஹம்மத் பின் துக்ளக்) is a socio-political satire Tamil play written and first staged by Cho Ramaswamy in 1968.^[4]
• Thuglak (Tamil: துக்ளக்) is a weekly Tamil newsmagazine started by Cho Ramaswamy in 1970.^[5]
• Muhammad bin Tughlaq is the central character in Tughlaq: a play in thirteen scenes, by Girish Karnad published in 1972.^[6]
• In the movie Chak De India, the coach Shahrukh Khan is branded "Tughlaq" by one of his player due to his innovative styles of coaching.

Notes

[edit] External links

• Encyclopedia Britannica - Muhammad ibn Tughluq

Preceded by Ghiyath al-Din Tughluq

Sultan of Delhi 1325–1351

Succeeded by Firuz Shah Tughluq