Muhammad bin Tughluq

This article is about the Sultan of Delhi. For 1971 film of the same name, see Muhammad bin Tughluq (film). For 1968 play of the same title, see Muhammad bin Tughluq (play).

Muhammd bin Tughluq (Arabic: محمد بن تغلق‎) (also Prince Fakhr Malik, Jauna Khan; died 20 March 1351) was the Turkic Sultan of Delhi from 1325 to 1351. He was the eldest son of Ghiyas-ud-din Tughlaq. He was born in Kotla Tolay Khan in Multan. His wife was the daughter of the raja of Dipalpur. Ghiyas-ud-din Tughlaq 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. He in turn was succeeded by his cousin Firuz Shah Tughluq.

Muhammad Tughlug 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. He was well versed with several languages like Persian, Arabic, Turkish and even Sanskrit. Ibn Battuta, the famous Moroccan traveler, visited him during his reign.

Collapse of the empire

Tughluq died in 1351 on his way to Thatta, Sindh in order to intervene a war between members of the Soomro tribe. He had lived to see his empire fall apart. During his reign new kingdoms broke away in south India and the Deccan. Several south Indian rulers like Prolaya Vema Reddy of the Reddy dynasty, Musunuri Kaapaaneedu and Hakka and Bukka of the Vijayanagara Empire liberated whole south India from the Delhi Sultanate and the Bahmani kingdom was founded by Hasan Gangu.

Coins

Muhammad bin Tughluq noticed foreign empires using coins. Muhammad decided to use the same policy himself. 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. These coins were called "tanka".

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 – Abu Bakr siddiq, 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 bullion coins are known so far, and the types show his numismatic interests.

Unique amonged after the Chinese example,that is using brass or copper tokens, backed by the silver and gold kept in the treasury. Tughluq had two scalable versions, issued in Delhi and Daulatabad. The currency was issued in the two different standards, undoubtedly to follow the local standards which preexisted in the North and in the South respectively. He engraved "He who obeys the Sultan obeys the compassionate" to fascinate people in accepting the new coinage. 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, as Tughluq subsequently withdrew the forged currency by exchanging it for bullion coins. This drained the treasury because he had to compensate the losers. But it is said that after the plan failed, there were heaps of copper coins lying around the royal offices for years.

Forced token currency coin

Gallery

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  Gold Heavy Dinar 12.8g Hazrat Dehli Mint AH 726

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  A coin of Muhammad bin Tughlug

Religious tolerance

Muhammad bin Tughluq was relatively liberal and permitted Hindus and Jains to settle in Delhi. The policy was continued by his cousin Firuz Shah Tughluq, who patronized the Jain monk Mahendrasuri, who composed the Yantraraja, the first Sanskrit text on the astrolabe.

In popular culture

• Muhammad bin Tughluq (Tamil: முகமது பின் துக்ளக்) is a socio-political satire Tamil play written and first staged by Cho Ramaswamy in 1968. The play was later made as a feature film in 1971.
• Thuglak (Tamil: துக்ளக்) is a weekly Tamil newsmagazine started by Cho Ramaswamy in 1970.
• Muhammad bin Tughlaq is the central character in Tughlaq: a play Kannada in thirteen scenes, by Girish Karnad published in 1964.

Sources

• Elliot, H. M. (Henry Miers), Sir; John Dowson. "15. Táríkh-i Fíroz Sháhí, of Ziauddin Barani". The History of India, as Told by Its Own Historians. The Muhammadan Period (Vol 3.). London : Trübner & Co. 

External links

• Encyclopædia Britannica – Muhammad ibn Tughluq

Preceded by Ghiyath al-Din Tughluq

Sultan of Delhi 1325–1351

Succeeded by Firuz Shah Tughluq