Firoz Shah Tughlaq
We have read about Muhammad-Bin-Tughlaq. His reign was very controversial. So, after him, it was obvious that the Empire faced many challenges. So, when Firoz Shah Tughlaq came into power Sultanate was in trouble from all the sides. In this condition, Firoz Shah Tughlaq opted for the policy of appeasement.
He had the unique distinction of being chosen Sultan by the nobles. During his reign Khan-i-Jahan Maqhal, a Telugu Brahmin was appointed as Wazir of Empire. Firoz Shah Tughlaq strictly followed the advice of Ulemas in running the administration.
Welfare King was the name given to him. Because of his appeasement policy.
Examples
He put of Saundhar loans given by Muhammad-Bin-Tughlaq to the people. To improve the financial condition he gave promotion to horticulture. There were about 1200 fruit gardens in and around Delhi yielding more revenue. He also imposed an irrigation tax (Haqi-i-Shirb).
However, Firoz Shah levied taxes as per the Islamic laws. He abolished Special tax on 28 items. Though, he was the first Sultan of Delhi Sultanate, who levied Zaziyah tax on non-Muslims including Brahmins.
His reign was famous for the building of canals. The Longest canal was of about 200kms from Sutluj to Hansi. Other canals were between Yamuna and Hisar.
- Rajiwah Canal.
- Ulughkhani Canal.
- Firozabad Canal.
- Khakkhara (Ghaggar) Canal.
- Canal excavated from the river Budhi.
He also settled new cities. He established the employment bureau, whose head was Kotwal of the District.
Welfare works of Firoz Shah
He established Darul Safa, the medical dispensary to provide medical services to people. To satisfy bureaucracy and governor he introduced the “principle of Hereditary” in administration. This became the reason for the revival of feudalism in India.
Along with this he also established Diwan-i-Bandgani, which was a slave department. So, he employed all these slaves in royal Kar-khanas. He has 1,80,000 slaves, who started playing the role of Kingmaker after his death.
Firoz Shah Tughlaq also established a new department Diwan-i-Khairat, to take care of the orphans and widows. He also patronized scholars like Barani and Afif.
But the problem with the Firoz Shah Tughlaq was that Ulemas guided him in every administrative order. So, he was intolerant towards Shia Muslims and Sufi saints. He also treated Hindus as a second-grade citizen. So, in this respect, he was the precursor of Sikandar Lodhi and Aurangzeb.
His autobiography is Futuhat-i-Firozshahi. However, his most heinous crime was to burning a Brahmin for converting Muslims to Hinduism.
After Firoz Shah
Mahmud Tughlaq was the successor of the Firoz Shah Tughlaq. But he was not so capable to rule. Soon, after the death of Firoz Shah in 1398 Delhi Sultanate became the victim of Timur invasion. So, when Timur entered Delhi there was no opposition and he sacked Delhi for three days murdering thousands of people and looting enormous wealth.
While Timur was returning back, he appointed Khizr Khan as the caretaker of his position in Hindustan. So, this led to the establishment of the Saiyyd Dynasty in India.
We will discuss Saiyyd Dynasty and the Lodhi Dynasty in the next coming post.
Thank you so much. 🙂 Stay Connected. 🙂
