Tughlaq Dynasty
| Author of this article is Dayanand Deswal दयानन्द देसवाल |
The Tughlaq Dynasty (1320 to 1413) (Persian: سلسلہ تغلق), also referred to as Tughluq or Tughluk or Tuglak dynasty, was a Muslim dynasty of Turkish origin which ruled over the Delhi Sultanate in from 1320 to 1413. Its reign started in 1320 in Delhi when Ghazi Malik occupied the throne under a new title as Ghiyasuddin Tughlaq.
Rulers of Tughlaq Dynasty
- Ghiyasuddin Tughlaq (also called Ghazi Malik) (1320-1325)
- Muhammad bin Tughluq (1325 - 1351)
- Firozshah Tughlak (1351-1388)
- Tughluq Khan (September 1388 - March 1389)
- Abu Bakr Shah (1389-1390)
- Nasir ud din Muhammad Shah III (1390-1394)
- Ala ud-din Sikandar Shah (also called Humayun Khan) (1394 - ruled for 45 days only)
- Nasir-ud Din Mahmud Shah (1394-1413)
Short history
After Alauddin Khilji's death from illness in 1316, a series of arrests and assassinations followed, with Khusro Khan coming to power in June 1320, after killing son of Alauddin Khilji, Mubarak Shah Khilji. However, he lacked the support of the Persian and Afghan nobels and aristocrats in Delhi. The Muslim aristocracy invited the Turkish origin Ghazi Malik, then the governor in Punjab under the Khiljis, to lead a coup in Delhi and remove Khusro Khan. In 1320, Ghazi Malik launched an attack and killed Khusro Khan to assume power.
Ibn Batutah's memoirs
In his memoirs about Tughlaq dynasty, the Moroccan explorer Ibn Batutta, recorded the history of Qutb complex which included Quwat al-Islam Mosque and the Qutb Minar. He noted the 7-year famine from 1335 AD, which killed thousands of people near Delhi, while the Sultan was busy attacking rebellions. He was tough both against non-Muslims and Muslims. Batutah noted:
- Not a week passed without the spilling of much Muslim blood and the running of streams of gore before the entrance of his palace. This included cutting people in half, skinning them alive, chopping off heads and displaying them on poles as a warning to others, or having prisoners tossed about by elephants with swords attached to their tusks.
- - Ibn Battuta, Travel Memoirs (1334-1341, Delhi)[1]
Decline of Tughlaq Dynasty
The dynasty expanded its territorial reach through a military campaign led by Muhammad bin Tughluq, and reached its zenith between 1330 and 1335. Its rule was marked with torture, cruelty and rebellions, resulting in the rapid disintegration of the dynasty's territorial reach after 1335 AD.
Like the previous Khilji Dynasty, the Tughlaq Dynasty's rule also witnessed civil wars, treachery, heavy taxation and coercion of local population. Its second ruler, Muhammad bin Tughluq, also had a failed attempt to shift the capital from Delhi to Deogir in Maharashtra (which he had renamed as "Tughlaqabad").
Jats and Tughlaq
Ram Swarup Joon[2] writes In or about the 10th century A.D. Bharhaich people moved down to the river Jhelum in large numbers and settled down there. Till the 13th century AD they continued to fight with the Gakhar, Janjoha and the Gujars. Even to day they occupy a very compact area comprising 360 villages in a region called Jatat. In the days of Ferozshah Tughluq a leader of these Jats named Heriya, joined Islam. A village founded by him is known as Hariyawala. After him all the Jats of this gotra joined Islam. Sagarh and Mard gotras are branches of this gotra.
Also See
External Links
- Causes of decline of Tughlaq Dynasty
- Wikipedia page on Tughlaq Dynasty
- Article in Hindi on Mohd. Bin Tughlaq]