Firuz Shah Tughlaq

Topic: Turkic Invasions and the Delhi Sultanate · NCERT: Beyond NCERT

Meaning

Firuz Shah Tughlaq was the Sultan of Delhi from 1351 to 1388, of the Tughlaq dynasty, and the cousin and successor of Muhammad bin Tughlaq. He gave up big military plans. Instead he tried to keep the nobles and ulema (Muslim religious scholars) happy, and he spent heavily on public works and welfare.

He matters because his reign shows a clear change from his cousin's rule. The kingdom was calmer and richer under him. But his steps, especially making iqtas hereditary, weakened the Sultanate over the long run. Within ten years of his death it could not stand up to Timur's invasion (1398).

Explanation

Background: he took over a damaged Sultanate

• Muhammad bin Tughlaq left behind a shrunken, troubled state.
• His bold experiments had failed: the shift of capital to Daulatabad (1327) and token currency (copper coins given the value of silver or gold). [3]

• The south had broken away. Much of the north was in revolt. [3]

• Muhammad bin Tughlaq died in 1351 while on campaign in Sindh. The nobles and ulema chose his cousin Firuz as Sultan.

• Firuz owed his throne to the nobles and the ulema. So he ruled in a way that suited them:
• he avoided harsh punishments
• he gave generous grants
• he followed Islamic law more strictly.

Main features: administration and revenue

• Hereditary iqtas.
• Iqta: a piece of land whose revenue an officer collected in place of a salary.
• Firuz made iqtas hereditary. When an officer died, his son took his place.

• He did the same with many army posts, so soldiers' posts also passed from father to son.

• Taxes as allowed by Islamic law (sharia).

• He abolished many extra cesses, about two dozen according to tradition.
• He kept four main taxes allowed by Islamic law:
  • kharaj: land tax
  • khams: one-fifth of war booty
  • jizya: tax on non-Muslims
  • zakat: religious tax on Muslims, used for charity

• He also charged an irrigation tax (haq-i-shirb) on land watered by his canals. He did this after taking the opinion of the ulema.

• Jizya on Brahmins. Brahmins had earlier been exempt from jizya. Firuz made them pay it as a separate tax. This is often cited as proof of his narrow religious policy.

• Slaves. He set up a separate department for slaves, the Diwan-i-Bandagan. Afif says the number of royal slaves reached about 1,80,000.

Main features: public works and welfare

• Canals. He built irrigation canals. The best known ran from the Yamuna towards Hisar. Others were drawn from the Sutlej and Ghaggar.
• New towns. He founded Hisar (Hisar-Firoza), Fatehabad, Jaunpur and Firozabad (his new city at Delhi). Its palace-fort is today called Firoz Shah Kotla.

• Tradition says Jaunpur was named after Jauna Khan, Muhammad bin Tughlaq's earlier name.

• Ashokan pillars moved to Delhi.

• He brought two Mauryan pillars of Ashoka to Delhi:
  • one from Topra (in present-day Haryana), set up at Firoz Shah Kotla
  • one from Meerut, set up on the Delhi Ridge

• Nobody at his court could read the Brahmi script on them.

• Welfare departments.

• Diwan-i-Khairat: a department of charity. It helped poor Muslim families, for example with the cost of their daughters' marriages.
• Dar-ul-Shifa: a free hospital.

• An employment bureau that found work for the jobless.

• Repairs. He repaired older buildings, including the Qutb Minar after it was damaged.

• Learning. He had Sanskrit works translated into Persian. He also wrote a short account of his own reign, the Futuhat-i-Firoz Shahi.

Results: calm at first, weakness later

• Military campaigns were limited.
• He made two campaigns against Bengal, but failed to bring it back under Delhi.
• He led campaigns to Jajnagar (Odisha) and Nagarkot (Kangra), and to Thatta (Sindh).

• He did not try to win back the Deccan.

• Short-term gain. Peasants and nobles were better off. Prices stayed low, and the kingdom was largely peaceful.

• Long-term damage.
• Hereditary iqtas and army posts made nobles and soldiers less dependent on the Sultan. They were also less efficient.
• The huge body of slaves became a burden and later took part in court quarrels.
• After his death in 1388, weak successors fought for the throne. Timur's invasion of Delhi in 1398 exposed how weak the Sultanate had become.

Time, place and evidence

• Period: reigned 1351–1388, in the Tughlaq phase of the Delhi Sultanate (c. 1000–1526).
• Dynasty: Tughlaq. The founder was Ghiyasuddin Tughlaq, and Firuz came after his cousin Muhammad bin Tughlaq.
• Region: his rule covered mainly north India: Delhi, Punjab, Haryana and the Ganga plain. Bengal and the Deccan stayed outside his control.
• Named sites: Firozabad / Firoz Shah Kotla (Delhi), Hisar, Fatehabad, Jaunpur, the Topra and Meerut Ashokan pillars, and the Yamuna canal.
• Sources:
• Futuhat-i-Firoz Shahi: his own short account of his reforms.
• Tarikh-i-Firoz Shahi by Ziauddin Barani, written in his reign and dedicated to him.
• Tarikh-i-Firoz Shahi by Shams-i-Siraj Afif, a detailed account of his reign.
• Coins: coins of Firuz Shah Tughlaq survive in Indian museum collections. They are catalogued on the Indian Culture Portal along with coins of Muhammad bin Tughlaq and Ghiyasuddin Tughlaq. [2]
• Buildings and pillars still standing in Delhi and Haryana.

Don't confuse with

• Muhammad bin Tughlaq: Firuz's cousin and predecessor. He was the experimenter: the Daulatabad shift (1327) and token currency. [3] Firuz was the cautious reformer who followed Islamic law and built canals and towns.
• Firuz Shah Bahmani: a ruler of the Bahmani kingdom in the Deccan, who fought Vijayanagara. He was not a Sultan of Delhi.
• Tarikh-i-Firoz Shahi vs *Futuhat-i-Firoz Shahi: the Tarikh is a chronicle written by others, Barani and, separately, Afif. The Futuhat was written by Firuz himself*.
• Firozabad (Delhi) vs Firozabad (Uttar Pradesh): Firuz's capital city was at Delhi, and its fort is Firoz Shah Kotla. The glass-making town of Firozabad in UP is a different place.

Prelims Hooks

• Firuz Shah Tughlaq ruled 1351–1388. His predecessor was his cousin Muhammad bin Tughlaq.
• He brought Ashokan pillars from Topra (Haryana) and Meerut to Delhi. The Topra pillar stands at Firoz Shah Kotla.
• Towns founded by Firuz: Hisar, Fatehabad, Jaunpur, Firozabad. Trap: Daulatabad was renamed by Muhammad bin Tughlaq, not Firuz. [1]
• Departments match: Diwan-i-Khairat: charity · Diwan-i-Bandagan: slaves · Dar-ul-Shifa: hospital.
• Futuhat-i-Firoz Shahi: written by Firuz Shah Tughlaq. Tarikh-i-Firoz Shahi: written by Ziauddin Barani (and another by Shams-i-Siraj Afif).
• Firuz made iqtas hereditary and imposed jizya on Brahmins, who were earlier exempt.

Mains Points

• A welfare state that was weak at the core. Canals, new towns, a hospital, an employment bureau and charity made life better for people. But hereditary iqtas, hereditary army posts and a huge body of slaves cut the Sultan's control over his officers. This explains the quick decline after 1388 and why Delhi fell so easily to Timur (1398). It is useful for GS-I answers on the causes of the Sultanate's decline.
• A turn away from Muhammad bin Tughlaq's approach. Muhammad bin Tughlaq's bold ideas failed in practice, and the Sultanate shrank. [3] Firuz chose caution: he gave up the Deccan and made only limited campaigns in Bengal and Odisha, and he won the support of the nobles and ulema. Comparing the two cousins shows the trade-off between centralised ambition and stability through consent.
• Heritage and the mixing of religion and state. Firuz moved Ashokan pillars, repaired the Qutb Minar and had Sanskrit works translated, which shows interest in India's older heritage. At the same time he followed sharia-based taxes and taxed Brahmins with jizya. Historians weigh both sides when judging him as a ruler. This works well in answers on religion and statecraft in medieval India.

Related concepts

• Tughlaq dynasty
• Ghiyasuddin Tughlaq
• Tughlaqabad Fort
• Muhammad bin Tughlaq
• Transfer of capital to Daulatabad
• Daulatabad
• Token currency
• Diwan-i-Amir-i-Kohi
• Futuh-us-Salatin
• Musunuri Nayakas

Read more

• Tughlaq experiments