Muhammad bin Tughlaq

Also called: Muhammad Tughlaq · Topic: Turkic Invasions and the Delhi Sultanate · NCERT: Class 8, Ch 2 "Reshaping India's Political Map"; Class 12, Ch 1 "Through the Eyes of Travellers"; Class 12, Ch 2 "Bhakti-Sufi Traditions"

Meaning

Muhammad bin Tughlaq (also called Muhammad Tughlaq) was the Tughlaq Sultan of Delhi (ruled 1324–51; some books give 1325) who took the Delhi Sultanate to its largest size and tried bold experiments, mainly moving the capital to Daulatabad (AD 1327) and issuing token currency. [4] He matters because his ideas were often sound but his execution was poor. By the end of his reign the empire was breaking apart, and this opened the way for new kingdoms in the south.

Explanation

Background: an empire stretched too far

• He was the son of Ghiyasuddin Tughlaq, who founded the Tughlaq dynasty.
• He pushed the Delhi Sultanate to its largest size.
• For the first time since the Mauryan Empire, most of the subcontinent came under one ruler.

• It did not last. By the end of his reign the south had broken away and much of the north was in revolt. [4]

• His plans were bold but carried out badly. This gap between idea and execution is the core exam point.

Experiment 1: shifting the capital to Daulatabad (1327)

• He moved the capital from Delhi to Daulatabad in the Deccan in AD 1327. [2][4]
• Daulatabad was earlier called Devagiri / Deogiri ("Hill of Gods"), the capital of the Yadavas of Deogiri. [2]
• He named it Daulatabad, meaning "abode of wealth". [2]
• Why he chose it:
• It was more central for a very large empire.
• Britannica adds two more reasons: to tighten his grip on south India and to settle Muslim nobles there. [4]
• It was a natural fortress, built on a 200-metre conical hill (cone-shaped, narrow at the top). It had a moat (a water ditch), a glacis (a smooth open slope that gives attackers nowhere to hide) and three walls with bastions (towers that stick out from a wall). [2]

• The fort was never taken by force. It fell only through intrigue, meaning trickery and betrayal from inside. [4]

• What went wrong:

• People were forced to travel over 1,000 km.
• Some sources say that both journeys, there and back, caused great loss of life.
• The plan failed, and the capital was moved back to Delhi.

Experiment 2: token currency

• He issued cheap copper coins and declared them equal in value to silver or gold coins.
• Token currency means money whose stamped value is higher than the value of its metal. Its worth comes from the state's promise, not from the metal.
• The idea was ahead of its time. Most modern money, including paper notes, is token money.
• The execution failed:
• Traders were confused about what a coin was really worth.
• Mass counterfeiting followed. Copper was easy to get and the royal stamp was easy to copy, so people made fake coins at home.

• The economy declined.

• In other ways he improved the coinage and issued coins of high quality. Only the token-currency attempt failed. [4]

Results: revolt and break-up

• The Musunuri Nayakas, who were Telugu chieftains, brought over 75 chieftains together in a confederacy (a group of small rulers who join hands and act as one).
• In about 1330–1336 they expelled his army from Warangal (in present-day Telangana). This was within ten years of the Daulatabad move.
• The south slipped out of Delhi's control. This led towards the rise of Vijayanagara and the Bahmani kingdom.
• An unexpected cultural gain: the forced migration brought northern and southern people together, and their languages and customs began to mix. [4]

Time, place and evidence

• Period: first half of the 14th century. He ruled 1324–51 (some books say 1325) in the Tughlaq dynasty of the Delhi Sultanate. His father was Ghiyasuddin Tughlaq and his successor was Firuz Shah Tughlaq.
• Key places:
• Delhi, the old and later the restored capital.
• Daulatabad (Devagiri), about 15 km north-west of Aurangabad, roughly halfway to the Ellora caves, near present-day Sambhaji Nagar in Maharashtra. [2]

• Warangal, in present-day Telangana.

• Earlier history of Devagiri: the Yadava ruler Bhillama (c. 1187–91) founded Devagiri as his capital. The Yadavas were at their strongest under his grandson Singhana (c. 1210–47). [4]

• How we know about him:
• Coins: coins of Muhammad bin Tughlaq, Ghiyasuddin Tughlaq and Firuz Shah Tughlaq are kept in Indian museums and listed on the Indian Culture Portal. [3]
• The fort itself: the Daulatabad Fort is protected by the Archaeological Survey of India. [2]
• Traveller's account: the Moroccan traveller Ibn Battuta came to his court. The Sultan made him qazi (judge) of Delhi and later sent him as an envoy to China. Ibn Battuta's travel book, the Rihla, is a major source on his reign.
• Sufi link: he was the first Sultan to visit the shrine of Khwaja Muinuddin Chishti at Ajmer.

Don't confuse with

• Ghiyasuddin Tughlaq: his father and the founder of the Tughlaq dynasty. The Daulatabad shift and token currency were the son's experiments, not the father's.
• Firuz Shah Tughlaq: his successor. Firuz is known for public works and canals, not for shifting the capital or token currency.
• Devagiri vs Daulatabad: they are the same place. Devagiri ("Hill of Gods") was the Yadava name, and Daulatabad ("abode of wealth") was Muhammad bin Tughlaq's name for it. [2]
• Ibn Battuta vs Al-Biruni: Ibn Battuta visited Muhammad bin Tughlaq in the 14th century. Al-Biruni came much earlier with Mahmud of Ghazni and wrote the Kitab-ul-Hind.

Prelims Hooks

• Muhammad bin Tughlaq shifted his capital from Delhi to Daulatabad in AD 1327. The name means "abode of wealth", and he gave it himself. [2][4]
• The old name of Daulatabad was Devagiri / Deogiri ("Hill of Gods"). The Yadava ruler Bhillama (c. 1187–91) founded it as his capital. [2][4]
• Token currency: copper coins were declared equal in value to silver or gold coins. The scheme failed because of mass counterfeiting.
• The Musunuri Nayakas, Telugu chieftains, united 75+ chieftains and drove Tughlaq forces out of Warangal in about 1330–1336.
• Trap: he was the first Sultan to visit Muinuddin Chishti's dargah at Ajmer. He also made Ibn Battuta qazi of Delhi and his envoy to China.
• Under him, most of the subcontinent came under one ruler for the first time since the Mauryan Empire.

Mains Points

• Judge the idea and the execution separately.
• Token currency is sound modern economics. A central capital in the Deccan made geographical sense.
• Both failed because the state lacked the tools to run them. There was no way to stop forgery, and there was no system to move people safely across 1,000 km.

• This makes him a good GS-I example of policy failing because of weak state capacity, not weak ideas.

• Over-extension has a cost.

• The empire reached its largest size and began to break up within the same reign.

• The Musunuri Nayaka revolt at Warangal (c. 1330–36) shows the south rejecting Delhi almost at once. This leads directly to the rise of Vijayanagara and the Bahmani kingdom.

• Political events can shape culture.

• The forced migration to Daulatabad failed as policy, but it mixed northern and southern languages and customs. [4]
• Strong hill forts like Devagiri/Daulatabad, which was never taken by direct attack, help explain who held power in the Deccan. [2][4]

Related concepts

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

Read more

• Tughlaq experiments