LILAVATIBAI PODAR HIGH SCHOOL- ISC

Academic Year 2020 – 2021

Subject: History Grade: 7
Topic: Khalji and Tughlaq Dynasty

TIMELINE

THE KHALJI DYNASTY (1290CE-1320CE)

The Mamluk Dynasty was replaced by the Khalji Dynasty. A noble named Jalaluddin
Khalji fought against the mongols, overthrew the incompetent successors of Balban and
laid the foundation of the Khalji Dynasty in 1290 CE. The rise of Khaljis, who were a mix
of Turkish- Afghan origin, put an end to the Turkish monopoly of controlling high offices.
Jalaluddin tried to mitigate some of the harsh policies of Balban. He tried to be tolerant
towards the nobility to earn their goodwill. However, this policy was reversed by his
successor, Alauddin Khalji.

Alauddin Khalji
Alauddin Khalji(1296CE-1316CE) treacherously murdered his uncle and father-in-law
Jalaluddin Khalji and ascended the throne in 1296CE.

EXPANSION OF THE SULTANATE

Alauddin was an ambitious and powerful Sultan of the dynasty. He established a vast
empire in India by subjugating the principal places.
GUJARAT​: Alauddin sent a military expedition to the kingdom of Gujarat. Gujarat was
conquered and annexed. Malik Kafur, a slave, was captured during the Gujarat
conquest, who later rose to a position of a military general in Alauddin’s army.
​RAJASTHAN​: After the conquest of Gujarat, Alauddin captured the fortress of
Ranthambore and turned his attention to Chittor, the capital of Mewar. The Rajputs
offered gallant resistance but lost the battle. The women performed the rite of ​Jauhar
and immolated themselves.
THE DECCAN POLICY​: Thereafter, Alauddin sent Malik Kafur, his military commander,
to capture deccan. The fabulous wealth in the deccan was one of the reasons that drew
him to the South.
The responsibility of all the campaigns of the south was entrusted to Malik Kafur. Thus
Alauddin’s empire included the entire North India. Moreover, the whole of South India
had to accept the sway of the Sultan.

REFORMS OF ALAUDDIN KHALJI

Alauddin Khalji undertook a series of reforms aimed at improving the administrative
system, strengthening the military system and improving the land revenue
administration.

REVENUE REFORMS​: Alauddin took important steps to curb the powers of the
Khut​(landowners), ​chaudhari ​and ​muqaddam (​ headman), who collected revenue on behalf
of the king. Under Alauddin, the assessment and collection of land revenue came under
the control of the state.
He abolished all the privileges and concessions enjoyed by the chiefs and expected them
to pay the land tax, known as ​kharaj​, fixed by the state.

MARKET REGULATIONS AND PRICE CONTROL SYSTEM​: Alauddin knew well the
importance of a permanent and huge standing army to maintain his empire and was not
keen to increase the salaries of the soldiers. He knew that unless the necessaries of life
were made cheap, it was impossible to maintain a large army at a low cost. For this
reason, he devised the price control system. He fixed the prices of all commodities such
as clothes, food grains, cooking oil, sugar cattle, slaves horses, etc. Alauddin’s officers
did a careful survey that entailed hin to fix prices of the articles and set up markets. He
appointed spies and agents to keep him updated about the condition of the market. He
severely punished those who did not follow the regulations laid by him.

REGULATION OF THE ARMY​: Alauddin was able to maintain a large standing army
that was to be stationed at Delhi. The soldiers were paid in cash. He re-organised the
army and introduced the system of branding horses (dagh). The war ministry
maintained a descriptive roll of every soldier, known as chehra.

ART, ARCHITECTURE AND LEARNING​: Amir Khusro, the famous Persian poet, was a
part of his court.
Alauddin constructed several palaces and mosques. Hazar Situr or The Palace of
Thousand Pillars was also built by him. He also built the entrance door to Qutb Minar,
called the Alai Darwaza. He built a Madrasah in the Qutb complex.
Alauddin’s death in 1316 CE witnessed a period of political upheaval. His successors
were unable to rule the Sultanate effectively.

THE TUGHLAQ DYNASTY (1320CE-1414CE)

In 1320 CE, Ghiyasuddin Tughlaq killed the last Khalji ruler and established the rule of
the Tughlaq Dynasty.

Muhammad bin Tughlaq

Prince Jauna Khan (1324 CE-1351 CE) succeeded Ghiyasuddin and took the title of
Muhammad bin Tughlaq. Historians like Barani praised him as one of the most erudite and
accomplished scholars of the time. He had vast knowledge about different subjects such as
mathematics, astronomy, philosophy, logic, etc. He was a good calligrapher and possessed
good knowledge of Persian poetry.

Muhammad bin Tughlaq carried out several administrative reforms. He was very innovative in
his plans but his methods were not practical. Many administrative measures are attributed to
him.

Enhancement of the taxation in Doab

Muhammad tried his earliest financial experiment in the Doab region, a rich and fertile plain
between the two rivers namely the Ganga and the Yamuna. He not only raised the taxation in
Doab but also imposed some additional taxes. The taxes that were imposed were not in
proportion to the earnings of the people. This caused great misery and hardship to them.
However, this was a time when a severe famine broke out in the region which further
aggravated the situation. The state did not give any concession and collected taxes forcefully.
No immediate steps were taken to alleviate the sufferings of the peasants. Relief measures
such as digging wells, granting loans to the farmers came very late. Agriculture suffered greatly.
Many peasants left their holdings and​ mov​ed to other places while many of them rebelled.

Shifting of capital from Delhi to Daulatabad

Another administrative measure that entailed much suffering to the people of Delhi was the
transfer of his capital from Delhi to Daulatabad (earlier Devagiri). The strategic and central
location of Daulatabad was one of the important reasons behind the shifting of the capital. As
compared to Delhi, Daulatabad was more centrally situated. Further, it was safe from the route
of the Mongols, who were a constant threat to Delhi and its neighbourhood. Thus, he ordered
the people of Delhi to shift to Daulatabad.
Muhammad bin Tughlaq provided all sorts of facilities to make the journey comfortable. A road
was built from Delhi to Daulatabad and food and temporary shelters were provided to the
emigrants. The people of Delhi were not happy to leave their homes and a large number of
people died on the way. Muhammad soon realised his folly and ordered the inhabitants to move
back to Delhi.

Introduction of token currency

The failure of Muhammad bin Tughlaq's earlier schemes had heavily drained the royal treasury.

The principal motive behind his other novel experiment was to replenish the treasury and to find
the resources to carry out his plans of territorial expansions and administrative reforms.

This was the reason behind introducing token (bronze) currency. He introduced bronze coins
which were of the same value as the silver coins which were called tanka. Further, at any time
these bronze coins could be exchanged, from the royal treasury, lor the silver tankas However,
this experiment again proved failure again because new coins were forged.

The government could not keep a check on the counterfeit coins. The new coins last their value
greatly in the market. The kingdom was flooded with counterfeit coins which caused a huge loss
of revenue. Muhammad decided to withdraw the token currency completely when he got to
know about the failure of his measure, He gave orders that all token coins were to be
exchanged with the silver coins. As a result, even the fake coins were exchanged in return of
the silver ones, due to which the government had to bear a great loss.

Expansion schemes

∙ ​Khorasan expedition

Muhammad bin Tughlaq had cherished a desire of universal conquest. To realise his dream, he
decided to conquer Khorasan, Iran and Iraq.He raised a huge army. The soldiers were paid for
one full year by the state treasury, However, geographical, transport difficulties and mobilising a
large army to distant lands was a gigantic task. This conquest was not easy to undertake and
beyond the strength of his army. Thus, Muhammad abandoned the scheme.

∙ ​Qarachal expedition

Another expedition was to conquer the mountain of Arunachal (Himalaya). It was directed
against the refractory hill chieftain who had refused to accept the overlordship of Delhi. After
initial success, Muhammad's army suffered heavily. Their baggage was plundered and they
could not even obtain supplies from the head offices. It took a heavy toll of casualties.

Effects of the policies and schemes

Muhammad bin Tughlaq's experiments and badly executed schemes depleted the royal
Treasury. The failure in administrative reforms and policies affected the prestige of the empire. It
created a great discontent among the people, nobles as well as the army. The rebellions took
place in different parts of the empire. The Rana of Mewar not only recovered Ranthambore and
Chittor but also built a powerful kingdom in Rajasthan. The rebellion, led by Harihara and
Bukka, in South India paved the way for the establishment of the Vijayanagara kingdom. In the
Deccan, a principality set up by some foreign nobles expanded into the Bahmani kingdom.
Bengal and Sind also asserted their independence.

Some historians believe that Muhammad bin Tughlaq lacked the essential qualities of an
effective ruler. His lack of political sense and impulsive behaviour lead to the failure of his
schemes. On the other hand, some historians believe that people during that time were not
were not willing to accept new ideas and progressive reforms. Therefore, the schemes of
Muhammad bin Tughlaq failed. When Muhammad bin Tughlaq died in 1351 CE, the nobles
urged Firuz Shah Tughlaq, cousin of Muhammad bin Tughlaq, to assume power and
proclaim himself as Sultan.

Firuz Shah Tughlaq

Firuz Shah Tughlaq (1351CE-1388 CE) was a benevolent ruler. His reign of thirty-seven years
was a period of peace and prosperity. He did not contribute significantly to expand the
territories of the empire that he inherited. His chief concern was the welfare of his subjects. He
dedicated much of his time and energy towards the betterment of the people.

The last Tughlaq ruler Nasiruddin Mahmud Tughlaq was a weak ruler and with his death, the
Tughlaq Dynasty came to an end.

The Sayyid and the Lodi Dynasty ruled next from 1414CE - 1526CE. Babur defeated the last
ruler of the Lodi dynasty thus, putting an end to the Delhi Sultanate.