Firoz Shah Tughlaq (1351-1388)
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Firoz Shah Tughlq ruled
the Tughlaq Dynasty as a Muslim from 1351 to 1388.He was the son of a Hindu
Rajput princess of Dipalpur. His father’s name was Razzaib. He succeeded his
cousin Muhammad bin Tughlaq after his death from a fatal illness, but due to
widespread unrest, Firuz’s realm was much smaller than Muhammad’s. Firuz was
forced by rebellions to virtually concede independence to Bengal and other
provinces. He was known as an inconoclast.
Firoz probably learned
many lessons from his cousin Muhammad’s rule. He decided not to reconquer areas
that had broken away. He decided to keep the nobles and the Ulema happy so that
they would allow him to rule his kingdom peacefully. In fact, there were hardly
any rebellions during his rule. The Tarikh-i-Firuz by Ziauddin Barani is a
historical record written during his reign.
He was the first Muslim
ruler to think of the material welfare of his people. Many rest houses,
gardens, and tombs were built, and a number of madrasas were opened to promote
literacy. He set up hospitals for the free treatment of the poor. He provided money
for the marriage of girls belonging to poor families. He commissioned many
public buildings in Delhi. He built over 300 villages and dug five major canals
for irrigation, bringing more land under cultivation for growing grain and
fruit.
Hindu religious
communities' works were translated from Sanskrit to Persian. He had a large
personal library of manuscripts in Persian, Arabic, and other languages. He
brought two Ashokan pillars from Meerut and Topara, carefully wrapped in silk,
to Delhi. He erected one of them in his palace at Firoz Shah Kotla.
He had about 180,000
slaves, who had been brought from all over the country and trained in various
arts and crafts. They proved to be untrustworthy. The transfer of capital was
the highlight of his reign.
Firoz Shah’s death led
to many rebellions. His lenient attitude had weakened the sultan’s position.
His successor, Ghiyas-ud-Din Tughluq II, could not control the slaves or the
nobles. The army had become weak. Slowly, the empire shrank in size. Ten years
after his death, Timur’s invasion devastated Delhi. After Tamerlane left Delhi
and the residents were subject to indiscriminate torture and rape, the Tughluq
Sultans came back and ruled for another 15 years before the dynasty was
disestablished.
