Muhammad bin Tughluq

Who was Muhammad bin Tughluq?

Muhammd bin Tughluq was the Turkic Sultan of Delhi from 1325 to 1351. He was the eldest son of Ghiyas-ud-din Tughlaq. He was born in Kotla Tolay Khan in Multan. His wife was the daughter of the raja of Dipalpur. Ghiyas-ud-din Tughlaq sent the young Muhammad to the Deccan to campaign against king Prataparudra of the Kakatiya dynasty whose capital was at Warangal. Muhammad succeeded to the Delhi throne upon his father's death in 1325. From his accession to the throne in 1325 until his death in 1351, Muḥammad contended with 22 rebellions, pursuing his policies consistently and ruthlessly.

As his reign began, Muḥammad attempted, without much success, to enlist the services of the ʿulamāʾ, the Muslim divines, and the Ṣūfīs, the ascetic mystics. Failing to win the ʿulamāʾ over, he tried to curtail their powers, as some of his predecessors had, by placing them on an equal footing with other citizens. The Sultan wanted to use the Ṣūfīs’ prestigious position to stabilize his authority as ruler. Yet they had always refused any association with government and would not accept any grants or offices except under duress. Muḥammad tried every measure, conciliatory or coercive, to yoke them to his political wagon. Although he humiliated them, he could not break their opposition and succeeded only in dispersing them from the towns of northern India.The transfer of the capital in 1327 to Deogir was intended to consolidate the conquests in southern India by large-scale—in some cases forced—migration of the people of Delhi to Deogir. As an administrative measure it failed, but it had far-reaching cultural effects. The spread of the Urdu language in the Deccan may be traced to this extensive influx of Muslims.