The Cambridge History of India, Vol. III: Turks and Afghans v3.c20.475

v3.c20.475

Enough has perhaps been said of the extraordinary character of Muhammad Tughluq. He was a genius, with an unusually large share of that madness to which great wit is nearly allied, and the contradictions of his character were an enigma to those who knew him best. Both Baranī and Ibn Batūtah are lost in astonishment at his arrogance, his piety, his humility, his pride, his lavish generosity, his care for his people, his hostility to them, his preference for foreigners, his love of justice and his ferocious cruelty, and can find no better description of their patron than that he was a freak of creation.