The Cambridge History of India, Vol. III: Turks and Afghans v3.c27.19

v3.c27.19

Immediately after the accession of Muhammad I his mother performed the pilgrimage to Mecca and either visited or communicated with al-Mu‘tadid, the puppet Caliph in Egypt, from whom, on her return to India in 1361, she brought a patent recognising her son as king of the Deccan, in consequence of which he assumed on his coins the title ‘Protector of the People of the Prophet of the Merciful God.’ His father before him seems to have sought and obtained this coveted recognition, for in 1356 the Caliph’s envoy to Fīrūz Tughluq of Delhi had desired him to recognise and respect the Muslim king of the Deccan.