The Cambridge History of India, Vol. III: Turks and Afghans v3.c27.73

v3.c27.73

In 1401 Fīrūz, disturbed by rumours that Tīmūr, who was now in Āzarbāijān, proposed to return to India and seat one of his sons on the throne of Delhi, is said to have sent to him an embassy, and to have obtained, in return for his gifts and promises, a decree bestowing on him the Deccan, Gujarāt, and Mālwa. Chroniclers of Tīmūr's reign make no mention of this, but a mission from a ruler so remote and comparatively obscure may well have passed unnoticed by them, and it is only on the supposition that the mission was sent and the decree received that the events of the next few years can be explained. Muzaffar I of Gujarāt, Dilāvar Khān of Mālwa, and Nasīr Khān of Khāndesh, alarmed and enraged by Tīmūr's grant, demanded of Fīrūz that he should keep the peace, and sent envoys to Harihara II promising to assist him, when necessary, by attacking the Deccan from the north. Harihara, emboldened by these offers, withheld the tribute which he had paid since Fīrūz Shāh's invasion of his kingdom, and Fīrūz, apprehensive of attacks from the north, dared not attempt to enforce payment. He had gained little by his sycophantic and costly mission.