Twilight of the Sultanate c6.s2.49

c6.s2.49

Such are the euphemistic references of the chroniclers to the miserable condition of the people of Hindustan. In the time of Fīrōz Tughlaq, when peace prevailed, no “strong man could tyrannise over the weak”.⁶⁴ But now it was all confusion. Kings were changing, or were being changed, almost every year if not every month. As if this was not bad enough, there were pairs of kings—Abū Bakr and Muhammad, Nāsiruddīn Mahmūd and Nāsiruddīn Nusrat. The intrigues of the nobility made matters worse. S‘aādat and Muqarrab fought regular battles using kings as pawns in their game of power politics. Indeed, according to Yahya, “each and every nobleman wanted to become the Sultan.”⁶⁵ The Hindu chiefs and zamindars could hardly refrain from making the most of this. They gathered strength, withheld payment of taxes and tribute, and even plundered the villages of the Musalmāns.⁶⁶ Everywhere in Hindustan the rural and urban population suffered terribly.⁶⁷ For a decade after Fīrōz’s death the princes manoeuvred, the nobles intrigued and the people suffered. Still worse was to happen.