Twilight of the Sultanate c8.2

c8.2

Timur had converted the north-western Hindustan into a shambles. The countryside through which he had passed, suffered terribly from famine and pestilence. For full two months after his departure, Delhi "presented a scene of desolation and woe".¹ In that unfortunate city those who had escaped from the sword, succumbed to hunger and disease.² Decomposing corpses polluted the air and pestilence took its toll mercilessly. Agriculture and industry stood still and the morale of the people went under. The few officers and men that the invader had left behind either fell a prey to pestilence or otherwise at the earliest took the road to Kabul.³ The vacuum so created was not immediately filled. The absence of strong political authority encouraged military adventurers who harried the land for self-aggrandisement. Besides, a number of nobles and "sultans" made a bid for the throne, and it took full fifteen years to form a stable government at Delhi. In these circumstances the suffering of the people during this period can better be imagined than described.