The Legacy of Muslim Rule in India c8.s2.9

c8.s2.9

Nasiruddin Khusrau and Ghiyasuddin Tughlaq continued with the old pattern of loyalty to a universal Caliphate, while Muhammad Tughlaq did not rest content until he had made the discovery of the presence of the Abbasid Caliph Al-Mustakfi in exile at Cairo, and applied to him for investiture. His obvious motive was to strengthen his waning authority reflected in the recurrent rebellions in all parts of the country.⁵⁸ In such a situation he did not try to seek support in India from his (non-Muslim) people, but he attached such great importance to Caliphal recognition that he declared that all the sultans who had not applied for or received Caliphal investiture as usurpers (*Mutaghallib*). In 1343 he received the Caliphal edict and the robe of honour. His religious devotion to the Caliph and emotional behaviour towards the Caliphs envoys were so ludicrous as to call forth a contemptuous comment from the contemporary chronicler Ziyauddin Barani. So great was the faith of the Sultan in the Abbasid Khalifas, says he, that he would have sent all his treasures in Delhi to Egypt, had it not been for the fear of robbers.⁵⁹ But the Sultan must have sent a substantial amount, because when Ghiyasuddin, who was only a descendant of the extinct Caliphal house of Baghdad, visited India, Muhammads bounty knew no bounds. He gave him a million *tankahs* (400,000 *dinars*), the fief of Kanauj, and the fort of Siri, besides such valuable articles as gold and silver wares, pages and slave girls. Withal one thousand *dinars* were given for head-wash, a bath-tub of gold, and three robes on which in place of knots or buttons there were pearls as large as big hazel nuts.⁶⁰ If this was given to a scion of a house which had become defunct, how much more was sent to the living Caliph at Cairo can only be surmised. No wonder that because of the generosity of the Sultan, in his time the Caliphal investitures were received more than once.⁶¹ Muhammad Tughlaq included the names of Abbasid Al-Mustakfi and his successors Al-Wasiq I and Al-Hakim in his *khutba*, and inscribed on his coins their names to the exclusion of his own.⁶²