History of the Qaraunah Turks in India c10.49

c10.49

As has been previously said Ghiyās-al-Din Bahadur was reinstated in the government of Bengal by Muhammad Tughluq soon after his accession to the throne. But Bahadur who was an ambitious man, once more allowed himself to be led astray by evil counsels, and rebelled about the year 730 A.H.³⁶ According to Ibn Batūṭah one of the conditions of his restoration was that he would send his son Muhammad-al-Manshur as a hostage to Dihli, but Bahadur excused himself on the ground that his son did not obey him.³⁷ This act of contumacy enraged the Sultan who sent his does the same, and accepts 739 A.H. as the date of rebellion.⁴⁴ A careful examination of the coins shows that the date is 737 and not 739 A.H. The date on the coin is on the margin in Arabic figures and Blochmann and Sir Wolseley have, it seems to me, read تسع for سبع which alters the date by two years. If it were سبع and not تسع the letter ت would have been slightly bulging upwards and would not have been joined to the letter preceding it in the manner in which it is joined.⁴⁵ On a large number of coins issued from the mints in Bengal and other parts of India in the 14th century A.D. the word تسع is written as تسع and not as سبع. Secondly, after the letter س the mark of ب is quite clear on the coin. What Blochmann and Sir Wolseley read as ت is not ت but س and therefore the date seems to be 737 and not 739 A.H. There is yet another piece of evidence which supports 737 A.H. The Sultan returned to Dihli from the Deccan sometime in July 1337 after nearly two years. After his return he was too much occupied with affairs in Hindustan to deal effectively with the rebellion in Bengal. Ibn Batūtah who was present in Dihli says nothing about it. Barani says that during the interval when the Sultan stayed at Dihli and his migration to Saragdwari which occurred in 739 A.H. four rebellions broke out which were quickly suppressed. These four rebellions were of Nizam Ma'in at Kara, Nusrat Khan at Bidar, 'Ali Shah at Kulburga and 'Ain-al-Mulk and his brothers at Saragdwāri. He does not mention among these the rebellion of Fakhr-al-Din. This is not conclusive evidence, but it throws a doubt over the date 739 A.H. It appears from Barani's narrative and the testimony of the coins that Fakhr-al-Din declared his independence early in 737 A.H.