History of the Qaraunah Turks in India c8.2

c8.2

The first experiment which caused much suffering to the people was the transfer of the capital from Dihli to Devagiri. Barani is very sparse in giving dates. He places the transfer of the capital just after the enhancement of the land tax in the Doab which is one of the earliest measures of Muhammad's reign, and which seems to have been carried into effect not long after his accession. The author of the *Tarikh-i-Mubarak Shahi* assigns the first transfer (it may be noted that he speaks of a second transfer after 729 A.H.) to 727 A.H., and he is followed by Badāoni whose account is an exact reproduction of that given by the *Tarikh-i-Mubarak Shahi*. Firishta supports the above by saying that when the Sultan had gone to Devagiri during the rebellion of Bahā-al-Din Gashtāsp, he was so pleased with the situation of Devagiri that he wished to make it his capital.¹ But his chronology is hopelessly wrong. He assigns the transfer to the year 740 (1339 A.D.), but this is quite incorrect, for Ibn Batūtah who came to Dihli towards the close of 1333 writes that he saw the Sultan repeopling the depopulated city, which shows that the transfer must have at least taken place before his arrival.² This is corroborated by numismatic evidence. When the token currency was withdrawn, and free exchange was permitted by the Sultan, Barani and all later writers declare that mounds of copper coins arose in Tughluqabad.³ The trend of the narrative indicates that Barani is describing the activities of the capital which must have regained its old status in 732 A.H. There is more numismatic evidence which clearly points to the year 727 A.H. There are coins struck at Daulatabad in the year 727 A.H. bearing on the them the superscription " Cupola of Islam " (قبة الاسلام) a fact which shows that in 727 Daulatabad was the capital of the empire.⁴ The Asiatic Society of Bengal has a coin in its possession which was issued from Devagiri in 727 A.H. bearing on the margin the following legend:—