History of the Qaraunah Turks in India c8.30

c8.30

During the rebellion of Bahā-al-Din Gashtāsp, when the Sultan was in the Deccan, he was much struck by the geographical and strategic position of Devagiri and he wished to make it his capital. His empire now included practically the whole of the Indian peninsula, excepting a strip of land on the western coast in the Deccan, Orissa and the Rajput states in Rajputana which had taken no part in Dihli politics for the last ten years. Towards the north the empire embraced the Doab, the plains of the Punjab and Lahore together with the territories stretching from the Indus to the coast of Gujarat; towards the east it comprised the entire province of Bengal, and in the centre it included the whole of the central region, consisting of such principalities as Malwa, Mahoba, Ujjain and Dhar. The Deccan had been well-nigh subdued, although a few chiefs like Krisna Nāyak of Warangal still lived in a state of sullen hostility. The whole country extending from the Mahanadi and the Krisna along the Eastern coast to the southernmost extremity of the peninsula was included in the empire of Dihli. Warangal, Madura and Dwarsamudra, all owned allegiance; and the Hoysala king Vir Ballāla had acknowledged the superior power of the Sultan. The empire needed a central capital from which a vigilant watch could be maintained over all the different parts of Hindustan. Dihli, just now in the grip of a severe famine, was too remote from the outlying provinces; it was far too northern to be the capital of an empire which had its base in the extreme south, and, then, it was constantly threatened by the Mughal invasions. Close to Rajputana, it was exposed to danger from the most warlike people whom even ‘Ala-al-Din had not been able entirely to subjugate. It was, as Sher Shah said two centuries later the very road of an invader and peculiarly fitted to be his first resting place. All the invaders of Hindustan had established dominion over the country by capturing Dihli, for the fall of the capital in those days meant the fall of the empire. The Gangetic plain was a great lever to sustain their newly founded power by supplying inexhaustible resources which enabled them to contend successfully against the native powers. From the chief seat of the empire at Dihli it was well-nigh impossible to keep a firm hold over the south where the Hindu Rajas had never been completely reconciled to Muhammad’s domination and to prevent a recrudescence of rebellion and internecine strife, if the reins were slackened in the slightest degree. Devagiri was safe and far away from the route of the enemy. Distance did not much matter to the Sultan for he had an efficient post running from Dihli to Devagiri which facilitated communication and enabled him to keep in touch with his vast possessions. It was more centrally situated than Dihli and, as Barani says, the different provinces of the empire, Gujarat, Dihli, Sonargaon, Dwarsamudra; Ma‘bar, Kampila were nearly equidistant from it.