History of the Qaraunah Turks in India c9.17

c9.17

The scheme was unsound in conception and was the result of inadequate knowledge. The frauds and misrepresentations of the Khorasani nobles actuated by selfish motives obscured the subject further, and prevented things from being seen in their true perspective. We read of no attempts made by the Sultan to study the internal condition of ‘Iraq and the adjoining lands and to form an estimate of the resources that should be needed to undertake a task of such magnitude. It was impossible for the Sultan to manage properly such an expedition at a time when the Doab was a prey to famine, and the south still sullen and discontented. Besides, it was not safe to undertake conquest in a foreign country with the aid of a large mercenary army. Mr. Gardner Brown dwells upon the possibility of Persian conquest which, he says, had been attempted before by Mahmud of Ghazni. The analogy is incorrect. Mahmud never acquired a permanent hold on Hindustan nor did he aim at it. It is true he had conquered Khorasan and had received from the Khalifah the usual diploma of investiture with the title of *Yemīn-al-dowlah* (the right hand of the empire) and *Amin-al-millat* (custodian of the faith), but the suzerainty of Ghazni over Khorasan was only nominal. That the conquest of Khorasan was a difficult one for the rulers of Dihli is evidenced by the fact that even Muhammad of Ghor who was certainly more political in his aims than Mahmud confined himself to his dominion in the Afghan hills. Muhammad Tughluq’s circumstances did not favour the consummation of such a grandiose plan. The soldiers of Muhammad Tughluq had hitherto fought in India against the Hindu Rajas and chiefs. They looked upon war with the infidels as a *jihad*, and far other motives than mere love of conquest or territory urged them to fight a outrance against them. But to fight against their co-religionists equally fierce and fanatical in their own native land was an arduous task beyond the capacity of the Dihli armies at this period. Muhammad who had no great generals like ‘Ulugh Khan or Zafar Khan could not reasonably hope to achieve success in such a gigantic enterprise. It was well for him that the impracticable nature of the project dawned upon his mind early enough, and he abandoned it, for if he had persevered with it, he would have sooner precipitated the disruption of his empire.