The Sultanate of Delhi, 711–1526 A.D. c20.s7.3

c20.s7.3

Tughluq dynasty were incompetent, non-entities who were absorbed in pleasure and could not help falling tools into the hands of their powerful nobles. None of them had enough political insight and wisdom to choose the right sort of man for his prime minister and give him his full confidence and support. In the absence of this guiding factor, rival factions sprang up at the court, which led to civil wars. Fifthly, the nobles at the court were as demoralised as their ruler himself, with the result that a man of first-rate ability among the peers became a rare commodity. The slave system, in the early days of the Turkish rule in India, had tended to produce great men; but under Firoz this system deteriorated so rapidly that among the ranks of his slaves and those of his successors there was no Qutub-ud-din Aibak, no Iltutmish and no Balban. Sixthly, the Sultanate of Delhi was based on the force and efficiency of its military organisation. Under Muhammad, and much more under Firoz and his successors, the Delhi army ceased to be an instrument of force. It could not, therefore, hold the people in awe of the royal authority. Seventhly, the government was a police government concerning itself only with the maintenance of law and order and collection of revenues; and when it could not discharge these two duties satisfactorily, it lost reason for its existence. Eighthly, the Dakhin, which had for the first time been conquered in the time of Ala-ud-din Khalji, was yet an uneasy partner in the Sultanate of Delhi. It could be held only by a man of genius like the Khalji conqueror. Under weak rulers there were numerous rebellions in the Dakhin and the severance of its connection with Delhi caused unhealthy repercussions in northern India. And finally, the Hindus, though subjected to the foreign rule for about two hundred years in the north and over a hundred years in the south, had not given up their attempt to make a bid for their freedom. Certain parts even in northern India could never really be effectively subjugated by the Turks. It took more than a hundred and fifty years for Ranthambhor to be finally conquered and annexed. The Doab, though situated very near Delhi, could never really be made submissive. Taking advantage of the weakness of the Tughluqs, Rajasthan became independent. Gwalior and other principalities threw off their yoke. Under the cumulative effect of the above factors, it would have been surprising if the Sultanate of Delhi under the Tughluqs had survived longer than it actually did.