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A History of Agriculture in India v2.c58: Chapter 6. The Rule of the Turks: The Tughlaks: Muhammad-bin-Tughlak

A History of Agriculture in India v2.c58

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English

Contents

Chapter 6. The Rule of the Turks: The Tughlaks: Muhammad-bin-Tughlak

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THE TUGHLAKS

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A.D. 1325-1351

Ibn Battuta (The Traveller of Islam)

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EXPERIMENTS IN CHANGE OF CAPITAL, PAPER MONEY

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COURT CEREMONIAL, SYSTEM OF GIFTS

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ULUGH KHAN, the parricide, ascended the throne in A.D. 1325 and assumed the name of Muhammad-bin-Tughlak, as he is known in history books. He was a most extra-ordinary man, a keen student of Persian poetry, a philosopher and a mathematician. He had good knowledge of logic and the philosophy of the Greeks. He had a scientific mind and he used to attend sick persons for the purpose of watching the symptoms of extraordinary diseases. At the same time he was cruel and recklessly spilled human blood. Ibn Battuta describing the character of the Sultan, says, ‘This king is of all men the most addicted to the making of gifts and the shedding of blood. His gate is never without some poor man enriched or some living man executed, and there are current amongst the people many stories of his generosity and courage and of his cruelty and violence towards criminals. He slew both small and great, and spared not the learned, the pious, or the noble. Daily there were brought to the council-hall men in chains, fetters, and bonds, and they were led away, some to execution, some to torture, some to scourging. May God preserve us from such calamities!’¹ Some of his schemes indicates that he was a megalomaniac and not fully sane, e.g. plan for conquest of China by sending an expedition across the Himalayas and transfer of capital from Delhi to Deogir in Deccan. On his return from Deogir on one occasion he caused a tooth which he had lost to be interred in a magnificent stone mausoleum, which is still in existence at Bhir.

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¹ Gibb, H.A.R., *The Travels of Ibn Battuta*, p. 657

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Our knowledge of the state of India in early half of the fourteenth century is largely due to the visit paid by Ibn Battuta, a traveller with keen power of observation. He had an insatiable lust for travel and was always on the move. He calls himself ‘The Traveller of Islam’, and his ambition was to see all countries under Islamic domination. He was a native of Tangiers in Morocco. He travelled over the greater part of Asia, and visited India in the reign of Muhammad-bin-Tughlak, about whose generosity to learned Moslems from foreign countries he had heard many accounts. After journeying through the Central Asian desert, he arrived at Khwarizm, the largest city of the Turks, known for the quality of its melons. Passing through Bukhara and Samarqand he reached Balkh. From Balkh he travelled through the mountainous country of Kohistan. He crossed into Afghanistan over the Hindukush, which, he explains, means ‘Slayer of Indians’, because the Hindu slave boys and girls who were brought from India died there in large numbers as a result of the extreme cold and the quantity of snow. He joined a caravan and entered Punjab. A great caravan which preceded him lost many camels and horses, but he arrived safely at the Indus, which he describes as the river of Sind. He reached this river on the night of 12 September 1333. After crossing the Indus he passed through a forest of reeds, in which he saw a rhinoceros for the first time. The heat was intense, and his companions used to sit naked except for a cloth round the waist and another soaked with water on their shoulders; this dried in a very short time and they had to keep constantly wetting it again. He ultimately reached the city of Multan. From Multan he reached the town of Ajudh-an (Pakpatan), where he met the saint Sheikh Farid. From Ajudh-an he reached the city of Abohar, now in Ferozepur district of the Punjab. From Abohar, he reached Sarsati, the modern Sirsa in Hissar district, which was known for its excellent rice. From Sarsati he reached Hansi, and ultimately Palam, the suburb of Delhi.

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After a long stay during which he was sustained by gifts of money given by the Wazir and the Queen mother he had an audience with the Sultan, who gave orders to assign him the villages of Badali, Basahi and half of Balara, which yielded a total revenue of 5,000 dinars a year. In A.D. 1334 he had another audience with the Sultan. Every time the Sultan said an encouraging word to him, he kissed his hand. He recalls that he kissed it seven times. He was given a gold embroidered robe of honour by the Sultan. In addition to the three villages he had, he was given the villages of Jawza and Malikpur. In all, he received a revenue of 12,000 dinars a year from these villages. Eventually he was appointed qadi of the royal city of Delhi.

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The Travels of Ibn Battuta illumine a dark century of Indian history. It informs us of the history of the early Moslem rulers of India from Sultan Kutb-ud-din Aibak onwards to Sultan Muhammad-bin-Tughlak. As he dictated his travels on return to his native Morocco, he could write fearlessly. It tells us about the Sultan’s character, his idiosyncracies, palace ceremonial, public audiences, festival ceremonies, as well as of tortures and executions ordered by him. We also learn about the conditions of the city of Delhi, its mosques, hospices and tanks. In the following account Ibn Battuta describes the Palace of the Sultan, his public audience and court ceremonial.

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The Sultan's Palace, Audience Hall and Public Audience

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'The Sultan's palace at Dihli is called *Dar Sarā* and contains many gates. At the first gate there are posted a number of men in charge of it, and beside it sit buglers, trumpeters and pipe-players. When any amir or peson of note arrives, they sound their instruments and say during this fanfare, "So-and-so has come, so-and-so has come." The same takes place also at the second and third gates. Outside the first gate are platforms on which sit the *jallādun*, who are the executioners, for the custom among them is that when the Sultan orders a man to be executed, the sentence is carried out at the gate of the public audience hall, and the body lies there three nights. Between the first and second gates there is a large vestibule with platforms built along with sides, on which sit those troops whose turn of duty it is to guard the gates. At the second gate also there are seated the porters who are in charge of it. Between the second and third gates there is a large platform on which the principal *naqīb*, sits; in front of him there is a gold mace, which he holds in his hand, and on his head he wears a tall jewelled cap of gold, surmounted by peacock feathers. The other *naqībs* stand before him, each wearing a low gilded cap on his head and a girdle round his waist and holding in his hand a whip with a gold or silver handle. This second gate leads to a large and commodious audience hall in which the people sit.

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'At the third gate there are platforms occupied by the scribes of the door. One of their customs is that none may pass through this gate except those whom the Sultan has expressly designated to enter, and for each person he prescribes a number of his companions and men who may enter along with him. Whenever any person comes to this gate the scribes write down "So-and-so came at the first hour" or the second or later hours, until the close of the day, and the Sultan studies this report after the last evening prayer. They also take note of everything of any kind that happens at the gate, and certain of the sons of the *maliks* are appointed to transmit what they write to the Sultan. Another of their customs is that anyone who absents himself from the Sultan's palace for three days or more, with or without excuse, may not enter this door thereafter except by the Sultan's permission. If he has an excuse of illness or otherwise he presents before him a gift such as is suitable (for one of his rank or office) to offer to the Sultan. So also do those who present themselves at the court on return from their journeys; the doctor of the law presents a copy of the Qurān or a book or the like, the faqir presents a prayer-carpet, rosary, toothpick, etc., and the amirs and such present horses, camels and weapons. This third door opens into the immense and vast hall called *Hazār Ustūn*, which means (in Persian) 'a thousand pillars'. The pillars are of painted wood and support a wooden roof, most exquisitely carved. The people sit under this, and it is in this hall that the Sultan sits for public audience.

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*The order of his public audience.* As a rule his audiences are held after the afternoon prayer, although he often holds them early in the day. He sits on a raised seat standing on a dais carpeted in white, with a large cushion behind him and two others as arm-rests on his right and left. His left foot is tucked under him, in the same way that one sits when reciting the creed during prayers; this is the way in which all the people of India sit. When he takes his seat, the vizier stands in front of him, the secretaries behind the vizier, then the chamberlains behind them. The chief of the chamberlains is Firuz Malik, the son of the Sultan's uncle and his deputy, and he is that one of the chamberlains who stands closest to the Sultan. Next to him comes the private chamberlain, then the deputy private chamberlain, then the steward of the palace and his deputy, then (an officer called) 'the honour of the chamberlains', (another officer called) 'the master of the chamberlains', and a group (of officials) under their orders; and next, following the chamberlains, the *naqībs*, of whom there are about a hundred.

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*As the Sultan sits down the chamberlains and naqībs* say, in their loudest voice, *Bismillah*. Then the 'great king' Qabula takes his place behind the Sultan, standing with a fly-whisk in his hand to drive off the flies. A hundred armour-bearers stand on the right of the Sultan and a like number on the left, carrying shields, swords, and bows. To right and left all the way down the hall stand the Grand Qadi, next to him the chief preacher, then the rest of the qadis, then the chief jurists, then the chiefs of the Sharifs (descendants of the Prophet), then the shaikhs, then the Sultan's brothers and relations by marriage, then the principal amirs, then the chiefs of those called *aziz* (that is to say, the foreigners), then the qaids.

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*Then they bring in sixty horses* saddled and bridled with the royal harness, some of them with the trappings of the Caliphate, namely those with bridles and girths of black silk gilded, and some with the same in white silk gilded, which are reserved for the Sultan's exclusive use. Half of these horses are ranged on the right and half on the left, where the Sultan can see them. Next fifty elephants are brought in; these are adorned with silken and gold cloths, and have their tusks shod with iron for service in killing criminals. On the neck of each elephant is its mahout, who carries a sort of iron battle-axe with which he punishes it and directs it to do what is required of it. Each elephant has on its back a sort of large box capable of holding twenty warriors or more or less, according to its bulk and the size of its body. At the corners of (each) such box there are fixed four banners. These elephants are trained to make obeisance to the Sultan and to incline their heads, and when they do so the chamberlains cry, in a loud voice, *Bismillah*. They also are arranged half on the right and half on the left, behind the persons (already) standing there. As each person enters who has an appointed place of standing on the right or left, he makes obeisance on reaching the station of the chamberlains, and the chamberlains say Bismillah, regulating the loudness of their utterance by the height of reputation of the person who is making his obeisance, and who then retires of his appointed place on the right or left, beyond which he never passes. If it is one of the infidel Hindus who makes obeisance, the chamberlains and the naqibs say to him, "God guide thee". The Sultan's slaves stand behind all those in attendance, having in their hands shields and swords, and no one can come in (to the hall) between their ranks, but only by passing before the chamberlains who stand in front of the Sultan.

Ceremonies on Return from a Journey

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'The ceremonies which were observed on the return of the Sultan from journeys ouside the capital are thus described by Ibn Battuta. 'When the Sultan returns from a journey, the elephants are decorated, and on sixteen of them are placed sixteen parasols, some brocaded and some set with jewels. Wooden pavilions are built several storeys high and covered with silk cloths, and in each storey there are singing girls wearing magnificent dresses and ornaments, with dancing girls amongst them. In the centre of each pavilion is a large tank made of skins and filled with syrup-water, from which all the people, natives or strangers, may drink, receiving at the same time betel leaves and areca-nuts. The space between the pavilions is carpeted with silk cloths, on which the sultan's horse treads. The walls of the street along which he passes from the gate of the city to the gate of the palace are hung with silk cloths. In front of him march footmen from his own slaves, several thousands in number, and behind come the mob and the soldiers. On one of his entries into the capital I saw three or four small catapults placed on elephants throwing gold and silver coins amongst the people from the moment when he entered the city until he reached the palace.'¹

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¹ Gibb, H.A.R. *The Travels of Ibn Battuta*, Vol. III, pp. 658-662

Establishment of the Sultan and Shikar

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The main pre-occupations of the Sultan were war-fare, shikar, and offering and receiving gifts. Besides he kept an enormous establishment for feasting his nobles and military leaders, and for show and entertainment.

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Shahab-ud-din, the author of *Masaliku-l Absar*, states, 'At the court of this prince, there are maintained 1,200 physicians; 10,000 falconers who ride on horseback and carry birds trained for hawking; 300 beaters go in front and put up the game; 3,000 dealers in articles required for hawking accompany him when he goes out hunting; 500 table companions dine with him. He supports 1,200 musicians excluding his slave musicians to the number of 1,000, who are more especially charged with the teaching of music, and 1,000 poets of the three languages, Arabic, Persian and Indian. A repast is served at which 20,000 men are present—Khans, Maliks, Amirs, Sipahsalars, and other officers. At his private meals, i.e. at dinner and supper, the Sultan receives learned lawyers to the number of 200, who share meals with him and converse with him upon learned topics.’ According to the report of the royal cook, 2,500 oxen, 2,000 sheep, and other animals and birds were daily slaughtered for the supplies of the royal kitchen.’ For shikar, he employed 10,000 falconers who rode on horseback in the chase, 3,000 beaters, 3,000 provision dealers, and others. Four collapsible double-storeyed houses were carried in his train by 200 camels, together with tents, canopies and a variety of pavilions. The object of these hunts was to exercise his men and horses, so that they keep fit, and may not be found wanting when times of danger and war arrive.

Revenue Collections and Gifts of Provincial Officers

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Revenue collected from the provinces was presented by the provincial officers in the form of ingots or vessels made of gold and silver. Ibn Battuta states, ‘When the provincial officers come to the court with gifts and sums of revenue collected from taxes in the provinces, they have vessels made of gold and silver, such as basins, ewers and so forth. They also have ingots of gold and silver made like bricks, which they call khisht (Persian, meaning ‘brick’). The farrashun (those who look after the furnishings), who are the Sultan’s slaves, take up their stand in a row, with the gift in their hands, each one of them holding one piece. Then the elephants are brought forward, if there should be any of them included in the gift, next the horses saddled and bridled, than the mules, then the camels carrying the money.’

Sultan's Gifts to Nobles

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Sultan Muhammad-bin-Tughlak used to present two robes of honour, one in the cold and the other in the hot season, to each of his nobles. In the reign of Sultan Firuz Tughluq there were 36 different stores full of choice and rare goods. The superintendents of the stores were instructed to buy every rare and exquisitely finished article, at any price.

Manufactory—Karkhanas

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For the manufacture of robes of honour and other textiles which were presented to the nobles and foreigners who came as visitors, the Sultan maintained a karkhana or manufactory. Shahabu-d-Din states, ‘The Sultan has a manufactory, in which 400 silk-weavers are employed, and where they make stuffs of all kinds for the dresses of persons attached to the Court, for robes of honour and presents, in addition to the stuffs which are brought every year from China, ‘Irak, and Alexandria. Every year the Sultan distributes 200,000 complete dresses, 100,000 in spring, and 100,000 in autumn. The spring dresses consist principally of the goods manufactured at Alexandria. Those of the autumn are almost exclusively of silk manufactured at Delhi or imported from China and 'Irak. Dresses are also distributed to the monasteries and hermitages.

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'The Sultan keeps in his service 500 manufacturers of golden tissues, who weave the gold brocades worn by the wives of the Sultan, and given away as presents to the amirs and their wives. Every year he gives away 10,000 Arab horses, of excellent breed, sometimes with saddle and bridle...'

Royal Stores

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The articles manufactured were kept in Royal Stores which maintained separate sections for the supply of royal standards (the 'alamkhana) and the care of the royal library (kitabkhana) and the gong and chronometer (ghariyalkhana), the jewel house (jawahirkhana) and the royal pastures. These were under the charge of a noble who was assisted by subordinate superintendents (mutasarrifs). All of them were paid very high salaries, and the charge of a store was considered quite as remunerative as the governorship of a big town like Multan.'³

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³ Shahabu-d-Din Abu-l 'Abbas Ahmad, Masaliku-l Absar, in Elliot and Dowson, The History of India..., Vol. III, p. 578

Gifts from Foreigners

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Foreigners who came to the court of the Sultan for seeking employment always brought some gifts. They had partnership with merchants and as such were not required to make any cash payment. Ibn Battuta states, 'Every person proceeding to the court of this king must needs have a gift ready to present to him, in order to gain his favour. The sultan requites him for it by a gift many times its value. When his subjects grew accustomed to this practice, the merchants in Sind and India began to furnish each newcomer with thousands of dinars as a loan, and to supply him with whatever he might desire to offer as a gift or to use on his own behalf, such as riding animals, camels, and goods. They place both their money and their persons at his service, and stand before him like attendants. When he reaches the Sultan, he receives a magnificent gift from him and pays off his debt to them. This trade of theirs is a flourishing one and brings in vast profits. On reaching Sind I followed this practice and bought horses, camels, white slaves and other goods from the merchants. I had already bought from an 'Iraqi merchant in Ghazna about thirty horses and a camel with a load of arrows, for this is one of the things presented to the Sultan. This merchant went off to Khurasan and on returning to India received his money from me.'⁴

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⁴ Gibb, H.A.R. Rehla of Ibn Battuta: Travels in Asia and Africa, pp. 184, 185

Exchange of Gifts with a Chinese Embassy

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An embassy came from the Buddhist Emperor of China. 'The king of China had sent valuable gifts to the Sultan, including a hundred slaves of both sexes, five hundred pieces of velvet and silk cloth, musk, jewelled garments and weapons, with a request that the Sultan would permit him to rebuild the idol-temple which is near the mountains called Qarajil (Himalayas). It is in a place known as Sambhal, to which the Chinese go on pilgrimage; the Muslim army in India had captured it, laid it in ruins and sacked it. The Sultan, on receiving this gift, wrote to the king saying that the request could not be granted by Islamic law, as permission to build a temple in the territories of the Muslims was granted only to those who paid a poll-tax; to which he added, "If thou wilt pay the jizya we shall empower thee to build it. And peace be on those who follow the True Guidance." He requited his present with an even richer one—a hundred thoroughbred horses, a hundred white slaves, a hundred Hindu dancing and singing girls, twelve hundred pieces of various kinds of cloth, gold and silver candelabra and basins, brocade robes, caps, quivers, swords, gloves embroidered with pearls, and fifteen eunuchs.¹ This indicates the scale on which gifts were exchanged in inter-state dealings, and also display of unprecedented arrogance.

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Apart from his eccentricities and generosity, Muhammad-bin-Tughlak deserves mention for three fantastic projects, viz. the transfer of capital from Delhi to Deogir in Deccan, issue of copper tokens as substitute for silver money, and a disastrous expedition into the Outer Himalayas.

Transfer of Capital from Delhi to Deogir in Deccan

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'A project of Sultan Muhammad, which was ruinous to the capital of the empire, and distressing to the chief men of the country', says Barni, 'was what of making Deogir his capital, under the title of Daulatabad. This place held a central situation: Delhi, Gujarat, Lakhnauti, Sat-ganw, Sunar-ganw, Tilang, Ma'bar, Dhur-samundar, and Kampila were about equidistant from thence, there being but a slight difference in the distances. Without any consultation, and without carefully looking into the advantages and disadvantages on every side, he brought ruins upon Delhi, that city which, for 170 or 180 years, had grown in prosperity, and rivalled Baghdad and Cairo. The city, with its sarais, and its suburbs and villages, spread over four or five kos. All was destroyed. So complete was the ruin that not a cat or a dog was left among the buildings of the city, in its palaces or in its suburbs. Troops of the natives, with their families and dependents, wives and children, men-servants and maid-servants, were forced to remove. The people, who for many years and for generations had been natives and inhabitants of the land, were broken-hearted. Many, from the toils of the long journey, perished on the road, and those who arrived at Deogir could not endure the pain of exile. In despondency they pined to death. All around Deogir, which is an infidel land, there sprung up graveyards of Musulmans. The Sultan was bounteous in his liberality and favours to the emigrants, both on their journey and on their arrival; but they were tender, and they could not endure the exile and suffering. They laid down their heads in that heathen land, and of all the multitudes of emigrants, few only survived to return to their home. Thus this city, the envy of the cities of the inhabited world, was reduced to ruin. The Sultan brought learned men and gentlemen, tradesmen and landholders, into the city (Delhi) from certain towns in his territory, and made them reside there. But this importation of strangers did not populate the city; many of them died there, and more returned to their native homes. These changes and alterations were the cause of great injury to the country.’⁵

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⁵ Zia-ud-din Barni, *Tarikh-i-Firoz Shahi*, in Elliot and Dowson, *The History of India*..., Vol. III, pp. 238, 239

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Another explanation given for the change of capital was the Sultan’s annoyance with the inhabitants of Delhi who wrote letters full of insults and invectives against him. ‘They sealed them up, and writing upon them these words, “By the head of the king of the world, no one but himself must read this writing,” they threw them at night into the hall of audience. When the Sultan opened them he found that they contained insults and invectives against himself. He decided to ruin Delhi; so he purchased all the houses and inns from the inhabitants, paid them the price, and then ordered them to remove to Daulatabad. At first they were unwilling to obey, but the crier of the monarch proclaimed that no one must be found in Delhi after three days.

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‘A person in whom I felt confidence assured me that the Sultan mounted one evening upon the roof of his palace, and, casting his eyes over the city of Delhi, in which there was neither fire, smoke, nor light, he said, “Now my heart is satisfied, and my feelings are appeased.” When we entered this capital we found it in the state which has been described. It was empty, abandoned, and had but a small population.’⁶

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⁶ Gibb, H.A.R., *Travels of Ibn Battuta*, in Elliot and Dowson, *The History of India*...., Vol. III, pp. 613, 614

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ISSUE OF COPPER MONEY AS SUBSTITUTE FOR SILVER MONEY

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Hard-pressed for cash to meet the expenditure on a large army, he devised an ingenious solution. He had heard about use of paper currency of Kublai Khan in China⁷, and of the parchment currency of the Il-Khans of Iran. If a piece of paper bearing the authentication of a king could pass on as money, then why not tokens in copper? He issued copper tokens, to pass current for the silver tanka of 140 grains. As a results of this experiment, the entire economy was shattered. Barni states, 'The project did great harm to the country. It increased the daring and arrogance of the disaffected in Hindustan, and augmented the pride and prosperity of all the Hindus. This was the issue of copper money. The Sultan, in his lofty ambition, had conceived it to be his work to subdue the whole habitable world and bring it under his rule. To accomplish this impossible design, an army of countless numbers was necessary, and this could not be obtained without plenty of money. The Sultan's bounty and munificence had caused a great deficiency in the treasury, so he introduced his copper money, and gave orders that it should be used in buying and selling, and should pass current, just as the gold and silver coins had passed. The promulgation of this edict turned the house of every Hindu into a mint, and the Hindus of the various provinces coined krors and lacs of copper coins. With these they paid their tribute, and with these they purchased horses, arms, and fine things of all kinds. The rais, the village headmen and landowners, grew rich and strong upon these copper coins, but the State was impoverished. No long time passed before distant countries would take the copper tanka only as copper. In those places where fear of the Sultan's edict prevailed, the gold tanka rose to be worth a hundred of (the copper) tankas. Every goldsmith struck copper coins in his workshop, and the treasury was filled with these copper coins. So low did they fall that they were not valued more than pebbles or potsherds. The old coin, from its great scarcity, rose four-fold and five-fold in value. When trade was interrupted on every side, and when the copper tankas had become more worth'ess than clods, and of no use, the Sultan repealed his edict, and in great wrath he proclaimed that whoever possessed copper coins should bring them to the treasury, and receive the old gold coins in exchange. Thousands of men from various quarters, who possessed thousands of these copper coins, and, caring nothing for them, had flung them into corners along with their copper pots, now brought them to the treasury, and received in exchange gold tankas and silver tankas, shash-ganis and du-ganis, which they carried to their homes. So many of these copper tankas were brought to the treasury that heaps of them rose up in Tughlakabad like mountains. Great

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[^]: Ibn Battuta giving an account of his travels in China states, 'The Chinese use neither (gold) dinars nor (silver) dirhams in their commerce. All the gold and silver that comes into their country is cast by them into ingots, as we have described. Their buying and selling is carried on exclusively by means of pieces of paper, each of the size of the palm of the hand, and stamped with the Sultan's seal. Twenty-five of these pieces of paper are called a balisht, which takes the place of the dinar with us (as the unit of currency). When these notes become torn by handling, one takes them to an office corresponding to our mint, and receives their equivalent in new notes on delivering up the old ones.'

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[Figure: INDIA

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KASHMIR HIMALAYAS R. Chenab R. Jhelum R. Ravi LAHORE MULTAN R. Sutlej R. Indus UCH SIVASTAN R. Jumna Delhi Ko BUDAUN OUDH R. Gogra R. Gumti R. Ganges KANAUJ Kanauj LAKHNAUTI BIHAR KAMARU (KAMARUPA) R. Brahmaputra Gwalior R. Chambal MALWA Ujjain KARA I N D I A R. Narbada R. Tapti R. Mahanadi JAINAGAR (ORISSA) Sudkawan (Chittagong) GUJARAT Girnar BH DEOGIR Deogir (Daulatabad) R. Godavari TELENGANA Gulberga Warangal R. Krishna Sindabur (Goa) R. Tungabhadra R. Kaveri DVARA SAMUDRA MABAR MALABAR Manjarur (Mangalore) Jurfattan (Cannanore) Calicut Madura Kawlam (Quilon) SAYLAN (SARANDIB) LAKSHADWEEP (INDIA) Independent Areas ANDMAN AND NICOBAR ISLANDS (INDIA)]

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FIG. 4. The Tughlak empire in 1351 at the death of Muhammed Tughlak.

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sums went out of the treasury in exchange for the copper, and a great deficiency was caused.

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When the Sultan found that his project had failed, and that great loss had been entailed upon the treasury through his copper coins, he more than ever turned against his subjects.’

Expedition to the Himalayas

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'A project which inflicted a heavy loss upon the army was the design which he formed of capturing the mountain of Kara-jal. Barni states, 'His conception was that, as he had undertaken the conquest of Khurasan, he would (first) bring under the dominion of Islam this mountain, which lies between the territories of Hind and those of China, so that the passage for horses and soldiers and the march of the army might be rendered easy. To effect this object a large force, under distinguished *amirs* and generals, was sent to the mountain of Kara-jal, with orders to subdue the whole mountain. In obedience to orders, it marched into the mountains and encamped in various places, but the Hindus closed the passes and cut off its retreat. The whole force was thus destroyed at one stroke, and out of all this chosen body of men only ten horsemen returned to Delhi to spread the news of its discomfiture.'8

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This was in fact a punitive expedition against hill chieftains, sent into the mountains by way of Nagarkot (Kangra). It was overtaken by the heavy rains. The Sultan's prestige suffered such a blow by this disaster that the provinces already simmering with discontent were ready to blaze into rebellion.

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During the last two years of his reign he was busy pursuing a Gujarati rebel by the name of Taghi. Taghi fled into Sind, and the Sultan, though prostrated by an attack of fever, pursued him to Tatta. On 20 March 1351 he died and, as Budauni said, 'the king was freed of his people, and they of their king.'

References

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Allan, J., Haig, T.W. and Dodwell, H.H. *The Cambridge Shorter History of India*, Cambridge, 1943 Ashraf, K.M. *Life and Conditions of the People of India*, New Delhi, 1970 Elliot, Sir H.M. and Dowson, J. *The History of India as Told by Its Own Historians*, Vol. III, London, 1867 Gibb, H.A.R. *The Travels of Ibn Battuta*, A.D. 1325-1354, Vol. III, Cambridge, 1971 Gibb, H.A.R. *Rahla of Ibn Battuta : Travels in Asia and Africa*, 1324-1354, London, 1929 Habib, M. *Introduction to Elliot and Dowson's History of India*, Vol. II, Aligarh, 1952

v2.c58.s12.2

⁸ Zia-ud-din Barni. *Tarikh-i Firoz Shahi*, in Elliot and Dowson, *The History of India...*, Vol. III, pp. 240, 241

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