1. Ghiyasuddin Tughlaq (1320-25) :
- Ghiyasuddin Tughlak founded Thuglaq dynasty in 1320
- He added Tughlaqabad city to Delhi.
- He replaced men with horses in courier system.
- He started Dawk chowkies.
- His son prince Jaunakhan defeated Prataparudradeva of Kakatiyas and annexed the kingdom in 1323.
- Ghiyasuddin died accidently in 1325AD.
- Jauna ascended the throne and took the title Muhammad bin Tughlaq.
2.Muhammad bin Tughlaq(1325-51):
- Muhammad bin Tughlalq was the most controversial personality in medieval Indian history.
- He was a learned, cultured and talented prince but gained a reputation of being merciless, cruel and unjust .
- He was very tolerant in religious matters.
- His innovative reforms brought him bad name, as they were not executed properly.
- During the time of Muhammad bin Tughlaq Vijaynagar(1336) and Bahamani(1347) emerged.
- Ibn Batuta , a Morocan traveller visited Tughlaq. He recorded his observation in his book Qitab-ul-Rihla. Later he was sent to china as ambassador of Tughlaq.
- He added jahanpanah city to Delhi.
His innovative experiments are as follows
- Token currency
Muhammad Tughlak orders his brass coins to pass for silver, A.D. 1330
- He introduced token currency or copper coins. His main aim was to save precious metals like gold and silver and introduce more money in circulation.
- For this reason copper coins were issued which had same value as silver tanka.
- But, Minting the copper coin was not retained as monopoly of government.
- The goldsmiths began to forge the token coins on a large scale. Soon the new coins were not accepted in the markets.
- Finally,the sultan stopped the circulation of token currency and promised to exchange silver coins for the copper coins. Many people exchanged the new coins but the treasury became empty.
2.Transfer of capital:
- To safeguard the capital from Mongol invasion and to have better control over south India, sultan decided to shift capital from Delhi to Devagiri(Daulatabad).
- He desired to shift the entire population. Barani says “ not a cat or a dag was left”.
- The reason for the move were very practical , but the method adopted was impractical.
- Entire population was made to travel around 1500km to Daulatabad.
Many people died during the rigorous journey in the summer. After two years, the Sultan abandoned Daulatabad and asked them to return to Delhi.
3.Increase in taxes:
- The area between Ganga Yamuna doab was very fertile, hence sultan decided to rise tax so as to enhance the revenues of his empire.
- Although it was practical decision the tax hike was too steep and introduced during a time of no rainfall.
4.Agricultural reforms:
- He launched a scheme by which takkavi loans (loans for
cultivation) were given to the farmers to buy seed and to extend cultivation. - A separate department for agriculture, Diwan- i- Kohi
was established.
To curb the rebellion of Taghi , Tughlaq entered into Sindh desert and died due to sunstroke at Thatta in 1351 AD.
3.Firoz shah Tughlaq (1351-89) :
- Born in 1309 and ascended the throne of Delhi after the demise of his cousin Muhammad-bin-Tughlaq.
- He started the imposition of Jaziy
- He destructed Jwalamukhi temple.
- He protected sanskrit scriptures and started their translation into persian.
- He was the first to link rivers and provide irrigation with the help of four canals.
- He imposed water cess haq-i-shrib.
- The British called him the ‘father of the irrigation department’ because of the many gardens and canals that he built.
- He established the Diwan-i-Khairat — office for charity.
- He established the Diwan-i-Bundagan — department of slave
- He established Sarais (rest house) for the benefits of merchants and other travellers
- He adopted the Iqtadari framework.
- Established four new towns, Firozabad, Fatehabad, Jaunpur and Hissar.
- He established hospitals known as Darul-Shifa, Bimaristan or Shifa Khana.
- Because of all these , he was called as Sultan of constructions.
- Firoz shah died 1388. After his death Muhammad shah ascended the throne.
- During rule of Muhammad shah Timur invaded and ruined Delhi. (1398)
Turkish Timur, who could claim a blood relationship with the 12thcentury great Mongol Chengiz Khan, ransacked Delhi virtually without any opposition.
On hearing the news of arrival of Timur, Sultan Muhammd shah fled Delhi. Timur
also took Indian artisans such as masons, stone cutters, carpenters whom he
engaged for raising buildings in his capital Samarkhand.
Nasir-ud-din Muhammad shah managed to rule up to 1412.
Then the Sayyid and Lodi dynasties ruled the declining empire from Delhi till 1526.