Muhammad bin Tughluq (also Prince Fakhr Malik, Jauna Khan, Ulugh Khan; died 20 March 1351) was the Sultan of Delhi from 1325 to 1351. He was the eldest son of Ghiyath al-Din Tughluq, the Turko-Indian[1] founder of the Tughluq dynasty. He was born in New Delhi.[citation needed] His wife was the daughter of the Raja of Dipalpur.[2] Ghiyas-ud-din sent the young Muhammad to the Deccan to campaign against king Prataparudra of the Kakatiya dynasty whose capital was at Warangal in 1321 and 1323.[3] Muhammad ascended to the Delhi throne upon his father's death in 1325. He was interested in medicine and was skilled in several languages — Persian, Arabic, Turkish and Sanskrit.[4] Ibn Battuta, the famous traveler and jurist from Morocco, was a guest at his court and wrote about his suzerainty in his book.[5] From his accession to the throne in 1325 until his death in 1351, Muhammad contended with 22 rebellions, pursuing his policies, consistently and ruthlessly
Early life
Muhammad bin Tughluq was born to Ghiyas-ud-din Tughlaq, who was in turn the son of a Turkic slave father and a Hindu Indian concubine mother, and was the founder of the Tughluq dynasty after taking control of the Delhi Sultanate.[1] His mother was known by the title Makhduma-i-Jahan, who was known for being a philanthropist, having founded many hospitals.[6]
Reign
Muhammad Bin Tughlaq (Jauna Khan) came to throne after death of his father Ghiyasuddin Tughlaq. While he had good intentions of inviting learned men to his court and implementing new policies, he remained largely unsuccessful and failed in most of his enterprises. He had been a man of controversies and crisis. He faced attacks of Mongols, dissension within his own support group, and rebellions from a very large and diverse population. In an effort to adapt to his growing empire, he attempted to shift his capital from Delhi to Daulatabad, which was supposed to be a more central location, but it was a disastrous decision and was costly.
Annexation
After the death of his father Ghiyasuddin Tughlaq, Muhammad bin Tughlaq ascended the throne of Tughlaq dynasty of Delhi in February, 1325 A.D. Unlike the Khaljis who did not annex stable kingdoms, Tughluq would annex kingdoms around his sultanate. In his reign, he conquered Warangal (in present-day Telangana, India) Malabar and Madurai, (Tamil Nadu, India), and areas up to the modern day southern tip of the Indian state of Karnataka. In the conquered territories, Tughluq created a new set of revenue officials to assess the financial aspects of the area. Their accounts helped the audit in the office of the wazir.[7]
Shifting of capital
In 1327, Tughluq passed an order to shift the capital from Delhi to Daulatabad (in present-day Maharashtra) in the Deccan region of India. Tughluq said that it would help him to establish control over the fertile land of the Deccan plateau and to create a more accessible capital since his empire had grown more in the south. [8] He also felt that it would make him safe from the Mongol invasions which were mainly aimed at Delhi and regions in north India.[9] It was not always possible to operate an army from Delhi for the occupation of Southern states. Muhammad-bin-Tughlaq himself had spent a number of years as a prince on campaign in the southern states during the reign of his father. Daulatabad was also situated at a central place so the administration of both the north and the south could be possible.[10][unreliable source?]
All facilities were provided for those who were required to migrate to Daulatabad. It is believed that the general public of Delhi was not in favour of shifting the base to Daulatabad. This seems to have annoyed Tughluq, for he ordered all people of Delhi to proceed to Daulatabad with their belongings. Ibn Batuta cites that the force was applied without any leniency. Ziauddin Barani observes: "Without consultation or weighting the pros and cons, he brought ruin on Delhi which for 170 to 180 years had grown in prosperity and rivaled Baghdad and Cairo. The city with its Sarais and suburbs and villages spread over four or five leagues, all was destroyed (i.e., deserted). Not a cat or a dog was left