History of Tughlaq Dynasty after Firuz Shah Tughlaq

Firuz Tughluq was succeeded by his grandson who took up the title of Ghiyas-ud-Din Tughluq Shah II. His uncle Nasir-ud-Din Muhammad opposed his succession to the throne but he was defeated and he ran away to Kangra. The new king gave himself up to a life of pleasure and tried to strengthen his position by merely disposing of all possible rivals.

He imprisoned his brother, Salar Shah. Abu Bakr, his cousin, became a conspirator in order to save his own skin. Rukn-ud-Din also supported him. The result was that Ghiyas-ud-Din Tughluq Shah II ran away from his palace by a door opening towards the Jamuna. However, he was overtaken and killed by a body of household troops led by Rukn-ud-Din.

It was under these circumstances that Abu Bakr Shah became king on 19th February, 1389. He appointed Rukn-ud-Din as his minister but later on put him to death as he was found to be a party to a conspiracy to usurp the throne. There was contest for power between Abu Bakr Shah and Nasir-ud-Din Muhammad. The latter marched from Kangra to Samana where he was proclaimed king on 24th April, 1389.

He continued his march towards Delhi. Ultimately, Abu Bakr Shah was able to inflict on Nasir-ud-Din Muhammad a crushing defeat and the letter crossed the Jamuna into Doab and retired to Jalesar which was made by him his headquarters.

Nasir-ud-Din Muhammad took the field once again in July 1389 and marched on Delhi. However, he was defeated once again and was forced to retire to Jalesar.

In spite of his defeat for the second time, the authority of Nasir- ud-Din Muhammad was acknowledge in Multan, Lahore, Samana, Hissar, Hansi and other districts to the north of Delhi. In April, 1390, Abu Bakr Shah left Delhi to deal with Nasir-ud-Din Muhammad but when he reached near Jalesar, the latter eluded him and reached Delhi by forced marches at head of 4,000 horses and occupied the palace.

Abu Bakr at once retraced his steps and as he entered Delhi, Nasir-ud-Din Muhammad fled and went back to Jalesar. A conspiracy was hatched against Abu Bakr and when he came to know of it, he retired with his followers to Mewat and it was under this circumstance that Nasir-ud-Din Muhammad entered the capital and was enthroned in the palace of Firuzabad on 31st August, 1390.

Nasir-ud-Din Muhammad ruled for about 4 years from 1390 to 1394. His first task was to crush Abu Bakr and his followers. Abu Bakr was made td surrender and he was sent as a prisonei to Meerut where he died soon afterwords. In 1392, the Hindus of Etawah led byNarsing, Sarvadharan and Bir Bhan, rose in revolt, Islam Khan was sent against them.

He defeated them and he carried Narsing to Delhi. As soon as his back was turned, there was a fresh rebellion but the same was crushed once again. There was another rebellion in 1393. On that occasion, the Governor of Jalesar enticed their leaders, by fair words, into Kanauj.

There he treacherously slew them all except Sarvadharan who escaped and took refuge in Etawah. In the same year, the king marched through the rebellious district of Mewat and laid it waste. On 20th January, 1394, Nasir- ud-Din Muhammad died.

His son ascended the throne at Delhi on 22nd January, 1394 under the title of Ala-ud-Din Sikandar Shah. His reign was brief. He fell sick almost immediately after his accession and died on 8th March, 1394. The vacant throne now fell to the lot of Prince Mahmud, the youngest son of Nasir-ud-Din Muhammad. He took up the title of Nasir-ud-Din Mahmud Tughluq. The new king had to face many difficult problems.

There were strong factions at the capital which made it practically impossible to establish a strong government. The Hindus chiefs and Muslim Governors openly disregarded the authority of the central government.

The whole country from Kanauj to Bihar and Bengal was in a state of turmoil. The great nobles used or abused the royal authority as suited their convenience and interest. Khawaja Jahan who had been created Sultan-ush-Sharq or King of the East became independent at Jaunpur and set up a new dynasty.

Some of the nobles put forward Nusrat Khan, a grandson of Firuz Tughluq, as a rival claimant to the throne. His cause was also taken up by the Amirs and Maliks at Firuzabad and the slaves of the old regime.

Thus there were two Sultans arrayed in hostile camps and the crown was tossed to and for like a shuttlecock between the contending factions. Many party leaders came into prominence but among them Bahadur Nahir, Mallu Iqbal and Muqarrab Khan were the most important.

The various cities which had at different times been the capital of the kingdom were now held by the factions of one puppet or the other. Muqarrab Khan and Mahmud Shah were in Delhi. Nusrat Shah and the other nobles and servants of Firuz Tughluq were in Firuzabad.

Bahadur Nahir, whose allegiance had been temporarily secured by Muqarrab Khan, was in Old Delhi. Mallu who owed his life of Muqarrab Khan and received from him the title of Iqbal Khan, was in Siri. For three years, an indecisive but destructive strife was carried on in the name of Nasir-ud-Din Mahmud and Nusrat Shah.

The kingdom of Nasir-ud-Din Mahmud was bounded by the walls of Delhi and Nursat Shah claimed the nominal allegiance of the districts of Doab, Sambhal, Panipat, Jhajjar and Rohtak. The provincial governors took no part in these civil wars. They watched the changes in the fortunes of the rival parties. Towards the end of the year 1397, the news came that the army of Timur had crossed the Indus and laid siege to Uchha.

The advent of a foreign army had its own effect on the factions in the capital. Mallu Iqbal went over to the side of Nusrat Khan and the new allies promised to be faithful to each other. However, Mallu Iqbal treacherously attacked Nusrat Khan but the latter managed to escape to Panipat. Mallu Iqbal then decided to drive out Muqarrab Khan from the capital and fierce fighting continued between them for two months.

Although peace was made between them through the intervention of some noblemen, Mallu Iqbal attacked Muqarrab Khan at this residence and killed him. The result of this was that Nasir-ud-Din Mahmud Shah became a tool in the hands of Mallu Iqbal.

This was the state of affairs at Delhi when in October 1398 news was received that Timur had crossed the Indus, the Chenab and the Ravi and occupied Multan which was already held by his grandson. Timur’s Invasion of India (1398)

Amir Timur or Timur-i-Lang (the Lame) “Lord of the Fortunate Conjunction”, was born in 1334 A.D. at Desh which was 50 miles south of Samarkand. He was the son of Amir Turghay, chief of the Gurgan branch of the Barlas, a noble Turkish tribe. He became the head of the Chaghtai Turks at the age of 33.

He waged wars against Persia and the adjoining lands. He was able to establish his control over Persia and its dependencies. Before he thought of India, he had already conquered Mesopotamia and Afghanistan.

Mohammad Habib points out certain causes which made Timur’s career possible. There was no large territorial authority of him to challenge. He could overthrow the district war-lords one by one and there was not the slightest danger of a combination between them.

Trained soldiers of a very high standard could be had in any number. Most of the peaceful inhabitants turned into levies by Changiz Khan and his successors must have perished, but those who had survived had probably become professional soldiers. Timu’s recruiting officers had no difficulty in finding the soldiers he wanted and for the fixed time he wanted.

It was understood that within that time, short or long, they would get enough plunder to last them for the rest of their lives. They knew full well that if the soldiers did not get the plunder they wanted, he would not be able to get recruits later on. Changiz Khan had established a tradition of massacring peaceful city inhabitants and Timur was able to continue the tradition.

To these considerations may be added the personal genius of Timur-capacity for learning from experience, extraordinary administrative and military skill, faultless judgment, ability to use and improve upon the scientific inventions of his day, power to control his subordinates through punishment and rewards, diplomatic trickery and craft and above all, a mixture of great daring and extreme caution.

Efforts have been made to find out the real motive underlying the invasion of India by Timur but it appears that he had no clear-cut motive to attack this country. He was a great military adventurer and was fired with the lust for dominions.

His ambition to conquer more lands must have naturally drawn his attention to India. Moreover, the gold silver, jewels and pearls of India must have added to the attraction.

However, it is stated in the Malfuzat-i-Timuri and the Safarnama that the principal object of his expedition was neither conquest nor plunder but the destruction of the unbelievers. It is stated that Timur summoned a council of warriors and the Ulema to seek their advice.

Shah Rukh referred to the vast area of India and the advantages that were sure to come on account of its conquest. Prince Muhammad pointed to the resources of India and her precious metals, jewels and pearls. He also emphasised the religious aspect of the matter. Some nobles pointed out to the evil consequences of settling down in India.

Having heard all this, Timur is said to have observed thus: “My object in the invasion of Hindustan is to lead and expedition against infidels, that according to the law of Muhammad, we my convert to at true faith the people of the country and purify the land itself from the filth of infidelity and polytheism: and that we may overthrow their temples and idols and become Ghazis and IMujahids before God.” His view was endorsed by the learned in the law.

However Dr. D. S. Lai does not accept this view. He points out that Timur did not appear to be an iconoclast. So far as the destruction of temples was concerned, Timur was lukewarm in its execution.

He had in his army, Turks who worshipped idols and men who worshipped fire-the Persian Magi, sooth-sayers and “unbelievers” The idolaters carried their idols.

This was due to the fact that Timur observed the precepts of Changiz Khan and preferred them to the laws of Islam. Dr. Lai also points out that the Muslims also suffered as much as the Hindus. In proportion to their population, the Muslims of India paid to the invader their share in blood and tears, as heroically as the Hindus.

The view of Dr. K. S. Lai is that after the conquest of the whole of Central Asian region up to Moscow, it was natural for any conqueror dreaming of world conquest to turn to the East. Moreover, with the capture of Baghdad, Timur had drawn too near the powers of the West.

The angry Bayazid, supported by Turkoman and Syrian Arabs, forbade any movement westward. Consequently, Timur thought of moving eastward wherefrom his grandson was already sending frantic appeals for help. In 1397, Timur had given to his grandson, a lad of 15, the Provinces of Qunduz, Baqlan, Kabul, Ghazni and Qandhar as far as the confines of Hind.

The Prince had been encouraged to proceed further into India. He had crossed the Indus and had assaulted and taken the City of Uchha in November/December, 1937, but at Multan he received a check. The necessity of giving help to his grandson was the immediate and real cause of Timur’s invasion of India.

Another important reason seems to have been the sorry state into which the country had been brought by the successors of Firuz Shah Tughluq. It had been reported to Timur by his secret agents that the perpetual infancy of Sultan Mahmud was despised “even in the harem of Delhi.”

The two brothers Sarang Khan and Mallu Khan wielded authority at Multan and Delhi respectively. The fabulous wealth of India must have also been another factor, but the probable reason was the difficulty which his grandson was facing at Multan.

Prof. Mohammad Habib says that in trying to justify Timur’s Indian invasion, Sharafuddin Ali Yezdi states that the central Government of Delhi, though in Muslim hands, was weak. But that was no reason for extinguishing that helpless government altogether.

The brutal fact was that Timur, as a robber, could afford to make no distinctions on religious grounds. Apart from sparing
religious scholars and Saiyyids who were not reputed for their wealth, he had to plunder indiscriminately and on an extensive scale. Prof. Habib is of the definite opinion that the real object of Timur was to plunder Delhi.

Before setting out himself to invade India, Timur sent his grandson, Pir Muhammad, son of Ghiyasuddin Jahangir, to do the preliminary work.

Pir Muhammad crossed the Indus and captured Uchha. After that he proceeded towards Multan which was captured after a long siege of six months. Pir Muhammad also overran the whole of Dipalpur and Pak Pattan and reached the river Sutlej and waited for his grandfather.

Timur left Samarkand in April, 1398. He was delayed on his way to India by an expedition of Kafirstan by the construction of forts on his road and the business of his yast empire. He left

Kabul on 15 August, 1398 and crossed the Indus on 24th September, 1398. In two days, he reached the Jhelum. The local ruler named Shihab-ud-Din Mubarak opposed Timur but he was defeated. Mubarak Shah and his whole family perished in the river Jhelum. Timur crossed the Jhelum and the Ravi and on 13th October, 1398 encamped before Tulamba.

He agreed to spare the town if he was paid a certain amount but in spite of that ordered a massacre of the people. Timur had to deal with Jasrat who had established himself at Lahore. The stronghold of Jasrat on the river Sutlej was taken and he ran away.

On 25th October, 1398 Timur reached the northern bank of the Sutlej. On 26th October, he was joined by Pir Muhammad. During the rest of the Indian campaign of Timur, Pir Muhammad commanded the right wing of his army.

The town of Pak Pattan and Dipalpur had incurred the displeasure of Timur by rising against Pir Muhammad.

The citizens of Pak Pattan were flogged, Plundered and enslaved. 500 citizens of Dipalpur were put to death to avenge their slaughter of the garrison of Pir Muhammad in that town. Rai Dul Chand, a Bhati Rajput, was the ruler of Bhatnir. He offered a tough resistance but ultimately surrendered on 9 November, 1398.

The assessment and collection of ransom of Bhatnir provoked resistance on the part of the inhabitants and after a general massacre; the city was burnt and laid waste “so that one would have said that no living being had ever drawn breath in that neighbourhood.”

About the fate of the inhabitants of Bhatnir, it is stated that the “Hindus burnt their women, children and property by throwing all into fire; those who claimed to be Musalmans, cut off the heads of their women and children as if they were goats; this done, the two communities determined to fight to the^Nlast.” About 10,000 Hindus were killed. The number of Muslims is not given. The buildings were burnt or levelled with the ground.

On 13th November, 1398, Timur left Bhatnir and marched through Sirsa and Fatehabad, pursuing and slaughtering the inhabitants who fled before him. Aharwan was plundered and burnt.

At Tohana, about 2,000 Jats were slain. On 29th November, the whole army assembled at Kaithatl and marched to Panipat. On 7th December, 1398, the right wing of the army reached the north of Dehi overlooking the Jamuna. On 9th December, the army crossed the river. On 10th December, Timur captured Loni whose Hindu inhabitants were put to death.

Nasir-ud-Din Mahmud and Mallu Iqbal collected their troops within the walls of the city. On 12th December, Mallu Iqbal attacked the rear-guard of Timur. Two divisions were sent to help the rear-guard and Mallu was defeated and driven back to Delhi.

The only fruit of his enterprise was a terrible massacre. At the time of the attack by Mallu on the rear-guard there were about one lakh of adult male Hindus who had been captured by Timur and they showed their joy at the time of the attack.

That was noticed by Timur and he caused them all to be put to death. Timur feared that on the day of battle they might, “break their bonds, plunder our tents and join the enemy.”

Some modern writers like Malcolm condemn Timur for his massacre. Sykes in “History of Persia” excuses Timur on the ground that “awful though it was, it was dictated by imperative military exigencies.”

According to Harold Lamp, “At Agincourt, the English killed French prisoners in order to get rid of them for the final phase of the battle; at Nicopholis, the English, German and French Crusaders massacred the Serbian and Turkish prisoners for the battle. The massacres ordered by Timur differed only in being on a large scale.”

In Spite of the warnings of astrologers and misgivings of the troops, Timur crossed the Jamuna on 15th December, 1398 and early on the morning of 17th December drew up his army for the attack.

Mallu Iqbal and Mahmud Shah also led their forces out of Delhi. The Indian army consisted of 10,000 horse, 40,000 foot and 120 elephants clad in armour with their tusks armed with poisoned scimitars and bearing on their backs strong wooden structures occupied by javelin and quoit throwers, crossbowmen and throwers of combustibles.

The fighting line of the invading army entrenched itself with a ditch and screens of thatch before which buffaloes were hoppled and bound together to break the ousaught of the elephants.

Timur placed the right wing of his army under Pir Muhammad and Amir Yadgar Barlas, his left wing under Sultan Husain, Prince Khalil and Amir Jahan and he himself commanded the centre.

The two armies confronted each other outside Delhi and the battle commenced with loud shouts and cries on both sides. The assault was begun by the generals of Timur who separated themselves from the advance guard and moved off to the right and came behind the advance guard of the enemy and fell upon them and “scattered them as hungry lions scatter a flock of sheep and killed 600 of them in this one charge.”

Pir Muhammad smashed the left wing of the enemy and compelled it to flee from the battle­field. Sultan Mahmud Shah and Mallu Iqbal attacked the central wing. They fought with great courage. “The frail insect cannot contend with the raging wind nor the feeble deer against the fierce lion, so they were compelled to take to fight.”

Mahmud Shah and Mallu Iqbal ran away from the battle-field and Timur hoisted his flag on the ramparts of Delhi. The Sayyids, the Qazis, the Shaikhs and the Ulemas of the City waited upon Timur and in response to their request, he granted an amnesty to the people of Delhi.

However, the license of the soldiery, rigour of the search for fugitives from other towns who were not included in the amnesty and assessment of the ransom led to disturbances. The result was that bloodshed continued for many days.

A large number of persons were captured and made slaves. Artisans were sent to various parts of the empire of Timur. The three towns of Siri, Old Delhi and Jahan Panah were laid waste by Timur who occupied them for 15 days.

The author of Safarnama describes the sack of Delhi in these words: “But on the Friday night there were about 15,000 men in the city, who were engaged from early eve till moming in plundering and burning the houses.

In many places the impure infidel gahrs made resistance. In the morning the soldiers who were outside, being unable to control themselves, went to the city and raised a great disturbances. On that Sunday, the 17th of the month, the whole place was pillaged and several palaces in Jahan Panah and Siri were destroyed. On the 18th the like plundering went on.

Every soldier obtained more that twenty persons as slaves and some brought fifty or a hundred men, women and children as slaves out of the city.

The other plunder and spoils were immense; gems and jewels of all sorts, rubies diamonds, stuffs and fabrics of all kinds, vases and vessels of gold and silver, sums of money in Alai tanks and other coins beyond all computation.

Most of the women who were made prisoners wore bracelets of gold or silver on their wrists and valuable rings upon their toes. Medicines and perfumes and unguents and the like of this no one took any notice. On the 19th of the month Old Delhi was thought of, for many infidel Hindus had fled thither and taken refuge in the great mosque, where they prepared to defend themselves.

Amir Shah Malik and Ali Sultan Tawchi, with 500 trusty men, preceded against them and falling upon them with the sword, despatched them to hell. High towers were built with the heads of the Hindus and their bodies became the food of revenous beasts and birds. On the same day Old Delhi was plundered. Such of the inhabitants an had escaped alive were made prisoners.

For several days in succession, the prisoners were brought out of the city and every Amir of a tuman of kushun took a party of them under his command.

Several thousand craftsmen and mechanics were brought out of the city and, under the command of Timur, some were divided among the princes, Amirs and Aghas who had assisted in the conquest and some were reserved for those who were maintaining the royal authority in other parts.

Timur had formed the design of building a Masjid-i-Jami in Samarkand, his capital and he now gave orders that all the stone masons should be reserved for that pious work.”

According to Dr. K. S. Lai, the horrible sack of Delhi was a crime as barbarous as it was unwarranted. However, Timur pleaded innocence of all that had happened when he wrote thus: “By the will of God and by no wish or direction of mine all the three cities of Delhi by name Siri Jahanpanah and Old Delhi had been plundered. The Khutba of my sovereignty, which is an assurance of safety and protection, had been read in the city.

It was, therefore, my earnest wish that no evil might happen to the people of the place. But it was ordained by God that the city should be ruined. He therefore, inspired the infidel inhabitants with a spirit of resistance so that thay brought on them that fate which was inevitable.”

In spite of this explanation. Dr. K. S. Lai hold, that the sack of Delhi will ever remain a blot on the carret of Timur. If the Imperial City was sacked after protection had been granted to it, it was breach of faith. If the soldiers got out of control, it was bad generalship.

Timur took notice of the ghastly deed. If he put the blame on the citizens of Delhi to mitigate the crime of his soldiers, he was also sorry for the innocent who had suffered.

To punish his own soldiers he could never think of. A conqueror like Timur could hardly feel for the sack of Delhi for long and after a couple of weeks he left Delhi to sack more place and collect more wealth before returning home.

From Delhi, Timur moved to Meerut which was bravely defended by Ilyas Afghan, his son, Maulana Ahmad Thanesari and Safi. Timur razed the fortifications to the ground, put the people to death and plundered all their property. It was ordered that all the towers and walls should be levelled to the earth and the houses of the Hindus should be set on fire. Timur marched to the Ganges and after a battle on that river in which he captured and destroyed 48 boat-loads of Hindus, he crossed the river and defeated an army of 10,000 horse and foot under Mubarak Khan. He attacked and plundered two Hindus forces in the neignbourhood of Hardwar.

From there, he marched towards Kangra and on the way slaughtered every day bodies of Hindus like sheep. On 16th January, 1399, he captured Kangra. After that, he marched towards Jammu whose ruler was defeated and made prisoner, “By hopes, fears and threats, he was brought to see beauty of Islam.

He repeated the creed and ate the flesh of the cow which is an abomination among his compatriots. This obtained him great honour and he was taken under the protection of the Emperor.” Just before the defeat of Raja of Jammu, Sikandar Shah of Kashmir sent a message offering his sub-mission. An expedition was sent to Lahore.

The city was captured and held to ransom. Shaikh Khokhar was led before Timur who put him to death. On 6th March, 1399, Timur held a court of the purpose of saying farewell to the princes and officers of the army before sending them to their provinces. On that occasion, he appointed Khizr Khan to the Government of Multan, Lahore and Dipalpur. Some historians contend that Timur nominated him as his Viceroy in Delhi. On 19th March, 1399, Timur crossed the Indus and two days later left Bannu and reached Samarkand after some time. He inflicted on India more misery than had ever before been inflicted by any conqueror in a single invasion.

Prof. K. Mohammad Habib is of the view that among the “Killers” who have claimed to belong to the Prophet’s creed, Timur “has surpassed all others with reference to the murder of peaceful non combatant Muslims and in a much smaller degree, non-combatant non-Muslims, who were beheaded by his orders, or put to death in more original ways.” In the countries he had ravaged, he was regarded as an anti-Muslim monster, a barbarian and a hell hound.