What were the Judicial Reforms brought by Firuz Tughluq?

When Firuz came to the throne the penal law of the country was a savage one. To quote the Sultan, “In the reigns of the former kings, many varieties of tortures were employed.

Amputation of hands and feet, ears and noses; tearing out the eyes, pouring molten lead into the throat, crushing the bones of the hands and feet with mallets, burning the body with fire, driving iron nails into the hands, feet and bosom, cutting the sinews, sawing men asunder: these and many similar tortures were practiced.

The great and merciful God made me, His Servant, hope and seek for His mercy by devoting myself to prevent the unlawful killing of Mussalmans and the inflicting of any kind of torture upon them or upon any man.”

The result of the reforms of Firuz was that the judicial system became more humane than before. Not only the practice of torture was abolished as a means of ascertaining truth, very mild punishments were imposed on criminals. In some cases, culprits got no punishment at all.

The penal reforms applied not only to the Muslims but to all sections of the population. Dr. V. A. Smith praises Firuz Tughluq in these words: “One reform, the abolition of mutilation and torture, deserves unqualified commendation and the orders must have been acted on to a considerable extent during his life time.”

Another reform introduced by Firuz was that if a traveller died on the road, the feudal chiefs and Muqaddams were required to call the Qazis and other Muslims and get the body of the deceased examined. A report was required to be drawn certifying under the seal of the Qazi that no wound was to be found on the body. It- was only then that the deceased was to be buried.

A new department of Diwani-i-Khairat was set up to make provision for the marriages of poor girls. Any one, who had a daughter of marriageable age and lacked the required money for her wedding, could apply to the Diwan-i-Khairat. The offices of this department made enquiries about the financial position of the applicant and fixed the amount of money that was to be paid to him. Poor men and windows came to the capital from all parts of the countray to get the names of their daughters registered in the Diwan-i-Khairat.

The Sultan also set up another Department known as Diwan-i-Istihqaq. This department gave financial help to the deserving people. 36 lakhs of Tankas were annually set apart for this purpose. The view of Afif is that about 4,200 men received help from this department.

To provide relief to those who had been the victims of recklessness and fitfulness of Muhammad Tughluq, the Sultan made liberal grants. The Sultan also set up an employment bureau. This was concerned chiefly with those who desired clerical and administrative employment.

It was the duty of the Kotwal of Delhi to seek those who were without employment and to produce them in the court. The Sultan personally made inquiries into their circumstances and qualifications. After consulting their inclination, they were provided with employment.

No effort was made to find out whether there was any demand for their services or not as tha whole thing was done on a charitable basis. It must have helped many a young idler.