Firuz Shah Tughluq

Firuz Shah Tughluq (* 1309 ; † 1388 in Delhi ) came from the Tughluq dynasty and was Sultan of Delhi from 1351 to 1388 . His father Sipah Salar Rajab was a brother of Sultan Ghiyas-ud-din , the founder of the dynasty; his mother Bibi Naila , was a Hindu princess and the daughter of the Rajas of Dipalpur .

pyramidal and multi-level structure in Firuz Shah Kotla with the Ashoka column

biography

youth

Firuz Shah Tughluq was his mother's only son, he had two stepbrothers: Malik Nabib Barbak and Qutbuddin . Firuz lost his father when he was seven. His uncle, Ghiyas-us-din, took over his upbringing. As a result, a father-son relationship developed between the two. When Firuz was 12 years old, Ghiyas-us-din was overthrown. Within those four and a half years, Firuz was introduced to government affairs by his uncle.

At the age of 17 Firuz came to the court of his cousin, Sultan Muhammad bin Tughluq in Delhi. The sultan continued his cousin's government training. Firuz became the darling of Muhammad bin Tughluq. According to the sultan's wish, Firuz should take over the throne after his death.

When the Sultan of Delhi divided his kingdom into four administrative regions, he gave one of them to his cousin so that Firuz could gain his own experience. The young ruler seems to have developed good relations with the people in his region, which helped him to get a good overview of the affairs of government. However, no primary sources have survived to prove Firuz's popularity.

Domination

After the death of Muhammad bin Tughluq and his son Mahmud Ibn Muhammad (1351), Firuz took over the rule of the Sultanate of Delhi at the age of 43. The right of Firuz 'to the throne, however, was contested by the sister of Sultan Muhammad, Khudāvandzādah Malik . She and her husband Khusrau Malik tried to assassinate the newly crowned sultan. However, the attack failed thanks to the son of the two conspirators, Davar Malik , who, due to his loyalty to Firuz, betrayed his parents' plans and thus saved the ruler's life.

Firuz Shah's tenure brought with it several reforms. With this he aimed to improve the economy in his country. He was the first ruler who turned to the people and tried to make the lives of the rural people easier and to win their trust. He abolished the land capture and stopped confiscating land. The Sultan used his popularity among the leading dignitaries and lawyers at the court to carry out his ideas. He introduced taxes in the country, such as B. the zakat religion tax, the amount of which was 2½% of the property of every Muslim in the country and was measured in gold.

Perhaps because his mother was a Hindu princess, he was rather tolerant of religious matters.

buildings

Ruin of the Friday Mosque of Firozabad ( Firuz Shah Kotla )

Firuz Shah Tughluq mausoleum in Delhi

As early as 1354, Firuz Shah made the decision to found the city of Firozabad (now Firuz Shah Kotla ) as its capital. The city became known for its architecture and was located about 2 km south of Old Delhi .

During his reign, Firuz Shah had mosques built in various parts of his country . These were always constructed according to the same scheme and looked the same, apart from small differences: All had large entrances and high roofs; they were symbols of strength and power. In one of his largest mosques in Delhi, Firuz Shah had a pillar of King Ashoka (r. 268–232 BC) placed, which he used during one of his war expeditions in 1366 in the village of Topra (today Topra Kalan , Ambala District, Haryana ) had found. He had another one brought from Meerut . However, the sultan knew little about Ashoka and both the content and the meaning of the inscriptions remained hidden from him.

In addition, he is said to have built 50 dams, 20 palaces, 100 caravanserais , 100 hospitals, 100 baths, etc. - the Western Yamuna Canal goes back to his reign. The mausoleum of Firuz Shah Tughluq is in the south of Delhi. It is unclear whether he - as usual - took care of the construction himself.

meaning

Although Sultan Firuz Shah was a friend of the arts (he wrote poetry, studied Sanskrit , literature and art, and had several works of Indian literature translated into Persian ), he apparently lived by the motto: “If you want peace, prepare for war ! ". Scientists agree that he waged several wars during his reign: two in Bengal , one in Jajnagar (now Odisha ), one in Nagarkot , two in Thatta ( Sindh ). The second war in Thatta lasted more than 13 years. Firuz Shah was the last powerful Sultan of Delhi from the Tughluq dynasty ; his three sons died or turned against him. Ten years after his death at the age of nearly 80, the dynasty's rule ended.

literature

• Peter Jackson: The Delhi Sultanate. A Political and Military History. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge et al. 1999, ISBN 0-521-40477-0 .
• Hermann Kulke: Indian history up to 1750. Oldenbourg, Munich 2005, ISBN 3-486-55741-6 .

Web links

• Firuz Shah Tughluq - detailed biography (English)

predecessor	Office	successor
Mahmud Ibn Muhammad	Sultan of Delhi ( Tughluq Dynasty ) 1351–1388	Ghiyas ud din Tughluq II.