Foreign policy of Firoz Shah Tughluq

Foreign policy of Firoz Shah Tughluq

FirozShah Tughluq was a benevolent and merciful ruler and had no courage of a great general and conqueror. Owing to his own weak policies his foreign policy was marked by vacillation and weakness. What to speak of conquering and expanding the Delhi Sultanate, he even failed to establish his control over different parts of the Sultanate which had become independent during the reign of Muhammad Tughluq. Dr. A. L. Srivastava has written, “He made no attempt to recover the Deccan that had been torn off from the Sultanate and had become absolutely independent during the later years of Muhammad-bin-Tughluq’s reign.”when pressed by his advisers to reduce the Bahamani kingdom, he evaded it on the plea that he was altogether opposed to the shedding of the blood of the Muslims. Though he had no such scruples in regard to Rajasthan, he showed no desire to bring Mewar, Marwar and other states back under the suzerainty of Delhi. His feeble attempts to reduce Bengal failed ignominiously. In fact, his expeditions revealed lack of military talent on his part and brought little or no gain to the Sultanate. Thomas also criticizes his military skill in these words, “His generalship in two campaigns of Bengal and his eventual reduction of Thatta, seems to have been of the lowest order: and the way he allowed himself to be deluded into the deserts of Cutch of the defiles of Jajnagar, seems to savour of positive fatuity.”

Expeditions of Bengal (A.D. 1353-1360)

Taking the advantage of the chaos and confusion on the death of Muhammad Tughluq, HajiIlyas established his independence in A.D. 1352, so the sultan marched against him. Haji Ilyas learning about the expedition of the Sultan confined himself in the fort of Ikdala. The sultan failed to subdue the fort and returned after hearing the cries of the women from the fort. Although his commanders warned him of bad consequences, yet he did not pay heed to them and withdrew his army. V.A. Smith writes, “The campaign had no result except the wanton slaughter thus commenced. No territory was annexed and the practical independence of the eastern empire continued unimpaired.”

After the return of thesultan, Ilyas went on torturing the people and they continued to wail under his cruel administration. One Zafar Khan, a noble of Bengal, lodged a complaint against Ilyas and the Sultan once again marched against Bengal after organizing a strong force in A.D. 1359. By this time Ilyas had breathed his last and his son Sikandar was ruling over Bengal. As soon as the Sultan reached Bengal, Sikandar also confined himself in the fort of Ikdala. After much resistance Sikandar had to surrender. A treaty was concluded between the two. Sikandar sent valuable presents along with forty elephants to the Sultan. He also accepted to hand over Sonargaon to Zafar Khan but Zafar Khan preferred to live in Delhi, so once again the independence of Bengal was saved.

Expedition of Jajnagar

While coming back from Bengal Firoz made an invasion over Jajnagar in Orissa because he wanted to destroy the famous temple of Puri. The Hindu ruler of Jajnagar could not stand before the royal forces and fled away. The soldiers, however, resisted but they were ultimately defeated and the Sultan broke the idols and destroyed the temple of Puri. The Hindu ruler realizing his position to be critical concluded a treaty with the Sultan and gave some precious presents. He also promised to pay annual tribute to the Sultan of Delhi. Thus being satisfied, the Sultan returned to Delhi and suppressed various nobles and Zamindars on his way to Delhi.

Expedition of Nagarkot

Nagarkot had been conquered by Muhammad Tughluq during his Himalayan Expedition in A.D. 1337. Its famous temple of Jwalamukhi (Kangra) had also been plundered by the Idol breaker from Ghazni in A.D. 1008-09. Firoz Shah Tughluq was drawn towards it on account of its Hindu Raja’s depredations into the surrounding country. The Sultan, who had started for the subjugation of Daulatabad, heard of the activities of the Raja of Nagarkot and turned towards it in A.D. 1360-61. The fort was besieged for six months and then the Raja having surrendered was pardoned and reinstated. Firoz being attracted by some of the Sanskrit books which he found in the temple library got them translated into Persian.

Expedition of Sindh

In A.D. 1362-63 Firoz carried out his long deferred campaign against Thatta to avenge the wrongs suffered by the imperial army at eh time of Muhammad’s death. The expeditionary force consisted of 90,000 cavalry, besides elephants, and numerous infantry. But on account of the provisions having run short, this vast army had to be diverted into Gujarat for a time. Here, though the treachery of guides, they were led into the Rann of Kutch and came to be very nearly lost in the swamps. For six months nothing was heard of the imperial army, while famine devastated its numbers. But ultimately it debouched into the fertile plains of Gujarat. After replenishing his reduced forces and provisions, and dismissing the governor of Gujarat, Firoz Shah Tughluq returned to Sindh. He attacked jam Babaniya who was them ruling over Sindh and forced him to accept his suzerainty. The sultan ultimately got victory over Sindh and the ruler of Sindh agreed to pay annual tribute. The Sultan and his soldier had to suffer much in this expedition and returned to Delhi quite safely. Dr. Ishwari Prasad has remarked that the expedition was a singular instance of the Sultan’s fatuity and lack of strategical skill.

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Milan Tomic

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