Scheme and Reforms of
Muhammad-bin-Tughluq
The ability and
capability of Muhammad-bin-Tughluq was evident. Lanepoole has praised him, “Among
the slave kings it was Balban, the man o faction; among the Khalijis it was
Alauddin, the crude but daring political economist; and among the Karaunas it
was Muhammad-bin-Tughluq, the man of ideas.”
After
his coronation the Sultan laid out some ambitious plans and executed them.
Although most of his schemes failed in toto, yet they provided a mirror to the
greatness, liberality and feeling of pubic welfare of the Sultan. His schemes
also throw light on the worthiness and ambitions of the Sultan and his devotion
to the Sultanate.
Revenue Reforms
First of all, the
Sultan intended to make some reforms in revenue system and made several
declarations and issued ordinances. He also ordered the royal officials to
prepare the accounts of the provinces and to send them immediately to the
centre. Most of the governors obeyed the orders of the Sultan and dispatched
their accounts forthwith. In fact, the Sultan wanted to introduce a uniform
policy of revenue in the entire kingdom.
Increase of Tax on Doab ( A.D. 1326-27)
Among the schemes of
Muhammad-bin-Tughluq the increase of tax in the Doab is considered as one of
the significant ones. The following factors contributed to its implementation.
:
Cause of Increase in
Tax
(1) In the distribution
of rewards, titles and charity, the sultan had given away a lot of money at the
time of his coronation which affected the royal treasury otherwise, but the
Sultan needed a lot of wealth for administering the affairs of the State, for
the upkeep of the army and for executing his ambitious plans. Dr. Ishawari
Prasad affirms, “The chief motive seems to have been to obtain revenue in
order to be able to increase his military resources and to organize the
administration on an efficient basis.”
(2) The region of Doab
was quite fertile and th people led a prosperous life. The Sultan had an idea
that people of the Doab would be in a position to pay the increase tax easily.
Alauddin Khalji had already realized 50 per cent Khiraj from the people of this
area.
(3) Mostly, the Hindus
lived in this area of the Doab, who often revolted and conspired against the
authority of Delhi Sultanate because of their riches, so he increased the tax in
order to curb the rebellious tendency of the Hindus and to reduce them to
poverty.
(4) IN those days it
was presumed that since the Sultan had established his influence over the
people of the Doab region, he not only succeeded in getting wealth but also established
his control over the entire Northern India.
Controversy regarding the Rate of Tax
Being motivated by the
reasons referred to above, Muhammad-bin-Tughluq took a decision to increase
taxes in the Doab region. But to what level were the taxes raised, is not clear
from various sources, and scholars hold different opinions about the rate of
increase. Gardner Brown mentions that the rise of tax was quite normal. Barani
remarks, “Taxes were increased by ten to twenty times.” Ferista, a
contemporary historian, mentions that the increase was three-fold or four-fold.
Haziuddin writes, “After the victory of Islam the land which earned one
Tanks now began to pay ten to twenty Tankas.” Most of the scholars believe
that the Sultan began to realize Khiraj at the rate of 50 per cent of the total
product. The Sultan made some special arrangement before introducing this
scheme. He appointed a revenue officer in each village to keep a close watch
over the activities of Khuts, Muqaddams and Chaudharis. Besides increase in
taxes, Barani remarks that house tax and pasture tax were also imposed on the
people of the Boab. But it is a fact that taxes were increased during his
reign. Lanepoole writes, “The revenues were collected so rigorously that the
peasants were reduced to beggary. The rich became rebels and the land fell out
of cultivation.”
The Result of
Increase
(1) The increase
in taxes harmed the peasantry very much and they opposed it vehemently.
(2) The corrupt
officers realized the taxes beyond the limit of increase. It generated
rebellious feelings among the people.
(3) The revenue
officers ignored the circumstances of the Doab and tried to realize the
increased tax by ‘blood and iron’ policy which enraged the people.
(4) Under normal
circumstances the increase would not have been opposed but the area of the Doab
was hit by famine, hence the enhanced taxes were opposed. The royal officials
failed to send correct information to the Sultan; rather they oppressed the
famine-striken people and realized the taxes.
Measure of Relief
The Sultan was a
great well-wisher of his people. He was
ignorant of the condition of the people of the Doab but as soon as he was
acquainted with the famine and drought, he withdrew the ordinance and adopted
relief measures for the good of peasantry.
Critical Estimate
of the Scheme
Barani is the
first and the foremost historian who has vehemently criticized this scheme but
there is much exaggeration in his condemnation due to two chief reasons. First,
he was himself an inhabitant of Doab region and secondly, he belonged to the
Ulema class, who opposed the Sultan due to his liberal religious policy but as
an impartial reader we must admit that there must be some truth in his
condemnation. But at the same time, the relief measures of the Sultan proved
that he did not want to oppress the people. He tried to help the people of Doab
as soon as he came to know of their actual condition. His scheme was fine and
there was not slackness init but the
natural famine and drought proved to be the greatest hindrance which was none
of the faults of the Sultan but really, it is a matter of surprise that the
sultan live so near to Doab and he did not know about the condition of his
subjects. It shows his negligence. Hence, if not wholly, he was partly responsible
for the suffering of the people of the Doab and destruction of agriculture.
Transfer of
Capital by Muhammad-bin-Tughluq
The scheme of the
transfer of capital (A.D. 1326 to 1327) from Delhi to Deogiri was another significant plan of
Muhammad-bin-Tughluq. Deogiri was renamed as Daulatabad. The contemporary
sources do not indicate clearly the reasons for the exodus to Daulatabad. But
it is not difficult to trace the reasons for t he students of history provided
they read between the lines.
Cause of the Transfer of Capital
(1) By now the
territory of Delhi had increased much and it was not possible to control the
entire region from Delhi. Since Daulatabad was situated in the middle of the
Sultanate, the issue of transfer was taken up by the sltan. Barani remarks that
Daulatabad held a central situation. Farishta also writes, “The king was so
much pleased with the situation and strength of Deogiri and considered it so
much central them Delhi that he determined to make it his capital.”
(2) The tributary
rulers of the Deccan were rebellious and they often not only revolted against
the Delhi Sultanate but also refused to pay annual tributes, hence the question
of transfer of capital to Deccan arose in the mind of the Sultan.
(3) Ibn Batuta
mentions that the people of Delhi used to write condemnatory letters to the
Sultan for which the Sultan left much offended and in order to penalize them he
ordered for the transfer of the capital.
(4) Yahya-bin-Ahmad feels that the people of Doab had turned rebellious due to
increase of revenue and the sultan being annoyed with them asked for exodus.
(5) Professor
Habibullah and Dr. Mehdi Husain remark that the Sultan wanted to make
Daulatabad a prosperous town and a centre of Muslim culture, hence he took
decision to make it the capital.
(6) Dr. K.A.
Nizami’s view that he wanted to make two capitals is not accepted by most of
the historians.
(7) Dr. A.L.
Srivastava writes that the incessant invasions of the Mongols had paralyzed the
life and administration of Delhi and in order to safeguard the capital from
future attacks of the Mongols, he shifted it to Deogiri.
But all the
reasons referred to above are not justified for there seemed no possibility of
writing the letters and throwing them into the palace of Delhi. At the same
time if the Sultan had become unpopular in Delhi how could he be friendly with
the people of the south? Moreover, the current of Mongol invasion had slowed
down by them and there was no fear of their invasion. Dr. Srivastava in response to all these reasons
of transfer of capital remarks, “The stories are nothing more than Bazar
gossips. The fact is that the scheme of transfer of capital was well thought a
plan of Muhammad-bin-Tughluq.”
Nature of Transfer
Having decided
for the transfer of capital, the Sultan ordered al the people to migrate to
Daulatabad. The distance between the old and new capital was about 950
kilometres. The Sultan repaired and constructed rest-house on both sides of the
road, every two or three miles. The Sultan spent a lot of money in the
execution of this plan. The imperial court and establishment was shifted to
Daulatabad along with the nobles, scholars and saints, so that Muslim culture
could flourish there. Barani writes, “The Sultan was bounteous in his
liberalities and favours to the emigrants both on their journey and on their
arrival.”
But in spite of
all the facilities provided by the Sultan, the people of Delhi had so much
attachment with the capital that they did not want to leave Delhi, hence the
Sultan has to treat them harshly as he wanted to execute his scheme fully.
Barani remarks about the condition of Delhi after the exodus, “All was
destroyed. So complete was the ruin that not a cat or a dog was left in the
buildings of the city, in places or in its suburbs.”
Ibn Batuta
remarks, “A search was made and a blind man and a cripple were found. The
cripple was put to death while the blind man was dragged to Daulatabad where
only his one leg reached.” He adds, In the night the Sultan mounted the roof of
his palace and looked around Delhi. When, neither a light nor even the smoke or
a lamp came into sight he remarked, “Now my heart is pleased and my soul is at
rest.”
The long journey
from Delhi to Daulatabad proved very painful and a large number of people died
during the journey. Barani writes, “Many, from the toil of long journey,
perished on the road and those who arrived at Deogiri, cold not endure the pain
of exile. In despondency, they pained away to death. All along Deogiri, which
is an infidel land, there sprang up graveyards of Musalmans.”
Realizing this
mental strain and tremendous suffering of the people, Muhammad-bin-Tughluq
realized his fault and ordered the public to return to Delhi, their home town.
Again the long and strenuous journey caused several deaths in spite of all
facilities provided to them by the Sultan. Thus, the capital which had grown in
prosperity and rivaled Baghdad and Cairo in splendor was ruined and
re-inhabited by the beloveds of Delhi. It is correct to say that the scheme of
transfer of capital failed and the Sultan was held responsible for its failure.
Result of Transfer of Capital
The effect of
Muhammad-bin-Tughluq’s scheme of transfer of capital proved disastrous. The
Sultan spent a lot of wealth for the implementation of this scheme. It affected
the royal treasury otherwise, and later on, the sultan had to face various
economic and financial problems.
1. The prestige and
prosperity of Delhi was devastated for a while.
2. The people of
Delhi had to suffer untold miseries and they sustained lots of inconveniences
as a result of this scheme. Many perished during the long journey.
3. Contemparatively,
the Muslims suffered much because they had to live in the south in an
atmosphere entirely different from that of Delhi as the south was mostly Hindu-inhabited
region.
4. The Sultan was
roundly condemned and criticized for the failure of this project. They not only
called him names but also named him as cruel, short-sighted and oppressor of
the people. Some of them went to the extent of calling him a mad Sultan.
5. But it is a
fact that whether control could be established in the South was because of
making Daulatabad the capital. It added to the prestige of Daulatabad.
Criticism of the Project
Scholars have
criticized this project of Muhammad-bin-Tughluq in different ways. According to
Lanepoole, “Daulatabad was a monument of misdirected energy.” He also opines
that even if this scheme of Muhammad-bin-Tughluq had succeeded, it would not
have been possible o rule from Daulatabad. The transfer of capital had made the
north-west frontier insecure against Mongol invasion and India would have
become a centre of rebellions and disorder. During execution of this scheme,
according to Ferishta, the Sultan did not pay attention to rulers of Iran and
Turan. They were Mongol rulers and were a great menace to the Delhi Sultanate.
Some scholars like Ibn Batuta, Barani,
Yahya-Bin-Ahmad and others have condemned this scheme as the people had to face
several invasions during the execution of this scheme. The Sultan had committed
a great blunder by issuing the order of migration of entire populace to
Daulatabad, he should have carried his offices and officials with him for the
success of this scheme. In fact, the scheme was not defective, but a strange
product of the mind of the learned Sultan. It had the seed of administrative
reforms and farsightedness in it. Had it succeeded, it would have added to the
prestige and popularity of the Sultan but it failed like his first project. The
failure of the scheme depended on its wrong implementation. The obdurate nature
of the Sultan was also a cause of the failure of the plan of transfer of
Capital. Owing to his supreme position, the Sultan never thought over the
scheme again, nor did he try unpopular and the scholars called him a mixture of
opposites, an unpractical Sultan and a person having a touch of insanity.
Introduction of Token Currency by Muhammad-bin-Tughluq
The age
of Muhammad-bin-Tughluq is considered a very significant epoch in the history
of Indian coinage. He introduced various reforms and improvements in manufacturing,
valuation and types of coinage. Edward Thomas has aptly called him the ‘Prince
of Moneyers’ because of his advanced measures in the field of coinage. The
introduction of token currency was a most significant innovation of
Muhammad-bin-Tughluq in the history of Medieval Indian coinage. Earlier, token
currency was issued by Kublai Khan (A.D. 1260-94) in China and Gai Khatu (A.D.
1393) in Persia. Sultan Muhammad-bin-Tughluq, therefore, also issued bronze
Tankas and declared their value at par with the silver Tankas.
Cause of Issue of Token Currency
(1) From
the very date of his accession Sultan Muhammad-bin-Tughluq spent a lot of money
for giving rewards, grants, charity and gifts. Besides, he devised some
significant schemes and spent a huge amount on their execution. He also emptied
his treasury in suppressing the rebels, conducting military campaigns and in
facing famines and droughts. It shook the very foundation of the financial
structure and the Sultan was forced to issue a token currency. But Dr. Ishwari
Prasad does not agree with this opinion.
(2) The
description of Barani and Nizamuddin Ahmad indicate that the Sultan was in need
of immense wealth for the conquest of the entire world, hence he issued token
currency.
(3) The
sultan needed extra wealth for the execution of his other projects and for
suppressing the revolts in future, hence, it became inevitable for him to issue
token currency.
(4) Haji
Uddabir thinks that the Sultan wanted to confiscate the costly metals and issue
of token currency was one of his tricks to collect the costly metals, i.e. gold and silver but this opinion
does not hold against the fact that the Sultan later changed all the copper
coins into silver ones from the royal treasury.
(5) Ishwar Topa and others are of the opinion that the shortage of silver was the
root cause of the issue of token currency.
(6) Sultan
Muhammad-bin-Tughluq who was a man of fertile mind was fond of devising new
schemes and introducing them. The scheme of token currency was also a product
of his fertile mind. Taking inspiration from the paper currency prevalent in
China and Persia, he thought of issuing bronze coins in India. Though the
scheme was introduced with all the best intention, yet its wrong execution led
to its failure.
Execution of Scheme and its Consequence
In A.D.
1330 bronze coins were struck and it was declared that they should be treated
at par, in value with the silver coins. For some time the scheme of token
currency continued properly but soon people began to feel the difference between
the bronze coins and the silver coins. They doubted that the Sultan intended to
store the entire silver in his treasury. So everybody stored away the silver
and gold coins and the market was flooded with the bronze coins. The number of
counterfeit coins was even greater than the original ones issued from the royal
mint. Barani writes, “The houses of Hindus were turned into mints.” This
remark of Barani is not impartial. There seems to be no reason as to why the
contemporary Muslims were deprived of the greed of making counterfeit coins.
Every person began to hoard the gold and silver coins. The excess of the
counterfeit coins devalued the bronze coins, and it affected the trade and
commerce adversely. The feeling of revolt and dissatisfaction began to develop
in the hearts of the people against the Sultan.
The
sultan felt his intervention to be essential as his beloved scheme of token
currency was also leading towards failure. He declared the bronze coins illegal
and ordered the people to exchange their bronze coins with silver coins for the
royal treasury. Such a number of coins were exchanged that there was a huge
heap of bronze coins in Thghlukabad. Thus the royal treasury had to suffer
heavily as a result of this scheme of token currency.
Cause of Failure of the Scheme
(1) The people of the fourteenth century failed
to understand the utility of token currency which scheme was much in advance of
their times. Hence they did not cooperate with their Sultan.
(2) Muhammad-bin-Tughluq failed to take steps to make the mint the monopoly of the
state nor could he be successful in getting standard coins struck. Hence
everybody made artificial coins and thus led the scheme towards failure. Edward
Thomas observes, “There was no special to mark the difference of the fabric
of the royal mint and the handiwork of the moderately skilled artisan. Unlike
the precautions taken to prevent the imitation of the Chinese currency notes,
there was positively no check on the authenticity of the copper token and no
limit to the power of production by the masses at large.”
(3) Elphinstone
writes that unstable government and bankruptcy of the Sultan was also a
significant cause of the failure of his scheme of token currency. But this view
does not seem worthwhile.
(4) The
Sultan had no patience at all. He wanted immediate positive result and the
failures disturbed him so much that he rejected the schemes altogether. Thus
haste and impatience of the Sultan was also the root cause of the failure of
his various projects.
Criticism of the Project
It was an
original and new scheme ever planned by a Sultan. Its aim was not to befool the
people but to add to the prosperity of the kingdom and to ensure the public
welfare. The utility of issuing bronze coins was not doubtful but unfortunately
the people of the fourteenth century failed to understand its significance and
his ideal scheme ended in smoke. Wrong implementation of the scheme was the
main cause of its failure but he is praised by scholars of history for this
scheme. Dr. A.L. Srivastava has written, “The reign of Muhammad Tughluq is
an important landmark in the history of Indian coinage.” Dr. Ishari Prasad
also observes in this respect, “He wanted to found coins which might
facilitate exchange and from convenient circulating media.” To sum up, we
may say that the scheme of token currency was started with all the good
intentions, but it failed as the Sultan could not foresee the forgery and
fabrication in the making of coins.
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