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 sultan. 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 all the people to migrate to
Daulatabad. The distance between the old and new capital was about 950
kilometers. 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. Comparatively,
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 center 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.
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