The Tughluq dynasty also referred to as Tughluq or Tughluq dynasty was a Muslim dynasty of Turko-Indian origin which ruled over the Delhi sultanate in medieval India.

Its reign started in 1320 in Delhi when Ghazi Malik assumed the throne under the title of Ghiyath al-Din Tughluq.

The dynasty ended in 1413.

The dynasty expanded its territorial reach through a military campaign led by Muhammad bin Tughluq, and reached its zenith between 1330 and 1335.

Important Rulers

1. Ghiyas-ud-din Tughluq

☞ In 1320, Ghazi Malik launched an attack with the use of an army of Khokhar tribesmen and killed Khusrau Khan to assume power

☞ After assuming power, Ghazi Malik renamed himself as Ghiyasuddin Tughluq – thus starting and naming the Tughluq dynasty

☞ He is also referred in scholarly works as Tughluq Shah. He was of mixed Turko-Indian origins; his mother was a Jatt noble and his father was likely descended from Indian Turkic slaves

☞ He brought Bengal, Utkala or Orissa, and Warangal under his control

☞ The Mongol leaders who invaded North India were seized and confined by him.

☞ He founded the city of Tughluqabad.

☞ His reign was cut short after five years when he died under mysterious circumstances in 1325.

2. Muhammad bin Tughluq

☞ He was the Sultan of Delhi from 1325 to 1351.

☞ He was the eldest son of Ghiyas -ud -Din -Tughluq, the founder of the Tughluq dynasty.

☞ He was interested in medicine and was skilled in several languages — Persian, Arabic, Turkish and Sanskrit.

☞ Ibn Battuta, the famous traveler and jurist from Morocco, was a guest at his court and wrote about his suzerainty in his book.

☞ In 1327 A.D. he captured Warangal.

☞ He introduced the copper currency system.

☞ he value of coins dropped; hence he had to withdraw the copper token currency.

☞ Mohammed-bin-Tughluq’s domestic policies were good but due to faulty implementation measures, they failed.

☞ The decline of the Delhi Sultanate is claimed due to his hasty decisions and defective policy implementation.

3. Sultan Firoz Shah Tughluq

☞ He was a Turkic Muslim ruler of the Tughluq Dynasty, who reigned over the Sultanate of Delhi from 1351 to 1388

☞ His father’s name was Rajab (the younger brother of Ghazi Malik) who had the title Sipahsalar.

☞ He succeeded his cousin Muhammad bin Tughluq following the latter’s death at Thatta in Sindh.

☞ He withdrew all Taquavi (agricultural) loans granted by Mohammed-bin-Tughluq.

☞ He constructed towns like Firozabad, Hissar, Jaunpur, and Fatehabad.

☞ He imposed Jizya tax on all non-Muslims.

☞ He was indiscriminately benevolent and lenient as a sultan.

☞ He captured Cuttack, desecrated the Jagannath Temple, Puri, and forced Raja Gajpati of Jajnagar in Orissa to pay tribute

☞ He converted Chauhan Rajputs from Hinduism to Islam in the 14th century. They are now known as Qaimkhanis in Rajasthan.

☞ A number of madrasas (Islamic religious schools) were opened to encourage the religious education of Muslims.

☞ He set up hospitals for the free treatment of the poor and encouraged physicians in the development of Unani medicine.

☞ He provided money for the marriage of girls belonging to poor families under the department of Diwan-i-khairat.

☞ Hindu religious works were translated from Sanskrit to Persian and Arabic. He had a large personal library of manuscripts in Persian, Arabic and other languages.

☞ Firoz also owned two of the pillars of the emperor Ashoka and one of them was placed on the roof of his palace.

☞ Futuhat-e-firozshahi is an autobiography of Firoz Tughluq.

☞ His eldest son, Fath Khan, died in 1376. He then abdicated in August 1387 and made his other son, Prince Muhammad, king.

☞ A slave rebellion forced him to confer the royal title to his grandson, Tughluq Khan.

☞ In September 1388, Firoz died, after which there was a civil war among his descendants. Because of the political instability, the governors of many provinces became independent kings and finally only a small area around Delhi remained in the hands of the Tughluq Sultans.

4. Sultan Abu Bakar Shah

☞ He was a Muslim Turkic ruler of the Tughluq dynasty.

☞ He ruled from 1389- 1390.

☞ He was the son of Zafar Khan and the grandson of Sultan Feroze Shah Tughluq.

☞ After Ghiyas-ud-Din Tughluq II (who had succeeded Sultan Feroze Shah Tughluq) was murdered, Abu Bakr became ruler of the Tughluq Empire.

☞ However, his uncle, Muhammad Shah Ibn Firuz Shah Tughluq, also desired to be ruler, and struggled against Abu Bakr over the control of the throne. Abu Bakr was defeated in August 1390, and Muhammad Shah ibn Firuz Shah Tughluq succeeded him as king.

☞ After his defeat, Abu Bakr was imprisoned in the fort of Meerut and died soon after.

5. Nasir ud din Muhammad Shah III

☞ Muhammad Shah was son of Sultan Feroze Shah Tughluq and was ruler of the Muslim Tughluq dynasty.

☞ When Sultan Abu Bakr Shah Tughluq became ruler of the Tughluq Empire. Muhammad Shah as his uncle was opposed to him, and struggled against Abu Bakr over the control of the throne.

☞ Eventually Abu Bakr was defeated, and Muhammad Shah succeeded him as king, reigning from 1390 to 1394.

6. Sultan Ala ud-din Sikandar Shah

☞ Also known as Humayun Khan, he was the son of Sultan Muhammad Shah Tughluq.

☞ He ascended the imperial throne in virtue of his being heir apparent, as Ala-ud-din Sikandar Shah on 1 February 1394 C.E. But after one month and sixteen days he died of natural causes.

7. Sultan Nasir-ud-din Nusrat Shah Tughluq

☞ He was the son of Fath Khan, and during the reign of Mahmud II, he was brought forward from Mewat to the royal palace at Firozabad and put forward as a claimant to the throne.

☞ Parts of the Doab, Panipat, Sonepat, Rohtak and Jhajjar were under the control of Nasir ud-din Nusrat Shah while Sultan Mahmud only controlled the two forts (Old Delhi and Siri).

8. Nasir-ud-Din Mahmud Shah Tughluq

☞ Also known as Nasiruddin Mohammad Shah, he was the last sultan of the Tughluq dynasty to rule the Islamic Delhi Sultanate.

☞ Nasiruddin Mahmud was a son of sultan Nasir ud din Muhammad Shah III.

☞ Upon his death, his older son Ala ud-din Sikandar Shah became sultan, but he soon died of illness on 8 March 1394, and his younger brother Nasiruddin Mahmud succeeded him.

☞ However, the succession was challenged by his relative Nusrat Shah (also known as Nasrat Khan), triggering a war of succession that lasted for three years until 1397.

☞ During this time, Nasiruddin Mahmud ruled from the city of Delhi, while Nusrat Shah ruled from Firozabad.

☞ During Nasiruddin Mahmud’s reign in 1398, Amir Timur the Chagtai ruler invaded India. He carried away with him a large booty from Delhi and the surrounding area. Soon after the invasion, the Tughluq dynasty came to an end.

Successor

☞ After Timur withdrew, Nasiruddin Mahmud was under the effect of Amir Mallu Iqbal (ruler of the land between river Ganga and Jamuna River).

☞ In 1408, Amir Mallu Iqbal attacked the Punjab but was defeated and killed by its ruler Sayyid Khizr Khan.

☞ After Mallu’s death, Nasir-ud-Din Mahmud Shah returned to Delhi and established his kingdom with help of Dauwlat Khan Lodi.

☞ Nasir-ud-Din Mahmud Shah died in February 1413.

☞ Dauwlat Khan Lodi was raised as Sultan of Delhi by the Wazeers and Amirs of the last Tughluq Sultan Nasir-ud-Din Mahmud Shah.

☞ He remained as autonomous King for almost a year.

☞ On 28 May 1414, Sayyid Khizr Khan surrounded the city, defeated Dauwlat Khan’s army and established the Sayyid dynasty.

☞ In 1414, the power vacuum created by Timur’s invasion was filled by the first Sayyid Sultan.

☞ The succeeding sultan of the Delhi Sultanate was Khizr Khan, the first of the Sayyid Dynasty.