The capital city of the second Tughlaq king Mohammad Bin Tughlaq - one of the most controversial kings Islamic India had seen. Known as a mad genius - in terms of knowledge, ideas and skills, he was the eldest son of Ghiasuddin Tughlaq, and acquired the throne after his father's passing away.
It is said that he was uncomfortable living in the capital his father built. He decided to create a new capital city for himself and this is the area he chose. He called this place Jahanpanah or refuge of the world. He was an intellectual, philosopher, knew many languages and took a keen interest in Mathematics, Science, Astronomy and Calligraphy.
But at the same time he was a very impulsive and unpredictable man, extremely temperamental, whose behavior caused a lot of hardship and suffering to the common men and nobles alike. One can never say with conviction whether he was a lunatic or a genius, a benevolent ruler or a bloodthirsty tyrant. He was just a strange combination of contradictions. Thus despite being a genius, he was one of the kings whose reputation suffered because of total failure of his revolutionary ideas.
One of his most controversial decisions was to transfer the capital to Daulatabad in Maharashtra, to make it a twin capital. He ordered a mass migration and forced everyone to move. Those who disagreed or refused were beaten, killed and faced severe punishments. This movement soon proved to be a mistake as Daulatabad was arid and it could not provide sufficient water to support such a huge mass of people who moved in. And thus he shifted the capital back to Delhi once again.
After his military campaigns to expand his empire, his treasury became bereft of gold and silver coins. So he ordered minting of copper coins which had the same value as that of gold and silver. This decision soon turned out to a failure as every house became a mint as everyone started minting tens of millions of counterfeit coins at home. The purchasing power of people thus increased, the local headmen in villages and the Rajas became rich but the government became poor. This persuaded Bin Tughlaq to repeal his edict and he ordered everyone to bring their copper coins to the treasury and exchange them with gold and silver.
Very naturally as the state revenues collapsed because of his whimsical and impulsive moves costing the treasury a fortune, Tughlaq sharply increased taxes to cover expenses.
Some information about this time come from the travelogue of Ibn Batuta, the Moroccan traveler who was a guest in his court for a fairly long time. Though not an officially commissioned work, but it gives a fair idea and an interesting account of the times. The memoir of Ibn Batuta records that he did not pay his staff from the treasury except in times of war. He paid his army, judges, governors and other officials by awarding them the right to force collect taxes on Hindu villages, keep a portion and transfer the remaining to the treasury. Those who failed to pay taxes were executed. In the words of Batuta, "...his gateway is never free from a beggar whom he has relived and never free from a a corpse he has slain."
When he finally died in 1351, one contemporary observer Badauni wrote: : and so the king was freed from his people and the people from him"
Not much is left of the palace area except some broken walls and staircases. It is recorded by Ibn Batuta that at the time of Mohd Bin Tughlaq, Delhi was the largest city not only in India but in all of Islamic east. It was fortified by 28 gates, all these gateways had granaries, passages for soldiers , big troupes and evidences of these are still existing in Tughlaqabad.
One particular feature in the city he mentions is a place called "Hazar Sutun" or the hall of thousand pillars. This is the hall of public audience of this king. It is hard to imagine standing on the grass around the broken down citadel - but we can locate square bases under the grass covers, which could have easily been bases of these thousand pillars. One can only imagine today the grandeur of such a massive hall of public audience. Ibn Batuta particularly describes the beauty of these intricately carved wooded pillars as they stood proudly once, proclaiming the glory of this king.
If we look around a bit, we find some holes on the ground which are believed to have been used as treasure pits. Excavations here revealed precious stones and gold coins stored in these pits. Because it is slightly below the ground level, we can guess there could have been a false floor here. Nothing has survived. Today the treasure pits are full of trash and are pathetic pictures of utter neglect!!
Today, this citadel, renamed as Bijay Mandal stands in its stark and basic utilitarian beauty, with its dark and musty chambers surrounded by overgrown vegetation as a lone witness to the idiosyncrasy of a controversial king. One can climb up its narrow staircases to reach the octagonal pavilion on the roof from where one can get a majestic view till the end of the city of Delhi on a clear day. The silence of the stones actually tell you a story - if you care to listen to it.
But at the same time he was a very impulsive and unpredictable man, extremely temperamental, whose behavior caused a lot of hardship and suffering to the common men and nobles alike. One can never say with conviction whether he was a lunatic or a genius, a benevolent ruler or a bloodthirsty tyrant. He was just a strange combination of contradictions. Thus despite being a genius, he was one of the kings whose reputation suffered because of total failure of his revolutionary ideas.
One of his most controversial decisions was to transfer the capital to Daulatabad in Maharashtra, to make it a twin capital. He ordered a mass migration and forced everyone to move. Those who disagreed or refused were beaten, killed and faced severe punishments. This movement soon proved to be a mistake as Daulatabad was arid and it could not provide sufficient water to support such a huge mass of people who moved in. And thus he shifted the capital back to Delhi once again.
After his military campaigns to expand his empire, his treasury became bereft of gold and silver coins. So he ordered minting of copper coins which had the same value as that of gold and silver. This decision soon turned out to a failure as every house became a mint as everyone started minting tens of millions of counterfeit coins at home. The purchasing power of people thus increased, the local headmen in villages and the Rajas became rich but the government became poor. This persuaded Bin Tughlaq to repeal his edict and he ordered everyone to bring their copper coins to the treasury and exchange them with gold and silver.
Very naturally as the state revenues collapsed because of his whimsical and impulsive moves costing the treasury a fortune, Tughlaq sharply increased taxes to cover expenses.
Some information about this time come from the travelogue of Ibn Batuta, the Moroccan traveler who was a guest in his court for a fairly long time. Though not an officially commissioned work, but it gives a fair idea and an interesting account of the times. The memoir of Ibn Batuta records that he did not pay his staff from the treasury except in times of war. He paid his army, judges, governors and other officials by awarding them the right to force collect taxes on Hindu villages, keep a portion and transfer the remaining to the treasury. Those who failed to pay taxes were executed. In the words of Batuta, "...his gateway is never free from a beggar whom he has relived and never free from a a corpse he has slain."
When he finally died in 1351, one contemporary observer Badauni wrote: : and so the king was freed from his people and the people from him"
Not much is left of the palace area except some broken walls and staircases. It is recorded by Ibn Batuta that at the time of Mohd Bin Tughlaq, Delhi was the largest city not only in India but in all of Islamic east. It was fortified by 28 gates, all these gateways had granaries, passages for soldiers , big troupes and evidences of these are still existing in Tughlaqabad.
One particular feature in the city he mentions is a place called "Hazar Sutun" or the hall of thousand pillars. This is the hall of public audience of this king. It is hard to imagine standing on the grass around the broken down citadel - but we can locate square bases under the grass covers, which could have easily been bases of these thousand pillars. One can only imagine today the grandeur of such a massive hall of public audience. Ibn Batuta particularly describes the beauty of these intricately carved wooded pillars as they stood proudly once, proclaiming the glory of this king.
If we look around a bit, we find some holes on the ground which are believed to have been used as treasure pits. Excavations here revealed precious stones and gold coins stored in these pits. Because it is slightly below the ground level, we can guess there could have been a false floor here. Nothing has survived. Today the treasure pits are full of trash and are pathetic pictures of utter neglect!!
Today, this citadel, renamed as Bijay Mandal stands in its stark and basic utilitarian beauty, with its dark and musty chambers surrounded by overgrown vegetation as a lone witness to the idiosyncrasy of a controversial king. One can climb up its narrow staircases to reach the octagonal pavilion on the roof from where one can get a majestic view till the end of the city of Delhi on a clear day. The silence of the stones actually tell you a story - if you care to listen to it.
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