 History Discussion

Domestic Policies of
Muhammad Bin
Tughluq | India |
Tughluq Dynasty
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The following points highlight the top five
domestic policies laid down by Muhammad Bin
Tughluq. The policies are: 1. Revenue Reforms 2.
Taxation in Doab (1525-27 A.D.) 3. Attempt to
Improve Agriculture 4. Transfer of the Capital
(1326-1327 A.D.) 5. The Introduction of Token
Currency (1329-1330 A.D.).

Domestic Policy # 1. Revenue Reforms:

Muhammad Tughluq carried out many measures
for the improvement of the administration of
revenue. One of these measures was preparation
of a register in which income and expenditure of
all the provinces were recorded. All provincial
governors were asked to submit reports of
income and expenditure of their concerning
provinces to the centre for this purpose.

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The main motive of the Sultan was to introduce a

uniform standard of land revenue throughout his
empire and to see that no village remained un-
assessed. However, nothing is known about the
advantages of this scheme. It is also not clear
whether the Sultan kept in view the differences in
the quality of land on the basis of produce and
the difference in its prices at different places.

Domestic Policy # 2. Taxation in Doab

(1525-27 A.D.):
In the beginning of his reign, the Sultan
increased taxation in the Doab. According to
Barani, the taxation was raised by ten to twenty
times more. Ferishta stated that it was increased
threefold or fourfold while Gardner Brown stated
that the rise in taxation was quite normal.
According to Dr A.L. Srivastava, the Sultan
desired to raise the revenue by five to ten per cent
and that too not by increasing the land tax but by
certain other taxes, most probably by house-tax
and grazing tax.
Whatever might be the fact, it is certain that taxes
were increased and at a time when there had
been a famine in the Doab owing to the failure of
rains. Therefore, the peasants, instead of paying
the taxes abandoned their lands and adopted
highway robbery. The tax collectors continued to
collect taxes by oppression which resulted in
widespread revolts. The Sultan suppressed the
revolts severely.

According to Barani, “Thousands of people

perished and when they tried to escape,
the Sultan led punitive expeditions to
various places and hunted them like wild
beasts.” Gardner Brown has not accepted the
version of Barani. He states that the people
suffered not on account of rise in the taxation
which was not at all heavy, but because of famine
owing to the failure of rains.

Dr Mahdi Hussain has given another

interpretation of this episode. He says that the
disbanded soldiers of the army recruited for
expedition of Khurasan had taken up cultivation.
When the tax was raised, they ceased cultivation
and killed revenue officers.

Therefore, the Sultan suppressed their rebellion

rigorously. Whatever might be the reason of
revolts and the cruel methods adopted by the
Sultan to suppress them, it is certain that the
taxation was increased, the oppressive means of
collecting the taxes were the primary reasons of
the revolts and the Sultan suppressed the revolts
rigorously.

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According to Dr A.L. Srivastava, the Sultan,

afterwards, abolished the taxes, gave seeds,
bullocks, etc., to cultivators and arranged for
digging of wells for irrigation. But it brought
about no good result because the help was given
too late and people utilised that help to fill up
their empty bellies.

Besides, the house-tax and the grazing tax had

been always unpopular since they were
introduced by Ala-ud-din Khalji. The policy of the
Sultan proved a perfect failure. Even the usual
revenue could not be collected from the Doab.
Besides, the Sultan became unpopular among his
subjects.

Domestic Policy # 3. Attempt to Improve

Agriculture:
Muhammad Tughluq established a separate
department of agriculture and appointed a
minister, Amir-i-kohi, to look after it. The main
object of this department was to increase the land
under cultivation. Besides, according to Dr A.L.
Srivastava, “a large tract of land, sixty miles
square in area, was chosen for state-farming. The
land was cultivated and different crops were
sown in rotation.”

Moreland wrote about it:

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“In Indian history, it was made clear for the first

time that agriculture, improvement in the
technique of agriculture and enhancement of
resources for the growth of agriculture was the
responsibility of the state. In other words, it was
the first instance in India when the Sultanate not
only emphasized on agricultural reforms but also
spent a large amount of money from the state
treasury for it.”
The government spent nearly 70 lakh tanka in
three years. Yet, the experiment failed and the
scheme was abandoned after three years. The
corruption of officers, poor quality of land chosen
for farming and indifference of cultivators who
were assigned land under government
supervision were responsible for the failure of the
scheme. Besides, the scheme was abandoned in
haste. Three years duration was quite inadequate
to get any fruitful result.

Domestic Policy # 4. Transfer of the

Capital (1326-1327 A.D.):
One among the misunderstood measures of
Muhammad Tughluq was the attempt to transfer
the capital from Delhi to Devagiri, i.e., Qutbabad
as named by Sultan Qutb-ud-din Mubarak Shah
Khalji which was now renamed Daultabad.
Different reasons have been given for this
transfer.

According to Ibn Batuta, the citizens of Delhi

used to write letters containing abuses and
scandals to the Sultan. Therefore, the Sultan
decided to lay Delhi waste in order to punish
them. Sir Woolseley Haig has accepted the
version of Ibn Batuta. Isami expressed that the
Sultan resolved to break up the power of the
citizens of Delhi and therefore, decided to
transfer the capital. Thus, he also supported the
version of Ibn Batuta.

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Professor Habibullah has opined that the motive

of the Sultan was to provide incentive to Muslim
culture in the South. Besides, the prosperity of
the South and administrative convenience were
also his motives. Dr Mahdi Hussain has
expressed that the Sultan desired to make
Daultabad the centre of Muslim culture and
therefore, decided to make it his capital.

Dr Hussain and Prof. K.A.s Nizami are of the

view that the Sultan meant to keep both Delhi
and Daultabad as his two capitals. However, this
view has not been accepted by the majority of
historians. According to Dr A.L. Srivastava, the
desire of safeguarding the capital from the
Mongol invasions from the north-west, the
necessity of consolidating the empire in the
South and the temptation to utilise the rich
resources of the South were primary
considerations for the transfer of the capital.

Thus, we can conclude that Muhammad Tughluq

transferred the capital from Delhi to Daultabad
due to several reasons. The empire of the Sultan
had extended far and wide within the territories
of India and Daultabad was in the centre and
more strategically placed as compared to Delhi;
the administration and consolidation of South
India required more attention as compared to the
North; the desire to keep the capital at a safe
distance from invasion of the Mongols or, on the
contrary, the absence of danger from invasions of
the Mongols; the temptation of wealth of the
South; and, probably, the desire of the Sultan to
spread Muslim culture in the South were
different reasons of the Sultan to transfer the
capital to Daultabad.

According to contemporary historians, the entire

population of Delhi was ordered to leave it and it
was laid waste. Barani wrote- “All was destroyed.
So complete was the ruin that not a cat or a dog
was left among the buildings of the city, in its
palaces or in its suburbs.” Ibn Batuta also wrote-
“A search was made and a blind man and a
cripple man were found. The cripple man was put
to death while the blind man was dragged to
Daultabad where only his one leg reached.”

He further wrote- “In the night the Sultan

mounted the roof of his palace and looked round
Delhi. When, neither a light nor even smoke or a
lamp came into sight he remarked, “Now my
heart is pleased and my soul is at rest.” Isami also
wrote- “(Muhammad Tughluq) ordered that the
city (Delhi) should be set on fire and all the
populace should be turned out of it.” Some
modern historians do not accept this view.

Dr M. Hussain writes:

“The city of Delhi never ceased to be the capital

and, as such, was never depopulated or
deserted.” According to Dr K.A. Nizami, the
entire population of Delhi was not asked to leave.
Only the upper classes, consisting of nobles,
Ulema, Sheikhs and the elite of Delhi were
shifted to Daultabad.

But Dr R.C. Majumdar, Dr A.L. Srivastava and Dr

Iswari Prasad have expressed the view that there
is no doubt in the fact that the Sultan had
ordered all citizens of Delhi to vacate it. However,
they accept that contemporary historians,
probably, exaggerated the details.

The Sultan arranged all possible measures for the

comfort of the people during their journey from
Delhi to Daultabad. Shady trees were planted all
along the route, free food and drinking water
were supplied to the people after every two miles
of journey, all were provided means of transport,
all were compensated for the loss which they
incurred in leaving their assets at Delhi and all
were provided free residence and food at
Daultabad. Yet, there is no doubt that with all
these comforts, the forty days’ journey from Delhi
to Daultabad was an extremely tormenting
experience for the people of Delhi.
This scheme of the Sultan failed completely.
Isami wrote that Delhi could be repopulated after
fourteen years. It seems to be an exaggeration.
Realising the failure of his scheme, the Sultan
had permitted the people to return to Delhi in
1335 A.D. The scheme failed due to various
reasons. The Sultan committed blunder when he
asked the people or even the elite of Delhi to go to
Daultabad en masse.

He ought to have shifted only his court and the

rest would have followed themselves. The
common people were neither prepared to shift
themselves to an unknown distant place nor
there was any necessity of it. Besides, Daultabad
was no good choice to be the capital of the empire
as compared to Delhi.

Daultabad was a distant city from the north-west

frontier of the empire. It was difficult to resist
invasions of the Mongols from there. Moreover,
the consolidated north India provided better
security to the empire as compared to newly
conquered South. Thus, the Sultan made wrong
choice of the place and adopted wrong methods
to transfer his capital. Therefore, his scheme
failed.

Domestic Policy # 5. The Introduction of

Token Currency (1329-1330 A.D.):
Muhammad Tughluq introduced beautiful and
various types of coins during his reign and fixed
up their relative values. However, the notable
feature of his coinage system was the
introduction of token currency and issue of
copper and brass coins. According to Barani, the
Sultan introduced token currency because the
treasury was empty while he needed money to
fulfill his schemes of conquest.

Iran had attempted this experiment though it

failed, but China had attempted the measure
successfully. Probably, the Sultan was inspired to
pursue this scheme by examples of these foreign
countries. Modern historians have given another
reason. They say that there was worldwide
shortage of silver at that time and India too faced
its serious shortage. Therefore, the Sultan was
forced to issue token currency.

According to Barani, the Sultan issued copper

coins while Ferishta says that these were of brass
or bronze. Probably, the Sultan issued coins of
both metals. The Sultan made these token coins
legal tenders and kept their value at par with gold
and silver coins. Previously, the copper coin was
Jital (Paisa). Now, the Sultan issued Tanka
(rupee), a silver coin, also that of copper.

This scheme of the Sultan also failed miserably.

Dr M. Hussain has justified this scheme of
Muhammad Tughluq and regards it on the whole
quite good and statesmanlike though he has
stated that the Sultan did not adopt those
measures which were necessary to make that
experiment successful.

Professor Habib blamed the citizens for the

failure of this scheme because they did not try to
judge the metal of these new coins as they used to
judge the silver and gold coins and therefore,
failed to discriminate between genuine and
imitated false coins.

But, rest of the historians have blamed the Sultan

for the failure of the scheme. They say that it was
a blunder on the part of the Sultan that he did not
take proper precaution to check imitation of
coins issued by royal mints.

Those coins, therefore, could be imitated by

moderately skilled artisans. Therefore, the
citizens began to mint token coins in their
houses. In fact, both the Sultan and his subjects
were responsible for the failure of this scheme.
While the Sultan did not take sufficient
safeguards to avoid imitation of coins, the people
misused the opportunity and themselves minted
token coins on a large scale.

According to Barani, “The house of every

Hindu became a mint.” However, there is no
reason to believe that the Muslims resisted the
temptation. Rather, whosoever could afford to
imitate the coins did it and the market was
flooded with fake coins.
The farmers paid their revenue in token currency,
the people paid their taxes in it and the traders
too desired to give token currency while each of
them tried to hoard silver and gold coins in his
house. The result was that the gold and silver
coins disappeared from the market and the trade,
particularly the foreign trade, suffered seriously.

The token currency was kept in the market only

for three or four years. The Sultan realised the
failure of his scheme and, in all good faith,
withdrew the entire token currency. The people
were asked to return the token coins and, in
exchange, were paid back gold and silver coins by
royal treasury. Of course, the false coins were
rejected by the treasury but, at the same time,
nobody was punished on that account.

Thus, Muhammad Tughlaq failed to carry any of

his schemes to success. It has been expressed in
favour of the Sultan that his measures were
ahead of his time, his subjects and officials failed
to understand the worth of his schemes and
therefore, did not cooperate with him to bring
them to success. But this alone is not sufficient to
explain the causes of failure of the schemes of the
Sultan.

The Sultan himself was responsible for the failure

of his schemes to a large extent. The Sultan
possessed an imaginative mind but lacked
practical wisdom. He, therefore, could formulate
new schemes which, probably, were sound in
principles but he failed to devise practical
measures to bring them to success. The Sultan
lacked patience also. He desired quick success,
even minor failure enraged him and when
desired results could not be achieved quickly, he
abandoned his scheme in haste.

The Sultan was also not a good judge of men and

circumstances. He, therefore, lacked those
qualities which could make him a successful
leader of a group of people. All these weaknesses
contributed to failures of his schemes. Therefore,
the character of the Sultan himself was largely
responsible for his failures.

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