Firuz Shah Tughlaq was the successor of Mohammed Bin Tughlaq. Firuz Shah was a caring ruler unlike Mohammed bin Tughlaq. He made sure that people in his kingdom were happy and heard out their problems patiently. However, he was not militarily strong and could not sustain any sort of external attacks or aggression. Firuz Shah breathed his last in the year 1388 and after that the Tughlaq dynasty faded away in no time.
Firuz was born in 1309. He was Muhammad’s cousin. Firuz was at Thatta when Muh~mmad-bin- Tughlaq breathed his last in 1351. He was chosen the Sultan by the nobles.
Firuz was of a merciful and pious disposition, and he preferred peace to the glories of conquest. He was a true friend of the peasants and he cancelled the loans which had been advanced by his predecessor. He reduced taxation to the limits prescribed by the Quran. Agriculture was developed by the reclamation of waste lands and by providing irrigation facilities. Firuz mitigated the severity of the criminal law by abolishing torture and mutilation as forms of punishment. His other measures included the establishment of a charitable department in Delhi (diwan-i-khairat).
Firuz re-introduced the system of jagirs or grant of land with its revenue to his military officers in lieu of cash salaries. He decreed hereditary succession to iqta.
Firuz Tughlaq was an enthusiastic builder and is famous for his enlightened public works. He built a new capital at Delhi and named it Firuzabad. Its ruins are the Kotla Firuz Shah. He also founded the cities of Hissar, Fatehabad, Firuzpur and Jaunpur. Firuz Tughlaq constructed the Yamuna canal to supply water to the cities of Firuzpur and Hissar.
He built the Kali Masjid and Lal Gumbad. He had two of Asoka’s pillars brought to Delhi; one from Khizrabad and the other from Meerut. Barani and AsH wrote noteworthy historical works in his reign.
Firuz Shah himself authored the Fatuhat-i-Firuz Shahi. He got several Sanskrit works translated into Persian. Firuz is also credited with organising the institution of slavery into a system. He took special care to maintain and educate the slaves, and utilise their services as soldiers, bodyguards and artisans.
Firuz declared his principle of levying taxes strictly according to the Shariat. As such, he insisted on the payment of jaziya by all non-Muslims. He was the first Muslim sultan to strictly impose jaziya on the brahmans who had so far been allowed to escape the tax. Surprisingly for a man of humanitarian actions, Firuz was intolerant towards nonMuslims especially in his later years; within the Muslim community, Firuz accepted only the Sunnis not the Shias or Ismailis. He is reported to have demolished Hindu temples. He is also supposed to have publicly burnt a brahman for preaching to Muslims. He got the painted murals in his own palaces erased.
Firuz Tughlaq is largely held responsible for the downfall of the Tughlaq dynasty. His revival of the jagir system and establishment of a slave system proved ruinous for the kingdom. On top of this, his intolerant religious policy alienated the Hindus and Shias. His death was followed by succession wars and only a small area around Delhi remained with the Tughlaqs.
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