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Enjoying the privilege of a
being a capital of diverse dynasties, Delhi, has evolved as a museum
showcasing the royalty of the ruling elite's and their monumental
heritage.
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India -
Delhi - Feroze Tughlaq
Feroze Tughlaq
Muhammad-bin-Tughlaq’s unenvied successor was Feroze Tughlaq who
sure had his work cut out. Feroze was the son of Ghiyas-ud-din Tughlaq’s
brother Rajab and a Bhatti Rajput princess. There was some confusion
about Feroze’s succession as he was not the old sultan’s
son. However that was laid to rest because Muhammad himself had wanted
him as his heir. Feroze was one of those men who go through life being
competent at many things, while being brilliant at none. This was a
blessing after Muhammad-bin-Tughlaq – the last thing the
Sultanate needed now was another king full of fancy, impractical
ideas.
The
first year of Feroze’s reign was taken up in undoing the mess
that his uncle had created. He soothed the ruffled feathers of his
people, held the nobility’s hand, patched up with the army and
generally acted as a combination of nursemaid, father and friend to
his kingdom. The result was that by the end of the first year Feroze’s
ratings among his people were, what modern popularity surveys would
have called, ‘high and climbing’.
¤ Great Reforms were Undertaken
Next Feroze shifted his attention to what he’s best remembered
for, his reforms. He started with the revenue department, which thanks
to Muhammad’s, probably well-meaning gestures, was in a mess. He
scrapped all the unfair and illogical taxes that his uncle had
introduced, trimmed down the system to make it more functional and was
actually able to generate better revenue than his predecessors. Then
Feroze turned his attention to the judicial system which was rather
savage, perpetrating things like severe torture and amputation of
limbs. Under Feroze’s able handling the law became all together
new, improved and much more humane – one of the first things he
did was to firmly check the use of torture and abolish mutilation.
Among his other welfare works was the setting up a department called
Diwan-i-Khairat which arranged and took care of the expenses involved
in the marriages of girls from poor families.
¤ Formation of Ferozabad
Feroze’s passion for building rivaled, if not exceeded, that of
Augustus Caesar. He built the sixth city of Delhi,
Ferozabad, about 8km from Indraprastha. It included the present Feroze
Shah Kotla with three palaces and was protected by massive ramparts.
The ruins of Feroze Shah’s mosque also stand within the complex.
He also had two pillars of the Mauryan emperor Asoka transported to
Delhi from Topra (near Ambala) and Meerut. Both the pillars still
stand, although the latter (on the Ridge, near Bara Hindu Rao) was
partially destroyed. In 1373 and 1374 Feroze Shah built two shrines
Dargah Roshan Chiragh Delhi, near present Khirkee and Qadam-i-Sharif a
little to the south of Shahjahanabad’s Lahore Gate. The latter is
supposed to contain the sacred marble with a footprint of the prophet.
¤ Construction of Mosques
Feroze Shah also built two very interesting mosques in Khirkee and
Begumpur, near present-day Malviya Nagar in 1387. Both are no longer
in use which is slightly strange as India is crawling with mosques of
that era which are still in prayer. However even their present
dilapidated state reveals excellent craftsmanship on a spectacular
scale. In addition to it, the sultan built four mosques, 30 palaces,
200 caravanserais, five reservoirs, four hospitals, a hundred tombs,
10 baths, 10 monumental pillars, a hundred bridges, 150 wells, five
canals and 1,200 gardens. Beat that.
¤ Most Wise and Godfearing King
Contemporary writers have nothing but bouquets for Feroze Shah
Tughlaq. As far as they were concerned, there had never been a king as
just, kind, courteous and Godfearing as Feroze Shah. These were no
mere platitudes really; the king was indeed loved by his people. He
checked extortion, reformed abuses, took a serious interest in welfare
schemes and brought all-round prosperity to the kingdom. Feroze Shah
was no military general, but then no king is perfect. Unfortunately,
Feroze’s mercy knew only one colour – green. and that too
the Sunni side of it. Most of the time he seemed to have behaved as if
the Shias simply did not exist. Shades of Aurangzeb there, without the
latter’s strength of character or military ability. But to be
fair, he did in part make up for it by his constructive wisdom.
When the curtains fell on the reign of Feroze Shah Tughlaq, one of
the most brilliant epochs of Muslim rule in India ended. History had
to wait a long time before it got a king as capable as him – and
then it hit the jackpot with the illustrious Mughal Emperor
Jalal-ud-din Muhammad Akbar.
But Akbar was some time in coming, and even when he did come he chose
Agra over Delhi as his capital. Delhi sadly missed out on being the
capital of perhaps the most important and absolute monarch to rule
over India.
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