Delhi under Firoz Shah Tuglaq: Reign of the third ruler of Tughlaq dynasty

Topics covered:

1. Indian culture will cover the salient aspects of Art Forms, Literature and Architecture from ancient to modern times.

Delhi under Firoz Shah Tuglaq: Reign of the third ruler of Tughlaq dynasty

What to study?

For Prelims: Contributions and reign of Firoz Shah.

For Mains: Concerns associated with frequent renaming of places.

Context: Delhi’s Feroz Shah Kotla stadium is set to be renamed Arun Jaitley Stadium after the former Finance Minister.

The stadium took its name from a 14th century fortress Firoz Shah Tughlaq.

About Firoz Shah Tughlaq:

• Born in 1309 and ascended the throne of Delhi after the demise of his cousin Muhammad-bin-Tughlaq.
• He was the third ruler of Tughlaq dynasty that ruled over Delhi from 1320 to 1412 AD. Tughlaq was in power from 1351 to 1388 AD.
• He was the one who started the imposition of Jaziya.
• He provided the principle of inheritance to the armed forces where the officers were permitted to rest and send their children in army in their place. However, they were not paid in real money but by land.
• The British called him the ‘father of the irrigation department’ because of the many gardens and canals that he built.

Contributions:

1. established the Diwan-i-Khairat — office for charity.
2. established the Diwan-i-Bundagan — department of slave
3. established Sarais (rest house) for the benefits of merchants and other travellers
4. adopted the Iqtadari framework.
5. Established four new towns, Firozabad, Fatehabad, Jaunpur and Hissar.
6. established hospitals known as Darul-Shifa, Bimaristan or Shifa Khana.

He constructed canals from:

1. Yamuna to the city of Hissar.
2. Sutlej to the Ghaggar.
3. Ghaggar to Firozabad.
4. Mandvi and Sirmour Hills to Hansi in Haryana.

Taxes imposed under Firoz Shah Tughlaq:

1. Kharaj: land tax which was equal to one-tenth of the produce of the land.
2. Zakat: two and a half per cent tax on property realized from the Muslims.
3. Kham: one-fifth of the booty captured (four-fifth was left for the soldiers).
4. Jaziya: levied on the non-Muslim subjects, particularly the Hindus. Women and children were, however, exempted from the taxes.

Also levied other taxes like the irrigation tax, garden tax, octroi tax and the sales tax.

Sources: the Hindu.