ASKiIMAN™ MEDIEVAL / HISTORY
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Firuz Shah Tughlaq

Realm 34: Public Works, Canals, Orthodoxy, and the Department of Slaves

WORLD E — DELHI SULTANATE

MICRO-REALM 01

Accession & Inheritance

  • Cousin of Muhammad bin Tughlaq.
  • Chosen by nobles and Ulema after a brief succession crisis (1351).
  • Inherited a fragmented, rebellious empire.
  • Reluctant ruler, lacking military ambition or ruthlessness.
MICRO-REALM 02

Orthodoxy & Appeasement

SHARIA
  • Ruled strictly according to Islamic Sharia law to appease the Ulema.
  • Abolished practices considered un-Islamic (e.g., painting murals).
  • Strictly imposed the Jizya (tax) on non-Muslims.
  • First Sultan to impose Jizya even on Brahmins.
MICRO-REALM 03

Public Works & Architecture

  • Greatest builder among the Delhi Sultans.
  • Founded new cities: Firuzabad, Jaunpur, Hisar, Fatehabad.
  • Repaired the Qutb Minar (after lightning strike) and Hauz Khas.
  • Relocated two Ashokan pillars to Delhi.
MICRO-REALM 04

Canal Networks

  • Pioneered extensive irrigation projects in North India.
  • Yamuna to Hisar canal; Sutlej to Hansi canal.
  • Led to a massive agricultural boom and surplus.
  • Imposed a 10% water tax (*Haqq-i-sharb*) on farmers using canals.
MICRO-REALM 05

Diwan-i-Bandagan

  • Established a separate Department of Slaves.
  • Amassed an unprecedented 180,000 slaves.
  • Trained as artisans in royal *karkhanas* (workshops) or as royal guards.
  • Ultimately created a powerful faction that destabilized the state after his death.
MICRO-REALM 06

Welfare State (Khairat)

  • Created *Diwan-i-Khairat* (Department of Charity).
  • Provided financial aid for the marriage of poor Muslim girls.
  • Established *Dar-ul-Shifa* (free charitable hospitals) in Delhi.
  • Set up employment bureaus for the jobless.
MICRO-REALM 07

Economic Reforms

  • Abolished 24 oppressive/un-Islamic taxes, keeping only Kharaj, Zakat, Jizya, and Khums.
  • Planted 1,200 fruit orchards around Delhi, generating massive royal revenue.
  • Made the *Iqta* (land grant) system hereditary, pleasing nobles.
  • Hereditary system deeply weakened central military control.
MICRO-REALM 08

Military Weakness

  • Lacked military ambition; accepted the loss of Deccan and Bengal.
  • Two failed campaigns to recover Bengal (Ilyas Shahi dynasty).
  • Campaign in Sindh (Thatta) was a logistical disaster.
  • Paid soldiers via land assignments rather than cash, reducing discipline.
MICRO-REALM 09

Patronage of Learning

अ
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  • Captured the Jwalamukhi temple library during the Kangra campaign.
  • Ordered translation of 300 Sanskrit works on astronomy/music into Persian (*Dalail-i-Firuz Shahi*).
  • Patronized historians like Ziauddin Barani and Shams-i Siraj Afif.
  • Wrote his own autobiography (*Futuhat-i-Firuz Shahi*).
MICRO-REALM 10

Decline & Succession

  • Died in 1388 CE at an advanced age.
  • His death triggered a bitter civil war among his slaves and nobles.
  • The hereditary Iqta system fragmented the empire into independent provinces.
  • Paved the way for the catastrophic invasion by Timur a decade later (1398).