The Delhi Sultanate — Part 5: Firuz Shah Tughlaq, Timur's Invasion & The Sayyid Dynasty

4.3 Firuz Shah Tughlaq (1351–1388) — Public Works and Reforms

Firuz Shah Tughlaq, a cousin of Muhammad bin Tughlaq, was proclaimed Sultan by the nobility. His reign marked a deliberate return to orthodoxy and welfare, rather than military expansion.

Public works:

• Built a network of canals connecting major rivers to facilitate irrigation in arid zones; Shams Siraj Afif's Tarikh-i Firuz Shahi provides the only detailed reference to Firuz's revenues and his extensive canal network.
• Established hospitals (bimaristan) providing free food and medicines.
• Founded new cities: Firozabad (Delhi), Firuzpur, Hissar, Jaunpur, Fatehabad.
• Repaired and restored historical monuments, including transporting Ashokan pillars to Delhi.
• Constructed 150+ wells, 100+ bridges, and 50+ dams.
• His memoir Futuhat-i Firuz Shahi (inscribed on the Jami Mosque of Firuzabad) records his charitable and building activities.

Administrative and fiscal measures:

• Abolished many taxes deemed contrary to Islamic law; retained only the four canonical taxes (kharaj, jizya, zakat, khumsa).
• Re-introduced and enhanced the jizya (tax on non-Muslim subjects).
• Established a state employment bureau (diwan-i khairat) and a welfare department for slaves (diwan-i bandagan); he reportedly owned approximately 180,000 slaves.
• Made iqtas hereditary — a well-intentioned measure that weakened central control and planted seeds for future fragmentation.

Military: Firuz conducted expeditions to Bengal (1353 and 1358), Jajnagar, Nagarkot, and Thatta, with mixed results. His campaigns lacked the decisive quality of earlier Sultans.

Firuz died in 1388 and was buried in the Hauz Khas complex he had built. After his death, the Tughlaq dynasty rapidly collapsed into factional anarchy.

4.4 Timur's Invasion (1398)

In 1398, Timur (Tamerlane), the ferocious Turkic-Mongol conqueror from Samarkand, invaded northwest India. His stated objectives — recorded in his memoirs — were to 'wage war with the infidels and to gain something by plundering the wealth of the infidels.'

• Timur's forces defeated the last effective Tughlaq ruler outside Delhi.
• Delhi was mercilessly sacked; large numbers were killed or enslaved.
• Timur withdrew with enormous plunder, leaving chaos behind.
• The Tughlaq dynasty never recovered; it formally ended in 1414.

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5. The Sayyid Dynasty (1414–1451)

The Sayyid dynasty, which claimed descent from the Prophet Muhammad, was founded by Khizr Khan (1414–1421), who had been Timur's deputy in Punjab. He ruled as a Timurid vassal, not as an independent sovereign — he did not claim the title Sultan, using instead 'Rayat-i Ala' (holder of the royal standard).

The four Sayyid rulers were:

1. Khizr Khan (1414–1421): Loyal Timurid vassal; spent his reign suppressing revolts by Rajput chiefs and provincial governors.
2. Mubarak Shah (1421–1434): Assumed the title Sultan; extended Sultanate authority somewhat; patron of the historian Yahya bin Ahmad Sirhindi, whose Tarikh-i Mubarak Shahi covers this reign.
3. Muhammad Shah (1434–1445): Increasingly dependent on Bahlul Khan Lodi (a powerful Afghan noble in Punjab), who engineered his downfall.
4. Alauddin Alam Shah (1445–1451): The weakest Sayyid ruler; voluntarily surrendered the throne to Bahlul Lodi in 1451 and retired to Badaun.

The Sayyid period was characterised by near-continuous warfare against provincial chiefs, severely reduced territory (the Sultanate barely controlled Delhi and its immediate environs), and complete dependence on powerful nobles. The dynasty represented the Sultanate as a shadow state, surviving in name more than in substance.

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