The entire reign of Muhammad Tughlaq is a sad saga of failures. His good intentions, ideals of public welfare and plans for administrative reforms came to a sad end. It is also coincidental that he faced famine and epidemic which contributed to his failure. But after studying the entire sequence of events, it becomes clear that along with adverse circumstances, he himself was also responsible for his failures.
1. Impracticality
The
Sultan was a man of imagination and his plans were original. There was no
inherent flaw in his plans like change of capital, token currency etc. but the
implementation of these plans was flawed. He did not make any effort to
convince the people or his officers or to take them along with him. Due to
this, the schemes failed, the treasury became empty and the people had to
suffer unbearable.
2. Lack of
qualified consultants
The
Sultan did not get any capable advisor to conduct the administrative work. Alauddin
Khilji had the advice and services of capable and loyal officers like Ulugh
Khan, Zafar Khan, Nusrat Khan, Alp Khan, Malik Kafur and Kotwal Alaulmulk and
they contributed to his successes. Muhammad Tughlaq did not get such loyal and
capable advisors who would fearlessly give him timely advice and protect him
from harmful actions.
3. Harsh
punishment
One
of the main reasons for Muhammad's failure was his harsh punishment policy. He
used to impose death penalty even for ordinary crimes due to which feelings of
fear and hatred had arisen towards him among the public. For the success of the
administration, a balance between pardon and punishment was necessary and at
the same time it was also necessary for the public to have faith in the justice
of the Sultan. Unfortunately, the situation worsened due to the Sultan's harsh
punishment system.
4. Religious
policy
The
Ulema class was angry with the religious policy of the Sultan. The Sultan did
not differentiate between common people and Ulemas in the matter of giving
punishment. The Sultan believed that this class had become selfish and
sycophantic and did not perform its duties towards the society and the state.
The Sultan forced people of this class to work in the army and administration.
Due to Sultan's specific Islamic ideology and progressive thoughts, this class
started considering him as an infidel. This class had influence on the public
due to which the public also became against the Sultan.
5. Opposition of
the Umrah
The
Sultan made two changes in the appointments of the Amirs. First, he appointed
ordinary people who had qualifications to umrah positions. Due to this the
hereditary class of the umrah became angry with him. Second, the Sultan
appointed foreigners to high posts. These foreigners were money-greedy and
selfish and they came to India only to accumulate wealth. Due to the
ingratitude of this class, the Sultan's difficulties increased and his reign
failed.
6. Conservatism
and backwardness of the people
It
was the misfortune of Sultan Muhammad that he did not get the support of his
people. The public was unable to understand his progressive plans. Sultan's
working style was also unsuitable for success. Due to his rashness and haste,
the public became suspicious of him due to which the Sultan did not get the
support of the public. In this situation the Sultan's failure became
inevitable.
7. Natural
disasters
Natural
disasters were also the reason for the failure of Muhammad Tughlaq. Due to the
widespread and severe famine in the Doab, the state had to suffer immense
revenue loss which led to an economic crisis. Due to the spread of the epidemic
in the south, Multan could not suppress Mabar's rebellion, which encouraged
other rebels. His army was destroyed due to rain and snow in Karachal.
8. Sultan's
character
The
root cause of his failure was his character. There were abundance of such
defects in it due to which it would have been possible for any ruler to achieve
success. The first thing was that he was stubborn and impatient by nature. He
used to get angry quickly. Therefore no one had the courage to give advice to
the Sultan. Secondly, he lacked patience and restraint. Implementing any policy
requires patience and thought. The third thing was that he was an impractical
theorist and lacked common sense. Fourth, he did not have the ability to judge
human character which is very essential for the success of administration.
There
is no doubt that the Sultan wanted to do good to the people and his actions
were motivated by goodwill, but when he started facing failure at every step,
he began to understand that in return for his generosity he was receiving
ingratitude and opposition from the people and officials. Due to this his anger
increased and as a result the severity of his punishments also increased. Thus,
a well-wishing Sultan became distant from his people and his 26-year reign
became a long sad story.
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