Muhammad bin Tughluq

Muhammad bin Tughluq (Persian: محمد بن تغلق; Persian pronunciation: [mu.ham.ˈmad bin tuɣ.ˈlaq]; 1290 – 20 March 1351), or Muhammad II, also known by his epithets, The Eccentric Prince, and The Mad Sultan, was the eighteenth Sultan of Delhi. He reigned from February 1325 until his death in March 1351. The sultan was the eldest son of Ghiyasuddin-Din Tughluq, founder of the Tughlaq dynasty. In 1321, the young Muhammad was sent by his father to the Deccan Plateau to fight a military campaign against the Kakatiya dynasty. In 1323, the future sultan successfully laid siege upon the Kakatiya capital in Warangal. This victory over King Prataparudra ended the Kakatiya dynasty.

Named Jauna Khan as Crown Prince, Muhammad ascended the throne of Delhi upon his father's death in 1325. Muhammad bin Tughluq had an interest in medicine. He was also skilled in several languages: Persian, Hindavi, Arabic, Sanskrit and Turkic. Ibn Battuta, the famous traveler and jurist from Morocco, wrote in his book about his time at the Sultan's court. Exhibiting traits of paranoid personality disorder, Muhammad was nicknamed the Wisest Fool.

Fakhr ud-Din Jauna Khan was born to Ghiyasuddin-Din Tughluq, who founded the Tughlaq dynasty after taking control of the Delhi Sultanate. He is also known as Prince Fakhr Malik Jauna Khan, Juna Khan or Ulugh Khan. Jauna Khan remarked that he was "bound to all Indians by ties of blood and relation."

Three days after the death of his father Ghiyasuddin-Din Tughlaq, Muhammad bin Tughlaq ascended the throne of Tughlaq dynasty of Delhi on 4 February 1325. In his reign, he conquered Warangal (in present-day Telangana, India), Ma'abar (Kayalpatnam) and Madurai (Tamil Nadu, India), and areas up to the modern day southern tip of the Indian state of Karnataka. In the conquered territories, Tughluq created a new set of revenue officials to assess the financial aspects of the area. Their accounts helped the audit in the office of the wazir.

Muhammad bin Tughluq was also known for his tolerance for other religions. Several historians mention that the Sultan honored the Jain monk Jinaprabha Suri during the year 1328. Peter Jackson mentions that Muhammad was the only Sultan who participated in Hindu festivities.

In 1327, Tughluq ordered to move his capital from Delhi to Daulatabad (also known as Devagiri) (in present-day Maharashtra) in the Deccan region of India. Muhammad bin Tughlaq himself had spent a number of years as a prince on campaign in the southern states during the reign of his father. Daulatabad was also situated at a central place so the administration of both the north and the south could be possible.^{[unreliable source?]} These elite colonists from Delhi were Urdu-speakers, who carried the Urdu language to the Deccan. These immigrants included Hasan Gangu, a celebrated general who would later found the Bahmanid Empire.

A broad road was constructed for convenience. Shady trees were planted on both sides of the road; he set up halting stations at an interval of two miles. Provisions for food and water were also made available at the stations but most of the people died during the shifting as the ruler was not able to provide them with enough food and water for their survival. Tughluq established a khanqah at each of the stations where at least one sufi saint was stationed. A regular postal service was established between Delhi and Daulatabad. In 1329, his mother also went to Daulatabad, accompanied by the nobles. By around the same year, Tughluq summoned all the slaves, nobles, servants, ulema, sufis to the new capital. The new capital was divided into wards called mohalla with separate quarters for different people like soldiers, poets, judges, and nobles. Grants were also given by Tughluq to the immigrants. Even though the citizens migrated, they showed dissent. According to Ibn Batuta's accounts, the reason for the transfer of capital was that Tughluq shifted the capital for protection from Mongol and Afghan Invasion which was later confirmed by Historian Garner Brown. In the process, many died on the road due to hunger and exhaustion as there were not enough resources. Moreover, coins minted in Daulatabad around 1333, showed that Daulatabad was "the second capital".

In 1334, there was a rebellion in Mabar, led by the North Indian Muslim soldier, Jalaluddin Ahsan Khan Kaithali, a native of Kaithal in North India, who founded the Madurai Sultanate. While on his way to suppress the rebellion, there was an outbreak of bubonic plague at Bidar due to which Tughluq himself became ill, and many of his soldiers died. While he retreated back to Daulatabad, Mabar and Dwarsamudra broke away from Tughluq's control. This was followed by a revolt in Bengal. Fearing that the sultanate's northern borders were exposed to attacks, in 1335, he decided to shift the capital back to Delhi, forcing the citizens to return to their previous city. This caused many more deaths.