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From which country did Ibn-Batuta reach India. Why did he say that
Muhammad-Bin-Tughlaq had contradictory qualities?
Answers
Answer:
Ibn Batuta was a Moroccan traveller (Africa).
He said so becoz:
There was no other ruler in medieval India who was as controversial as Muhammad bin Tughlaq. He was known for his strange and impulsive behaviour which caused great hardship and suffering to his courtiers and the common people.
Explanation:
One of his most controversial measures was his order to transfer the capital (1323-27) from Delhi to Devagiri, which he named Daulatabad.
According to some historians and legend, the common people including the old, sick and infirm were forced to move and those who resisted were beaten and abused by his men.
Muhammad Tughlaq’s rationale for shifting the capital was that Deccan was a new conquered territory and Muslims were in small number. the empire of the sultan had become extended and Daulatabad was in the centre, and strategically important compared to Delhi and Tughlaq believed that this new capital would be kept safe from Mongol invasions.
However, the plan became a failure and all the people finally returned to Delhi in 1335. Eventually, all the suffering and expenses involved in the transfer of the capital was for nothing and only served the purpose of assuaging the whims of the eccentric sultan.
The consequences for Delhi were very grave because not only had she lost her people but also her former prosperity and grandeur.
The sultan tried his best to make amends and invited many scholars and artistes to settle in the city. However the impact of this incident was far-reaching and when Ibn Battuta came to Delhi in 1334 he found certain parts of the city still deserted.
There was widespread resentment against the sultan and the bitterness stayed on for years to come. He earned the epithet of ‘pagla Tughlaq’. When he finally died in 1351, one wry contemporary observer, Badauni observed, ‘…and so the king was freed from his people, and they from him.’
In 1330, after his failed expedition to Devagiri, he issued token currency; that is coins of brass and copper were minted whose value was equal to that of gold and silver coins. Historian Ziauddin Barani felt that this step was taken by Tughluq as he wanted to annex all the inhabited areas of the world for which a treasury was required to pay the army. Barani had also written that the sultan's treasury had been exhausted by his action of giving rewards and gifts in gold. In the rural areas, officials like the muqaddams paid the revenue in brass and copper coins and also used the same coins to purchase arms and horses. As a result, the value of coins decreased, and, in the words of Satish Chandra, the coins became "as worthless as stones". This also disrupted trade and commerce. The token currency had inscriptions in Persian and Arabic marking the use of new coins instead of the royal seal and so the citizens could not distinguish between the official and the forged coins. Records show that the use of token currency has stopped in 1333 as Ibn Battuta who came to Delhi in 1334 and wrote a journal made no mention of this currency.
Hope this helps!
A. Rosea •~•