Administrative reforms (experiments) of Mohammad-bin Tughalak: In 1325 CE Prince Jaunakhan, son of Ghiyasuddin (founder) ascended the throne with the title Mohammed- bin Tughalak. He was an outstanding ruler of the Tughalak dynasty.
He is known for his military, economic and administrative experiments.
1. Register of the land revenue: Main objective of this experiment was to introduce the universal land taxation throughout the Empire. He created an agricultural department to regularise the land revenue registers.
2. Tax increase in Doab area: The area between the rivers Ganga and Yamuna (doab) was the most fertile land of the Empire and capable of yielding a large revenue to the state. Mohammad-bin Tughalak decided to increase the taxes for that area only. But, he enforced the new tax at the time of a famine. People were hard hit by the burden of taxation. Revenue collection was also very strict. When the farmers were unable to pay, this measure made him extremely unpopular. He tried to make amends later, but it was too late. The scheme failed through mismanagement and corruption.
3. Transfer of the capital in 1327 CE: Mahammad-bin-Tughalak decided to transfer his capital from Delhi to Devagiri (Daulatabad).
His main objectives were:
(1) (Devagiri) occupied a central location in India and it was nearly equidistant (700 miles) from Delhi, Gujarath, Telangana and other places of his Empire.
(2) He wanted to safeguard his capital from the Mongol invasions. He beautified Devagiri and made arrangements to provide all basic amenities, but he blundered while implementing his ideas. He transported the whole population of Delhi to his new capital. Ibn Batuta says that even a blind man and a cripple who were unwilling to move, were dragged to the new capital. Reasons for the shifting of the capital were veiy practical, but the method . was impractical. The entire population of Delhi was made to march to Daulatabad.
The tiresome journey passing through dense forest, heavy rains, diseases, attacks by decoits, hunger, mental agony etc resulted in death and sufferings of many. The Sultan finally realising the folly of this plan, reshifted the court back to Delhi and ordered a return march of the people. The entire episode made him unpopular. According to Leen Pool – Daulatabad was a ‘Monument of misdirected energy’. This scheme failed on account of the Sultan’s faulty method of implementing it.
4. Token currency circulation in 1329 CE : Mohammed-binTughalak carried out experiments on coinage and currency because maintaining a large army, relief given to farmers due to the Doab famine, transfer exercise of the capital, his unsuccessful expeditions, scarcity of silver etc., caused much loss to the treasury. Hence, to increase the amount of currency, the Sultan issued token coins of copper and brass tanka whose value was equivalent to gold and silver coins. Minting of the copper coins was not retained as the monopoly of the Government. Thornes described him as ‘The Prince of Moncyers’ and a currency expert.
The currency experiment was a miserable failure and the causes for its failure were:
- People could not grasp its real significance
- Sultan did not take the precautionary measure of minting of coins to be the monopoly of the state. Almost every household turned into a mint and he failed to take precaution against the glut of counterfeit coins.
- Foreign merchants refused to accept the copper coins, because gold coins were used as a standard unit of exchange.
- People paid their taxes in their own copper coins and hoarded gold and silver and as a result, treasury was filled with counterfeit coins.
Due to the above causes, trade was seriously affected and Sultan realised his folly and withdrew the new copper coins in 1333-34 CE. He announced that the copper coins would be redeemed with gold and silver coins. People exchanged their copper coins with gold and silver coins and the treasury became completely depleted.
Mohammad-bin-Tughalak was an extraordinary personality and it is difficult to understand his character and determine his place in history. He lacked practical judgement and common sense. He evolved an idealistic approach by trying to put his theoretical experiments into practice without any forethought about the consequences. According to scholars, he was ‘a mixture of opposites’. Dr. Eshwari prasad remarks that ‘Mohammad appears to be an amazing compound of contradiction’. He possessed sound knowledge, but his policies though well-meant, were ill planned and badly executed.
