When did the Tughlaq Dynasty exist?

The Tughlaq Dynasty existed 1320 – 1413. On this map it is drawn 1326–1414.

How large was the Tughlaq Dynasty?

At its greatest extent drawn on this map, the Tughlaq Dynasty covered about 2.5 million km². That is the largest area the border data gives it across the years it is drawn, not necessarily its greatest extent in history.

South Asia · Sultanates and the south

Tughlaq Dynasty

Sultanate (third dynasty of the Delhi Sultanate) · 1320 – 1413

The dynasty was founded by Ghazi Malik, governor of Punjab under the Khaljis, of probable Turko-Mongol (Qarauna) origin — Ibn Battuta says the Qarauna tribe of Turks between Turkestan and Sindh, in fact Mongols. In 1320 Delhi's aristocracy invited him to overthrow Khusro Khan, the converted Hindu slave who had seized the throne and reverted from Islam; Ghazi Malik killed him and took the title Ghiyath al-Din Tughluq.

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Type: Sultanate (third dynasty of the Delhi Sultanate)
Existed: 1320 – 1413
Shown on the map: 1326–1414
Heartland: most of the Indian subcontinent
Peak area: c. 2.5 million km² at peak (1330–1335)
Region: South Asia

Origins and founding

Capitals and territory

Delhi remained the capital; Ghiyasuddin built the fortified city of Tughlakabad 6 km east of Delhi, and Muhammad bin Tughluq briefly made Daulatabad (Deogiri) a second administrative capital, forcibly migrating Delhi's Muslim elite there. At its peak (1330–1335) the sultanate covered nearly the whole subcontinent.

Major rulers and key events

Ghiyath al-Din (1320–1325) conquered Warangal (renamed Sultanpur) and campaigned in Bengal, then died in the suspicious collapse of a wooden pavilion (kushk) — widely attributed to his son Jauna Khan, who ruled as Muhammad bin Tughluq (1325–1351). Muhammad's reign saw maximum expansion and equally dramatic collapse: punitive taxation (up to twentyfold increases in the Doab), a failed token copper/brass currency that caused economic ruin and mass counterfeiting, a seven-year famine from 1335, a disastrous Himalayan expedition against Kangra (c. 1333) in which nearly 100,000 soldiers perished, and planned invasions of Khurasan and China that were abandoned. Revolts detached Bengal, the Deccan (the Bahmani Sultanate, 1347), and the south (Vijayanagara, 1336; Madurai Sultanate, 1335). Firuz Shah Tughlaq (1351–1388) ruled more moderately, abolished tortures, built canals (Yamuna–Ghaggar, Yamuna–Sutlej), madrasas and the Feroz Shah Kotla citadel, and failed in two campaigns to recover Bengal (1353, 1359). Timur's sack of Delhi in 1398–99 — with over 100,000 prisoners massacred — destroyed what remained.

Government, economy and culture

Administration ran on the iqta system, with na'ibs contracted to extract taxes from largely non-Muslim peasantry and remit fixed sums; Firuz Shah shifted the na'ib–Sultan split of surplus revenue from 20:80 to 80:20. Currency was the taka; a slave market flourished. The dynasty patronised a distinctive austere Indo-Islamic architecture (Tughlaqabad, Shah Rukn-e-Alam's tomb at Multan, Feroz Shah Kotla with its re-erected Ashokan pillar). Ibn Battuta served as a qadi at Muhammad's court and left a detailed memoir of its splendour and cruelty.

Decline and end

After Firuz Shah's death in 1388, two civil wars (from 1384 and 1394) split the sultanate into rival courts at Delhi and Firozabad; Timur finished the process. Nasir-ud-Din Mahmud Shah lingered until 1413; in 1414 Khizr Khan entered Delhi and founded the Sayyid dynasty, while Gujarat, Malwa, Jaunpur, Bengal and the Rajput states had already broken away.

Legacy and significance

The Tughlaqs mark both the maximum territorial reach of the Delhi Sultanate and its decisive fragmentation; their failures seeded the durable regional sultanates and the Vijayanagara–Bahmani polarity that defined the late medieval Deccan.

Common questions

What was the Tughlaq Dynasty?: The dynasty was founded by Ghazi Malik, governor of Punjab under the Khaljis, of probable Turko-Mongol (Qarauna) origin — Ibn Battuta says the Qarauna tribe of Turks between Turkestan and Sindh, in fact Mongols. In 1320 Delhi's aristocracy invited him to overthrow Khusro Khan, the converted Hindu slave who had seized the throne and reverted from Islam; Ghazi Malik killed him and took the title Ghiyath al-Din Tughluq.
When did the Tughlaq Dynasty exist?: The Tughlaq Dynasty existed 1320 – 1413. On this map it is drawn 1326–1414.
How large was the Tughlaq Dynasty?: At its greatest extent drawn on this map, the Tughlaq Dynasty covered about 2.5 million km². That is the largest area the border data gives it across the years it is drawn, not necessarily its greatest extent in history.
Where was the Tughlaq Dynasty?: Delhi remained the capital; Ghiyasuddin built the fortified city of Tughlakabad 6 km east of Delhi, and Muhammad bin Tughluq briefly made Daulatabad (Deogiri) a second administrative capital, forcibly migrating Delhi's Muslim elite there. At its peak (1330–1335) the sultanate covered nearly the whole subcontinent.
Who ruled the Tughlaq Dynasty?: Ghiyath al-Din (1320–1325) conquered Warangal (renamed Sultanpur) and campaigned in Bengal, then died in the suspicious collapse of a wooden pavilion (kushk) — widely attributed to his son Jauna Khan, who ruled as Muhammad bin Tughluq (1325–1351).
How did the Tughlaq Dynasty end?: After Firuz Shah's death in 1388, two civil wars (from 1384 and 1394) split the sultanate into rival courts at Delhi and Firozabad; Timur finished the process. Nasir-ud-Din Mahmud Shah lingered until 1413; in 1414 Khizr Khan entered Delhi and founded the Sayyid dynasty, while Gujarat, Malwa, Jaunpur, Bengal and the Rajput states had already broken away.
How was the Tughlaq Dynasty governed?: Administration ran on the iqta system, with na'ibs contracted to extract taxes from largely non-Muslim peasantry and remit fixed sums; Firuz Shah shifted the na'ib–Sultan split of surplus revenue from 20:80 to 80:20.
Why does the Tughlaq Dynasty still matter?: The Tughlaqs mark both the maximum territorial reach of the Delhi Sultanate and its decisive fragmentation; their failures seeded the durable regional sultanates and the Vijayanagara–Bahmani polarity that defined the late medieval Deccan.

Sources

Every source below was consulted while writing this entry.

Wikipedia: Tughlaq dynasty en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tughlaq_dynasty

This entry was written from the sources above and last updated 10 September 2026.

This entry was researched and drafted with AI from the sources above, and has not been reviewed by a historian. How entries are made

Text available under CC BY-SA 4.0: reuse it with a credit to The World Through Time and a link to this page. Passages drawing on the Wikipedia articles listed above are also licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 by their contributors.

Border geometry for the map itself comes from Cliopatria v0.12 (Seshat Global History Databank, CC-BY-4.0).

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