AD 1300 – AD 1400
1296 – 1316 – Alauddin Khilji ruled Delhi for
almost 20 years. He built a new city Siri, madrasas [schools], and
water reservoirs. Amir Khusro wrote in his time. Amir Khusro –
poet/musician. Real name Abdul Hassan. Called himself Sultani and Amir
Khusro. Father a Muslim and mother a Hindu. Wrote in Hindi and Persian.
1311 – Constructed the Alai Darwaza –
considered by
some as the finest building in the Qutab Minar complex. It is a cube made
of sandstone and marble.
1316 – Alauddin Khilji died. Weak successors.
1320 – Qutubuddin Mubarak Shah died. His
successor Nasiruddin Mohammad killed by Ghiasuddin Tughlaq who took
control of Delhi.
1320 – 1325 – During his five-year reign,
Ghiasuddin
Tughlaq built a new city called Tughlaqabad. River Jamuna receded and the
new city became deserted. He married a Hindu princess and so did his son
Juna.
1324 – Khwaja Nizamuddin– Sufi saint, dervish
of Ghiaspur, the first Sufi in Delhi passed away. Buried in the centre of
the Nizamuddin mosque courtyard. Hazrat Roshan Chiragh named his
successor. Amir Khusro also passed away few weeks later. Also buried in
the Nizamuddin mosque.
1325 - Ghiasuddin Tughlaq died as an archway fell
on him. His son Mohammad bin Tughlaq succeeded him.
1325 – 1351 – Mohammad bin Tughlaq built his
own capital Jahanpanah. Barni chronicler of Tughlaq.
1327 – moved capital from Delhi to Daulatabad –
700 miles south of Delhi. Thousands of citizens died in this enforced
move.
1332 – Moved back to Delhi.
1351 – Mohammad bin Tughlaq died near Thatta
1351 – His nephew Feroz Shah Tughlaq ascended
throne of Delhi. An enlightened ruler, he founded 70 dispensaries and a
hospital. Raised mosques, caravanserais, madrasas, canals. Gave
sanctuary to people fleeing Timur’s wrath. Built Firozabad close to the
river Yamuna. On the top of his palace Firoze had planted a pillar of
Ashoka’s time bearing Buddhist inscriptions. After Feroze, weak Tughlaqs
in Delhi.
1398 - Timur defeated Mahmud Tughlaq, entered the
regal city of Delhi and laid it to waste. The capital was at the time held
by Mallu Khan. Timur looted and plundered, took away the riches,
elephants, craftsmen, and bequeathed the sultanate to his grandson
Mohammad. Estimated that 50,000- 500,000 people killed. Only Delhi’s
stonemasons and elephants were spared and taken along to Samarkand. Wealth
looted from Delhi would last Timur’s men many generations. On the way
back ransacked Meerut and laid waste Lahore in March 1399. Destroyed many
temples. Beheaded Hindu priests. Mass burning and pillage of Delhi. City
in flames. The rampage in Delhi left so many dead that no one left to bury
the dead. Delhi deserted for many months. Left behind unprecedented
carnage – famine and plague followed. Timur was 60 at the time – 5
years earlier he had destroyed Baghdad, 3 years earlier had devastated
Russian territory.
