Tughlaq dynasty

The Tughlaq dynasty was the third dynasty of the Delhi Sultanate, ruling from 1320 to 1413. It was founded by Ghazi Malik, a Khalji governor of Punjab, who took Delhi in 1320, assumed the title Ghiyath al-Din Tughluq and built the fortress city of Tughlaqabad east of the capital. His son Muhammad bin Tughluq, who reigned from 1325 to 1351, carried the sultanate to its greatest extent, campaigning in the Deccan, Bengal and Central Asia, but his experiments with token currency and the transfer of the capital to Daulatabad proved costly and provoked revolts. Firoz Shah Tughlaq, who followed, rebuilt canals, towns and monuments and is remembered as a builder, though his policies weakened central authority. The sultanate began to fragment after his death in 1388, and the sack of Delhi by Timur in 1398-99 destroyed what remained of its prestige. The last Tughlaq, Nasir-ud-Din Mahmud Shah, was deposed in 1413 by Khizr Khan, who founded the Sayyid dynasty. Tughlaq architecture, with its austere stone walls and battered sloping sides, marks a distinct phase in the development of Indo-Islamic building.