Successors of Firuz Tughluq and Amir Timurs Invasion

Successors of Firuz Tughluq and Amir Timur’s Invasion (1388– 1413)

• Sultan Ghiyath-ud-din Tughluq Shah (1388– 1389) • Sultan Abu Bakr Shah (1389– 1390) • Sultan Muhammad Shah (1390– 1394) • Sultan Ala-ud-din Sikandar Shah (1394) • Sultan Nusrat Shah (1394– 1398) • Sultan Mahmud Tughlaq (1394– 1412/1413)

Amir Taimur’s Invasion of India (1398 -99) § Amir Taimur (b. 1336 -d. 1405), also known as Tamerlane, was the king of Samarkand in Central Asia, and the leader of the Chughtai clan of Turks. § He invaded India in 1398 -99. § Turkish armies of Taimur destroyed granaries and standing crops § Many famous cities and towns were burnt, and their population was either massacred or enslaved. § He invaded India in 1398, and one city after another, he captured Delhi in 1399 § He ordered a wholesale massacre of the inhabitants of Delhi. § After few days, he went back with slaves and a huge booty.

• Before leaving India, he appointed an eminent noble and the Governor of the Punajb. • Khizr Khan Saiyyid (the future Sultan of Delhi) as his viceroy in the Punjab and Upper Sindh. • Very soon, famine and pestilence fell upon parts of north India, which added to the misery of those who had survived the brutalities of Taimur’s army. • The invasion contributed to the decline of the Delhi Sultanate • Many local chiefs and provincial governors became independent • The invasion also indicated military weakness of the Sultanate of Delhi to outsiders, which paved the way for further foreign invasions in India in future.