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During his rule, Khusraw replaced Muslim officers by Hindu officers in all
key positions of the country. These Hindu officers openly insulted Islam,
dishonored mosques and used copies of the Quran as pedestals for idols. This
situation was very difficult for the Muslim of South Asia to digest. They
gathered around a Tughluq noble popularly known as Ghazi Malik, who defeated and
killed Khusraw. He wanted to give power back to the Khalji Dynasty, but could
not find any survivor amongst the decedents of Alauddin. In this situation, the
nobles asked him to become Sultan. He ascended the throne on September 8, 1320,
and assumed the title of Ghiyas-ud-din Tughluq Shah, thus becoming the founder
of the Tughluq dynasty. The Tughluqs belonged to the Qarauna Turk tribe. After
becoming Sultan, Ghiyas-ud-din concentrated on crushing the Hindu rajas, who had
gained power during the short rule of Khusraw. He conquered Bengal, which was no
longer part of the central empire since the death of Balban. When he came back
after the successful Bengal expedition, his son Jauna Khan gave him a very warm
welcome. When Ghiyas-ud-din was taking the guard-of-honor, the special stage
that had been constructed for the occasion fell down, killing Ghiyas-ud-din and
six other people. His son Muhammad bin Tughluq succeeded him. Muhammad Tughluq
was a man of ideas. He tried to implement a number of his own schemes.
Unfortunately for him, almost all his schemes failed and he became unpopular
amongst the masses. When he died, his cousin, Firuz Shah was raised to the
status of Sultan. Firuz Shah's long rule of 37 years is known for his marvelous
administrative reforms. Due to old age, Firuz Shah handed over power to his son
Muhammad Shah during his lifetime. The new Sultan proved incompetent and was not
liked by the nobles. A civil war like situation was created. Firuz Shah helped
in cooling down the tension and replaced Muhammad Shah with Ghiyas-ud-din, his
grandson, as Sultan. However, after the death of Firuz Shah in 1388, a tussle
once again began between the power-hungry princes of the house of Tughluqs. The
nobles, who in order to gain more power, started supporting one prince or the
other, further worsened the situation. This period of fighting amongst the
Tughluq princes continued for about quarter of a century. Amir Timur's invasion
on Delhi in 1398 further destroyed the political and economic standing of the
Tughluqs. The dynasty eventually came to an end in 1414 when Khizar Khan founded
the Saiyid Dynasty in Delhi.
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