“Tughlaqi decisions” (n.) - meaning irrational decisions. Ref: Muhammad Bin Tughlaq ( real name was Jauna Khan) ruled the Throne of Delhi from February 1325 to March 1351. These 26 years were not easy for him, but they were much more difficult for his countrymen. His decisions were ambitious and attempted with best intentions, but exhibited lack of proper planning and inadequacy of correct information. People used to call him “Pagla Sultan” and his orders were called “Tughlaqi Farmaan”. Samples of “Tughlaqi Farmaan” Imposing Tax on Famine affected people: He assumed that since the land between Ganges and Yamuna is very fertile, the farmers of that area must be very rich. So he increased the tax by 20 folds. But unfortunately, that was the year of famine in that region because of no rain. Poor and frustrated people left their homes and become robbers and dacoits. But govt. officials continued to collect tax, which resulted in a major revolt. Flawed Agricultural Policy: Muhammad bin Tughlaq established a new ministry for Agriculture and dedicated one of his Wazeers for this ministry. Purpose of this step was to improve the agricultural system by increasing the cultivation land. However this scheme failed miserably and the department was shut within 2-3 years because of high level of corruption amongst the people who were implementing it. They purchased very poor land for cultivation and assigned it to people, who had no interest in farming over govt. land. Currency Confusion: Muhammad bin Tughlaq then thought that may be if I can find an alternative currency, I can save some money. So he replaced the Gold and Silver coins with copper currency. Local goldsmiths started manufacturing these coins and which led to a loss of a huge sum of money to the court. He had to take his orders back and reissue Gold/Silver coins against those copper coins. This counter decision was far more devastating as people exchanged all their fake currency and emptied royal treasure. Trying to invade the world at one go: Tughlaq tried to reverse the invasion of Alexander by attacking on Afghanistan, Uzbekistan and Iran. But this attack was a disaster. He also attacked Kullu and wanted to further invade China. But as rainy season started, his forces started falling off because they were not prepared for the cold weather of Himalayas. Tughlaq’s Planning Department analyzed and reported of enemy’s strength, but failed to study their bigger enemy, nature. Why did he do it? A person like Muhammad Bin Tughlaq could have changed the fate of Hindustan. But what good is an emperor with no experience of ground reality? His story embeds deeper management lesson for modern day management gurus. It is true that a team leader is handicapped without proper team but it is also true that the same team leader can become very dangerous if his own trusted team feeds him with inaccurate information and executes his orders improperly. But whose mistake is it? It’s the general’s duty to pick his men carefully. And It is the duty of the team leader to first train his team, so that they can match his vision and understand what he says and what he means. Modern Management Gurus fail to realize the same and so the essence of “Tughlaqi Farmaan” holds good to this day !!!!!!
Posted on: Thu, 05 Jun 2014 16:14:03 +0000