Military Campaigns

The Warangal Campaigns — Destruction of the Kakatiya Kingdom

The Kakatiya dynasty had ruled the Deccan from their capital at Warangal (modern Telangana) for over two centuries. Under Prataparudra II, the Kakatiyas presided over a flourishing Hindu civilization renowned for its temple architecture, Sanskrit scholarship, and trade. Ghiyasuddin Tughlaq sought to destroy this independent kingdom and loot its legendary wealth.

First Campaign (1321) — The Failed Assault

Ghiyasuddin sent his son Ulugh Khan (future Muhammad bin Tughlaq) with a massive Sultanate army to conquer Warangal. The Kakatiya forces under Prataparudra II put up fierce resistance. Internal disputes among Sultanate commanders and supply difficulties forced Ulugh Khan to retreat. Ghiyasuddin, undeterred, immediately began planning a second, more devastating campaign.

Second Campaign (1323) — The Destruction

The second campaign succeeded. Ulugh Khan, with reinforced armies, besieged Warangal and forced Prataparudra II to surrender. What followed was systematic destruction:

• The Svayambhu Shiva Temple at Warangal Fort was desecrated as a symbol of Sultanate supremacy over the fallen Hindu kingdom
• The Thousand Pillar Temple (Rudreshwara Temple) — a masterpiece of Kakatiya architecture with its intricately carved pillars — was plundered and desecrated
• The Ghanpur temple complex was ransacked during the invasion
• Houses were ransacked and public buildings destroyed
• The state treasury, plundered wealth, and captives were all transferred to Delhi
• Carvings on the gates of Warangal Fort still show deliberately disfigured faces of dancing girls — evidence of iconoclasm that survives to this day

The Fate of Prataparudra II

The last Kakatiya king, Prataparudra II, was captured and sent to Delhi as a prisoner. According to multiple historical accounts, he died en route — either from the humiliation and hardship of captivity, or by his own hand to avoid the disgrace of being paraded before the Sultan. With his death, the Kakatiya dynasty — a civilization that had flourished for over two centuries — was permanently extinguished.

The Bengal Campaign

In 1323–24 CE, Ghiyasuddin Tughlaq personally led a military campaign to suppress Bengal, where the governor Ghiyasuddin Bahadur Shah had declared independence. The Sultan marched across eastern India with his army, defeated the rebel governor, and reasserted Sultanate control over the resource-rich region of Bengal. It was during his return from this campaign that he met his suspicious death at the collapsed pavilion.

The Tirhut (Mithila) Campaign

Ghiyasuddin's forces also attacked the Hindu kingdom of Tirhut (Mithila) in modern Bihar. Mithila was one of India's most ancient centers of Sanskrit learning and Hindu scholarship, with a civilizational tradition stretching back millennia. The Sultanate subjugation of this region had significant implications for the continuity of Sanskrit intellectual traditions in eastern India.

Differential Treatment — Khusrau's Account

Amir Khusrau's Tughlaq Nama provides a particularly revealing account of what happened after military victories. He records that:

This systematic religious discrimination was not incidental — it was policy. The military of the Delhi Sultanate under Ghiyasuddin Tughlaq operated on the explicit principle that Hindu and Muslim soldiers would be treated differently based on their religion.