Muhammad bin Tughlaq and Swargadwari camp — UPSC Prelims PYQ 2002
Consider the following statements:
- Assertion (A): Muhammad bin Tughlaq left Delhi, and, for two years lived in a camp called Swargadwari.
- Reason (R): At that time, Delhi was ravaged by a form of plague, and many people died.
Options:
- Both A and R are individually true and R is the correct explanation of A
- Both A and R are individually true but R is not a correct explanation of A
- A is true, but R is false
- A is false, but R is true
Explanation
Option (a) is correct
- Right at the beginning of Muhammad Tughlaq’s reign, there was a serious peasant rebellion in the Gangetic doab. Peasants fled the villages, and Muhammad Tughlaq took harsh measures to capture and punish them. Historians believe the trouble started due to over-assessment. Although the share of the state remained half as in the time of Alauddin, it was fixed arbitrarily, not on the basis of actual production. Prices were also fixed artificially to convert the produce into money. A severe famine that ravaged the area for half a dozen years made the situation worse. Efforts at relief, such as advances for cattle and seeds and for digging wells, came too late. So many people died in Delhi that the air became pestilential. The sultan left Delhi and, for two and a half years, lived in a camp called Swargadwari, 100 miles from Delhi on the banks of the Ganges near Kanauj.
Answer: (a) Both A and R are individually true and R is the correct explanation of A
