And, before Nehruvian socialism or Manmohanomics or Yashwant fudgery came into vogue, Tughluq had already established a brilliant financial system to cripple the economy. He decided to introduce currency reforms, replacing the silver tanka with a standard copper unit. The forgers were jubilant as they literally minted money. Before that theory trickled down to the good emperor, there were enough fraudulent coins flooding the kingdom to cover the palace and more. Today, we could say this was second generation reforms.
Tughluq, despite these small inadequacies as a competent ruler, was a great man - a poet, philosopher. Now who does that remind us of?
Not only that, he also built up a chain of regional satraps, in Mabar, Bengal, Warangal, Vijayanagar, who unfortunately rebelled against his rule. Again, doesn't that sound familiar in the present context?
Even more correspondingly, Tughluq also had to deal with a bunch of slavering fundamentalists who ringed him and tried hard to don the mask of being, as one historian puts it, ``a discreet pragmatist.'' Déjà vu?
He was also generous in his presents to counterparts. He once gifted the Chinese emperor ``100 male slaves and 100 slaves youngstresses and dancers''. In modern parlance, we could describe that as body shopping. Or, as modern politicians has exhibited, what is the grant of a few thousand acres of land between neighbouring nations?
He also openly welcomed and befriended Taramshirin, the chieftain of the Mongol hordes who descended upon the country, and both benefited eminently from the partnership. However, just as Tughluq thought of taking the camaraderie forward, Tamarshirin was deposed. Hmmm..haven't we heard something like that just recently? Tughluq, as we have proven, was a great Indian, the greatest of this millennium, simply because he represents most of what our society and politics denote today. he is the forgotten torchbearer. A true pioneer.
Post-Script: What remains of his legacy? If you have ever visited the sprawling ruins of Tughluqabad in South Delhi, you would have found a desolate expanse, inhabited by scores of monkeys. And a few wild asses. And before all of you decide to go rushing forth to Tughluqabad, we meant donkeys.