Malcha Mahal

In Context

• Delhi government is considering bringing Malcha Mahal for tourists after renovating the heritage structure.

About Malcha Mahal

• It was built by the then Sultan Firoz Shah Tughlaq in the 14th century and was used as a hunting lodge by him.
• It is located in Delhi.
• It later became the residence of the descendants of the Nawab of Awadh and has been neglected since the death of the last of the royal family in September 2017.
  • It is said that it came to be known as ‘Wilayat Mahal’ after Begum Wilayat Mahal of Awadh, who claimed that she was a member of the royal family of Oudh. 
    • She was given the palace by the government in 1985.
• The monument is not ASI-protected and, therefore, no attention was paid to it in all these years in order to conserve it. 

Feroz Shah Tughlaq

• About:
  • He was born in 1309 and ascended the throne of Delhi after the demise of his cousin Muhammad-bin-Tughlaq.
  • Born in 1309, Firoz Shah Tughlaq was the third ruler of Tughlaq dynasty that ruled over Delhi from 1320 to 1412 AD. Tughlaq was in power from 1351 to 1388 AD.
• Rule of Firoz Shah Tughlaq:
  • He gave imperative concessions to the Islamic scholars. To keep them on his side, he boycotted the practices in the kingdom, the scholars deemed un-Islamic. He was the one who started the imposition of Jaziya.
  • He provided the principle of inheritance to the armed forces where the officers were permitted to rest and send their children in army in their place. However, they were not paid in real money but by land.
• Taxes imposed under Firoz Shah Tughlaq:
  • Kharaj: Land tax which was equal to one-tenth of the produce of the land
  • Zakat: Two and a half per cent tax on property realized from the Muslims
  • Kham: One-fifth of the booty captured (four-fifth was left for the soldiers)
  • Jaziya: Levied on the non-Muslim subjects, particularly the Hindus. Women and children were, however, exempted from the taxes.

Source:IE