Tughlaq

Hello everyone, This blog is a part of my thinking activity. In this blog I will discuss about Girish Karnad's play ‘Tughlaq’.

Introduction

‘Tughlaq’ is Karnad’s second play written in 1964; the play was originally written in Kannada and then translated in Kannada by Karnad himself. It is all about the life of Sultan Muhammad bin Tughlaq who has ruled in India in 14th century. There is a lot of controversy among the historians about the character of Tughlaq but Karnad has presented this man as a man of opposites. The central theme of the play is the complexity in the character of Sultan Tughlaq, who has both the elements good as well as evil. He is a visionary man as well as man of action. Other characters also present Tughlaq’s dual personality; his close associates Barani and the scholarly historian Najib are practical politician like him.

About Author

Girish Karnad was an Indian actor, film director, Kannada writer, playwright and a Jnanpith awardee, who predominantly worked in Kannada, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Marathi films. His rise as a playwright in the 1960s marked the coming of age of modern Indian playwriting in Kannada, just as Badal Sarkar did in Bengali, Vijay Tendulkar in Marathi, and Mohan Rakesh in Hindi. He was a recipient of the 1998 Jnanpith Award, the highest literary honour conferred in India.

For four decades Karnad composed plays, often using history and mythology to tackle contemporary issues. He translated his plays into English and received acclaim. His plays have been translated into some Indian languages and directed by directors like Ebrahim Alkazi, B. V. Karanth, Alyque Padamsee, Prasanna, Arvind Gaur, Satyadev Dubey, Vijaya Mehta, Shyamanand Jalan, Amal Allanaa and Zafer Mohiuddin.

He was active in the world of Indian cinema working as an actor, director and screenwriter, in Hindi and Kannada cinema, and has earned awards.

He was conferred Padma Shri and Padma Bhushan by the Government of India and won four Filmfare Awards, of which three are Filmfare Award for Best Director – Kannada and the fourth a Filmfare Best Screenplay Award. He was a presenter for a weekly science magazine programme called "Turning Point" that aired on Doordarshan in 1991.

Analysis

From the very first scene we come to know about the complex personality of Tughlaq, he can be considered as a learnt and an intelligent man. He has abilities to learn and curiosity to know and he is master in playing chess, he has the knowledge of ‘Quran’more than any sheikh, and also a good reader who has read Greek, farcical and Arabic literature. Tughlaq wanted his life as a garden of roses, where even thrones also give delight; his imagination expresses his sense about literature.

The character of sultan Tughlaq can be compared with Christopher Marlow’s “Dr. Faustus” who has same hunger of knowledge and he had a tragic end and same tragic end Tughlaq has also faced. He wanted to make a new India, and for him it was very difficult but he is ready to explain what people don’t understand,

                                                   “How he can explain tomorrow to those,

                                                    who have not even opened their eyes

                                                               to the light of today.”

But theneven i remember few things like Tughlaq changed capital from Delhi to Daultabad, and from there again to Delhi.

Tughlaq written by Girish Karnad in 1964, is his best loved play, about an idealist 14th-century Sultan of Delhi, Muhammad bin Tughluq, and allegory on the Nehruvian era which started with ambitious idealism and ended up in disillusionment.

Karnad shows the evolution of Tughlaq from an idealist to a tyrant lusty for power and fame, something anyone, any Indian for that matter can relate to easily especially people who are familiar with the 

Girish Karnad's play Tughlaq explores the character of one of the most fascinating kings to occupy the throne in Delhi, namely, Mohammed-bin-Tughlaq. He ruled for 26 years, a period of unparalleled cruelty and agonising existence for his subjects.

He's fascinating because though he was one of the most learned monarchs of Delhi, and had great ideas and a grand vision, his reign was also an abject failure. He started his rule with great ideals — of a unified India, of Hindus and Muslims being equal in the eyes of the state (he abolished the onerous tax Jaziya on the Hindus) and the Sultan being the first among equals.

He understood the value of money as not deriving from its intrinsic worth but from the promise behind it: and introduced copper coins. Yet in 20 years his reign had degenerated into an anarchy and his kingdom had become a "kitchen of death". Girish Karnad's play explores why this happened.

The play was immensely popular at the time it was produced (1964). India had, within the same span of nearly 20 years (a mere coincidence?), descended from a state of idealism to disillusionment and cynicism, and hence the play found a chord that resonated in the minds of many people at that time. The issues posed by the play remain relevant even today, not only in a political sense, but also for organisations.

 

The play recaptures the significant events starting shortly after Tughlaq's ascension to the throne: his proclamations of idealism, his calling upon his people to be a part of the building of a new empire, of prosperity, peace and amity. But he ascended the throne by dubious means, killing his father and brother during prayer time, though no one was sure. This led to a lack of credibility among his followers from the time he ascended the throne  no one believed what he professed. The play outlines his clever plots to eliminate his opponents and his surviving an assassination attempt by his own courtiers. This was a turning point in his life: he decided to shift his capital from Delhi to Daulatabad, ordered every single subject to move from Delhi, banned prayer altogether, and imposed unspeakable cruelties on his subjects. The miseries of the people during the journey, the corruption that was huge and endemic, and Tughlaq's progressive alienation and isolation from his people are dramatically portrayed. The play ends with scenes of utter chaos and misery in the kingdom, and Tughlaq being left alone, having been abandoned by those who survived him, that is.

Major Characters in the Play

Tughlaq

 In the play, Tughlaq emerges as a headstrong and idealistic ruler. He is vulnerable, and constantly admits his mistakes and allows himself to be punished publicly. He moves his capital to Daulatabad because it is a city dominated by the Hindus. This move will further the cause of togetherness and communal unity. Through this character, the idealism of the Nehruvian era is commented upon. Guilty of parricide, Tughlaq is often on the defensive when he is questioned of his crime. His uncompromising generosity and sense of social justice embraces all religions and treats them in an impartial fashion. This character is a device that represents a scathing critique of the nationalist notion of communal harmony and religious co-existence, the very ideals that were valorized before independence but later turned in to an anti-climax with the partition of India.

The opening scenes reflect the idiosyncrasies and eccentricities of this character. He contemplates to equate the value of copper coins with silver dinars. In order to establish himself as a worthy ruler, he exposes himself to public scorn and invites public condemnation. He hastens the process of his own nemesis through a series of badly contrived measures at projecting himself as a tolerant and efficient ruler. His irrational and erratic methods are severely criticized by his courtiers and citizens. He emerges as a shrewd contriver and a mercilessly ambitious ruler. He is responsible for the assassination of Sheikh Muhammad, his severest critic, who accuses him of parricide and of being un-Islamic. He stabs Shihab-ud-din when he tries to conspire against him. He is doomed because of his own follies and failures, and becomes an insensitive murderer. The height of his insanity is reflected in the later episodes of the play. He later becomes a divided self, and suffers from inner turmoil and contradictions. His ultimate isolation in a world turned alien gives a tragic dimension to the play. Tughlaq might be perceived as an over-ambitious alien emperor, who aims to rebuild new cities and empires, subjecting the culture of a people to colonial strain. Each scene represents the progressive degradation and dehumanization of Tughlaq, leading to his tragic downfall.

Step-mother

 The step-mother of Tughlaq constantly appears in the earlier scenes of the play. She is torn apart by conflicting emotions, her over-riding concern for her son is in contradiction with her awareness of the fact that he is guilty of parricide. She appears troubled, and confides in Najib, the courtier and politician. She is consistently projected as an embodiment of rationality and concern. She later murders...in order to save her son from ultimate ruin. Tughlaq orders her to be stoned to death for the unwarranted act.

Aziz

Muhammad is very manipulative, witty, imaginative, secretive and ruthless, Aziz provides his ironic parallel .Like him, from the very beginning Aziz is clear about what he is to do in future (when he reaches his destination). In pursuit of realizing his dream to be rich by hook or crook, he manipulates the decision of the government giving compensation to those whose land has been confiscated by the state. He is a Muslim but in order to get the compensation he disguises himself as a Brahmin. Thus he punctures the balloon of the king‘s welfare policies .If Muhammad is confident that everything will be settled after he reaches Daultabad , Aziz is also confident of his plans. He tells Aazam, ―There is money here .We will make a pile by the time we reach Daultabad.If Muhammd has disguised his true self and poses to be a very religious and benevolent king, Azis is disguised as a Brahmin (though he is a Muslim washer man). Ironically, he appears as a Brahmin and ends up as a special messenger to the king. He becomes an instrument in exposing the cruelty and corruption prevalent in Muhammad‘s regime when he refuses to help a woman with a dying son in her lap and asking for help for his medical aid. Aziz expects money from her knowing full well that her husband is bed-ridden and she is helpless. Asked by Aaziz why he doesn‘t let her go to the doctor, very stoically he says,‖It is a waste of money. I am doing her a favour. For Muhammad and Aziz politics holds a common interest. Aziz‘s comments about politics are ironically true:Politics ! It is a beautiful world- wealth, success, position, power-yet it is full of brainless people, people not with an idea in their head. When I think of all the tricks in our village to pinch a few torn clothes from people if one uses half that intelligence here, one can bet robes of power. It is a fantastic world. Like Muhammad he also makes use of religion and caste for his personal gains. He knows that even if the Hindu woman is not allowed to leave the camp, she cann‘t complain against him as she takes him for a Brahmin. Complaining against a Brahmin to a Muslim, according to a Brahminical dogma, will send her to hell which she never desires. Furtermore, he is cruel like Muhammad in taking life of someone. He kills Ghiyas-ud-din and starts dancing after that which shows that he has no regrets of any sort after killing someone. His singing and dancing over a dead body reminds us of the neurotic self of the emperor. After killing Ghiyas-ud-din and putting on his robes he asks the horrified Aazam, ―How do I look, eh? The great grandson of the Khalif. Laugh, the fool you laugh. Celebrate! What are you crying for?. . Dance, dance. . (sings). When he is to present himself before the king, he aptly defines himself , I am your majesty‘s true disciple. Indeed, Aziz appears as his shadow‘ or the other Muhammad‘. It is perhaps because of this parallelism between them that Muhammad pardons him even for his grave misdeeds.

Aazam

 He is a close friend of Aziz and his partner in the play. Both of them are vagabonds, and live mostly by robbery and deception. Aziz is undeniably the more cunning of the two. Aazam‘s actions are staged on a smaller scale, and Aziz‘s actions have larger ramifications. They constantly comment upon and analyse the policies of the Sultan and provide a variety of perspectives on the political climate of the play.

Najib

He is a politician and a shrewd contriver, a Hindu, who later embraced Islam. In most of the scenes, he is seen advising the Sultan on matters of political action and diplomacy. He is an advocate of ruthless political expansion and domination, and presents a perfect contrast to Barani, the historian. In the words of the Sultan ―he wants pawns of flesh and blood. He doesn‘t have the patience to breathe life in to these bones…‖ He represents the more rational aspects of Tughlaq‘s self and is a constant companion in terms of royal political affairs.

Sheikh-Imam-ud-Din

He is a maulvi and probably the harshest critic of Tughlaq. He openly proclaims Tughlaq to be un-Islamic and invites his hostility. He gives public lectures and condemns Tughlaq as guilty of parricide. He tries to influence the general public through his inflammatory speeches deriding the actions of the Sultan. He is later murdered in a cleverly crafted plot of the Sultan.

Major Themes and Issues in the Play

 

Idealistic Leadership

 

What makes the Sultan‘s character more fascinating is his paradoxical and complex nature. He is portrayed as ―a dreamer and a man of action, benevolent and cruel, devout and callous.‖ U.R. Anantha Murty remarks: ―Both Tughlaq and his enemies initially appear to be idealists; yet in the pursuit of the ideal, they perpetrate its opposite. The whole play is structured on these opposites: the ideal and the real: the divine aspiration and the deft intrigue.‖ These opposites constitute the main charm of the structure of Tughlaq. Tughlaq promises his Subjects to maintain ―justice, equality, progress and peace -- not just peace but a more purposeful life‖ ―without any consideration of might and weakness, religion or creed.‖ But to a great surprise he could not win the hearts of his public. He wants to give his ―beloved people‖ peace, freedom, justice and progress. He says that his people would witness how justice works in my kingdom - without any consideration of might or weakness, religion or creed. But his ascendancy over the throne of Delhi makes him ―at once a dreamer and a man of action,

 benevolent and cruel, devout and godless. His two close associates- Barani, the scholarly historian and Najib, the politician seem to represent the two opposite selves of Tughlaq, while Aziz, the wily time server appears to represent all those who took advantage of Sultan‘s visionary schemes and fooled him.‖ Indeed Tughlaq was at first an idealist but as time passed on his idealism failed and he turned to be a shrewd politician, a callous and heartless murderer and intriguer who employed religion for his political motives and even hurled the country into turmoil and troubles. 

Thus the play ―explores the paradox of pseudo – idealistic Sultan Muhammad Tughlaq, whose reign is regarded as a spectacular failure in India‘s history.‖ As an idealist and visionary, a rationalist and forward looking emperor Tughlaq tried to introduce his kingdom into an egalitarian society. But he found the circumstances not favorable to rule because the country was divided between Islam and Hinduism. There was much animosity between the Hindus and Muslims. Tughlaq began to make efforts to bring about harmony between the two communities, justice and equality for all for the welfare of his people. He said: ―May this moment burn bright and light up our path towards greater justice, equality, progress and peace – not just peace but a more purposeful life.

 Tughlaq wanted to be an enlightened and liberal despot and tried hard to find the cooperation of his subjects, which was denied to him due to the bigotry and orthodoxy of his people. The people fail to understand his idealism and reformatory zeal, and condemn him as an enemy of Islam. In fact, he is a devout Muslim with full faith in the Holy Koran but his rationalistic and ideal views are beyond the comprehension of his subjects. However, the young people admire and support the liberal and secular policies of the Sultan whose rationalistic and modernized attitude appeals the youth. To him, ―The country‘s in perfectly safe hands – safer than any you‘ve seen before‖. No other Sultan before Tughlaq allowed ―a subject within a mile‘s distance‖. It is he who made prayer five times a day compulsory for all Muslims as dictated in the Koran. The Young man further advocates him and says: ―Now you pray five times a day because that‘s the law and if you break it, you‘ll have the officers on your neck. Can you mention one earlier Sultan in whose time people read the Koran in the streets like now?

Religious Tolerance as a Political Strategy

The Sultan practiced the idea of brother hood, which is an important aspect of human values in Islam, and this in turn annoyed the ecclesiastics because it undermined their political interests. The efforts of the Sultan to bridge the difference between Hindus and Muslims invited anger and displeasure of the Mullahs and Maulavis. To unite them, he abolished the jiziya tax and openly declared that both Hindus and Muslims would be treated impartially and would be equal in the eyes of the law. But this made him a suspect both in the eyes of the Hindus and the Muslims.

 The Old Man in the first scene mocked at the Sultan‘s liberal attitude towards Hindus: Beware of the Hindu who embraces you. Before you know what, he‘ll turn Islam into another caste and call the prophet an incarnation of his god….Even Hindus, who were prospering and exempted from jiziya taxes, never trusted on their part. They bore with such insults silently. A Hindu expresses his anguish in the following words: We didn‘t want an exemption! Look, when a Sultan kicks me in the teeth and says, Pay up, you Hindu dog‘; I‘m happy. I know I‘m safe. But the moment a man comes along and says, I know you are a Hindu, but you are also a human being‘  well, that makes me nervous. The young Muslim reacted sharply and violently to this statement of the Hindu and called him Ungrateful wretch. Tughlaq remained an idealist and visionary throughout his life. As he said to his Step Mother: I pray to the Almighty to save me from sleep. 

All day long I have to worry about tomorrow but it‘s only when the night falls that I can step beyond all that. Even at the height of frustration he did not give up his visions and idealism. He tells the Young Man: Nineteen. Nice age! An age when you think you can clasp the whole world in your palm like a rare diamond. I was twenty-one when I came to Daulatabad first, and built this fort. I supervised the placing of every brick in it and I said to myself, one day I shall build my own history like this, brick by brick. By temperament Tughlaq was a rationalist and philosopher and he wanted to build up a powerful and united nation. The far-sighted Tughlaq announced his policy to shift the capital by saying that this is no mad whim of a tyrant. My ministers and I took this decision after careful thought and discussion.

 The decision to shift the capital from Delhi to Daulatabad was taken because My empire is large now and embraces the South and I need a capital which is at its heart. Delhi is too near the border and as you well know its peace is never free from the fear of invaders. But for me the most important factor is that Daulatabad is a city of Hindus and as the capital it will symbolize the bond between Muslims and Hindus which I wish to develop and strengthen in my Kingdom. I invite you all to accompany me to Daulatabad. This is only an invitation and not an order. Only those who have faith in me may come with me. With their help I shall build an empire which will be the envy of the world.

 Tughlaq‘s rash decision to change the capital from Delhi to Daulatabad is a turning point in Tughlaq, which results in untold and inexpressible suffering to the common people. Prayer and religion are vitiated for power and money. Prayer is used to achieve an end and not an end in itself. The word prayer‘ is repeated several times and it reverberates throughout the play. Karnad dexterously shows how prayer affects the ruler and the masses. The powerful, the prosperous and the rulers can pray in peace. The poor who are exploited and empty stomachs cannot even think of prayer. Their prayer is only to earn bread by the sweat of brow. To Tughlaq it was a masquerade to hide his guilty conscience and to the hungry people it was luxury. In the atmosphere of atrociousness, cruelty, killing, sobs and sighs, wailing and tears which India had during the reign of Muhammad, it was very difficult for the people to pray.

 

Disguise

Disguise is an important theatrical strategy in the play. It on the one hand undermines the seriousness with which the Sultan‘s plans are made and on the other, mocks at his idealism. The dramatist ironically presents Aziz, the dhobi, who disguises himself as Brahmin, and later appears in the guise of the great grandson of His Imperial Holiness Abbasid, the Khalif of Baghdad. He is invited by the Sultan to Dualtabad to bless the country and to start the banned prayer. An announcement is made so that all the citizens may welcome His Holiness for, This is a holy day for - us - a day of joy! And its glory will be crowned by the fact that the Public Prayer, which has been mute in our land these five years, will be started again from next Friday. Henceforth every Muslim will pray five times a day as enjoined by the Holy Koran and declare himself a faithful slave of the Lord. Muhammad welcomes His Holiness with these words: We have waited for years for this joyful moment. 

Our streets have waited in silence for the moment when the call to the holy prayer will ring in them again. And each year has been a century. We have waited long, Your Holiness, and our sins have become shadows that entwine round our feet. They have become our dumbness and deprived us of prayer. They have become the fiery sun and burnt up our crops. Now the moment has come for me and my people to rejoice. Only you can save me now, Your Holiness, only the dust of your feet on my head can save me now. It is a great ironic act that Tughlaq, the mighty and the most powerful, falls at the feet of Ghiyas-ud-din Abbasid, disguised Aziz. The great and shrewd politician of his time wants to seek shelter at the feet of a religious man not knowing the dust of the feet he is taking on his head, is that of a common man.

 Here the great emperor becomes an object of pity as his dreams of the monarch are shattered. Politics fails and the realm of religion begins to prevail over politics. Karnad succeeds in presenting the common man in disguised is more powerful than the Sultan for the royalty has to bow down to him. The last scene becomes more ironical because the Sultan, who initiates the prayer after five years, falls asleep.

Symbolism

 

 

The play Tughlaq is noted for its symbols. Four symbols like prayer, sleep, the game of chess and the rose are used to heighten the effect of the play. As P. Bayapa Reddy remarks: At the micro level, prayer symbolizes the religious idealism of Tughlaq. At the macro level, it connects man‘s unconscious need for divine protection and guidance in an hour of anguish. In the beginning prayer is made compulsory but later it is banned for a few years and again it is revived. It is reduced to a mockery when the Sultan‘s life is threatened at the time of prayer. Sleep‘ on one level represents the need for rest in man‘s life. At the macro level it becomes symbolic of peace, which eludes man often. 

The rose is a symbol of the aesthetic and poetic susceptibilities of Tughlaq. It later on becomes a symbol of the withering away of all the dreams and ideals of Tughlaq. At the macro level, the game of chess is an ordinary game which is popular in India. It also symbolizes a political game in which an ordinary washer man checkmates the most intelligent and clever politician. Through this symbolist technique, the playwright has succeeded in creating the right political atmosphere …. Rulers and politicians use religion as a medium to befool the common man. 

They pollute religion by misusing it for fulfilling their dirty political motives. But religion cannot be used to serve the end of those who are in power because it preaches morals and expects morality from the people. It stands for virtue, goodness, righteousness and moral conduct while politics thrives on intrigue, craftiness, dishonesty and deceit. The case of Tughlaq is no exception. What Karnad shows in Tughlaq is that the idealist and his idealism do not go hand in hand with a politician and his politics. The idealist is only a misnomer and he has to face challenges, which he tries to curb down in his own crafty manner. But the idealist Tughlaq fails in producing any lasting result. What he gains, as he tells, is: Not words but the sword  that‘s all I have to keep my faith in my mission and power, strength to shape my thoughts, strength to act, strength to recognize my self.

 All his idealism is shattered in the game of politics and thrown to the winds. Even Barani, the best of his advisors, asks Muhammad, who is a man of great learning, You are a learned man, Your Majesty, you are known the world over for your knowledge of philosophy and poetry. History is not made only in statecraft; its lasting results are produced in the ranks of learned men. That‘s where you belong, Your Majesty, in the company of learned men. And further, Your Majesty, there was a time when you believe in love, in peace, in God. What has happened to those ideals? You won‘t let your subject pray. You torture them for the smallest offence. Hang them on suspicion. Why this bloodshed?

 The murder of the Sheikh leads to the intrigues of the courtiers and other idealists of the kingdom. This happening unites the Hindus and the Muslims altogether to rise against the craftiness and tyranny of the Sultan. Shihab-ud-din, the most trusted of the friends of Sultan is persuaded to attend the meeting of the intriguers and at last to stand against the Sultan. Sheikh Shams-ud-din Tajuddarfim tells Shihab-ud-din that he is attending the meeting to save Islam not to ―get mixed up in the treacherous games of politicians…. But Allah isn‘t only for me,… while tyranny crushes the faithful into dust, how can I continue to hide in my hole?

.

Religion-Politics Interface

Tughlaq is of great interest as it combines religion and politics of an idealist and visionary Sultan Muhammad Tughlaq. It intends to show that idealism of the ruler will fail and will ruin the idealist. The concepts like secularism, equality and unity in a country like India are very much ahead of the times. In India people still are led away by the saints and religious heads. They believe more their religious leaders than a politician. The fiery speeches of the religious saint swing people this side or that side for the vote. People still are befooled by them as they were during the reign of Tughlaq. 

Thus the life of the people is governed and corrupted by the interaction of the saints and the politicians. Tughlaq, who pretends to be a true follower of religion, commits numberless murders to retain his monarchy. He commits patricide, fratricide and wipes off the religious and political leaders like Imam-ud-din and Shihab-ud-din for his kingship. He tells the cause of murdering them to his Step Mother in a simple way: They couldn‘t bear the weight of their crown. They couldn‘t leave it aside so they died senile in their youth or were murdered. When Step-Mother accepts that she has murdered Najib, Muhammad does not accept this truth. 

But when she argues, It was easier than killing one‘s father or brother. It was better than killing Sheikh Imam-ud-din, Muhammad replies, I killed them for an ideal. Don‘t I know its results? Don‘t you think I‘ve suffered from the curse? My mother won‘t speak to me  I can‘t even look into a mirror for fear of seeing their faces in it . Muhammad is torn in finding peace in his own kingdom that has become a kitchen of death . There is only one punishment for treachery, he tells his Step-Mother, it is death. And for killing Najib he orders even his Step-Mother whom he loves more than anyone else to be stoned, dragged and killed.

 

Agony and the Notion of Repentance

 

The innumerable murders that Tughlaq is involved in don‘t bring him peace. They tear him from within. He feels lonely and frustrated. In such torn and wretched state he seeks the shelter of God who can only save him from misery and the ghosts of the murdered. Only He can help him to be a man. For this all of a sudden Tughlaq, the mighty murderer, plunderer and sinner, falls to his knees and clutches his hands to his breast to pray: God, God in Heaven, please help me. Please don‘t let go of my hand. My skin drips with blood and I don‘t know how much of it is mine and how much of others.

 I started in Your path, Lord, why am I wandering naked in this desert now? I started in search of you. Why am I become a pig rolling in this gory mud? Raise me. Clean me. Cover me with your Infinite Mercy. I can only clutch at the hem of Your Cloak with my bloody fingers and plead. I can only beg—have pity on me. I have no one but you now. Only you. Only you … you … you … you ….‖ The above passage reveals a Faustian cry of anguish, which comes from the mouth of Sultan. This Sultan uses his opponents like pawns on the chessboard of politics and unscrupulously kills them.

 Tughlaq even fails to offer prayer, which is reintroduced after an interval of five years when Ghiyas-ud-din Abbasid disguised Aziz comes to Daultabad to bless him. He falls soundly asleep and gets up when the Muezzin‘s call to prayer fades away. His bloody actions are the result of his intense ambition to establish an idealistic leadership as the norm. The failure of his political methods unnerves him and makes him insane.