The mad Sultan | The Spectator Australia

Deeply read in religion, philosophy, and politics, the Sultan was also impatient and cruel. Does this remind you of anyone? Perhaps holed up in a grand palace at the top of a hill in, say, I dunno, Spring Street? 

The Delhi Sultan Muhammad bin Tughlaq is synonymous with “irrational tyrant” in the Desi (Indian-subcontinental) world. Reigning from 1325 to 1351 in present-day India, he was described as an enlightened, yet “inhuman eccentric” known for changing his mind at the unravelling of a turban. This is ringing some bells. They sound like police sirens. I hope a grandmother isn’t sitting on a park bench somewhere. 

One of his first decrees was moving the seat of power from Delhi to modern-day Maharashtra, over…