RAS question
Which Sultan of Delhi is credited with building five canals including the Rajabwah canal?
Correct answer: (B) Firoz Shah Tughlaq.
Firoz Shah Tughlaq is credited with constructing five major irrigation canals, including the Rajwahi or Rajabwah canal.
Explanation
Firoz Shah Tughlaq, who ruled from 1351 to 1388, is the Delhi Sultan associated with a major canal-building programme. He had five major canals constructed for agricultural irrigation, including the Rajwahi canal from the Sutlej to the Ghaggar, along with canals linked to the Yamuna, Sirmaur, Hansi and Firozabad. His public works were practical and revenue-oriented, not merely architectural. His canal work belonged to a wider administrative programme that also included Diwan-i-Khairat, Diwan-i-Bundagan, Dar-ul-Shafa, employment bureaus, and the repair and transfer of Asokan pillars to Delhi.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) Muhammad bin Tughlaq is not credited with this set of five canals; that irrigation programme belongs to his successor, Firoz Shah Tughlaq.
- (C) Sikandar Lodi is associated with founding Agra, not with Firoz Shah Tughlaq's five-canal irrigation programme.
- (D) Alauddin Khalji is associated with market reforms, while the five major canals are attributed to Firoz Shah Tughlaq.
Concept
This tests Delhi Sultanate public works and agrarian administration. RAS repeatedly asks such ruler-measure pairings because canals, taxes, welfare departments and monuments connect medieval polity with economic history.