Travels of Ibn Baṭṭūṭa

42. Drums beaten to announce an attack against the prince

Telangana (Tiling, Bilād al-Tilink)
Title
Drums beaten to announce an attack against the prince
Short description
The prince attempts a revolt against his father, but the maliks have the drums beaten to threaten him.
Text on source
ولما استقرَّ تغلق بدار الملك بعث ولده ليفتح بلاد التلنك (وضبطها بكسر التاء المعلوة واللام، وسكون النون وكاف معقودة)، وهي على مسيرة ثلاثة أشهر من مدينة دهلي، وبعث معه عسكرًا عظيمًا فيه كبار الأمراء مثل الملك تمور (بفتح التاء المعلوة وضم الميم وآخره راء)، ومثل الملك تكين (بكسر التاء المعلوة والكاف وآخره نون)، ومثل ملك كافور المهردار (بضم الميم)، ومثل ملك بيرم (بالباء الموحدة مفتوحة والياء آخر الحروف والراء مفتوحة) وسواهم، فلما بلغ إلى أرض التلنك أراد المخالفة، وكان له نديم من الفقهاء الشعراء يُعْرَف بعيد، فأمره أن يلقي إلى الناس أن السلطان تغلق تُوُفيَِّ، وظَنّه أن الناس يبايعونه مسرعين إذا سمعوا ذلك، فلما ألُْقِي ذلك إلى الناس أنكره الأمراء، وضرب كل واحد منهم طبله وخَالَفَ فلم يَبْقَ معه من أحد [ص. ٣١٤]
English translation
When Tughluq was firmly established in the capital, he sent his son Muḥammad to conquer the land of Tiling, which is at a distance of three months' journey from the city of Dihli. With him he sent a great army including the principal amīrs, such as al-malik Tamūr, al-malik Tikīn, malik Kāfūr the muhrdār [i.e. seal-keeper], malik Bayrām and others. When he reached the land of Tiling he thought of revolting. He had a boon companion, a certain jurist and poet, by the name of ʿUbayd, and he ordered this man to give out to the troops that the Sultan Tughluq had died, imagining that they would at once take the oath of allegiance to him when they heard of this. But when this report was announced to the troops the amīrs turned against him; each one of them beat his own drum [ṭabl] and revolted, so that he was left without any troops at all.
Folios/Pages
652
Date
1335 circa
Observations on the events description
Drums were a distinctive sign of power and a means of military communication. Only authorities were allowed to have their own drums (see e.g. Event 12 in this Travel).
The dots on the map indicate the places where sound and music events were described. They don't represent travel stages.

Participants
Name
Role
Notes
Edit
Delete
Ibn Tughluq, Muhammad
Viewer
Prince


How to quote
Pintimalli A., "Drums beaten to announce an attack against the prince" (Event description), Echos. Sound Ecosystems in Travelogues. Published 2024 07 16.

doi: 10.25430/echos.travels.130

This work is licensed under CC-BY-SA 4.0