Raja Faruqi, Malik

(?-1399)

   He earned Firuz Shah Tughlaq's notice while serving as one of the royal attendants and was appointed in 1371 to Thalner (on the Tapti River) in Khandesh. Subsequently, Raja Faruqi was promoted to the position of a spahsalar (commander in chief) of Khandesh, where he raised a large body of troops and started making plundering raids toward Orissa. After Firuz Shah Tughlaq's death (1388), he became independent in Khandesh and es-tablished close relations with Dilawar Khan Ghauri, who had come to rule Malwa. In the rivalry between Sultan Muzaffar Shah of Gu-jarat and Dilawar Khan Ghauri, he sided with the latter, which pro-voked Sultan Muzaffar to besiege Raja Faruqi in Thalner. Muzaffar was, however, persuaded to withdraw on the promise of good behav-ior by Raja Faruqi.