Tughlaq By Girish Karnad Text May 2026

Karnad creates a structural dialectic between high-minded idealism and ground-level pragmatism.

The final soliloquy of Tughlaq is a masterpiece of dramatic writing. Abandoned by everyone, holding the corpse of his one love (the fictionalized Ghiyas-ud-din’s wife?), or rather realizing his utter isolation, Tughlaq asks: "Must I still live?" The text provides no answer, only silence. tughlaq by girish karnad text

To appreciate the Tughlaq text, one must understand its dual context: the 14th century and the 1960s. Karnad himself stated: "Tughlaq seemed to me a

Karnad himself stated: "Tughlaq seemed to me a figure created by the sheer accident of history... He is the only medieval king who fits the contemporary scene." Karnad wrote originally in Kannada , but he

Tughlaq (1964) is a play about the 14th-century Turkic Sultan of Delhi, Mohammad bin Tughlaq. Karnad uses history to allegorize the failures of idealism, political naivete, and the disconnect between grand vision and brutal reality. The play parallels Tughlaq’s reign with post-Independence India’s disillusionment with Nehruvian idealism.

Karnad wrote originally in Kannada, but he later translated Tughlaq into English himself. The Tughlaq by Girish Karnad text (English version) is famous for its linguistic hybridity.