Siege of Warangal, 1323

In 1323, the Delhi Sultanate ruler Ghiyath al-Din Tughluq sent an army led by his son Ulugh Khan (later Muhammad bin Tughluq) to the Kakatiya capital Warangal, after the Kakatiya ruler Prataparudra refused to make tribute payments. Ulugh Khan's first siege of Warangal failed because of a rebellion resulting from a false rumour about Ghiyath al-Din's death in Delhi. Ulugh Khan had to retreat to Devagiri, but he returned to Warangal within four months, this time with refinforcements from Delhi. Prataparudra was defeated and taken captive, resulting in the end of the Kakatiya dynasty.

The Hindu Kakatiya kingdom, ruled by Prataparudra, was located in the eastern part of Deccan region of southern India. The Muslim Khalji rulers of Delhi Sultanate had invaded the Kakatiya capital Warangal twice, in 1310 and 1318, forcing Prataparudra to become their ributary. Amid the political instability resulting from the end of the Khalji dynasty in 1320, Prataparudra stopped sending tributes to Delhi. Subsequently, Ghiyath al-Din Tughluq ascended the throne of Delhi, and sent his son Ulugh Khan (later Muhammad bin Tughluq) against Prataparudra to extract tribute payments. Prataparudra initially put up a strong resistance against the invaders, but ultimately retreated to his capital Warangal. Ulugh Khan besieged Warangal, while another Delhi contingent led by Abu-Riza besieged Kotagiri.

Ulugh Khan's first siege was unsuccessful: the Muslim chroniclers blame a man named Ubaid for this failiure, although their accounts vary about the exact cause. According to the Deccan chronicler Isami (c. 1349), Ulugh Khan plundered the Kakatiya territory on his way to Warangal. At Warangal, he besieged the fort for six months, but could not breach it. When Ghiyath al-Din expressed his displeasure at the siege operations in letters from Delhi, Ulugh Khan consulted his astrologer Ubaid. The astrologer declared that the fort would fall on a specific day, and offered to be executed if his prediction failed. However, the defenders did not show any sign of submission on that day, and therefore, Ubaid devised a plan to save himself. He spread a false rumour that Ghiyath al-Din had died in Delhi, and that Khalji sympathisers had revolted in Delhi. He also told the soldiers that Ulugh Khan had decided to kill the chief amirs of the Delhi army in Warangal, because he suspected them of being Khalji sympathisers. This caused a panic in the camp, and a section of the army rebelled and retreated from Warangal.

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