“My entire kingdom is sick. If I establish order in one place, disorder arises in another; if I correct one place, unrest begins in a third.”— whose saying is this?
This lament, expressing the difficulty of governing a fractious realm, is attributed to Muhammad bin Tughlaq, who faced recurrent rebellions, administrative challenges and the unintended consequences of ambitious reforms, leading him to comment on the impossible tradeoffs of ruling such an unruly kingdom. Answer: (D) Muhammad bin Tughlaq
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The quotation conveys the chronic administrative headaches of Muhammad bin Tughlaq (r. 1325–1351), whose ambitious and often experimental policies produced frequent unrest and unintended consequences across the Sultanate. His reign was plagued by revolts, fiscal experiments that failed in parts of the realm and political fragmentation. The statement reflects a ruler acutely aware that interventions in one region could destabilise another — a lament characteristic of Muhammad bin Tughlaq’s troubled, reformist but precarious governance.