Lodi Dynasty and Sayyid Dynasty: Ibrahim Lodi and the Fall of the Delhi Sultanate

Timur's Invasion and the Break-up of the Delhi Sultanate

Timur's Invasion of Delhi (1398) and the Rise of Regional Kingdoms

Timur, who had united Iran and Central Asia, sacked Delhi on 17 December 1398, after defeating Sultan Nasir-ud‑Din Mahmud Shah Tughlaq. The Sultan fled to Gujarat and then to Malwa. Timur carried away vast treasure and many skilled artisans, and annexed parts of the Punjab, which his successors held for generations.

The attack, coming on top of the Sultanate's growing weakness, emboldened provincial governors and autonomous chiefs to declare their independence. Bengal in the east and Sindh and Multan in the west broke away first; soon the governors of Gujarat, Malwa and Jaunpur did the same, and the Rajput states of Rajputana asserted their independence.

A balance of power grew up between these states. Gujarat, Malwa and Mewar checked one another in the west, and Bengal was held back by the rulers of Orissa and by Jaunpur. Malwa, weakened by quarrels within, became the main battleground in the struggle for mastery over north India.

Sharqi Sultanate of Jaunpur: The Shiraz of the East

The Sharqi Sultanate of Jaunpur was the first state to break away in the Ganga valley. Its founder, Malik Sarwar, a noble of Firuz Tughlaq's time, had been wazir and was then sent to the eastern provinces with the title Malik-us-Sharq, Lord of the East. His successors were called the Sharqis after this title, and they made Jaunpur, in eastern Uttar Pradesh, their capital.

• Extent: At its height the kingdom ran from Aligarh to Darbhanga in north Bihar, and from Nepal to Bundelkhand.
• Architecture: The Sharqis built palaces, mosques and tombs in a style of their own, with lofty gates and huge arches.
• Learning: Poets, scholars and saints gathered at Jaunpur, which came to be called the Shiraz of the East; Malik Muhammad Jaisi, author of the Padmavat, lived there.

The Sharqis kept order over a large area after Delhi collapsed and kept Bengal out of eastern Uttar Pradesh, but their attempts to take Delhi failed. Once the Lodis were established, the Sharqis were pushed onto the defensive, and in 1484 Bahlul Lodi occupied Jaunpur and annexed their kingdom. The last Sharqi Sultan died in exile at Chunar.

Sayyid Dynasty: Rulers and Decline (1414 to 1451)

Sayyid Dynasty Founder Khizr Khan and the Sayyid Rulers

The Sayyid dynasty was the fourth dynasty of the Delhi Sultanate, with four rulers in 37 years. Its founder, Khizr Khan, had been governor of Multan under Firuz Tughlaq. After the sack of Delhi, Timur made him his deputy at Multan, in charge of Lahore, Dipalpur, Multan and upper Sindh, and on 28 May 1414 he captured Delhi.

Khizr Khan never took the title of Sultan. He ruled as Rayat-i-Ala, a vassal of Timur and then of Timur's son Shah Rukh, whose name was read in the khutba. The name Sayyid came from the family's claim to descend from the Prophet Muhammad, a claim modern historians doubt.

Decline of the Sayyids and the Rise of Bahlul Lodi

Mubarak Shah, Khizr Khan's son, ended the fiction of Timurid overlordship, struck coins as Muizz-ud‑Din Mubarak Shah and beat back Hoshang Shah of Malwa. His nephew Muhammad Shah faced rebellion and conspiracy, and the last Sayyid, Alam Shah, proved ineffective and left affairs to his minister, Hamid Khan.

Afghan chiefs meanwhile grew strong in the Punjab. The most important was Bahlul Lodi, who held the iqta of Sirhind, checked the warlike Khokhars and came to dominate the whole Punjab. Called in to help the ruler of Delhi against an attack from Malwa, he stayed, and his men took control of the city.

Bahlul crowned himself in 1451, and the Sayyid dynasty ended. Alam Shah lived on at Badaun until his death in 1478. The tomb of Muhammad Shah, built in 1444, still stands in the Lodi Gardens of Delhi.

Lodi Dynasty: Bahlul, Sikandar and Ibrahim Lodi (1451 to 1526)

Lodi Dynasty Founder Bahlul Lodi: The First Afghan Sultan

The Lodis were Afghans, unlike the Turks who had ruled Delhi before them. Afghans had formed a large part of the Sultanate's army, but few Afghan nobles had held high office. Their rise showed in Malwa too, where an Afghan dynasty ruled, and in the Bahmani kingdom, where they held important posts.

Bahlul Lodi spent most of his reign fighting the Sharqis of Jaunpur. Finding himself weak, he invited the Afghans of Roh to India; the Afghan historian Abbas Sarwani says they came like locusts. The flood of Afghans helped him defeat the Sharqis and made the Afghans a large and important part of Muslim society in north and south India.

The Afghan chiefs had a sturdy sense of tribal independence and saw the Sultan as no more than the first among equals. At his death in 1489 Bahlul divided the kingdom among his sons and relations. His son Sikandar undid the division after a hard struggle, but the Afghan idea that a kingdom should be shared among a ruler's sons persisted.

Sikandar Lodi: Administration, Agra and the Gaz-i-Sikandari

Sikandar Lodi (1489 to 1517) was the most important Lodi Sultan. He tried to subdue the Afghan chiefs and raise the Sultan above them. He made the nobles stand in his presence, made them ride out of town to receive his orders, and required all jagir-holders to submit regular accounts, with heavy punishment for embezzlement.

• Law and order: Justice was stressed and the highways were made safe from robbers.
• Prices and trade: Essential goods were cheap, and he abolished the octroi duty on grain.
• Measures: He fixed a new yard, the gaz-i-Sikandari, which lasted into Mughal times.
• Revenue records: The rent rolls of his time became the basis of Sher Shah's later rent rolls.
• Agra: After careful survey he chose the site of Agra in 1506, to command eastern Rajasthan and the route to Malwa and Gujarat; it grew into the second capital of the Lodis.

Sikandar was orthodox in religion. He reimposed the jizya on Hindus, executed a brahmana who held Hindu and Muslim scriptures equally true, and destroyed temples such as the one at Nagarkot. He was also a generous patron: Sanskrit works were translated into Persian, and many Hindus learnt Persian and entered the administration.

Ibrahim Lodi: Afghan Revolts, Rana Sanga and Daulat Khan

Ibrahim Lodi, Sikandar's eldest son, came to the throne in 1517. His efforts to build a large centralised empire alarmed both the Afghan chiefs and the Rajputs. His brother Jalal Khan, given Jaunpur, rebelled and was hunted down and executed, and Ibrahim arrested and killed nobles he distrusted.

Rana Sanga of Mewar, who had extended his power into eastern Malwa, inflicted a sharp defeat on Ibrahim at Khatoli when he invaded Mewar. In the east, Afghan nobles such as Bahar Khan Lohani declared independence.

In the Punjab, Daulat Khan Lodi, the governor, was almost an independent ruler. He sent an embassy led by his son, Dilawar Khan, to invite Babur to India and displace Ibrahim, whom he called a tyrant without support among his nobles. Ibrahim's uncle, Alam Khan, a pretender to the throne, also sought Babur's help, and a messenger from Rana Sanga probably came with a similar invitation.

Sayyid and Lodi Monuments: Lodi Gardens and Ibrahim Lodi Tomb

Little architecture survives from the Sayyid and Lodi periods, which makes the Lodi Gardens in Delhi important. The park holds the tomb of Muhammad Shah, the tomb of Sikandar Lodi, the Shisha Gumbad and the Bara Gumbad, and is protected by the Archaeological Survey of India.

• Muhammad Shah's tomb, 1444: The earliest tomb in the garden is octagonal and ringed by chhatris with lotus finials, and it brings features of Hindu architecture into an Indo-Islamic building.
• Bara Gumbad, 1494: A great domed gateway with a three-domed mosque, built under Sikandar Lodi.
• Shisha Gumbad: Named for its glazed tiles, it holds graves that cannot be identified for certain; they belong either to an unknown family of Sikandar Lodi's court or to Bahlul Lodi.
• Sikandar Lodi's tomb: Enclosed by battlements, and apparently copied from Muhammad Shah's tomb.

Ibrahim Lodi's tomb is not in the Lodi Gardens, as is often thought. It stands at Panipat, near the tehsil office and the dargah of the Sufi saint Bu Ali Shah Qalandar, a simple rectangular structure on a high platform reached by steps. The British moved it in 1866 when building the Grand Trunk Road and added an inscription on his death in battle.

Fall of the Delhi Sultanate: Babur and the First Battle of Panipat

Why Babur Invaded India: Kabul, the Punjab and the Invitations

Babur, a descendant of Timur, became ruler of Farghana in Central Asia in 1494 at the age of twelve. Driven out by the Uzbeks, he took Kabul in 1504, and from then on, he wrote, he never ceased to think of the conquest of Hindustan.

• Wealth: Like earlier invaders, he was drawn by India's riches.
• A claim: Timur had annexed parts of the Punjab, and Babur felt they were rightly his.
• Poverty of Kabul: Kabul's income could not support his army and nobles.
• Safety: India was a refuge and a base against the Uzbeks.
• Invitations: Daulat Khan and Alam Khan invited him, and Rana Sanga probably did too.

Babur first took the powerful fort of Bhira on his campaign of 1518‑19, but did not keep it. On his next campaign, in 1520‑21, he crossed the Indus once more and easily captured Bhira and Sialkot, the twin gateways to Hindustan, and Lahore. In 1525 Daulat Khan changed sides and marched on Lahore, but his army melted away at Babur's approach, and within three weeks of crossing the Indus Babur was master of the Punjab.

First Battle of Panipat (1526): How Babur Defeated Ibrahim Lodi

Babur defeated Ibrahim Lodi at the First Battle of Panipat on 20 April 1526. Ibrahim came with a force put at 1,00,000 men and 1,000 elephants, though his fighting men were far fewer, since Indian armies carried large numbers of servants. Babur had crossed the Indus with 12,000 men, swelled by Indian nobles who joined him.

• Defences: One wing rested on the town of Panipat and the other on a ditch filled with branches.
• Carts and guns: Carts lashed together formed a wall in front, with breastworks for the gunners, a device Babur called Ottoman (Rumi).
• Gunners: Two Ottoman master-gunners, Ustad Ali and Mustafa, served Babur; gunpowder became common in north India from his time.
• The flanks: As Ibrahim's men attacked, the two outer wings of Babur's army wheeled round and struck from the side and rear, while the guns fired from the front.

Ibrahim's army fought bravely for two or three hours. Ibrahim died fighting with 5,000 to 6,000 men around him, and more than 15,000 of his soldiers were killed. The battle ended the Lodi rule that Bahlul had founded.

End of the Lodi Dynasty and the Significance of Panipat

Panipat is counted among the decisive battles of Indian history. It broke the back of Lodi power, gave Babur Delhi and Agra, and the treasure Ibrahim had stored at Agra freed him from money troubles. The rich lands east as far as Jaunpur also lay open to him.

It did not settle everything. Babur still had to fight Rana Sanga at Khanwa in 1527 and the eastern Afghans, and Afghans such as Mahmud Lodi, Ibrahim's younger brother, joined Sanga in the hope of regaining Delhi. Seen this way, Panipat's real importance was that it opened a new phase in the struggle for north India, which the Afghans renewed under Sher Shah.

Sources

• NCERT: Exploring Society: India and Beyond, Class 8 Part I, Chapter 2, Reshaping India's Political Map
• Delhi Tourism (Govt of NCT of Delhi): History of Delhi
• District Panipat (Govt of Haryana): History
• District Agra (Govt of Uttar Pradesh): History
• Wikipedia: Sack of Delhi (1398)
• Wikipedia: Jaunpur Sultanate
• Wikipedia: Sayyid dynasty
• Wikipedia: Khizr Khan
• Wikipedia: Lodi dynasty
• Wikipedia: Bahlul Lodi
• Wikipedia: Sikandar Lodi
• Wikipedia: Ibrahim Lodi
• Wikipedia: Daulat Khan Lodi
• Wikipedia: First Battle of Panipat
• Wikipedia: Lodi Gardens
• Wikipedia: Tomb of Ibrahim Lodi
• Wikipedia: Guru Nanak
• Wikipedia: Dadu Dayal
• Wikipedia: Tyagaraja
• UPSC: Civil Services Examination question papers