Sikandar Shah Suri

Last updated

Sikandar Shah Suri
Sikander Suri coin.jpg
Copper Paisa of Sikander Shah Suri
6th Sultan of the Sur Empire
ReignFebruary 1555 - 22 June 1555
Predecessor Ibrahim Shah Suri
Successor Adil Shah Suri
Died1559
House Sur dynasty
Dynasty Sur dynasty
Religion Sunni Islam

Sikandar Shah Suri (died 1559) was the sixth ruler of the Sur Empire, a late medieval Pashtun dynasty of northern India. He became the sultan of Delhi after overthrowing Ibrahim Shah Suri.

Contents

Early life

Sikandar Shah Suri's actual name was Ahmad Khan Suri. He was the brother-in-law of sultan Muhammad Adil Shah. He was the governor of Lahore before declaring independence from Delhi in 1555. [1]

Reign

After becoming the independent sultan and bringing Punjab under control, he marched towards the territory controlled by sultan Ibrahim Shah Suri. Ibrahim was defeated in a battle at Farah, India near Agra and Sikandar took possession of both Delhi and Agra. While Sikandar was busy with his struggle against Ibrahim, Humayun captured Lahore in February 1555. Another detachment of his forces captured Dipalpur. Next, the Mughal army occupied Jalandhar and their advanced division proceeded towards Sirhind. Sikandar sent a force of 30,000 horses but they were defeated by the Mughal army in a battle at Machhiwara and Sirhind was occupied by the Mughals. Sikandar, then led an army of 80,000 horses himself and met the Army at Sirhind. On 22 June 1555 he was defeated by the Mughal army and was compelled to retreat to the Sivalik Hills in northern Punjab. [1] The victorious Mughals marched to Delhi and occupied it. [2]

Later days

In late 1556, Sikandar became active again. He defeated Mughal general Khizr Khwaja Khan at Chamiari (presently in Amritsar district) and began to collect taxes with Kalanaur as his headquarters. Bairam Khan sent Khan Alam (Iskandar Khan) to assist Khizr Khwaja Khan and finally on 7 December 1556 Akbar along with Bairam Khan left Delhi to deal with him. Sikandar again retreated to the Sivaliks and took refuge in the fort at Mau under Nurpur kingdom. After six months of resistance from the besieged fort, Sikandar surrendered the fort on 25 July 1557. [3] His local supporter, Raja Bakht Mal, Raja of Nurpur, was imprisoned at Lahore and later beheaded on orders of Bairam Khan. Sikandar was sent to Bihar where he died in 1559. [1]

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 Majumdar, R.C. (ed.) (2007). The Mughul Empire, Mumbai: Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, ISBN   81-7276-407-1 , pp.94-6
  2. "Battles for India at Sirhind". Times of India Blog. 18 March 2018. Retrieved 25 October 2022.
  3. Majumdar, R.C. (ed.) (2007). The Mughul Empire, Mumbai: Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, ISBN   81-7276-407-1 , pp.106-7


Preceded by Shah of Delhi
1555
Succeeded by

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Humayun</span> Mughal emperor (1530–1540 and 1555–1556)

Nasir al-Din Muhammad, commonly known by his regnal name Humayun, was the second Mughal emperor, who ruled over territory in what is now Eastern Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Northern India, and Pakistan from 1530 to 1540 and again from 1555 to his death 1556. At the time of his passing, the Mughal Empire spanned almost one million square kilometres.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ibrahim Khan Lodi</span> 31st Sultan of the Delhi Sultanate (1517–26) and 3rd from the Lodi dynasty

Ibrahim Khan Lodi was the last Sultan of the Delhi Sultanate, who became Sultan in 1517 after the death of his father Sikandar Khan Lodi. He was the last ruler of the Lodi dynasty, reigning for nine years until 1526, when he was defeated and killed at the Battle of Panipat by Babur's invading army, giving way to the emergence of the Mughal Empire in India.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Second Battle of Panipat</span> 1556 battle during the Mughal conquest of the Sur Empire

The Second Battle of Panipat was fought on 5 November 1556, between Akbar and the king of Delhi, Hemu. Hemu had conquered Delhi and Agra a few weeks earlier by defeating Mughal forces under Tardi Beg Khan in the battle of Delhi and crowned himself Raja Vikramaditya at Purana Quila in Delhi.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Deccan sultanates</span> Former states in India

The Deccan Sultanates were five late-medieval Indian kingdoms—on the Deccan Plateau between the Krishna River and the Vindhya Range—that were ruled by Muslim dynasties: namely Ahmadnagar, Berar, Bidar, Bijapur, and Golconda. The sultanates had become independent during the break-up of the Bahmani Sultanate. The five sultanates owed their existence to the declaration of independence of Ahmadnagar in 1490, followed by Bijapur and Berar in the same year. Golconda became independent in 1518, and Bidar in 1528.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hemu</span> General, Wazir and King (died 1556)

Hemu was an Indian emperor who previously served as a general and Wazir of Adil Shah Suri of Sur Empire during a period in Indian history when Mughals and Afghans were vying for power across North India. He fought Afghan rebels across North India from Punjab to Bengal and Mughal forces of Humayun and Akbar in Agra and Delhi, winning 22 battles for Adil Shah Suri.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bahlul Khan Lodi</span> Founder of the Lodi Dynasty

Bahlul Khan Lodi was the chief of the Afghan Lodi tribe. Founder of the Lodi dynasty from the Delhi Sultanate upon the abdication of the last claimant from the previous Sayyid rule. Bahlul became sultan of the dynasty on 19 April 1451.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bairam Khan</span> Mughal military commander and statesman (1501–1561)

Muhammad Bairam Khan, commonly known as Bairam Khan or Bayram Khan was an important military commander, and later commander-in-chief of the Mughal army, a powerful statesman and regent at the court of the Mughal Emperors, Humayun and Akbar. He was also the guardian, chief mentor, adviser, teacher and the most trusted ally of Akbar. Akbar honoured him as Khan-i-Khanan, which means "King of Kings". Bairam was originally called Bairam "Beg", but later became honoured as Khan. Bairam Khan was an aggressive general who was determined to restore Mughal authority in India.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sur Empire</span> Pashtun dynasty that ruled parts of Northern India between 1538/1540 and 1556

The Sur Empire was an empire ruled by the Afghan Sur dynasty in northern India for nearly 16 or 18 years, between 1538/1540 and 1556, with Sasaram serving as its capital. It was founded by Sher Shah Suri.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Muhammad Adil Shah (died 1557)</span> 4th ruler of the Suri Empire (r. 1554-55)

Muhammad Adil Shah was the fourth ruler of the Suri dynasty, a late medieval Afghan dynasty in the northern Indian subcontinent.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ibrahim Shah Suri</span> Sultan of the Sur Empire

Ibrahim Shah Suri was the fifth ruler of the Sur dynasty, a Pashtun (Afghan) dynasty of late medieval northern India.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Malwa Sultanate</span> Late medieval kingdom in northern India (1392–1562)

The Malwa Sultanate was a late medieval Islamic sultanate in the Malwa region, covering the present day Indian states of Madhya Pradesh and south-eastern Rajasthan from 1392 to 1562. It was founded by Dilawar Khan, who following Timur's invasion and the disintegration of the Delhi Sultanate, in 1401/2, made Malwa an independent realm. In 1562, the Sultanate was conquered by the Mughal empire from its last ruler, Baz Bahadur and it became a subah of the empire. The Sultanate was predominantly ruled by Afghan, and Turco-Afghan dynasties throughout its existence.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gujarat Sultanate</span> Late medieval kingdom in India (1394–1573)

The Gujarat Sultanate, or the Sultanate of Guzerat, was a late medieval Indian kingdom established in the early 15th century in Western India, primarily in the present-day state of Gujarat, India. The kingdom was founded by Muzaffar Shah I who was appointed as Tughlaq governor of Gujarat after the death of his father in 1371. Following Timur's invasion of the Delhi Sultanate, Delhi was devastated and its rule weakened considerably, so he declared himself independent in 1394, and formally established the Sultanate. The next sultan, his grandson Ahmad Shah I moved the capital to Ahmedabad in 1411. His successor Muhammad Shah II subdued most Rajput chieftains. The prosperity of the sultanate reached its zenith during the rule of Mahmud Begada. He also subdued most Gujarati Rajput chieftains and built a navy off the coast of Diu. In 1509, the Portuguese empire wrested Diu from the Sultanate in the Battle of Diu (1509). The Mughal emperor Humayun attacked Gujarat in 1535 and briefly occupied it, during which Bombay, Bassein & Daman would become a Portuguese colony, thereafter Bahadur Shah was killed by the Portuguese while making a deal in 1537. The end of the sultanate came in 1573, when Akbar annexed Sultanate of Guzerat into his empire. The last ruler Muzaffar Shah III was taken a prisoner to Agra. In 1583, he escaped from the prison and with the help of the nobles succeeded to regain the throne for a short period before being defeated by Akbar's minister Abdul Rahim Khan-i-Khanan.

Raja Bakht-Mal Pathania (1513–1558) was a King of Nurpur, who succeeded Raja Bhil Pal in 1513 who was in good terms with the Lodi dynasty of Delhi. During the conquest of India by Babar in 1526 the Nurpur kingdom became an ally to Babur's conquest, later on the flight of Babar's son Humayun in 1540 and the accession of Sher Shah Suri at Delhi, Bakht-Mal switched sides to the Sur dynasty.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of Sirhind</span>

Sirhind is the older name of Fatehgarh Sahib, a city and Sikh pilgrimage site in Punjab, India. It is situated on the Delhi to Lahore Highway. It has a population of about 60,851 . It is now a district headquarters in the state of Punjab; the name of the district is Fatehgarh Sahib.

The Battle of Tughlaqabad was a notable battle fought on 7 October 1556 between a Hindu king Hem Chandra Vikramaditya, also known as Hemu and the forces of the Mughal emperor Akbar led by Tardi Beg Khan at Tughlaqabad near Delhi. The battle ended in a 'victory of Hem Chandra' who took possession of Delhi and claimed royal status, assuming the title of Raja Vikramaditya. Following his failure, Tardi Beg was executed by Akbar's regent, Bairam Khan. The two armies would meet again at Panipat a month later with opposite results.

Ghiyasuddin Bahadur Shah II was an independent ruler of Bengal. He was the son of Sultan Shamsuddin Muhammad Shah.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tomb of Ibrahim Lodi</span> Tomb in Haryana, India

The Tomb of Ibrahim Lodi in Panipat is the tomb of Ibrahim Lodi, Sultan of the Lodi dynasty.

The Battle of Sirhind was fought between the Mughal Empire and the Suri Empire in 1555.

The Battle of Machhiwarra was fought between Mughal Empire and Suri Empire in 1555.