Sikandar Khan Lodi (died 21 November 1517), born Nizam Khan, was a
Pashtun
Pashtuns (, , ; ps, پښتانه, ), also known as Pakhtuns or Pathans, are an Iranian ethnic group who are native to the geographic region of Pashtunistan in the present-day countries of Afghanistan and Pakistan. They were historically re ...
Sultan of the
Delhi Sultanate between 1489 and 1517.
He became ruler of the
Lodi dynasty
The Lodi dynasty ( ps, لودي سلسله; fa, سلسله لودی) was an Afghan dynasty that ruled the Delhi Sultanate from 1451 to 1526. It was the fifth and final dynasty of the Delhi Sultanate, and was founded by Bahlul Khan Lodi when he ...
after the death of his father
Bahlul Khan Lodi
Bahlul Khan Lodi (12 July 1489) was the chief of the Pashtun 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 Apr ...
in July 1489. The second and most successful ruler of the Lodi dynasty of the Delhi sultanate, he was also a poet of the Persian language and prepared a diwan of 9000 verses.He made an effort to recover the lost territories which once were a part of the Delhi Sultanate and was able to expand the territory controlled by the
Lodi Dynasty
The Lodi dynasty ( ps, لودي سلسله; fa, سلسله لودی) was an Afghan dynasty that ruled the Delhi Sultanate from 1451 to 1526. It was the fifth and final dynasty of the Delhi Sultanate, and was founded by Bahlul Khan Lodi when he ...
.
Biography
![Qutub5](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f1/Qutub5.jpg)
Sikandar was the second son of
Sultan Bahlul Lodi
Bahlul Khan Lodi (12 July 1489) was the chief of the Pashtun 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 A ...
, who had founded the Lodi ruling dynasty of the
Delhi Sultanate.
Sikandar was a capable ruler who encouraged trade across his territory. He expanded Lodi rule into the regions of
Gwalior
Gwalior() is a major city in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh; it lies in northern part of Madhya Pradesh and is one of the Counter-magnet cities. Located south of Delhi, the capital city of India, from Agra and from Bhopal, the s ...
and
Bihar
Bihar (; ) is a state in eastern India. It is the 2nd largest state by population in 2019, 12th largest by area of , and 14th largest by GDP in 2021. Bihar borders Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern part of West ...
. He made a treaty with
Alauddin Hussain Shah
Ala-ud-din Husain Shah ( bn, আলাউদ্দিন হোসেন শাহ (1494–1519)Majumdar, R.C. (ed.) (2006). ''The Delhi Sultanate'', Mumbai: Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, pp.215-20 was an independent late medieval Sultan of Bengal, who ...
and his kingdom of
Bengal
Bengal ( ; bn, বাংলা/বঙ্গ, translit=Bānglā/Bôngô, ) is a geopolitical, cultural and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal, predom ...
. In 1503, he commissioned the building of the present-day city of
Agra
Agra (, ) is a city on the banks of the Yamuna river in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, about south-east of the national capital New Delhi and 330 km west of the state capital Lucknow. With a population of roughly 1.6 million, Agra i ...
.
Relation with Kabir Sahib
King Sikandar Lodhi had some connections with
Kabir
Kabir Das (1398–1518) was a 15th-century Indian mystic poet and saint. His writings influenced Hinduism's Bhakti movement, and his verses are found in Sikhism's scripture Guru Granth Sahib, the Satguru Granth Sahib of Saint Garib Das ...
Sahib ji too. Sikandar Lodhi once received a complaint from some people of his religion that Kabir speaks wrong about Muslim religion. So, King Sikandar Lodhi tried to kill Kabir ji many times like Kabir ji was tried to be killed by a bloodthirsty elephant but it is said that due to the miracle of Kabir ji, the elephant started seeing a lion and the elephant retreated from fear and after that King Sikandar Lodhi apologized to Kabir Sahib ji.
In 1496, Kabir Sahib ji sat on an elephant with an initiated woman (who was a prostitute before) in front of him to test his disciples and roamed around the whole Kashi, in which many people criticized him and when King Bir Singh Baghel of
Kashi
Kashi or Kaashi may refer to:
Places
* Varanasi (historically known as "Kashi"), a holy city in India
**Kingdom of Kashi, an ancient kingdom in the same place, one of the sixteen Mahajanapadas
**Kashi Vishwanath Temple, Varanasi
* Kashgar, a cit ...
came to know that Kabir was taking the test, then he bowed down to Kabir Ji along with King Sikandar Lodhi and apologized.
Conflict with Man Singh Tomar
The newly crowned
Raja Man Singh Tomar was not prepared for an invasion from Delhi, and decided to avoid a war by paying Bahlul Lodi a tribute of 800,000 ''tanka''s (coins). In 1489, Sikandar Lodi succeeded Bahlul Lodi as the Sultan of Delhi. In 1500, Manasimha provided asylum to some rebels from Delhi, who had been involved in a plot to overthrow Sikandar Lodi. The Sultan, wanting to punish
Raja Man Singh Tomar, and to expand his territory, launched a punitive expedition against Gwalior. In 1501, he captured
Dholpur
Dholpur is a city in the Dholpur district in Rajasthan state of India. It is situated on the left bank of the famous Chambal river. The city is the administrative headquarters of Dholpur District and was formerly seat of the Dholpur prin ...
, a dependency of Gwalior, whose ruler Vinayaka-deva fled to Gwalior.
Sikandar Lodi then marched towards Gwalior, but after crossing the
Chambal River, an epidemic outbreak in his camp forced him to halt his march.
Raja Man Singh Tomar used this opportunity to reconcile with Lodi, and sent his son Kunwar Vikramaditya to the Lodi camp with gifts for the Sultan. He promised to expel the rebels from Delhi, on the condition that Dholpur be restored to Vinayaka-deva. Sikandar Lodi agreed to these terms, and left. Historian
Kishori Saran Lal
Kishori Saran Lal (1920–2002), better known as K. S. Lal, was an Indian historian. He is the author of several works, mainly on the medieval history of India.
Career
He obtained his master's degree in 1941 at the University of Allahabad. In ...
theorizes that Vinayaka Deva hadn't lost Dholpur at all: this narrative was created by the Delhi chroniclers to flatter the Sultan.
In 1504, Sikandar Lodi resumed his war against the Tomar King's of Gwalior. First, he captured the
Mandrayal fort, located to the east of Gwalior. He ransacked the area around Mandrayal, but many of his soldiers lost their lives in a subsequent epidemic outbreak, forcing him to return to Delhi. Sometime later, Lodi moved his base to the newly established city of
Agra
Agra (, ) is a city on the banks of the Yamuna river in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, about south-east of the national capital New Delhi and 330 km west of the state capital Lucknow. With a population of roughly 1.6 million, Agra i ...
, which was located closer to Gwalior. He captured Dholpur, and then marched against Gwalior, characterizing the expedition as a ''
jihad''. From September 1505 to May 1506, Lodi managed to ransack the rural areas around Gwalior, but was unable to capture the Gwalior fort because of
Raja Man Singh Tomar's hit-and-run tactics. A scarcity of food resulting from Lodi's destruction of crops forced Lodi to give up the siege. During his return to
Agra
Agra (, ) is a city on the banks of the Yamuna river in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, about south-east of the national capital New Delhi and 330 km west of the state capital Lucknow. With a population of roughly 1.6 million, Agra i ...
,
Raja Man Singh Tomar ambushed his army near Jatwar, inflicting heavy casualties on the invaders.
Having failed to capture the Gwalior fort, Lodi decided to capture the smaller forts surrounding Gwalior. Dholpur and Mandrayal were already in his control by this time. In February 1507, he captured the Uditnagar (Utgir or Avantgarh) fort lying on the
Narwar
Narwar is a town and a nagar panchayat in Shivpuri district in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. Narwar is a historic town and the Narwar Fort is just east of the Kali Sindh River and is situated at a distance of 42 km from Shivpuri. Na ...
-Gwalior route. In September 1507, he marched against Narwar, whose ruler (a member of the Tomara clan) fluctuated his allegiance between the Tomaras of Gwalior and the
Malwa Sultanate
The Malwa Sultanate ( fa, ) (Pashto: ; ''lit: Mālwā Salṭanat'') 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 fo ...
. He captured the fort after a year-long siege. In December 1508, Lodi placed Narwar in charge of Raj Singh Kachchwaha, and marched to Lahar (Lahayer) located to the south-east of Gwalior. He stayed at Lahar for a few months, during which he cleared its neighbourhood of rebels. Over the next few years, Lodi remained busy in other conflicts. In 1516, he made a plan to capture Gwalior, but an illness prevented him from doing so.
Raja Man Singh Tomar died in 1516, and Sikandar Lodi's illness also led to his death in November 1517.
Religion
The Lodi Sultans were Muslims, and like their predecessors, acknowledged the authority of the
Abbasid Caliphate
The Abbasid Caliphate ( or ; ar, الْخِلَافَةُ الْعَبَّاسِيَّة, ') was the third caliphate to succeed the Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was founded by a dynasty descended from Muhammad's uncle, Abbas ibn Abdul-Muttalib ...
over the
Muslim World
The terms Muslim world and Islamic world commonly refer to the Islamic community, which is also known as the Ummah. This consists of all those who adhere to the religious beliefs and laws of Islam or to societies in which Islam is practiced. I ...
. Because Sikandar's mother was a Hindu, he tried to prove his Islamic credentials by resorting to strong
Sunni orthodoxy as a political expediency. He destroyed Hindu temples, and under the pressure from the
ulama
In Islam, the ''ulama'' (; ar, علماء ', singular ', "scholar", literally "the learned ones", also spelled ''ulema''; feminine: ''alimah'' ingularand ''aalimath'' lural are the guardians, transmitters, and interpreters of religious ...
, allowed the execution of a
Brahmin
Brahmin (; sa, ब्राह्मण, brāhmaṇa) is a varna as well as a caste within Hindu society. The Brahmins are designated as the priestly class as they serve as priests (purohit, pandit, or pujari) and religious teachers (gur ...
who declared Hinduism to be as veracious as Islam. He also banned women from visiting the
mazars
Mazars is a global audit, accounting and consulting group employing more than 42,000 professionals in more than 90 countries through member firms. With head offices in France, Mazars has a network of correspondent partners and joint ventures in ...
(mausoleums) of Muslim saints, and banned the annual procession of the spear of the legendary Muslim martyr
Salar Masud.
Before Sikandar's time, the judicial duties in smaller villages and towns were performed by local administrators, while the Sultan himself consulted the scholars of the Islamic law (
sharia). Sikandar established sharia courts in several towns, enabling the
qazis to administer the sharia law to a larger population. Although such courts were established in areas with significant Muslim population, they were also open to the non-Muslim population, including for non-religious matters such as property disputes.
References
Bibliography
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lodi, Sikandar
1517 deaths
Sultans of the Lodi dynasty
Indian people of Pashtun descent
15th-century Indian monarchs
16th-century Indian monarchs
1458 births