The Sur Empire ( ps, د سرو امپراتورۍ, dë sru amparāturəi; fa, امپراطوری سور, emperâturi sur) was an
Afghan dynasty which ruled a large territory in the northern part of the
Indian subcontinent
The Indian subcontinent is a list of the physiographic regions of the world, physiographical region in United Nations geoscheme for Asia#Southern Asia, Southern Asia. It is situated on the Indian Plate, projecting southwards into the Indian O ...
for nearly 16 years, between 1540 and 1556, with
Sasaram
Sasaram ()sometimes also spelled as Sahasram, is an ancient historical city and a municipal corporation region in the Rohtas district of the Bihar state in eastern India, with a history that goes to thousands of years. During the prehistoric ag ...
, in modern-day
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 ...
, serving as its capital.
The Sur dynasty held control of nearly all the Mughal territories, from eastern
Balochistan, Pakistan in the west to modern-day
Rakhine, Myanmar in the east.
History
Sher Shah, an ethnic
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 ...
of the tribal house of
Sur, first served as a
private before rising to become a commander in the
Mughal army under
Babur and then the governor of
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 ...
. In 1537, when Babur's son
Humayun
Nasir-ud-Din Muhammad ( fa, ) (; 6 March 1508 – 27 January 1556), better known by his regnal name, Humāyūn; (), was the second emperor of the Mughal Empire, who ruled over territory in what is now Eastern Afghanistan, Pakistan, Northe ...
was elsewhere on an expedition, Sher Shah overran the state 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 ...
and established the Suri dynasty.
The Sur supplanted the
Mughal dynasty
The Mughal dynasty ( fa, ; ''Dudmân-e Mughal'') comprised the members of the imperial House of Babur
( fa, ; ''Khāndān-e-Āl-e-Bābur''), also known as the Gurkanis ( fa, ; ''Gūrkāniyān''), who ruled the Mughal Empire from to 1857.
Th ...
as rulers of North India during the reign of the relatively ineffectual second Mughal
Humayun
Nasir-ud-Din Muhammad ( fa, ) (; 6 March 1508 – 27 January 1556), better known by his regnal name, Humāyūn; (), was the second emperor of the Mughal Empire, who ruled over territory in what is now Eastern Afghanistan, Pakistan, Northe ...
. Sher Shah defeated ''badshah-i-Hind'' ('Hindustani emperor') Humayun in the
Battle of Chausa (26 June 1539) and again in the
Battle of Bilgram (17 May 1540).
Sher Shah Suri
Sher Shah Suri ( ps, شیرشاه سوری)
(1472, or 1486 – 22 May 1545), born Farīd Khān ( ps, فرید خان)
, was the founder of the Sur Empire in India, with its capital in Sasaram in modern-day Bihar. He standardized the silver coin ...
was known for the destruction of some old cities while conquering parts of India. He has been accused by
`Abd al-Qadir Bada'uni and other Muslim historians for destroying old cities in order to build new ones on their ruins after his own name. One example included
Shergarh. Sher Shah is also said to have destroyed
Dinpanah, which
Humayun
Nasir-ud-Din Muhammad ( fa, ) (; 6 March 1508 – 27 January 1556), better known by his regnal name, Humāyūn; (), was the second emperor of the Mughal Empire, who ruled over territory in what is now Eastern Afghanistan, Pakistan, Northe ...
was constructing as the "sixth city of
Delhi
Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders ...
". The new city built by him, was itself destroyed in 1555 after Humayun re-conquered the territory from the Surs. Tarikh-i-Da'udi states, however, that he destroyed
Siri
Siri ( ) is a virtual assistant that is part of Apple Inc.'s iOS, iPadOS, watchOS, macOS, tvOS, and audioOS operating systems. It uses voice queries, gesture based control, focus-tracking and a natural-language user interface to answer qu ...
.
Abbas Sarwani states that he had the older city of
Delhi
Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders ...
destroyed. Tarikh-i-Khan Jahan states that
Salim Shah Suri had built a wall around
Humayun's imperial city.
The Sur dynasty held control of nearly all the
Mughal territories, from
Balochistan
Balochistan ( ; bal, بلۏچستان; also romanised as Baluchistan and Baluchestan) is a historical region in Western and South Asia, located in the Iranian plateau's far southeast and bordering the Indian Plate and the Arabian Sea coastline. ...
in the west to modern-day
Bangladesh
Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...
in the east.
Their rule came to an end by a defeat that led to the restoration of the
Mughal Empire
The Mughal Empire was an early-modern empire that controlled much of South Asia between the 16th and 19th centuries. Quote: "Although the first two Timurid emperors and many of their noblemen were recent migrants to the subcontinent, the d ...
.
List of Sur dynasty rulers
See also
*
Sur (Pashtun tribe)
*
Delhi Sultanate
*
List of Sunni dynasties
References
Sources
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Suri Dynasty
1556 disestablishments in India
States and territories established in 1540
States and territories disestablished in 1556
History of Bengal
History of Bihar
History of India
History of Pakistan
1540 establishments in India
16th century in Delhi
Sunni dynasties