Bahlul Khan Lodi (12 July 1489) was the chief of the

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 ...

Lodi tribe. Founder 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 ...

from the

Delhi Sultanate The Delhi Sultanate was an Islamic empire based in Delhi that stretched over large parts of the Indian subcontinent for 320 years (1206–1526).

upon the abdication of the last claimant from the previous

Sayyid ''Sayyid'' (, ; ar, سيد ; ; meaning 'sir', 'Lord', 'Master'; Arabic plural: ; feminine: ; ) is a surname of people descending from the Prophets in Islam, Islamic prophet Muhammad through his grandsons, Hasan ibn Ali and Husayn ibn Ali ...

rule. Bahlul became

sultan Sultan (; ar, سلطان ', ) is a position with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal noun ', meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it ...

of the dynasty on 19 April 1451 (855 AH).

Early life

Bahlul's grandfather, Malik Bahram Khan Lodi, a

tribal chief of Lodi tribe. He later took service under the governor of Multan, Malik Mardan Daulat . Bahram had a total of about five sons. His eldest son, Malik Sultan Shah Lodi, later served under the

Sayyid dynasty The Sayyid dynasty was the fourth dynasty of the Delhi Sultanate, with four rulers ruling from 1414 to 1451. Founded by Khizr Khan, a former governor of Multan, they succeeded the Tughlaq dynasty and ruled the sultanate as a vassal of the Timu ...

ruler

Khizr Khan Khizr Khan (reigned 28 May 1414 – 20 May 1421) was the founder of the Sayyid dynasty, the ruling dynasty of the Delhi sultanate, in northern India soon after the invasion of Timur and the fall of the Tughlaq dynasty. Khan was Governor of Mult ...

and distinguished himself by killing in the battle later's worst enemy Mallu Iqbal Khan. He was rewarded with the title of Islam Khan and in 1419 appointed the governor of

Sirhind Sirhind-Fategarh is a town and a municipal council in the Fatehgarh Sahib district in the Indian state of Punjab. Demographics In the 2011 census Sirhind-Fatehgarh had a population of 60852. Males constituted 54% of the population and female ...

. Bahlul, the son of Malik Kala Khan Lodi, the younger brother of Malik Sultan was married to Malik Sultan's daughter.Majumdar, R.C. (ed.) (2006). ''The Delhi Sultanate'', Mumbai: Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, pp.134–36, 139–142Mahajan, V.D. (1991, reprint 2007). ''History of Medieval India'', New Delhi: S. Chand, , pp.245–51 In his youth, Bahlul was involved in the trading of horses and once sold his finely bred horses to the Sayyid dynasty Sultan Mohammad Shah. As a payment he was granted a ''pargana'' and raised to the status of ''amir''. After the death of Malik Sultan, he became the governor of

. He was allowed to add

Lahore Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city. ...

to his charge. Once, Sultan Muhammad Shah asked for his help when the Malwa Sultan Mahmud Shah I invaded his territory. Bahlul joined the imperial army with 20,000 mounted soldiers. By his cleverness, he was able to project himself as a victor over the army of the Malwa Sultan and Sultan Muhammad Shah conferred on him the title of ''Khan-i-Khanan''. He also accepted Bahlul's occupation over a large part of Punjab. In 1443, Bahlul attacked Delhi but he did not succeed. During the reign of last Sayyid ruler Sultan Alam Shah, Bahlul again made an unsuccessful attempt to capture Delhi in 1447. In 1448, when Alam Shah retired to

Badaun Budaun is commonly pronounced Badayun is a city and a seat of Budaun district, Uttar Pradesh, India. It is located near the Ganges river in the centre of Western Uttar Pradesh. Budaun was the capital of Delhi Sultanate for four years from 1210 ...

, a minister of Alam Shah, Hamid Khan invited him to occupy the throne of Delhi. After the voluntary abdication of the throne by Alam Shah, Bahlul Shah ascended the throne of Delhi on 19 April 1451 and adopted the title of ''Bahlul Shah Ghazi''. Alam Shah continued to live in Badaun until his death in July 1478. Tomb of Bahlol Lodi

Reign

After ascending to the throne, Bahlul decided to dispose of Hamid Khan. His cousin and brother-in-law Malik Mahmud Khan alias Qutb-ud-din Khan (Governor of Samana) imprisoned Hamid Khan. In 1479, Sultan Bahlul Lodi defeated and annexed the

Jaunpur Sultanate The Jaunpur Sultanate ( fa, ) was an independent Islamic state in northern India between 1394 and 1479, ruled by the Sharqi dynasty. It was founded in 1394 by Khwajah-i-Jahan Malik Sarwar, a former wazir of Sultan Nasiruddin Muhammad Shah IV ...

based at Jaunpur. He fortified the city of Jaunpur and turned it into a

kasbah A kasbah (, also ; ar, قَـصَـبَـة, qaṣaba, lit=fortress, , Maghrebi Arabic: ), also spelled qasba, qasaba, or casbah, is a fortress, most commonly the citadel or fortified quarter of a city. It is also equivalent to the term ''alca ...

with several

mosque A mosque (; from ar, مَسْجِد, masjid, ; literally "place of ritual prostration"), also called masjid, is a place of prayer for Muslims. Mosques are usually covered buildings, but can be any place where prayers ( sujud) are performed, ...

s and

madrasa Madrasa (, also , ; Arabic: مدرسة , pl. , ) is the Arabic word for any type of educational institution, secular or religious (of any religion), whether for elementary instruction or higher learning. The word is variously transliterated '' ...

s. Bahlul did much to stop rebellions and uprisings in his territories, and extended his holdings over

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 ...

, Jaunpur and upper Uttar Pradesh. Just like the previous Delhi Sultanate, Delhi Sultans, he kept Delhi the capital of his kingdom. In 1486, he appointed his son, Babrak Shah as viceroy of Jaunpur. In time, this proved to be problematic, as his second son, Nizam Khan (Sikandar Lodi) was named successor, and a power struggle ensued upon his death in July 1489. The site of his grave is disputed. The Archeological Survey of India has long designated a building close to the shrine of the noted Sufi saint Nasiruddin Chirag-e-Delhi in a locality that goes by his name, 'Chirag Delhi', as Tomb of Bahlul Lodi, Bahlul Lodi's tomb. Other historians argue that the Sheesh Gumbad in the Lodi Gardens is actually to be identified with his tomb.Simon Digby (oriental scholar), Simon Digby, ''The Tomb of Buhlul Lodi'', The Bulletin of SOAS, Vol. 38, No. 3, 1975, pp. 550–61.

Marriages

Bahlul married two times: *Shams Khatun, daughter of Sultan Malik Shah Lodi, his first cousin; *Bibi Ambha, daughter of a Hindu goldsmith

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lodi, Bahlul 1489 deaths Sultans of the Lodi dynasty 15th-century Indian monarchs 15th-century Indian Muslims People from Delhi Indian people of Pashtun descent Year of birth unknown

Early life

Reign

Marriages

See also

References