Ghiyas-ud-din Tughluq, Founder of Tughluq Dyansty

Ghiyas-ud-din Tughluq was the founder of the Tughluq dynasty, the third of the five dynasties, the combination of which went on to be called the Delhi Sultanate. Though of a humble origin, he rose in ranks and was appointed Governor of the Punjab by the Khilji Sultan Ala-ud-din Khilji. 

After successfully bringing the inglorious reign of Khusrau Khan to an end, Ghiyas-ud-din Tughluq (called Ghazi Malik before his ascension to the throne of Delhi Sultanate) brought a semblance of liberalization to the administration which was severe in the times of his predecessors, especially Ala-ud-din Khilji. The mismanagement of the state affairs under Mubarak Khilji and Khusrav had resulted in a situation where financial condition of the Sultanate was in a mess. Ghiyas-ud-din tried his honest best to retrieve the situation.

Ghiyas-ud-din Tughluq is credited with the construction of the fortified city of Tughlaqabad, located on the Mehrauli-Badarpur Road. He has been hailed by the contemporary historians as a wise statesman and able administrator. Amir Khusrav, his poet laureate, describes him in glowing terms:

"He never did anything that was not replete with wisdom and sense.

He might be said to wear a hundred doctors' hoods under his crown.”

Ghiyas-ud-din died in 1325 from the collapse of the pavilion which was constructed by his son Juna Khan. He was buried in the tomb which he had built for himself at Tughlaqabad.

Ghiyas-ud-din Tughluq was succeeded by Juna Khan who assumed the title of Muhammad bin Tughlaq whose reign marked the highest point of territorial expansion of the Delhi Sultanate.  

Nasir-ud-din Mahmud of Slave Dynasty

Nasir-ud-din Mahmud, a grandson of Iltutmish, was one of the sultans of the Slave Dynasty. He was placed on the throne of Delhi Sultanate by the nobles in 1246 after the incompetent reigns of his predecessors Muiz-ud-din Bahram (1240-42) and Ala-ud-din Masud Shah (1242-46).

Nasir-ud-din Mahmud was only sixteen when he ascended the throne. During his twenty year rule, he remained content in surrendering the power of the state to Balban, one of his Turkish minister.

In 1249, Nasir-ud-din Mahmud married the daughter of Balban. This increased the power of Balban who was made his deputy (naib-i-mamalakat) and given the title of Ulugh Khan (premier ‘Khan’).

Balban, de facto ruler of Delhi, managed the affairs of the sate competently. Internal rebellions were suppressed. Mongol invasions were successfully repulsed. This aroused the jealousy of the other nobles. This led to his exile from 1253 to 1255. But as they created a mess of the administration, he was once again recalled by the Sultan. 
 

Nothing can be said with certainty about the last years of Nasir-ud-din Mahmud who died on in 1266. If the accounts of the fourteenth century historian Isami and African traveler Ibn Batutah are to be believed, the Salve Sultan was murdered by Balban. Since Nasir-ud-din Mahmud had no male heir behind him, Balban ascended the throne of Delhi Sultanate. According to some authorities, the Sultan had nominated him as his successor before his death.

 

An intensely religious-minded person, Nasir-ud-din spent his leisure times in copying the Quran. Himself an expert calligraphist, he patronized Minhaj-us-Siraj who wrote Tabaqat-i-Nasiri and dedicated it to the Sultan.

 

 

Muhammad Shah, Third Ruler of Sayyid Dynasty

             Tomb of Muhammad Shah Sayyid

After the murder of Mubarak Shah, the second ruler of Sayyid Dynasty, by the Delhi nobles in 1434, Muhammad, a grandson of Khizr Khan, the first ruler of Sayyid Dynasty, was made Sultan of the Delhi Sultanate. Muhammad Shah, a nephew of Mubarak, was latter’s heir-designate. His inefficiency contributed fast to the weakening of the Sayyid Dynasty. Sarvar-ul-mulk, wazir of the kingdom, enjoyed supreme power. Even after the wazir’s death, he failed in his duty as a ruler.

In the meantime, Mahmud Shah Khalji of Malwa showed his gumption to raid Delhi. However, Buhlul Khan Lodi, the governor of Lahore and Sirhind, frustrated the designs of the Malwa ruler. All these led to the decline of the Sayyid Dynasty and it was only a matter of time that dynasty, founded by Khizr Khan, was doomed to annihilation.

 

Muhammad Shah died in 1445. He lies buried in a tomb, located in the Lodhi Gardens in Delhi.

Alauddin Alam Shah, Last Ruler of Sayyid Dynasty

After the death of Muhammad Shah in A.D. 1445, his son, Alauddin Alam Shah, succeeded him to the throne of the Sayyid Dynasty, the fourth in the line of five dynasties that comprised Delhi Sultanate.

This pleasure loving ruler was more inefficient than his father. Such was his fondness for gratification and aversion to work that he abdicated the throne in favour of Buhlul Khan Lodi, the governor of Lahore and Sirhind, in 1451 and retired to Badaun (now in Uttar Pradesh), where he died in 1478. 

Alam Shah’s only claim to fame lies in the field of architecture. He constructed his father’s tomb which is located in the Lodhi Gardens in central Delhi.

He lies buried in a tomb in Badaun in Uttar Pradesh where his mother was also buried.

Mubarak Shah: The Second Ruler of the Sayyid Dynasty

                                        Mubarak Shah's tomb / Image Credit

After the death of his father Khizr Khan, the founder of the Sayyid dynasty, Mubarak Shah ascended the throne of Delhi Sultanate. Mubarak Shah, who was nominated as the successor by his father, became the sovereign ruler of Delhi on the very day of the latter's death (20th May, 1421). Unlike his father, he assumed royal title.

It was during Mubarak Shah’s reign that Yahiya bin Ahmad Sarhindi composed his Ta'rikh-i-Mubarak Shahi, dedicated to the Sayyid ruler. Like that of his father, his reign is also not marked by any important event. He suppressed the rebellions at Bhatinda and in the Doab. Khokars under Jasrat tired to pose challenge to the authority of Delhi Sultanate. Mubarak’s reign saw the ascendancy of the Hindu nobles in the court.

Mubarak Shah fell prey to a conspiracy hatched by the Delhi nobles, both Muslims and Hindus, under the leadership of the disgruntled and unscrupulous wazir Sarvar-ul-mulk, He was murdered on the 19th February, 1434, when he was on his way to monitor the construction of Mubarakabad, a newly planned city by the Sayyid ruler on the banks of the Jamuna river. 

Mubarak Shah lies buried in a tomb in Delhi at Kotla Mubarakpur, named after him. He was succeeded on the throne by Muhammad Shah.

Khizr Khan (1414-1421), Founder of Sayyid Dynasty of Delhi Sultanate

Khizr Khan was the founder of the Sayyid dynasty, the fourth and penultimate dynasty of the Delhi Sultanate. After the death of Sultan Mahmud, the last ruler of the Tughluq dynasty, in 1413, the nobles of Delhi entrusted Daulat Khan Lodi with the task of ruling Delhi. However, in March 1414, Khizr Khan, who was appointed Governor of Multan, Lahore and Dipalpur by the Mangol leader Timur Lang or Tamerlane who won these places after invading India and sacking Delhi in 1398-99, defeated Daulat Khan who was sent to Hissar Firuza as a prisoner.

According to some historians, Khizr Khan traced his descent to the Prophet. However, this view has been contested by other authorities. It seems probable that his ancestors might have belonged to Arabia.

Instead of assuming sovereign title, Khizr Khan choose to rule as viceroy of Timur's fourth son and successor, Shah Rukh. His reign of seven years was devoid of any important event. Delhi Sultanate was reduced to the extent of a small principality and Khizr Khan held sway over only a few districts adjoining the capital and his authority was challenged even in these places by the Hindu zamindars.

Khizr Khan died in 1421. He was succeeded to the throne by his son Mubarak Shah. 

Khizr Khan has been described by the medieval historian Ferishta as "a just, generous and a benevolent prince". However he was not a strong ruler.

The Sayyids put on a pointed cap ( Kulah ) and they were known as Kulah – Daran.

Skanda Gupta (c 454-467): the Last Great Gupta Ruler

Skandagupta, who ruled between 455 and 467 CE, was the last powerful ruler of the Gupta Empire that ruled Northern and Central India from the 4th to the late 6th century CE. He ascended the throne after the death of his father Kumar Gupta I. Though not the regular claimant to the throne as he was not born of the chief queen, he was chosen due to his superior ability. And he proved equal to the task.

Soon after his accession to the Gupta throne, Skanda Gupta had to deal with the Hunas, the barbaric tribes from Central Asia who after terrorizing parts of the Roman Empire made incursions into Indian plains.

Skanda Gupta succeeded in keeping the Hunas at bay by defeating them. To mark the occasion he justifiably assumed the title of Vikramaditya. His victory over the Hunas has been referred to in the Kathasaritsagara, written by Somadeva in the 11th century AD. Skanda Gupta died in AD 467 and with that the glory of the Guptas began to dwindle.

The Bhitari pillar inscription in the Ghazipur distract of Uttar Pradesh gives a detailed account of his reign.

An inscription in the Girnar hills near Junagarh in Gujarat commemorates the rebuilding of the embankment of the three century old Sudarsana Lake which broke due to heavy rains. The dam was reconstructed by local city governor Chakrapalita, son of Parnadatta, provincial governor of Saurashtra, in the first year of Skandagupta's rule.