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READING HALL

THE DOORS OF WISDOM

 

 

 

HISTORY OF INDIA. Turks and Afghans

 

IX

THE LODI DYNASTY

 

 

THE condition of the kingdom over which Buhlul was called to rule has already been described, but he differed from its late feeble sovereign in being already, at the time of his elevation to the throne, a powerful ruler. The greater part of the Punjab owned his sway, and one of his kinsmen was virtual ruler of the country to the east of Delhi, the northern Doab, and the province now known as Rohilkhand.

The new king was just such a ruler as the distracted state required. With sufficient political acumen to serve his purpose he was active and warlike and had formed the resolution of restoring the kingdom to its pre-eminence among the Muhammadan States of Northern India. Among his Afghan kinsmen he was little more than primus inter pares, and was well content with that position, but he would tolerate no interference by strangers, and one of his first acts was to overthrow the powerful Hamid Khan, by whom he had been called to the throne and whose influence in Delhi might at any time be sufficient to initiate a formidable movement for the restoration of the old order of things, when everybody was his own master. The Afghans, acting under their leader's instructions, behaved with grotesque boorishness at all his formal meetings with Hamid Khan. The men-at-arms crowded into the hall of audience on the pretext that all soldiers and fellow-tribesmen were equals, and their conduct, while it excited the surprise and disgust of Hamid Khan, encouraged him to believe that he had to deal with a horde of mere rustic simpletons. The Afghan troops were soon numerous enough to crush any disturbance which might arise in the city, and their numbers at court were always sufficient to enable Buhlul to carry out any act of violence. At one audience Qutb Khan Lodi, Buhlul’s cousin and brother-in-law, produced a chain and, casting it down before Hamid Khan, informed him that it was considered necessary for reasons of state that he should be confined for a few days, but that in consideration of the services which he had rendered his life would be spared. How this promise was kept we do not know, but Hamid Khan disappears henceforth from the scene.

Shaikh Yusuf, the popularly elected governor of Multan, who had been expelled from that city by the Langahs and had taken refuge at Delhi, urged Buhlul to recover the lost province, and late in 1451 he left the capital for Multan, but as soon as his back was turned some of the old nobles of Alam Shah, who found the energetic personal rule of the new king little to their taste, invited Mahmud Shah of Jaunpur to attack the city and expel the Afghans. Mahmud responded to the appeal, and on his march towards Delhi was joined by Buhlul’s relative, Darya Khan Lodi, who remained at heart loyal to his kinsman, and whose adherence to the invader was a matter of necessity rather than choice. Mahmud advanced to Delhi and besieged Buhlul’s eldest son, Khvaja Bayazid, who had been left in charge of the city; and Buhlul, who had reached Dipalpur, immediately retraced his footsteps and was within thirty miles of the capital before Mahmud had succeeded in making any impression on its defences. He was fortunate enough to capture large numbers of Mahmud's transport animals, which were at pasture but immediately after this successful stroke was attacked by Mahmud's principal lieutenant, Fath Khan of Herat, with 30,000 horse and thirty elephants. In the battle Qutb Khan Lodi, who was an expert archer, checked the onset of Fath Khan’s elephant by wounding it with an arrow, and this mishap shook the ranks of the Jaunpur troops. Qutb Khan was able to convey a message to Darya Khan Lodi, urging him to desert the enemy and join his kinsmen, and Darya Khan at once led his troops from the field. The rest of the army of Jaunpur, demoralised by his defection, broke and fled, and Fath Khan was taken alive and was beheaded by Raja Khan, a Hindu officer of Buhlul’s who had a blood feud with him.

Mahmud, on the defeat of his army in the field, raised the siege and returned to Jaunpur. His expedition convinced Buhlul that the settlement of the trivial disorders in the Punjab, where Lodi supremacy was assured, might well be postponed until the turbulent fief-holders of the Doab and the petty princes of Mewat, who had long been independent, were once more brought into subjection to the kingdom of Delhi and the power of the king of Jaunpur which, during the reigns of Mubarak, Muhammad, and Alam Shah, had always equalled and frequently over-shadowed that of the king of Delhi, had been broken. Buhlul, whose reputation had been greatly enhanced by his victory, marched to Mewat, where he received, without a battle, the submission of Ahmad Khan, who surrendered seven parganas to him, agreed to holding the remainder of his territory as a fief of Delhi, and placed his uncle, Mubarak Khan, at Buhlul’s court, nominally as his agent, but in fact as a hostage.

From Mewat Buhlul crossed the Jumna and marched to Baran, where Darya Khan Lodi waited on him and compounded for his late adhesion to Mahmud of Jaunpur by the surrender of seven parganas of his great fief to the crown. It was Buhlul’s policy to conciliate the great fief-holders of the Doab, whose disobedience to Delhi and subservience to Jaunpur had been forced upon them by circumstances, and all were treated with leniency. Isa Khan, Mubarak Khan, and Raja Portab submitted to him and were permitted to retain the fiefs of Koil, Suket and Bhongaon, and even Qutb Khan, son of Hagan Khan, who defended the fortress of Rapri against the royal troops, was permitted to retain his fief after his submission.

From Rapri Buhlul marched to Etawah and received the submission of the raja, but this assertion of his authority provoked Mahmud of Jaunpur, who claimed the allegiance of Etawah and invaded the district for the purpose of contesting Buhlul’s claim. Neither king was in a position to proceed to extremities against the other, and after one day's desultory fighting they concluded a truce, in accordance with the terms of which the boundaries between the two states were to be those which had been recognised in the reign of Mubarak Shah of Delhi, seven elephants taken from Fath Khan were to be restored to Jaunpur, and Buhlul was to be permitted, after the rainy season, to wrest Shamsabad from Jaunan Khan, who held it nominally as a fief of Jaunpur.

War against Jaunpur      

 

Mahmud returned to Jaunpur and Buhlul drove Jaunan Khan from Shamsabad and placed his own vassal, Raja Karan, in possession of the fief. Mahmud, though Buhlul had violated none of the conditions of the treaty, marched against him, and as the army of Jaunpur approached Shamsabad it was attacked by night by a force under Qutb Khan Lodi and Darya Khan Lodi. The attack failed and Qutb Khan was captured and sent to Jaunpur, where he remained a prisoner for seven months. Just as the main bodies of the two armies were about to join battle Mahmud died, in 1457, and his son Bhikan was raised to the throne under the title of Muhammad Shah, and made peace with Buhlul, whose right to retain Shamsabad he acknowledged. Buhlul returned towards Delhi, but on reaching Dhankaur received a message from Qutb Khan’s sister, reproaching him for having left her brother in captivity and urging him not to rest until he had liberated him, whereupon he at once turned back to meet Muhammad Shah, who marched with equal promptness to Shamsabad, expelled Raja Karan, and restored the fief to Jaunan Khan. His success attracted to his standard the raja of Etawah, who openly transferred his allegiance from Delhi to Jaunpur, and Muhammad marched to Saraswati while Buhlul marched to the neighbouring town of Rapri. After some desultory fighting between the two armies intestine discord deprived that of Jaunpur of the power of offensive actions, and Muhammad was deserted by one of his brothers, who led away a force of 30,000 horse and thirty elephants and halted on the banks of the Marna. Buhlul, who regarded this move as a tactical manoeuvre against himself, followed them, and on his way captured Jalal Khan, a third brother of Muhammad, who was attempting to join the deserter, and detained him as a hostage for the safety of Qutb Khan Lodi.

Muhammad retreated towards Kanauj, and was followed as far as the Ganges by Buhlul, but his brother Husain had already been acclaimed as king at Kanauj and Muhammad was deserted by the few courtiers who had remained with him, and was put to death.

Husain Shah ascended the throne of Jaunpur in 1458, and at once concluded a four years’ truce with Buhlul. Qutb Khan Lodi was exchanged for Husain's brother, Jalal Khan, and peace reigned between Delhi and Jaunpur for the period for which the truce had been concluded.

During this period Buhlul’s attention was fully occupied in the administration of his dominions and late in 1472 he marched towards Multan, to reduce to obedience Husain Shah Langah, who had succeeded his father in that small kingdom.

In 1473 Husain Shah of Jaunpur, instigated by his wife Jalila, who was a daughter of Alam Shah, marched on Delhi with a large army, and this menace to his capital recalled Buhlul, who, however, sent his third son, Barbak Shah, and Tatar Khan Lodi, governor of Lahore, to Multan, where they suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of Husain Langah, and were compelled to retreat.

Buhlul, on reaching Delhi, was dismayed by the imminence of his peril and hastily sent a mission to Mahmud Khalji II of Malwa, imploring him to come to his aid and promising to cede to him the whole country west of Bayana, but Husain had reached the banks of the Jumna, a short distance to the south-east of Delhi, before a reply could be received from Mahmud, and Buhlul attempted to purchase peace by the most humiliating submission. Were he allowed, he said, to retain Delhi and the country for thirty miles around it he would cheerfully hold it in Husain's name. The offer was haughtily rejected and Buhlul marched forth at the head of 18,000 Afghan horse, to meet his powerful enemy. The armies were encamped on opposite banks of the Jumna and for several days neither ventured to cross the river in force to attack the other until one day Husain who, in his contempt of his opponent neglected all military precautions, permitted the whole of his army to disperse for the purpose of plundering the fertile lands of the Doab. His camp was left unprotected, and Buhlul crossed the river by a ford and fell upon it. Even now Husain's insensate pride blinded him to his danger and it was not until the Afghans were actually plundering his tents that he sought safety in flight, then the only course left open to him. The ladies of his harem, including his wife Jalila, were captured by Buhlul, who generously sent them unharmed to Jaunpur.

A new treaty, in which a truce of three years was agreed upon, was concluded and Buhlul, besides turning his attention once more to the improvement of his administration and the consolidation of his power, marched into Mewat for the purpose of dealing with Ahmad Khan, a great fief-holder who had joined Husain Shah in his recent expedition. Ahmad Khan fled and joined Husain in Jaunpur, thus furnishing him with a pretext for renewing hostilities, to which course he was constantly urged by his wife Jalila.

Husain, after capturing Etawah, marched on Delhi with an army of 100,000 horse and 1000 elephants, and Buhlul again stooped to supplication and promised, if Husain would refrain from molesting him, to attend him in the field whenever in future he might require assistance. Husain vouchsafed no answer to this piteous appeal and Buhlul was compelled to take the field. He again defeated the army of Jaunpur, but was not strong enough to profit by his success, and was fain to make peace. Shortly afterwards Husain again marched against Buhlul, who marched from Delhi and encountered him at Sikhera, about twenty-five miles east of the city. Husain was defeated but was again able to make peace on equal terms and retired to Etawah, where Qutb Khan Lodi and the son of the raja of Gwalior waited on him. Qutb Khan, learning that Husain still entertained designs on Delhi, ingratiated himself by disparaging Buhlul, and promised Husain that he would never rest until he had conquered for him the country as far north as Delhi. Husain was duped, and allowed Qutb Khan to leave his camp. He at once joined his cousin at Delhi, and warned him against Husain, whose military strength was still great and who had not abandoned the design of annexing Delhi to his dominions.

 

Husain of Jaunpur is defeated

 

Market Bridge of Jaunpur

 

Husain once more assembled his army for an attack on Delhi, and in March, 1479, arrived at the bank of the Jumna. This was the most promising of all his campaigns and the effect of his numerical superiority was everywhere apparent, but Qutb Khan Lodi, by an appeal to the memory of Husain's mother, who had be­friended him during his captivity in Jaunpur, so played upon the invader's feelings that he induced him to make peace on obtaining from Buhlul formal recognition of his tenure of all districts east of the Ganges, corresponding to the modern province of Rohilkhand. After concluding this treaty Husain began a leisurely retreat and Buhlul perfidiously attacked him and captured a large number of elephants and horses laden with spoil and treasure, Husain’s minister, and about forty of his principal nobles. This success, disgracefully obtained, marks the turn of the tide in favour of Delhi, and Buhlul pursued the demoralised army of Jaunpur and occupied the parganas of Kampil, Patiali, Shamsabad, Suket, Koil, Marhara and Jalesar. Husain, hard pressed by Buhlul’s pursuit, turned and faced him, but was again defeated and was now obliged to acquiesce in Buhlul’s retention of the large tract of territory which he had recovered and to agree that the frontier of the kingdom of Jaunpur should be withdrawn to Chhibramau, in the district now known as Farrukhabad. Husain retired to Rapri and Buhlul to Delhi, but the former, after a brief period of repose, again took the field to recover his lost territory and met Buhlul at Senha, where he suffered the heaviest defeat he had yet experienced. The plunder which fell into the hands of Buhlul and the prestige which he gained with his victory established the superiority of Delhi and Buhlul encamped at Chhibramau and shortly afterwards took the offensive against Husain and defeated him at Rapri. Husain fled towards Gwalior, and after losing some of his wives and children in the passage of the Jumna, was attacked near Athgath by the Bhadauriyas, a predatory tribe, who plundered his camp. Kirat Singh of Gwalior was still faithful to him, supplied him with money, troops, and transport, and escorted him as far as Kalpi on his way to Jaunpur. Buhlul, after capturing Etawah, which surrendered to him after a siege of three days, marched to attack Husain, who turned to meet him at Raigaon Khagal, where his front was protected by the Ganges, which postponed Buhlul attack for some months until Raja Tilok Chand of Baksar joined his army and led it across the river by a ford, when Husain retreated rapidly to Phaphamau, the raja of which place provided him with money, horses, and elephants, and escorted him in safety to Jaunpur. Buhlul marched straight on Jaunpur and Husain fled towards Kanauj by way of Bahraich, an unnecessarily circuitous route. Buhlul followed him, overtook him on the banks of the Rahab, attacked him, and defeated him, capturing one of his wives. He then returned to Jaunpur, which he captured, and placed Mubarak Khan Lohani in the city as governor. He also placed a garrison under the command of Qutb Khan Lodi in Majhauli, beyond the Gogra and then marched to Budaun, which had been nominally subject to Husain since the death of Alam Shah in 1478. Husain took advantage of his absence to reassemble his army and march to Jaunpur, compelling Mubarak Khan to withdraw to Majhauli. Husain marched thither, and Buhlul’s officers, who could not risk a battle, gained time by feigning to negotiate, and while Husain was thus permitting himself to be delayed, Buhlul returned rapidly from Budaun, sent a force under his son Barbak to relieve Majhauli, and reoccupied Jaunpur. Husain, in despair, fled into Bihar, and Buhlul followed him as far as Haldi, on the Ganges near Ballia, where he heard of the death of Qutb Khan Lodi at Majhauli and, after halting to mourn for him, returned to Jaunpur, where in 1486 he placed his eldest surviving son Barbak on the throne of that kingdom, and permitted him to coin money and to use the royal title. He then marched, by way of Chandwar, to Dholpur where the raja, as earnest of his submission, presented to him a large quantity of gold. From Dholpur he marched eighteen miles westward to Bari, where Iqbal Khan, the Muslim governor, also made his submission, and was permitted to retain his fief. Thence he marched to Alampur, near Ranthambhor, plundered that district, and destroyed all the standing crops. Returning to Delhi he enjoyed some well-earned repose there and at Hissar, and, thus refreshed, marched to Gwalior, where Kirat Singh had for many years virtually maintained his independence by paying tribute to Jaunpur. Buhlul was ill-prepared for such an enterprise as the siege of the fortress, and Kirat Singh was well content to purchase peace and liberty by the payment of eight millions of rupees. From Gwalior Buhlul returned to Etawah, where he made some administrative changes, and, on returning towards Delhi, was overtaken, near Suket, by his last illness, which produced a crop of intrigues regarding the succession.

 

Jaunpur Fort

 

Buhlul himself, who had provided for his second and eldest surviving son, Barbak, by placing him on the throne of Jaunpur, seems to have intended that his third son, Nizam Khan (Sikandar Shah) should succeed him, but the Afghan nobles objected to him on the ground that his mother, a favorite wife or concubine, was the daughter of a goldsmith, and prevailed upon the dying king to summon him to the camp, lest he should usurp the throne in Delhi; but the prince's mother and a few who favoured his cause were in the camp and secretly warned him that if he obeyed the order he would certainly be imprisoned by his father. Nizam Khan temporised and the nobles, who were almost unanimous in opposing his succession, some supporting Barbak Shah of Jaunpur, and others Azam-i-Humayun, son of Khvaja Bayazid, Buhlul's eldest son, urged Buhlul to assert his authority, and an order was sent to Nizam Khan, warning him that if he did not immediately obey the summons his father would march to Delhi and punish him. Nizam Khan pitched his camp beyond the walls and announced that he was about to set out, but needed a few days in which to prepare for the journey. Meanwhile Buhlul suddenly died, in the second week of July, 1489. Ziba, the goldsmith's daughter, boldly confronted the Lodi nobles with an assertion of her son's claim to the throne, and was abused to her face by Isa Khan, Buhlul’s first cousin, who brusquely told her that the son of a goldsmith's daughter was not the man to fill a throne. His discourtesy injured his cause by exciting sympathy for the widow, and Khan Khanan Qarmali rebuked him. Isa Khan angrily replied that a servant had no right to interfere in the family affairs of the Lodis, and the Khan Khanan retorted that if he was a servant he was the servant of Sikandar Shah, the title by which Nizam Khan was already known to his adherents, and of none other. The army moved to Jalali, where it was met by Nizam Khan, who, on July 17, 1489, was proclaimed king under the title of Sikandar Shah.

Sikandar Shah

Sikandar was undoubtedly the fittest of all Buhlul’s sons to fill his father's throne, and his promptitude in joining the army settled the question of the succession, but some of the courtiers withdrew in sullen disaffection to their fiefs and Sikandar soon found it necessary to attack his uncle, Alam Khan, who was making pretensions to independence in Rapri and Chandwar. Khan, after enduring a few days' siege in Rapri, fled and took refuge in Patiali with Isa Khan, who was in rebellion in consequence of the insult which he had hurled at the king's mother. Sikandar conferred the fief of Rapri on Khan Khanan Lohani and retired to Etawah, where he spent seven months in reorganising the administration of the provinces, which had been thrown into confusion by governors and fief-holders appointed during the late reign and disaffected to his rule and in conciliating those who were prepared to accept his succession as an accomplished fact. He succeeded in persuading Alam Khan to leave the protection of Isa Khan and endeavored to secure his fidelity by bestowing on him the fief of Etawah, and he sent an embassy to his brother Barbak in Jaunpur with the object of concluding a permanent treaty between that kingdom and Delhi, and marched in person against Isa Khan in Patiali. Isa met him in the field, but was defeated, and so severely wounded that he survived his reconciliation with his nephew but a few days. Raja Ganesh, a Hindu officer who had espoused Barbak's cause, submitted to Sikandar and was rewarded with the fief of Patiali.

The mission to Jaunpur failed. Husain Sharqi, from his retreat in Bihar, had assiduously instigated Barbak to attack his brother, in the hope that their quarrels would open a way for his return to Jaunpur, and Sikandar, apprised of his brother's designs, marched to attack him. Barbak advanced to Kanauj to meet him and suffered a defeat, in consequence of which he fled to Budaun. Sikandar pursued him, besieged him in that city, and after a few days compelled him to surrender. He was treated with great leniency and was replaced on the throne of Jaunpur, but merely as a king in name, for Sikandar distributed the rich fiefs of the kingdom among his own adherents, and even placed confidential agents in Barbak's household.

After this success Sikandar marched to Kotala and Kalpi, dispossessed his nephew, Azam-i-Humayun, who had been a candidate for the crown, of these fiefs, and bestowed them upon Muhammad Khan Lodi. He next attacked, in Jhatra, Tatar Khan Lodi, who had been one of his bitterest opponents, compelled him to submit and generously restored him to his fief. Marching thence to Gwalior he received the submission of Raja Kirat Singh, invested him with a robe of honor as governor of the fortress and district, and marched to Bayana, where the governor, Sharaf, son of Ahmad Jalvani, appeared before him and, by a feigned submission, obtained a promise of the fiefs of Jalesar, Chandwar, Marhara, and Suket on condition of his surrendering the keys of Bayana. He was permitted to return for the keys but had no sooner regained the shelter of the fortress than he prepared to stand a siege. Sikandar marched to Agra, which was held by Haibat Khan, a dependant of Sharaf, and, having entrusted the siege of that town to some of his officers, returned to Bayana and after a short siege compelled Sharaf to surrender. He was permitted to retire to Gwalior, the fief of Bayana was granted to Khan Khanan, and the king returned to Delhi.

 

During his long and prosperous reign, Sikandar Shah constructed magnificent buildings and mosques, of which the famous adina mosque at pandua is the most imposing. It is the largest and most important Muslim building in the whole of Bengal. Other structures built during his reign were the tomb and mosque of akhi sirajuddin, the kotwali darwaza at the southern entrance of gaur, a vault at Ganagarampur, Dinajpur and a mosque at Mulla Simla, Hughli.

 

Rebellion in Jaunpur

He had rested for no longer than four days in the capital when he received news of a serious rebellion in Jaunpur, where the Hindu landholders assembled an army of 100,000 horse and foot and put to death Sher Khan, brother of Mubarak Khan Lohani, governor of Kara. Mubarak himself escaped from Kara, but was seized by his Hindu boatmen at a ford near the present city of Allahabad and delivered to the raja of Phaphamau, who imprisoned him. Barbak Shah of Jaunpur was utterly unable to cope with this formidable insurrection, which seems to have been due to time intrigues of Husain Sharqi in Bihar, and withdrew to Daryabad, between Lucknow and Gonda, whence he joined Sikandar, who was marching on Jaunpur, at Dahnau on the Ganges. The raja of Phaphamau, alarmed at Sikandar’s approach, released Mubarak Khan and sent him to the royal camp, but the king's advance on Jaunpur was opposed by the rebel army, but he attacked it, defeated it with great slaughter, dispersed it, and took much plunder, and, continuing his march to Jaunpur, reinstated his brother and retired towards Oudh, where he proposed to enjoy the chase, but was almost immediately recalled by the news that Barbak was helpless before the rebels. The facts of the case are obscure, but it appears that Barbak had been coquetting with the rebels and also with Husain. Sikaudar dealt promptly with him by sending some of his principal nobles to Jaunpur to arrest him, and he was brought before the king and delivered into the custody of Haibat Khan and Umar Khan Shirvani. From the neighborhood of Jaunpur Sikandar marched to Chunar, where a number of Husain’s nobles were assembled. He defeated them but was not strong enough to attempt the siege of the fortress, and marched to Kuntit, on the Ganges, a dependency of Phaphamau, where Bhil, the raja of Phaphamau, made his obeisance, and was confirmed in the possession of Kuntit, as a fief. Sikandar marched on to Arail, opposite to Allahabad, and the raja, who accompanied him, became apprehensive for his personal safety and fled, leaving his camp and baggage in the king's hands. Sikandar, to reassure him, courteously sent his property after him. Arail was laid waste, and the army marched to Dalmau by way of Kara, and thence to Shamsabad, where Sikandar halted for six months, visited Sambhal, and returned to Shamsabad, destroying on the way the inhabitants of two villages who had been guilty either of rebellion or brigandage.

In October, 1494, after spending the rainy season at Shamsabad he marched against Bhil of Phaphamau, who remained obdurate, laid waste his territory, and defeated his son Narsingh in the field. The raja fled in the direction of Sundha, but died on the way, and Sikandar, unable, owing to scarcity of provisions, was obliged to push on to Jaunpur, where most of the horses of his army died, from the hardships of the campaign, according to the chroniclers, but in fact owing to the improvident habit of destroying both crops and stores of grain in a hostile province. The rebellious landholders, at whose head was Lakhmi Chand, a son of Raja Bhil, urged Husain Sharqi to attack Sikandar, assuring him that nine-tenths of the latter's cavalry horses had perished, and Husain marched from Bihar with all the forces which he could assemble and 100 elephants. Sikandar, whose losses had been exaggerated and had not proved to be irreparable, marched southward, crossed the Ganges by the ford at Kuntit, placed a garrison in Chunar, and advanced to Benares, sending Khan Khanan to conciliate Salibahan, another son of Raja Bhil. Thence he marched to attack Husain, who was within thirty-six miles of the city, and on his way was joined by Salibahan, whose adhesion had been secured by the promise of his father's territory. He had repaired his losses, and he inflicted a crushing defeat on Husain, and pursued him towards Patna with 100,000 horse. On learning that Husain had continued his flight from Patna he marched with his whole army to Bihar, and Husain, leaving Malik Kandu in the fortress of Bihar, fled to Kahalgaon (Colgong). Sikandar, after detaching a force which drove Kandu from Bihar, left some officers to complete the subjugation of that province and marched into Tirhut, where he received the allegiance of the raja and, having left Mubarak Khan Lohani to collect the tribute imposed upon him, returned to Bihar.

This invasion of Bihar which, though held by the kings of Jaunpur in the day of their strength, had always been regarded as a province of Bengal, aroused the hostility of Ala-ud-din Husain Shah, the active and warlike king of that country, who resented both the pursuit of his protégé and the violation of his frontiers. He hesitated to march in person against the king of Delhi, and sent his son Daniyal with an army to Barh, where he was met by a force under Mahmud Khan Lodi and Mubarak Khan Lohani. Neither party had anything to gain by proceeding to extremities and the treaty executed by both contained the usual stipulation, meaningless when boundaries fluctuate and are ill defined, that neither the king of Delhi nor the sultan of Bengal was to invade the dominions of his neighbour, but the latter's promise to abstain from harbouring Sikandar’s enemies was an admission that he had erred in espousing Husain’s cause.

Sikandar remained for some time in Bihar and his army suffered from famine, perhaps the result of climatic conditions, but more probably caused and certainly aggravated by the devastating campaign in which it had been engaged. Grain became so dear that one of the taxes levied under the Islamic law was remitted, and Sikandar marched to Saran, asserted his authority by removing some of the landholders from their fiefs and appointing nobles of his own clan in their place, and returned to Jaunpur, where he reorganised the administration of the distracted province and, having accomplished this task, demanded a daughter in marriage from Salibahan of Phaphamau. He met with a refusal and attacked Salibahan’s stronghold, but failed to capture it and returned to Jaunpur, where he demanded from Mubarak Khan Lodi, to whom the collection of the revenue had been entrusted since the imprisonment of Barbak, an account of his stewardship. Mubarak Khan, who had been guilty of wholesale peculation, was much alarmed and sought the intercession of several influential courtiers with a view to avoiding an inquiry, but his anxiety betrayed his guilt, and he was ordered to pay into the treasury the large sums which he had embezzled.

 

 

Sunset on the Yamuna River-The Yamuna (sometimes called Jamuna or Jumna) is a major tributary river of the Ganges (Ganga) in northern India. With a total length of around 1,370 kilometers (851 mi), it is the largest tributary of the Ganges.Its source is at Yamunotri, in the Uttarakhand Himalaya, which is north of Haridwar in the Himalayan Mountains. It flows through the states of Delhi, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, before merging with the Ganges at Allahabad. The cities of Baghpat, Delhi, Noida, Mathura, Agra, Etawah, Kalpi, Hamirpur, Allahabad lie on its banks. The major tributaries of this river are the Tons, Chambal, Betwa, and Ken; the Tons being the largest.

 

During the king's stay at Jaunpur the turbulent conduct of some of his nobles aroused his displeasure and his suspicions. One accidentally struck another on the head with his stick while playing polo with the king and the injured man’s brother promptly attacked Haibat Khan, the unintentional offender, and a disturbance arose.  The combatants were separated, but renewed their combat on the polo ground on the following day, and the king caused one of them to be flogged. Being apprehensive of the effect of this punishment on his nobles, and of the temper of men who did not hesitate to belabour one another with sticks in his presence, he took precautions to secure his personal safety. Selecting a number of nobles on whom he believed he could rely, he placed them on a roster for the duty of mounting guard over his palace and person at night. These nobles, either originally disaffected or rendered so by an irksome duty, conspired to depose him and to raise to the throne his younger brother Fath Khan, the seventh son of Buhlul. The young prince privately repeated their proposals to his mother and a holy man, who advised him to disclose the matter to the king without delay. This he did, and the conspirators, twenty-two in number, were banished from court.

In 1499 Sikandar left Jaunpur for Sambhal, where he remained for four years, engaged in organizing the administration of the trans-Gangetic province, and in pleasure, sport, and polo. Shortly after his arrival at Sambhal he received complaints of the oppressive behavior of Asghar, whom he had left at Delhi as governor of the city, and ordered Khavass Khan, who held the fief of Machiwara, in the present district of Ludhiana, to march to Delhi, seize the offender, and send him to court. Before Khavass Khan could reach the city Asghar left it and submitted himself to the king, who caused him to be imprisoned and Khavass Khan occupied Delhi without opposition and assumed the vacant office of governor.

Sikandar had an opportunity while at Sambhal of displaying the bigotry which was a prominent feature of his character. A Brahman of Bengal excited some interest and, among precisians, much indignation, by publicly maintaining that the Muhammadan and Hindu religions were both true, and were but different paths by which God might be approached. Azam-i-Humayan, governor of Bihar, was directed to send the daring preacher and two rival doctors of the Islamic law to court, and theologians were summoned from various parts of the kingdom to consider whether it was permissible to preach peace. They decided that since the Brahman had admitted the truth of Islam he should be invited to embrace it, with the alternative of death in the event of refusal. The decision commended itself to Sikandar and the penalty was exacted from the Brahman, who refused to change his faith.

An incident which happened at this time throws some light on the nature of the dominion of the Lodis in the Punjab, the province in which they had originally established themselves. They should certainly have been able, had they commanded the resources of this province, to crush at once the kingdom of Jaunpur, which for a long time contended with them on equal terms, to establish themselves as undisputed lords of the Doab, and to recover the fortress and province of Gwalior, which had been a Muhammadan possession for more than a century and a half until, in the troublous times of Timur's invasion, it was annexed by the Tonwar Rajputs; but the hold of the Lodis on the Punjab was precarious. It was held for them by their relations and dependants, but solidarity has never been an Afghan characteristic, and the Lodis seem never to have ventured to tax the loyalty of their officials in the Punjab too highly. In the discontents of the next twenty-five years the Punjab was the only part of their dominions to welcome a foreign invader, and Buhlul, Sikandar, and Ibrahim were content with such acknowledgement of their supremacy as was indicated by occasional remittances of tribute or revenue, and did not call upon their officers in the Punjab to furnish large contingents for the subjugation of Hindustan. In 1500 Said Khan Shirvani came from Lahore to Sambhal to pay his respects to the king, but was banished on suspicion of disaffection and, with some other discontented nobles, took refuge with Man Singh, raja of Gwalior. The raja, with a view to deprecating Sikandar's wrath, sent as envoy to his court a eunuch named Raihan, with valuable presents, but the envoy was less conciliatory than his master, and returned impudent answers to some questions put to him by Sikandar. He was accordingly dismissed with an intimation that the raja would do well to look to himself.

 

Capture of Dholpur

 

 

 

Sikandar soon found the opportunity which he sought. Khan Jahan Qarmali, governor of Bayana, died, and though his two sons were for a short time permitted to manage the affairs of their father’s fief their experience was not equal to the task, and they were summoned to Sambhal, where less important fiefs were bestowed upon them. Khavass Khan, governor of Delhi, was appointed to Bayana, and his son Ismail Khan succeeded him in the capital. His hands were strengthened in his new post by the appointment of Safdar Khan as governor of Agra, then a dependency of Bayana, and Alam Khan, governor of Mewat, and Khan Khanan Lohani, governor of Rapri, were ordered to cooperate with him against Binayik Deo, raja of Dholpur. A combined attack was made on Dholpur, but the royal officers were repulsed with loss and Sikandar marched, on March 15, 1502, from Sambhal towards Dholpur. On his approach Binayik Deo fled to Gwalior, leaving his officers to defend Dholpur, but they followed their master's example and Sikandar occupied the fortress and sacked the town. The conquerors committed a senseless act of revenge by destroying the groves of trees which extended for a distance of fourteen miles round it.

Sikandar halted for a month at Dholpur, placed Adam Khan Lodi there as governor, and marched towards Gwalior. He crossed the Chambal and halted for two months on the banks of the Asan, where the army suffered so much from a pestilence, probably cholera, that all thought of advancing to Gwalior was abandoned. The Muslim chroniclers state that Man Singh expelled from Gwalior Sikandar’s nobles who had taken refuge with him, visited the camp to make his submission, and left his son Bikramajit, or Vikramaditya, in attendance on the king, but as Sikandar was in no position to bring pressure to bear upon Man Singh, and found it necessary to receive Binayik Deo and to reinstate him in Dholpur it is improbable that Man Singh visited the royal camp. If he sent his son thither it was in the capacity of an envoy and the reinstatement of Binayik Deo was demanded as the price of the expulsion of the refugees, for Sikandar was at the moment eager for peace, though the peace which he made was illusory, for on his return to Agra he transferred his capital from Delhi to that city, in order to facilitate the prosecution of his designs against Gwalior. This is the first occasion on which Agra, which acquired such importance under the Mughul emperors, comes prominently into notice, for it had hitherto been a dependency of the more important fortress of Bayana.

The account of Sikandar’s subsequent operations illustrates the strength of the raja of Gwalior and the extent of his territories, for the king did not venture to attack Gwalior itself, but attempted the systematic reduction and conquest of fortresses and districts subject or tributary to Man Singh. The first of these was Mandrael, for the siege of which he prepared by devastating the villages between it and Gwalior. In March, 1505, he marched against Mandrael, which surrendered to him. He destroyed Hindu temples in the town and erected mosques on their sites, and plundered and laid waste the districts surrounding the fortress. This success emboldened him to remove Binayik Deo from Dholpur on his return to Agra and to appoint Malik Qamaruddin governor of that fortress and district.

On July 6 a most destructive earthquake occurred in Agra. The area affected by it was extraordinarily large. It was general throughout India, it is mentioned by Babur in his memoirs, and it is said by Budauni to have extended to Persia.


Campaigns against Gwalior

In October, after the rainy season, Sikandar renewed hostilities against Gwalior. After a short halt at Dholpur he established his headquarters on the banks of the Chambal, and, leaving his camp there, led an expedition into Gwalior country. The direction in which he marched is uncertain, but the Hindus, who fled to the hills and jungles, were slaughtered and enslaved in large numbers, and the country was laid waste. The work of devastation was so complete that the invaders suffered from scarcity of food until a large caravan of Banjaras, carrying grain and other provisions, was captured. Man Singh was not inactive, and Sikandar, as he approached his camp, observed precautions not habitual to him and threw out an advanced guard on the march and outposts when halted, suspecting some sudden manoeuvre. His precautions were opportune for, as he was retiring towards his camp on the Chambal, Man Singh laid an ambush for his army. The officers whose troops were exposed to the sudden and unexpected attack displayed great valor, and held the enemy until succor arrived from the main body of the army, when the Hindus were defeated with great slaughter. As the rainy season was approaching, in which operations were difficult, the only result of this success was to secure Sikandar’s retreat, and he retired to Agra, but as soon as the rains abated marched to besiege the fortress of Utgir. The siege was pressed with such vigour that the walls were soon breached in many places and the fortress was carried by assault, the Hindus fighting desperately to the last. Utgir shared the fate of Mandlaer, and Makan and Mujahid Khan, the latter of whom had remained at Dholpur, were appointed to the command of the new acquisition, but it was discovered, after the capture of the fortress, that Mujahid had been in correspondence with the raja of Utgir, and had undertaken, in consideration of a bribe, to dissuade Sikandar from attacking it. Mulla Jaman, one of his principal followers, who was with the army, was arrested, and orders for the arrest of Mubarak Khan himself were sent to Dholpur. After the capture of Utgir, Sikandar again retired to Agra, and by some extraordinary error the army was led by a route in which it endured the torments of thirst, and when water was found many of the sufferers drank so greedily of it as to cause death. The usual routes from Utgir to Agra were well supplied with water, and the selection of a waterless route suggests apprehensions of another attack by Man Singh.

Sikandar again spent the rainy season at Agra, and early in 1508 marched to attack Narwar, usually included in the kingdom of Wawa, but now, apparently, subject to Gwalior. He first sent Jalal Khan Lodi, governor of Kalpi, against the fortress, and followed him from Agra. On his arrival at Narwar Jalal Khan drew up his army to receive him, and he was so impressed by its strength and warlike appearance as to become jealous of its leader's power and apprehensive of his motives, and resolved to degrade him.

Some days’ desultory fighting was followed by a general attack on the fortress, which was repulsed with heavy loss, and Sikandar invested the place with the object of reducing it by famine. During this period of comparative leisure he was occupied in compassing the ruin of Jalal Khan. Having attracted all his best officers into his own service he broke up his contingent, and sent him in custody in Utgir.

Under the stress of famine and want of water the garrison of Utgir surrendered on terms and Sikandar entered the fortress and, after his custom, destroyed Hindu temples and on their sites raised mosques, which he endowed with lands in the district.

At this time Shihab-ud-din, son of Nasir-ud-din Khalji of Malwa, who had been in rebellion against his father and, having been defeated by him, was now a fugitive, arrived at Sipri, near Narwar, and expressed his readiness to enter Sikandar’s service. Sikandar sent him a horse and a robe of honor, but negotiations proceeded no further.

Sikandar, on leaving Narwar, encamped on the banks of the Sindh, in its neighbourhood. Considering the importance of the fortress, and its distance from his capital, he judged it expedient to strengthen its defences, and encircled it with a fresh line of fortifications. He then marched to the district of Athgath, which was disturbed by Hindu rebels, against whom he carried out some successful and destructive operations, and, after establishing military posts throughout the district, returned, in the summer of 1509, to Agra.

At the close of the rainy season he indulged in a tour to Dholpur, bent only on sport and pleasure, but while he was thus employed fortune added another province to his kingdom. Ali Khan and Abu Bakr, brothers of Muhammad Khan, the independent ruler of the small state of Nagaur, had conspired against their brother and, on their guilt being detected, fled to Sikandar’s court and endeavored to enlist his aid by stories of Muhammad's tyranny, but he adroitly forestalled them by sending gifts to Sikandar and acknowledging him as their sovereign.

Dungar, lately raja of Utgir, had, after the capture of his stronghold, accepted Islam, and was now suffering at the hands of his former coreligionists. Sulaiman, son of Khan Khanan Qarmali, was directed to go to his aid, but demurred, ostensibly on the ground that he was unwilling to serve at a distance from court. Sikandar, incensed by his pusillanimity, dismissed him in disgrace to the pargana of Indri, in the Saharanpur district, which was assigned to him for his maintenance, and permitted the army to plunder his camp.

Designs on Malwa

Troubles in Malwa now supplied Sikandar with a pretext for interfering in the affairs of that kingdom. Sahib Khan, the eldest son of Nasir-ud-din Khalji, had been proclaimed king by a faction, and had at first maintained himself against his younger brother, Mahmud II, but had eventually fled before him and was now, in 1513, under the protection of Bahjat Khan, governor of Chanderi, who had proclaimed him under the title of Muhammad Shah and sought aid of Sikandar. Sikandar recognised the prince as king of Malwa, but Said Khan and Imad-ul-Mulk, whom he sent to his aid with 12,000 horse, demanded that Bahjat Khan should cause the khutba to be recited in the name of the king of Delhi, and, on his hesitating to comply with the request, retired, leaving him exposed to the wrath of Mahmud II, who, however, accepted his conditional surrender and recognised Sahib Khan as governor of the districts of Raisen, Bhilsa, and Dhamoni; but Sahib Khan mistrusted Bahjat Khan and, on November 8, fled from Chanderi and took refuge with Sikandar.

Sikandar sent Said Khan Lodi, Shaikh Jamal Qarmali, Rai Jagar Sen Kachhwaha, Khizr Khan, and Khvaja Ahmad to Chanderi to establish his authority there and to govern the province nominally on behalf of Muhammad Shah of Malwa, but actually as a fief of Delhi.

Husain Khan Qarmali, governor of the recently acquired district of Saran, now fell into disfavor for some reason not recorded, and, having been dismissed in favor of Haji Sarang, fled to Bengal and took refuge with Ala-ud-din Husain.

Sikandar had provided for Ali Khan of Nagaur, who had fled from the wrath of his brother, Muhammad Khan, by giving him a fief on the borders of the district of Ranthambhor, which was then held for Mahmud II of Malwa by Daulat Khan, a prince of the Khalji family. Ali Khan tampered with Daulat Khan and, having induced him to promise that he would transfer his allegiance to Delhi, reported his success to Sikandar, who marched in a leisurely manner towards Ranthambhor. At Bayana he was visited by Daulat Khan and his mother, but discovered, when the topic of the surrender of the fortress was broached, that Ali Khan was playing a double game, and had secretly urged Daulat Khan not to surrender it. Ali Khan was punished by being removed from his fief, which was conferred on his brother Abu Bakr, and Daulat Khan suffered nothing worse than reproaches for his duplicity.

From Bayana Sikandar returned by way of Dholpur to Agra, where he fell sick. He suffered from a quinsy and from fever, but struggled against his malady and insisted on attending as usual to business of state. He was choked in attempting to swallow a morsel of food, and died on November 21, 1517.

He was the greatest of the three kings of his house and carried out with conspicuous success the task left unfinished by his father. We hear little of the Punjab during his reign and he drew no troops from it to aid him in his eastern campaigns, but there are indications that it was more tranquil and more obedient to the crown than it had been in his father's reign. His vigorous administration amply justified the choice of the minority which, in the face of strong opposition, raised him to the throne, and his selection saved the kingdom from becoming the plaything of an oligarchy of turbulent, ignorant, and haughty Afghans. His weakest action was his support of his hopelessly incompetent brother Barbak, but this weakness was an amiable trait in a character by no means rich in such traits. He seems to have had a sincere affection for his brother, and to have felt that he owed him some reparation for having supplanted him in his birthright, but when he discovered that leniency was a mistaken policy he knew how to act.

The greatest blot on his character was his relentless bigotry. The accounts of his conquests, doubtless exaggerated by pious historians, resemble those of the raids of the protagonists of Islam in India. The wholesale destruction of temples was not the best method of conciliating the Hindus of a conquered district and the murder of a Brahman whose only offence was the desire for an accommodation between the religions of the conquerors and the conquered was not a politic act, but Sikandar’s mind was warped by habitual association with theologians.

 

Gwalior fort was built by Raja Man Singh Tomar and has two parts Main fort and Gurjari Mahal, the later one was constructed by the King in 10th century for the love of his wife. There are several remarkable mandirs within the fort. One pair of temples, known as the Sas Bahu Ka Mandir, is beautifully adorned with bas-reliefs. This pair of temples was finished in 1093, and, though dilapidated, is still picturesque. There is an impressive clear white Sikh Gurdwara. Its maintained very clean and has a big premises.
An older Jain temple has been used as a mosque. Another temple in the fortress of Gwalior is called the Teli-ka-Mandir, or “Oilman’s Temple.” This building was originally dedicated to Vishnu, but afterwards converted to the worship of Siva. It has an unusual configuration: shrine-like in that it has a sanctuary only; no pillared pavilions or mandapa; and a Buddhist barrel-vaulted roof on top of a Hindu mandir.

 

Jalal Khan's Rebellion

After his death the choice of the Lodi nobles fell upon his eldest son, Ibrahim, who was raised to the throne at Agra on November 21, 1517, but a turbulent faction advocated, for its own selfish ends, a partition of the kingdom, and secured the elevation of Jalal Khan, who was either a younger brother of Ibrahim or his uncle, the youngest son of Buhlul, to the throne of Jaunpur, and carried him off to that city. Before he was established there the influence of Khanjahan Lohani, governor of Rapri, who vehemently condemned the suicidal policy of dividing the kingdom, secured an order for his recall, the delivery of which was entrusted to prince Haibat Khan, “the Wolf-slayer”. His efforts were powerless to induce Jalal Khan, who was loth to forgo a kingdom, and naturally suspected Ibrahim, to leave Jaunpur, and the envoy was reduced to the necessity of tampering with the fidelity of Jalal Khan's adherents in Jaunpur. With these his efforts and the profusion of Ibrahim were more successful, and they forsook the prince's cause. Jalal Khan, on discovering their defection, retired from Jaunpur, where he could no longer maintain himself, to Kalpi, where he caused the khutba to be recited in his name and pretended to independence. Here he found himself in proximity to Azam-i-­Humayun Shirvani, who was besieging Kalinjar in Ibrahim’s interest, though he was lukewarm in his cause. Jalal Khan's position, which interrupted Azam-i-Humayun’s communications with the capital, enabled him to deal on very favourable terms with him, and he experienced little difficulty in securing his adherence. The two agreed that their first step should be the recovery of Jaunpur, and with this object in view they attacked Salid Khan, governor of Oudh, who, having no force sufficient to oppose them, retired to Lucknow and reported his situation to Ibrahim, who secured his position at Delhi by placing his brothers in confinement in Hansi, and led a large army against the rebels. Before he had reached Kanauj his anxiety was allayed by the news that Azam-i­-Humayun had quarrelled with Jalal Khan and was hastening to make his submission.He received him well, and at the same time was enabled to welcome Malik Qasim Khan, governor of Sambhal, who had suppressed a rebellion headed by a Hindu landholder in the Koil district. He also received at Kanauj most of the fief-holders of the province of Jaunpur, and dispatched Azam-i-­Humayun and other officers against Jalal Khan, who was at Kalpi. Before the arrival of this army Jalal Khan, leaving a garrison in Kalpi, marched with 30,000 horse and a number of elephants on Agra. The royal troops captured Kalpi after a few days' siege, and sacked the city, and Jalal Khan announced his intention of avenging its wrongs on Agra, but Ibrahim dispatched a force under Malik Adam to cover the approach to Agra. This detachment was not strong enough to try conclusions with Jalal Khan's great army, but its leader was a host in himself, and contrived, by opening negotiations, to delay Jalal Khan until reinforcements arrived, when he changed his tone and demanded that the prince should surrender his insignia of royalty and make his submission, promising, in return for compliance with the demand, to commend him to Ibrahim and to recommend his retention of the government of Kalpi. Jalal Khan, who suspected the fidelity of his troops, complied, but Ibrahim refused to ratify the terms half promised by his lieutenant, and marched to attack the prince, who fled and took refuge with the raja of Gwalior.

The king halted in Agra, and found sufficient occupation in the task of restoring order in the south-eastern districts of the kingdom, which, owing to the prince's rebellion, had been in confusion since Sikandar's death. Here he received the submission of the rebellious nobles; those, that is to say, who had either overtly or covertly supported Jalal Khan or had refrained from opposing him. He also secured his communications with Delhi and sent Shaikhzada Manjhu to Chanderi to control the policy and behavior of the puppet Muhammad Shah, who had failed, since Sikandar’s death, to acknowledge in an adequate manner the sovereignty of Delhi. He also imprisoned Miyan Bhoda, one of his father's leading nobles, against whom the only offence alleged was that he was careless of forms and acted as he thought best in his master’s interests without always troubling to obtain formal approval of his proceedings. This seems to have been the earliest of those encroachments on the liberties and privileges of the great nobles which ultimately lost Ibrahim both his throne and his life. The imprisoned noble's son was generously treated, and was installed in the position which his father had held, but the old man died in prison and his death sapped his son's fidelity.

Ibrahim now resolved to pursue his father’s design of annexing Gwalior. The occasion was favorable, for the brave and generous Man Singh, who had so long withstood Sikandar, had recently died, and had been succeeded by his son, Bikramajit Singh, who lacked his father’s military and administrative capacity but, fearing an attack, had considerably strengthened the defences of his fortress-capital. Azam-i-Humayun Shirvani who had been rewarded for his defection from Jalal Khan with the government of Kara, was ordered to take the field with 30,000 horse and 300 elephants, and a large army was sent from Agra to co-operate with him. On the approach of the imperial troops Jalal Khan fled from Gwalior and took refuge with Mahmud II in Malwa.

The siege of Gwalior was opened vigorously and an important outwork was captured. While the siege was still in progress Jalal Khan, who had furnished the pretext for the attack on Bikramajit Singh, fell into Ibrahim’s hands. He had fled from the court of Malwa into the Gond principality of Katangi, and the Gonds sent him as a prisoner to Ibrahim, who condemned him to imprisonment in Hansi, where the other Lodi princes were confined, but he was murdered on the way thither.

Ibrahim now gave rein to those groundless and unreasonable suspicions of his nobles which prompted acts of capricious tyranny, and at length drove those who might have been the staunchest defenders of his throne into the arms of an invader. Immediately before the surrender of Gwalior he summoned Azam-i-Humayun Shirvani and his son Fath Khan to Agra and threw them into prison. The tyrant was gratified by the fall of Gwalior, but his elation was short-lived, for Islam Khan, another son of Azam-i-­Humayun, headed a rebellion in Agra, assumed command of his father's troops and defended his property, and defeated Ahmad Khan, the governor, as he was preparing to assert his authority. As Ibrahim was assembling his army for the suppression of this rebellion Azam-i-Humayun Lodi and Said Khan Lodi, two nobles whose importance was due no less to the strength of the forces at their command than to their influence in the clan, deserted him, marched to Lucknow, which they held as a fief, and sent to Islam Khan a message assuring him of their sympathy and support. The king sent an army against the rebels, but it fell into an ambush and was driven back with heavy loss. Ibrahim seriously damaged his own cause by sending to the officers of his army a message bitterly reproaching them, and warning them that if they failed to crush the rebellion they would themselves be treated as rebels. Fortunately for himself he did not confine his resentment to this tactless and provocative message, but took the field at the head of 40,000 horse. The danger in which he stood is veiled in Muslim chronicles under the statement that when the two armies were within striking distance Shaikh Rajil of Bukhara intervened to avert strife, but is displayed in the attitude of the rebellious nobles, who demanded the release of Azam-i-Humayun Shirvani as the price of their return to their allegiance. Ibrahim declined to accede to this condition and, after summoning reinforcements to his standard, attacked and defeated the rebels, slew Islam Khan, captured Said Khan, and rewarded those who had remained faithful to him by bestowing on them the fiefs which the rebels had held.

His triumph over his enemies served only to direct his thoughts towards the disloyalty of those whom he had trusted, his suspicion increased, Azam-i-Humayun Shirvani and other nobles died at this time in prison, in circumstances which caused a fresh outburst disaffection, and Darya Khan Lohani, governor of Bihar, Lodi, Miyan Husain Qarmali, and others raised the standard of rebellion. Their resentment against the tyrant was in procuring the assassination in Chanderi of Shaikh Hasan Qarmali, governor of that district and a relative of one of their number. Darya Khan Lohani, the leader of the revolt, died, and his son Bahadur Khan was proclaimed king in his father’s fief of Bihar, and assumed the usual prerogatives of eastern royalty. This bold act of defiance attracted many malcontents to his standard, and he was soon at the head of an army of 100,000 horse, with which he occupied the country to the east of the Ganges as far north as Sambhal. Nasir Khan Lohani, governor of Ghazipur, who had rebelled on his own account, joined him, and he assumed the title of Muhammad Shah and was able, for several months, to set Ibrahim at defiance.

In this position of affairs Ghazi Khan, son of Daulat Khan Lodi, the powerful governor of Lahore, visited Ibrahim at Delhi, and was so impressed by the discontent which had alienated from him the leading nobles of the kingdom that he returned to the Punjab a bitter enemy of Ibrahim's rule, and warned his hither that should the king be successful in his campaign against the rebels in Hindustan and Bihar he would not leave him long in possession of Lahore. From this time date Daulat Khan's virtual assumption of independence and his intrigues with Babur, and which led to Ibrahim's overthrow and to the establishment of a new and foreign dynasty on the throne of Delhi.

Daulat Khan died while Babur was yet on the way to his great conquest, and at the same time died Bahadur Khan, or Sultan Muhammad, the de facto king of Bihar, but Ibrahim Shah Lodi was defeated and slain by Babur at Panipat on April 18, 1526, after a reign of nine years, as will be related in the account of Babur's conquest of India.

 

Mahabodhi Temple, Bodh Gaya, Bihar, India-The date of Gautama Buddha's enlightenment is not known for certain — even the dates of his birth and death are difficult to pin down. However, Buddhists and historians alike recognize the Buddha as a historical figure who lived in the 6th or 5th century BC and it is likely that Bodh Gaya is indeed the site of his enlightenment
The Bodhi Tree ("Tree of Awakening," also known as the Bo Tree) in Bodhgaya is a direct descendent of the tree under which Siddharta Gautama is attained enlightenment.After 49 days of meditation, it was here that Siddharta Guatama became the Buddha, the "Enlightened One."

 

X.

THE KINGDOM OF JAUNPUR