Lodi dynasty

Lodi dynasty
لودی
1451–1526
Map showing the territory under the Lodi dynasty.
Map showing the territory under the Lodi dynasty.
CapitalDelhi
Official languagesHindavi
Persian (court, revenue records)
Religion
Sunni Islam
GovernmentMonarchy
Sultan 
• 1451–1489
Bahlul Lodi (first)
• 1489–1517
Sikandar Lodi (2nd)
• 1517–1526
Ibrahim Lodi (last)
History 
• Established
19 April 1451
1452–1500
21 April 1526
Preceded by		Succeeded by
Sayyid dynasty
Jaunpur Sultanate
Mughal Empire

The Lodi dynasty was a dynasty that ruled the Sultanate of Delhi from 1451 to 1526. It was the fifth and final dynasty of the Delhi Sultanate, with three rulers ascending to throne, and was founded by Bahlul Lodi when he replaced the Sayyid dynasty.

Background

Following the reign of the Sayyids, the Afghan or Turco-Afghan Lodi dynasty rose to power. The tribe was initially settled in an area between Gomal River and Sulaiman Mountains in what was then known as Roh. Lodis were significantly involved in the valuable horse trading between Turan and India.: 404 

The grandfather of Bahlul, Malik Bahram, was a horse merchant who took up service of Malik Mardan Daulat, the governor of Multan under Firuz Shah Tughlaq. His son Sultan Shah received the Iqta' of Sirhind and the title of Islam Khan from Khizr Khan due to his bravery in a battle. Islam Khan made Sirhind his centre and gathered a large following, mainly of his kinsmen. He had chosen his nephew and son-in-law Bahlul Khan Lodi (r. 1451–1489) as his successor but after his death in 1431, Lodis got divided into several camps, including that of Bahlul and his uncle Malik Feroz.: 402–403  In 1436, Sultan Muhammad Shah IV sent an army against them under Sikander Tohfa and Jasrat Khokhar; in the succeeding conflict, a son of Malik Feroz was killed along with a number of followers and they lost Sirhind,: 403  but Bahlul soon succeeded in uniting them.

History

Bahlul Lodi

According to Tarikh-i-Dawudi, Bahlul also started his career as a horse merchant, later receiving a pargana near Lahore from Sultan Muhammad Shah after he successfully put down a rebellion there. Under his patronage, Bahlul soon came to control most of parganas around Lahore. After the defeat of Lodis in 1436, he initially compensated his followers by raiding merchants on highways, and later re-established himself at Sirhind.: 405  He assisted Muhammad Shah against sultan Mahmud Khalji of Malwa and received the title of Khan-i Khanan.: 405–406  In 1441, he was appointed governor of Lahore and Dipalpur by Muhammad Shah to combat Jasrat Khokhar, but Bahlul made peace with him.: 402  By the time Sultan Alauddin Shah acceded to throne, Bahlul controlled vast tracts. His siege of Delhi failed in 1447, but after conflict between Alauddin Shah and his vizier Hamid Khan in 1451, Bahlul again marched to Delhi.: 406  Alauddin voluntarily retired to Badaun while Bahlul Khan Lodi ascended the throne of the Delhi Sultanate on 19 April 1451.

The most important event of his reign was the conquest of the Jaunpur Sultanate. (Main article: Lodi–Sharqi War) Bahlul spent most of his time in fighting against the Sharqi dynasty of the Jaunpur Sultanate and ultimately annexed it. He placed his eldest surviving son Barbak on the throne of Jaunpur in 1486. The Sharqis remained in control of Bihar, from which they re-occupied Jaunpur, but were again repulsed to Bihar.

Sikandar Khan Lodi

Sikandar II finished the conquest of the Jaunpur Sultanate (Sharqis dynasty) in 1479.
The Tomb of Sikandar Lodi.

Sikandar Khan Lodi (r. 1489–1517), born Nizam Khan, the second son of Bahlul, succeeded him after his death on 17 July 1489 and took up the title Sikandar Shah. His father nominated him as his successor and he was crowned sultan on 15 July 1489. He re-founded Agra as a Muslim city in 1504 and built mosques. He shifted the capital from Delhi to Agra. He patronized trade and commerce. He was a reputed poet, composing Persian poetry under the pen name 'Gulrukhi'. He was also a patron of learning and ordered translations of Sanskrit works in medicine into Persian. He curbed the individualistic tendencies of his Pashtun nobles and compelled them to submit their accounts to a state audit. He was thus able to infuse vigour and discipline in the administration. His greatest achievement was the conquest and annexation of Bihar from the Sharqis.

Sikandar Lodi was a staunch Muslim, destroying many temples all across northern India. He also forbade the yearly procession of the famed Muslim martyr Salar Mas'ud's spear, while forbidding Muslim women from venerating mausoleums of Muslim saints. Sikander allowed the execution of a Brahman, who had held the equal accuracy of his faith with that of Islam.

Ibrahim Lodi

Coinage of Mahmud Shah II (1510-1531 CE) of the Malwa Sultanate, in the name of Ibrahim Lodi, Sultan of Delhi, dated 1520-1 CE.

Ibrahim Khan Lodi (r. 1517–1526), the eldest son of Sikandar, was the last Lodi sultan of Delhi. Ibrahim faced numerous rebellions and kept out the opposition for almost a decade. He was engaged in warfare with the Afghans and the Timurid Empire for most of his reign and died trying to keep the Lodi dynasty from annihilation.

Decline

By the time Ibrahim ascended the throne, the political structure in the Lodi dynasty had dissolved due to abandoned trade routes and the depleted treasury. The Deccan was a coastal trade route, but in the late fifteenth century the supply lines had collapsed. The decline and eventual failure of this specific trade route resulted in cutting off supplies from the coast to the interior, where the Lodi empire resided. The Lodi dynasty was not able to protect itself if warfare were to break out on the trade route roads; therefore, they didn't use those trade routes, thus their trade declined and so did their treasury leaving them vulnerable to internal political problems.

In order to take revenge of the insults done by Ibrahim, the governor of Lahore, Daulat Khan Lodi asked the Timurid ruler of Kabul, Babur to invade his kingdom. Ibrahim Lodi was thereafter killed in a battle with Babur, at the battle of Panipat. With the death of Ibrahim Lodi, the Lodi dynasty also came to an end, leading to the establishment of the Mughal Empire in the subcontinent.

Causes of decline

A major problem Ibrahim faced when he ascended the throne in 1517 were the Pashtun nobles, some of whom supported Ibrahim's older brother, Jalaluddin Lodi, in taking up arms against his brother in the area in the east at Jaunpur. Ibrahim gathered military support and defeated his brother by the end of the year. After this incident, he arrested those Pashtun nobles who opposed him and appointed his own men as the new administrators. Other Pashtun nobles supported the governor of Bihar, Dariya Khan, against Ibrahim.

Another factor that caused uprisings against Ibrahim was his lack of an apparent successor. His own uncle, Alam Khan, betrayed Ibrahim by supporting the Mughal invader Babur.

Rana Sanga, the Rajput leader of Mewar (r. 1509–1526), also extended his kingdom, and fought the Lodi king of Delhi in multiple battles. Daulat Khan, the governor of Punjab region asked Babur to invade the Lodi kingdom, with the thought of taking revenge from Ibrahim Lodi. Babar also accused Sanga of sending an invitation however, this claim has been rejected and is not widely accepted by scholars.

Battle of Panipat, 1526

Sultan Ibrahim Lodi, last sultan of the Lodi dynasty, at the Battle of Panipat (1526) against Babur. Baburnama c.1590

Despite both being Sunni Muslims, Babur wanted to annex Ibrahim's territory. Babur and his army of 24,000 men marched to the battlefield at Panipat armed with muskets and artillery. Ibrahim prepared for battle by gathering 100,000 men (well-armed but with no guns) and 1,000 elephants. Ibrahim was at a disadvantage because of his outmoded infantry and internecine rivalries. Even though he had more men, he had never fought in a war against gunpowder weapons and he did not know what to do strategically. Babur pressed his advantage from the start and Ibrahim perished on the battlefield in April 1526, along with 20,000 of his men. This marked the end of the Lodi dynasty and the rise of the Mughal Empire in India led by Babur (r. 1526–1530).

Aftermath

After Ibrahim's death, Babur named himself emperor over Ibrahim's territory, instead of placing Alam Khan (Ibrahim's uncle) on the throne. Ibrahim's death marked the end of the Lodi dynasty and led to the establishment of the Mughal Empire in India. The remaining Lodi territories were absorbed into the new Mughal Empire. Babur continued to engage in military campaigns.

Ibrahim Lodi's brother, Mahmud Lodi, declared himself Sultan and continued to resist Mughal forces. He provided around 4,000 Afghan soldiers to Rana Sanga in the battle of Khanwa in 1527. After that defeat, Mahmud Lodi fled eastwards and again posed a challenge to Babur two years later at the battle of Ghaghra in 1529.

Culture

The Bara Gumbad in Lodi Gardens in Delhi, India. Built in 1490 CE, probably by Sikandar Khan, it is believed to have the earliest constructed full dome of any building in Delhi.

Religious policy

Like their predecessors, the Lodi sultans stylized themselves as the deputies of the Abbasid caliphs, and thus acknowledged the authority of a united caliphate over the Muslim world. They provided cash stipends and granted revenue-free lands (including entire villages) to the Muslim ulama, the Sufi shaikhs, the claimed descendants of Muhammad, and to the members of his Quraysh tribe. The Suhrawardi Sufi, Shaikh Sama' al-Din Kamboh, was the patron saint of Lodi dynasty, and his son Nasir al-Din Dehlawi remained Shaykh al-Islām during the reigns of Sikandar and Ibrahim.

Sikandar Khan Lodi, whose mother was daughter of a Hindu goldsmith, resorted to strong Sunni orthodoxy to prove his Islamic credentials as a political expediency. He destroyed Hindu temples, and under the pressure from the ulama, allowed the execution of a Brahman who declared Hinduism to be as veracious as Islam. He also banned women from visiting the mazars (mausoleums) of Muslim saints, and banned the annual procession of the spear of the legendary Muslim martyr Salar Masud. He also established sharia courts in several towns with significant Muslim population, enabling the qazis to administer the Islamic law to Muslim as well as non-Muslim subjects.

Economic policy

The Muslim subjects of the Lodis were required to pay the zakat tax for religious merit, and the non-Muslims were required to pay the jizya tax for receiving state protection. In some parts of the Sultanate, the Hindus were required to pay an additional pilgrimage tax. Nevertheless, several Hindu officers formed a part of the Sultanate's revenue administration. The Lodi minted no coins in silver or gold due to lack of these precious metals, and taxes where often paid in kind (usually grain). However their copper coinage, notably the bahluli and the sikandari, did contain a small percentage of silver.

Architecture

Lodi architecture, based upon that of the earlier dynasties of the Delhi Sultanates, developed an extensive use of domes. The Mosque–Tomb complex of Jamali Kamboh, son-in-law of Sama' al-Din Kamboh and poet laureate of Sikandar Lodi, is considered one of last examples of Lodi-period architecture, although built during transition period to Mughal rule.

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ also known as the Lodi Empire
  2. ↑ Scholars such as J. S. Grewal and Herbert Hartel [de] call the Lodi sultans as Turco-Afghan.

References

  1. Schwartzberg, Joseph E. (1978). A Historical atlas of South Asia. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. p. 148. ISBN 0226742210.
  2. ↑ Schwartzberg, Joseph E. (1978). A Historical atlas of South Asia. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. p. 148. ISBN 0226742210.
  3. 1 2 Owen & Pollock 2018, p. 174.
  4. ↑ Dale 2020, p. 67.
  5. 1 2 Sen, Sailendra (2013). A Textbook of Medieval Indian History. Primus Books. pp. 122–125. ISBN 978-9-38060-734-4.
  6. ↑ Zahir-ud-din Muhammad Babur (2023). بابرنامه (Baburnama) [Original Chagatai Turkic]. The Baburnama Project.
  7. 1 2 Bosworth 1996, p. 304.
  8. ↑ Caroe, Olaf (1958) 'The Pathans' "The Lodi Empire of Delhi" pg. 163
  9. ↑ Grewal 1990, p. 9.
  10. ↑ Hartel 1997, 261: The Turco-Afghan sultans of the Lodi Dynasty...
  11. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Singh, Surinder (2023). The Making of Medieval Panjab: Politics, Society and Culture, c.1000–c.1500. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-032-65440-9.
  12. ↑ Mahajan, V.D. (1991, reprint 2007). History of Medieval India, Part I, New Delhi: S. Chand, ISBN 81-219-0364-5, p. 244
  13. ↑ Aniruddha Ray (2019). The Sultanate of Delhi (1206–1526). Routledge. ISBN 9781000007299. Archived from the original on 19 March 2023. Retrieved 10 February 2023.
  14. ↑ Mahajan, V.D. (1991, reprint 2007). History of Medieval India, Part I, New Delhi: S. Chand, ISBN 81-219-0364-5, p. 256
  15. ↑ Prof K.Ali (1950, reprint 2006)"A new history of Indo-Pakistan" Part 1, p. 311
  16. ↑ Srivastava, A.L (1966). The Sultanate of Delhi (711–1526 A.D), Agra: Shiva Lal Agarwala and Company, p. 245
  17. 1 2 3 4 Grewal 1990, p. 10.
  18. 1 2 3 4 SarDesai, D. R. (2008). India The Definitive History. Westview Press. p. 146. ISBN 978-0-81334-352-5.
  19. ↑ Schwartzberg, Joseph E. (1978). A Historical atlas of South Asia. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. pp. 39, 147. ISBN 0226742210. Archived from the original on 6 February 2022. Retrieved 21 April 2022.
  20. 1 2 Richards, John F. (August 1965). "The Economic History of the Lodi Period: 1451–1526". Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient. 8 (1): 47–67. doi:10.1163/156852065X00020. JSTOR 3596342.
  21. 1 2 Hartel 1997, p. 261.
  22. ↑ Sharma 1954, pp. 21–22.
  23. ↑ Somani, R.V (1976). History of Mewar: from earliest times to 1751 A.D. Mateshwari Publications. p. 169. While in Kabul, he had despatched emissaries at Chittor to obtain his help in creating a diversion on Ibrahim's southern frontier.
  24. ↑ Rooja, Hima (2006). A History of Rajasthan. Rupa and Co. ISBN 978-81-291-1501-0. In contrast, the traditional Rajput version holds that it was not Sanga — already powerful enough and mainly successful against various enemy states — who had sent an envoy to Babur at Kabul, proposing an alliance against their common foe, Ibrahim Lodi, but rather, it was Babur who sought an ally of undoubted ability and strength for his proposed expedition against the Lodi sultan! Thus, some hold that Rana Sanga agreed to Babur's proposal, and, using Silhadi, the Tomar (Tanwar) chief of Raesen, as the medium of communication, sent a letter to that effect to Babur. However, Sanga subsequently changed his mind upon the advice of his nobles — which advice — given the nature of the state, and the relation of the ruler as primus inter pares with his clansmen and nobles — could not be lightly ignored by any Rajput ruler or chief. Looking back, it is possible that Sanga had believed that the forces of Babur and Ibrahim Lodi would have indulged in a long and protracted struggle, thereby providing an opportunity to Mewar to take advantage of the situation and expand its own power and territorial sway across northern India. Sanga may also have believed that, if victorious against the Lodis, Babur would eventually return to his estates in Afghanistan, thereby leaving a weakened — or even defunct — Delhi Sultanate, and a clear held for Sanga to establish his own hegemony. Such a state of affairs seemed to be furthest from Babur's mind, though.
  25. 1 2 SarDesai, D. R. (2008). India The Definitive History. Westview Press. p. 162. ISBN 978-0-81334-352-5.
  26. ↑ SarDesai, D. R. (2008). India The Definitive History. Westview Press. p. 163. ISBN 978-0-81334-352-5.
  27. ↑ Sharma 1954, p. 34.
  28. 1 2 3 J. S. Grewal (1998). The Sikhs of the Punjab. The New Cambridge History of India (Revised ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 9–11. ISBN 978-0-521-63764-0.
  29. ↑ Khan, Gulfishan (2023). "Exploring the Geographies and Locales in Shaykh Jamali Dehlawi's Siyar al-ʿārifīn (The Virtues of Gnostics)". In Pradines, Stéphane; Topan, Farouk (eds.). Muslim Cultures of the Indian Ocean: Diversity and Pluralism, Past and Present. Exploring Muslim Contexts. Edinburgh University Press. pp. 116–146. doi:10.1515/9781474486514-008. ISBN 978-1-4744-8649-1.
  30. 1 2 Haider, Najaf (1998). "International Trade in Precious Metals and Monetary Systems of Medieval India: 1200–1500 AD". Proceedings of the Indian History Congress. 59. Indian History Congress: 237–254, pages 242–243. JSTOR 44146994.
  31. ↑ Bargoti, Rajeev (1995). "New Light on Architectural Activities of Lodi Period: A Report on Bayana". Proceedings of the Indian History Congress. 56. Indian History Congress: 925–933. JSTOR 44158763.
  32. ↑ Desai, Ziyaud-Din A. (1970). Indo-Islamic Architecture. Publications Division, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India. pp. 44–45.
  33. ↑ "Unknown Tomb". competentauthoritydelhi.co.in. Archived from the original on 25 March 2016. Retrieved 15 October 2015.
  34. ↑ Sahai, Surendra (2004). Indian Architecture: Islamic Period, 1192–1857. Prakash Books, India. p. 37. ISBN 978-81-7234-057-5. Archived from the original on 19 March 2023. Retrieved 14 May 2022. Rajon ki baoli ( 1516 ) is one of the major public welfare projects of Sikandar Lodi .

Sources