 |
READING HALLTHE DOORS OF WISDOM |
 |
 |
 |
 |
HISTORY OF INDIA. Turks and Afghans
IXTHE 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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
X.THE KINGDOM OF JAUNPUR
|
|
|
