Sikandar Lodi

Sikandar Lodi (died November 21, 1517), born Nizam Khan, was the Sultan of Delhi between 1489 to 1517. He became the next ruler of the Lodi dynasty after the death of his father Bahlul Khan in July 1489.^[1][2] The second and most successful ruler of the Lodi dynasty of the Delhi sultanate He was also a poet of the Persian language and prepared a diwan of 9000 verses.^[3]

Biography

Sikandar was the son of Sultan Bahlul Khan Lodi and Bibi Ambha, the daughter of a Hindu goldsmith of Sirhind. Sikandar was of Pashtun origin through his father.^[4]

He became Sultan upon the death of his father on July 17, 1489. His rise to power was troublesome, with his older brother, Barbak Shah, the viceroy of Jaunpur, also staking a claim to the throne despite their father's nomination of Sikandar. However, he was able to claim the throne through delegation and was able to avoid massive bloodshed. In fact, he allowed his brother to keep governing Jaunpur, while also settling differences with an uncle, Alam Khan, who was also suspected of usurping the throne.

Sikandar proved to be a capable ruler who was kind to his Muslim subjects, but was extremely harsh to his Hindu subjects. He expanded Lodi territory into the regions of Gwalior and Bihar. He made a treaty with Alauddin Hussain Shah and his kingdom of Bengal. He was able to bring his native Afghan nobles under his control, and encouraged trade across his holdings. In 1503, he commissioned the building of the present-day city of Agra.

Much has been written about his religious intolerance. Bodhan - a Hindu renunciate (sadhu), was burnt alive for saying the following: Islam and Hindu Dharma are both equally acceptable to God if followed with sincerity.

Coin of Sikandar Lodi

The History of the Delhi sultanate by M.M. Syed says the following about him: he frequently razed temples to the ground and erected mosques in their place, as evidenced by his behaviour at Mandrail, Utgir, and Narwar. At Mathura he prevented Hindus from bathing in their sacred ghats or having themselves shaved. The stones of broken Hindu murtis were given away to butchers to be used as weights. he used to write verses in persian i pen name GULRUKHI.he was the first to introduce auditing in accounts..he took good care of justice and agriculture for the welfare of people.he introduced a system of Gaz-i-sikandari,means 32 digit of measuring system of cultivated lands. Among the administrative changes made by Sikandar Lodi was the installation of Persian language as the official language for the accountancy in India. 1514. Mat̲nawī-yi mihr u māh (905H.). Publication of the Iran Pakistan Institute of Persian Studies, serial no.

Sikandar Lodi tried to conquer the Gwalior Fort, and he attacked 5 times,but was failed all the five times by the king of Gwalior Maharaja Mansingh. He developed Agra as his second capital (after Delhi), as it took a lot of time to travel from Delhi to Gwalior. Agra eas known as Shiraz of India during Sikandar Lodi's time.^[5] Finally he attacked a small region, near Gwalior named Narwar, and he had to wait 11 months at the gates of the Narwar fort, after 11 months when the people found that nothing had left to eat, they surrendered to Sikandar lodi. Once again he attacked on Gwalior, and was defeated by Maharaja Mansingh and his wife Mrignayani.

He died in 1517 and has an elaborate burial tomb that resides in Lodi Gardens, Delhi.

References

External links

• Lodī dynasty - Encyclopædia Britannica
• Sikandar Lodi Tomb pics Pictures of the tomb of Sikandar Lodi at Delhi
• http://www.indhistory.com/lodi-dynasty.html
• http://www.webindia123.com/history/MEDIEVAL/delhisultanate/delhi%20sultanate4.htm

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