Twilight of the Sultanate c13.s5: Bahlūl Lodī—An Estimate

Twilight of the Sultanate c13.s5

Language: English

Bahlūl Lodī—An Estimate

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The death of Bahlūl Lodī was due to over-exertion. He had died in harness. Throughout his life he had fought to extend the boundaries of his dominions. When he had ascended the throne his kingdom consisted of only ‘Az-Dehli-tā-Pālam’ territory. He had added to it, by stages, the Punjab and the whole of Uttar Pradesh. In the east his empire extended up to the western frontiers of Bihar, in the south up to Dholpur and in the south-west up to Alhanpur near Ranthambhor. Perhaps during his long reign he could have reclaimed some more territories, but the Saiyyads’ incompetency had made his task all the more difficult. The Jaunpur kings had time and again defeated the Saiyyad monarchs and had extended their dominions as far as Shamsābād and Etawah. The result was that it took Bahlūl more than a quarter of a century to destroy the Sharqī power. Indeed, because of his preoccupations against Jaunpur he cruelly neglected the Punjab where his kinsmen began to assume an attitude of independence and created insurmountable problems for his successors. All the same the extinction of the eighty-five-year-old Sharqī kingdom was a great achievement of Bahlūl. It fired the imagination of his contemporaries; and prompted Shaikh Fīrōz, grandfather of Rizqulla Mushtāqī, to write a *masnawī* on the Lodī-Sharqī war.¹³⁵

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¹³⁵ E. and D., IV, 533.

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The Doab was no less difficult to manage. The Rajputs settled in the region between Etah and Etawah on the west and Farrukhabad in the east had formed the backbone of resistance to the Turkish sultans ever since the inception of Muslim rule in Uttar Pradesh. Tīmūr's avalanche had swept the Sultanate and set them free. Till the time of Akbar these people more or less remained unsubdued. A glimpse of their daring life has been given by Abul Fazl. "The people inhabiting the villages round Saket," writes he, "stood unrivalled for their rebellious spirit and ungratefulness ; the eye of the age never saw rebels . . . like them. They were not only themselves disorderly but kept the villages and their inhabitants in a state of disorder and they lived a bold sort of life . . . ."¹³⁶ The chiefs of this region, which lay between Delhi and Jaunpur, took every advantage of the Lodi-Sharqī conflict, changed sides at convenience and created constant difficulties for the Sultanate. Bahlūl managed them as best as he could, at times by humouring and at others by hammering them. The control of the turbulent chiefs of this region was a great achievement for Bahlūl, although the smallness of the area made it hardly appear as an achievement.¹³⁷

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¹³⁶ *A.N.*, Beveridge, II, 253-55.

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¹³⁷ Cf. R. P. Tripathi, *Rise and Fall of the Mughal Empire*, 11.

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Bahlūl Lodī could achieve such success in the political field firstly, because he was a distinguished military leader, and secondly, because he could tactfully manage his turbulent Afghan nobles and channelise their energies for the betterment of the state. About his martial qualities 'Abdulla pays a just tribute. "From the day he (Bahlūl) became king," says he, "no one achieved a victory over him ; nor did he once leave the field until he had gained the day, or been carried off wounded."¹³⁸ The statement suffers from exaggeration ; but it is a fact that in war Bahlūl was as clever as he was courageous. The persistence and consistency with which he fought the Sharqī kings and ultimately annexed their kingdom speaks for his brilliance as an army commander. In victory he was chivalrous. When the queen consort of Husain Sharqī fell into his hands he treated her with respect and sent her back to her husband, knowing full well that she was the one who was constantly nagging her husband to attack Delhi. For a victorious Muslim sultan in Medieval India, this treatment was unique.

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¹³⁸ T.D., 12.

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The Sultan was as generous as he was brave. After he had won the day he knew how best to reward his soldiers. When he took possession of Delhi he distributed its treasures among his men, himself taking an equal share with the others.¹³⁹ And this was his policy with regard to any other spoils of war. He was very keen on having the best soldiers in his army and placed great reliance on the courage of his Afghan troops. On that account they met with such encouragement that there were nearly twenty thousand Afghans in his service.

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¹³⁹ Ferishta, I, 179.

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By his tact and ability Bahlūl Lodī won the love and loyalty of the thousands of Afghans under him. As he could not hope for support from the Turks or Indian Muslims, he had invited leaders of Afghan tribes from Roh to defend the honour of the Afghans in India and share the benefits of the new empire. The appeal had met with tremendous response and crowds of Afghans had flocked to his standard entertaining all kinds of hopes. Bahlūl kept his word; he not only rewarded his partisans with wealth and position but gave them an equal status with himself. Even in the Darbar he would not occupy a throne but sat only on a carpet with the others. Whenever he wrote a *farmān* to his nobles, he always addressed them as "Masnad-i-ʿĀlī" (Exalted Lordship). If at any time some of them got displeased, he would go to their houses, ungird his sword, remove his turban and lay these before them to pacify them, saying: "If you do not think me worthy of the station, you may choose some one else".¹⁴⁰ This the Sultan did as a matter of policy also. The loyalty of the Afghan nobles used to register kaleidoscopic shiftings. They could always offer the crown to any one of Bahlūl's rivals, and the movements of the Sharqī kings mostly depended on the barometer of the baronial temper. To keep them in good humour and under invisible control, Sultan Bahlūl "kept up a bond of fraternity with the entire body of noblemen".¹⁴¹ But in doing so, he reduced the sovereign to the position of *primus inter pares* (Chief among Equals) *vis-a-vis* the nobles. The weaknesses of the system are quite obvious. It raised the power of the nobles at the expense of the Sultan. It denied the non-Afghans a place in the government. It envisaged the Sultan as a leader only of the Afghans; he ceased to be the king of all the people. It made the Afghan tribesmen a privileged class, and the selfish and power-drunk nobility could hardly fail to take advantage of this situation as time passed. In spite of all this, Bahlūl had achieved his aim. His policy of *primus inter pares* had earned him the loyalty of the Afghan tribal leaders who helped him fight his wars and worked with him ungrudgingly through thick and thin.

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¹⁴⁰ T.D., 11-12; W.M., 4 (a).

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¹⁴¹ W.M., 4 (a).

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Bahlūl's achievements as an administrator were neither commendable nor mean. He possessed inherent qualities which endeared him to all. He devoted great attention to the administration of justice. He himself heard the petitions of his subjects, and did not leave them to be disposed of by his ministers. Withal his dispatch of business was quick.¹⁴² Religious minded though he was, he was no bigot. Of his important nobles and partisans some illustrious ones were Hindus like Rai Pratap Singh, Rai Karan Singh, Rai Nar Singh, Rai Trilok Chand and Rai Dandu. He was thrifty but not greedy. He did not like the wasteful practices of the Afghans and abolished them.¹⁴³ But he accumulated no personal treasure. He executed his kingly functions without ostentation or parade. He could not stand any waste of public money.

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¹⁴² Ferishta, I, 179.

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¹⁴³ W.M., 4 (a).

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As a man Bahlūl was benevolent and courageous, honest and merciful. His intrinsic qualities of mind and heart had marked him out to his uncle Islām Shāh. He had a deep respect for his religion and great respect for its law. He said his prayers in public five times every day. He was fond of the company of the learned and the wise. His charitable disposition forbade him to turn a suppliant, although he did not encourage beggary.¹⁴⁴ The Sultan was extremely social in his behaviour and met his friends on an equal footing. If any one of his nobles fell ill, he would himself go to attend on him. But his circle of friends was so comprehensive as to cover almost the whole court, and every one tried to take advantage of his undue leniency.

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¹⁴⁴ T. D., 12; W.M., 4 (a).

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Withal Bahlūl's sense of humour was terrible. The story of his seizure of the throne reads like a practical joke played upon Hamīd Khan. Once he had a fling at a student of stunted growth, but when the boy got cross, Bahlūl at once offered his apology.¹⁴⁵ An anecdote of the Sultan's tolerance and sense of humour as given by 'Abdulla needs to be reproduced.¹⁴⁶ Once in the Jama' Masjid, after the prayers, Mulla Fazīn, one of the elders of the city, began to talk irresponsibly of the Afghans. "We have an extraordinary tribe of rulers," said he, "I do not know whether they are the servants of arch-fiends or arch-fiends themselves. Their language is so barbarous...." While the Mulla was thus railing, Bahlūl only smiled and said, "Mulla Fazīn, hold, enough, for we are all servants of God".