Twilight of the Sultanate c14.s1: Suppression of Rivals
Twilight of the Sultanate c14.s1
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Suppression of Rivals
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After celebrating his accession in a befitting manner⁸ the new Sultan repaired to Delhi.⁹ He had not waded through blood to the throne, but his opponents were strong and not yet reconciled. There were three potential rivals to be dealt with: (*a*) Āzam Humayūn, governor of Kalpi and son of the Sultan's brother Khwājā Bayezīd, (*b*) his elder brother Bārbak Shāh ruler of Jaunpur and (*c*) his brother 'Ālam Khan, governor of Rapri, who had asserted his independence by assuming the royal title.
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⁸ Dorn, 55; T.S.A., 35.
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⁹ According to 'Abdulla and Ahmad Yādgar he immediately marched to Bayana and according to Ferishta against 'Isa Khan Lodī. But they do not seem to be correct as later events would show. T.D., 48; T.S.A., 36-37; Ferishta, I, 179.
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Sikandar Lodī first marched against his younger brother 'Ālam Khan. The latter shut the gates of Rapri but, unable to stand a siege, fled to 'Īsa Khan at Patiali.¹⁰ Sikandar conferred Rapri on Khan-i-Khānān Farmūlī and himself marched to Etawah where he stayed for seven months sending feelers to 'Ālam Khan to come over to his side. At last the Sultan succeeded in weaning away his brother from 'Īsa Khan's side by giving him the governorship of Etawah. Thereupon he marched to Patiali and Shamsābād. 'Īsa had opposed Sikandar's candidature, and was prepared for the worst. He fought like a man but was defeated and soon after succumbed to his injuries received in the battle.¹¹ The government of Patiali was conferred upon Rai Ganesh.¹² This was a diplomatic move. Ganesh was a partisan of Bārbak Shāh in the east and by this gesture was won over to Sikandar's side.
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¹⁰ Dorn, 55.
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¹¹ *T.A.*, I, 315; Ferishta, I, 180; *Makhzan*, 52 (b).
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¹² Badaonī, I, 314.
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From Patiali, the Sultan led his forces against his more formidable rival, Bārbak Shāh. He had sincerely wished to avoid a war with his brother, but in vain. Bārbak was ruling independently at Jaunpur ever since A. D. 1486 (892 H) with his own Khutba and coinage, but the legend on it shows that he was all obedience to his father.¹³ Sikandar had been lenient to his brother 'Ālam Khan and had reconciled with 'Īsa Khan before the latter died of his injuries.¹⁴ He, therefore, felt that Bārbak would learn a lesson from his liberal attitude and insert Sikandar's name in the Khutba and coinage of Jaunpur. On furnishing this proof of loyalty he was to be left undisturbed. But when Ism'aīl Khan Nūhānī carried the suggestion to Bārbak Shāh, the latter refused to comply.¹⁵ Not only that; instigated by some Afghan chiefs and secret intrigues of the exiled Husain Sharqī, he began to make preparations for war. This Sikandar could hardly tolerate and marched towards Jaunpur.
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¹³ Thomas, 377. On his coins he is mentioned as the *naib* (Deputy) of the Amīrul Mauminīn (used for Delhi Sultans on Indo-Muslim coins) at Jaunpur. On one side باربك شاه سلطان (Bārbak Shāh Sultan). On the other نائب اميرالمؤمنين بشهر جونپور ٨٩٢ (Naib Amīrul Mauminīn, in the city of Jaunpur, 892 H).
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¹⁴ *Makhzan*, 52 (b).
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¹⁵ Dorn, 56; T.D., 48 and T.S.A., 37 say that he was informed of Bārbak's attitude while at Delhi.
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Bārbak Shāh also left Jaunpur with his army to meet his brother. On the way he was joined by Miān Muhammad Khan Farmūlī (also known as Kālā Pahār), Sikandar's sister's son and governor of Avadh and Bahraich. The contending forces met near Qannauj. After great slaughter¹⁶ Bārbak Shāh was defeated and his two trusted partisans Mubārak Khan Nūhānī and Muhammad Khan Farmūlī fell into the hands of Sikander Shāh. The sultan treated Kālā Pahār so well that he was not only won over to his side,¹⁷ but turned his sword against Bārbak. This sudden *volte face* of his supporter so completely demoralised Bārbak Shāh that he fled to Badaon, but was eventually compelled to sue for peace. Sikandar treated him well, took him back to Jaunpur and reinstated him there. However, he assigned the *parganas* around Jaunpur to his trusted officers as a check upon the activities of Bārbak as well as of Husain Shāh Sharqī who was still lurking in Bihar.¹⁸
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¹⁶ Dorn, 56.
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¹⁷ Ferishta, I, 180; *Makhzan*, 53 (a).
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¹⁸ T.A., I, 316; Badaoni, I, 314; Ferishta, I, 180; T.D., 48-49; T.S.A., 37-38. Dorn, 56. *Makhzan*, 53 (a-b); M.R., I., 454.
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The third rival Āzam Humayūn now hardly possessed any courage to oppose the Sultan, so that when Sikandar marched from Jaunpur to Kalpi, he just relieved Āzam Humayūn of it and conferred it on Mahmūd Khan Lodī.
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With the suppression of his rivals, Sikandar Shāh was left the sole master of Hindustan. He was a mature man of a little over thirty at the time of his accession.¹⁹ As a child he had been precocious. Loved by his father, he had received an excellent education. In administration he was trained by Qutlugh Khan, the talented Vazīr of Jaunpur and in arms by commanders like Dariyā Khan Nūhānī and Khan-i-Khānān Farmūlī. As he grew up he was given Sambhal as his personal jagīr. Later on he was appointed governor of Sarhind. During the last days of Bahlūl, Tātār Khan of Lahore and Saif Khan of Multan, who had rebelled, were successfully defeated by him.²⁰ Bahlūl was so immensely pleased with the prince's exploits that before marching on his last campaign to Gwalior he had given him the charge of Delhi and nominated him as his heir-apparent.
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¹⁹ 'Abdulla says that Sikandar was 18 years of age at the time of his accession, but he is incorrect. Almost all chroniclers say that he was born in the seventh year of Bahlūl's reign. Bahlūl ascended the throne in 1451 and so Sikandar must have been born in 1457 or 1458. In 1489 he would have been thirty-one. That he was advanced in age is confirmed by Ni'āmatulla and Nizāmuddīn who say that Sikandar had six sons at the time of his accession
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²⁰ W.M., 9 (b); T.S.A., 31; T.D., 32.
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Born of a beautiful woman, Sikandar was extremely handsome. Although resentful of the unhealthy attentions of Shaikh Hasan, grandson of Shaikh Abu Lala of Rapri²¹ towards his "beauty", he was conscious of his charming personality and his pen-name of Gulrukhī (Rose-faced) was perhaps not adopted just by accident. Ascending the throne at an advanced age, his habits and temperament had been set, and the prominent features of his character were well known. He cared little for magnificence or ostentation. Courage, liberality and politeness were his assets.²² Bigotry, which developed with age, too was not absent in his early days. Before his accession he had expressed a keen desire to go to Kurukshetra to destroy the infidels who had assembled there during a bathing festival. When Miān 'Abdulla Ajodhanī protested against his striking at a time-honoured custom, the prince flew into a rage.²³ Stories about the new Sultan's love of justice were also quite current.²⁴
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²¹ T.D., 28-30; T.S.A., 29-30; W.M., 12 (a). For Shaikh Hasan's life see *Khazāin-ul-Sūfia*, I, 409 and *Akhbārul Akhyār*, 187.
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²² T.D., 32-36; T.S.A., 31-34.
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²³ T.D., 30-31; T.S.A., 30; W.M., 7(b)-8(a).
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²⁴ T.S.A., 35-36.
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To resume. Having done away with his last rival at Kalpi, Sikandar Lodī moved westward. Tātār Khan, the governor of Jahtara,²⁵ near Gwalior, came to pay him homage. The Sultan next moved towards Gwalior and sent Khwājā Muhammad Farmūlī with a special robe to Raja Mān Singh. The latter reciprocated the gesture of friendship and sent his nephew to attend on the Sultan. The prince accompanied Sikandar Shāh up to Bayana.
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²⁵ T.A., I, 316 has Jathra جهتر or Jahtara. So has M.R., I, 456. Col. Ranking, Badaonī, I, Trs., 414 n. 3 also calls it Jathra having adopted it from Ferishta, I, 180 line 18. The place is not traceable now, but in Akbar's time there was a pargana bearing this name near Gwalior and included in the Sarkar of Iraj. Āīn., II, 188.
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At that time Bayana was a walled city with a flourishing trade. It had become independent under Shams Khan Auhadī at the end of the fourteenth century. A buffer principality between the Sultanates of Delhi and Malwa, it continued to remain so for about a hundred years under the Auhadī (later changed to Jalwānī) house. Afraid of Delhi's encroachment, Bayana had leaned for support on Malwa, or failing it, on Jaunpur—both rivals of Delhi. When during his last days Bahlūl Lodī had marched through Bayana to Alhanpur near Ranthambhor, Sher Khan, governor of Chanderi, a dependency of Bayana, had thrown him back. Sikandar Lodi's success in consolidating his power obliged Bayana's ruler Sultan Sharf, son of Ahmad Khan Jalwānī, to acknowledge his authority. But Sharf had earlier ill-treated Bahlūl and removed his name from the Khutba, and Sikandar did not want to let him go unpunished. He therefore asked Sharf to give up Bayana in exchange for Jalesar, Chandwār, Marehra and Saket.²⁶ Sharf agreed to the proposal, took 'Umar Sarwānī with him to deliver the keys of the fort, but once back in the citadel he changed his mind. Sikandar Shāh had in the meantime proceeded towards Agra, a dependency of Bayana,²⁷ then held by Haibat Khan Jalwānī. Haibat Khan also barred the gates of Agra against the Sultan. He besieged Agra, left some Amirs to continue the siege, and himself returned to Bayana and captured it in A. D. 1492 (898 H).²⁸ Bayana was conferred upon Khan-i-Khānān Farmūlī, the Sultan's guardian in youth, and Sultan Sharf, who would have been wiser to keep his word, was chased out of it. The Sultan then returned to Delhi.
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²⁶ *T.A.*, I, 316; Ferishta, I, 180; M.R., I, 455. Marehra is a town in Etah district, 27° 44′ N., 78° 35′ E. Dist. Gaz. U.P., XII, 187.
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²⁷ *Makhzan*, 54 (a).
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²⁸ *T.A.*, I, 316; Ferishta, I, 180; Badaoni, I, 315 and *Makhzan*, 54 (a) have 897 H. But Dorn, 56 and C.I.S.G., I, 233 have 898 H and they are correct. Jaunpur's rebellion was suppressed in 899 H and Sikandar Shāh marched to it immediately after the capture of Bayana.