Twilight of the Sultanate c19.s3.6

c19.s3.6

The story proceeds. Qais *alias* 'Abdur Rashīd *alias* Pehtan married a daughter of Khalid who bore him three sons named Sarban, Bātan and Ghurghust. One of the daughters of Bātan was Bibi Matto, who fell in love with Shāh Husain, a prince of Ghor, and their intimacy reached a stage where her pregnancy could not be concealed. A marriage was the only course open, but the offspring, a boy, was given the name of Ghilzāi—meaning in the Afghan language a son “born of theft”.⁴ Bībī Matto’s next son was Ibrāhīm. Observing marks of intelligence and wisdom on his great-grandson Ibrāhīm, Qais addressed him as Loi-dey (Lōdī)—that is Ibrāhīm is great. Siani, one of the sons of Ibrāhīm, had two sons Pranki and Ism'ail. Bahlūl, the founder of the Afghan empire in Delhi, was eight generations removed from Pranki and was a member of the Sahūkhel tribe of the Lodīs. The Sūrs and Nūhānīs descended from Ism'aīl's two sons Sūr and Nūh.⁵ Thus the Ghilzāīs (Ghaljīs), Lodīs, Sūrs, Nūhānīs and Niazīs were common descendants of Bībī Matto and had close family ties.⁶