Twilight of the Sultanate c8.s4.10

c8.s4.10

Mahmūd Khaljī I (A.D. 1436-1469) was a great warrior "so that his tent became his home, and the field of battle his resting place".¹⁰¹ His long reign was spent in waging wars against Bahādur Shāh I of Gujarat, Rana Kumbhā of Mewar, Muhammad Shāh Saiyyad and Bahlūl Lodī of Delhi and Muhammad Shāh III Bahmanī. Malwa's contiguity to the Sultanate kept her very much interested in the affairs of the latter. Malwa was ambitious; she fought against Delhi and Jaunpur and carried on raids in Gondwānā and Orissa (1422). In 1440 Mahmūd Khaljī marched against Muhammad Saiyyad of Delhi, but Bahlūl Lodī successfully resisted his advance. All the same he conquered lands up to Kalpi (in 1445) and compelled the Auhadī ruler of Bayana (in the Delhi Sultanate) to read the Khutba in his name (1446).¹⁰² About the time of the end of the Saiyyad dynasty, Malwa had extended its rule up to Kalpi in Bundēlkhand and its ruler was being considered by the Delhi nobles as a possible candidate for the Delhi throne. Even Bahlūl Lodī sought his help against the Sharqī king Husain Shāh (1468). But as years passed, Malwa lost in strength chiefly because of its failure against Gujarat and Mewar, so much so that during Sikandar Lodī's reign it was destined to lose Ranthambhor, Narwar, Chanderi, Bayana and Kalpi to the Sultanate of Delhi.