Twilight of the Sultanate c9.s1.1

c9.s1.1

Khizr Khan was the son of Malikul Sharq Malik Sulaiman, an adopted son of Malik Nasīrul Mulk Mardān Daulat.¹ It is claimed by contemporary and later chroniclers that Khizr Khan was a descendant of the Prophet, and hence they describe him a Saiyyad. But the story given in favour of this claim seems to be apocryphal.² It is just possible that Khizr Khan's ancestors might have originally hailed from Arabia, but no historian has been able to trace, in fact none has tried to trace, the nature of the consanguinity of Khizr Khan to the Prophet's family. It was in all probability to associate honour with him, and silence the opposition to a simple Turk's mounting the throne of Delhi. It also affords proof of the importance of heredity in the medieval polity.