Sher Shah Suri
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- For the recipient of the Victoria Cross see Sher Shah (VC).
Sher Shah Suri (1486 – 1545) (Pashto/Persian: شیر شاه سورى - Šīr-Šāh Ṣūrī) also known as Sher Khan and as The Lion King, was founder of the Sur Dynasty of northern Indian rulers. He was born into a Muslim Pashtun family in Sasaram, Bihar in 1486.
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[edit] Early life
Sher Shah Suri was descended from an Afghan adventurer recruited by Sultan Bahlul Lodhi during his long contest with the Sharqi Sultans of Jaunpur. Sher Shah Suri's given name was Farid. His father was the jagirdar of Sasaram, Bihar. Ill-treated by his stepmother, he left home at the age of 15 and went to Jaunpur, where he set himself to serious study and there he acquired good command over the Arabic and Persian languages.
[edit] Political career
Because of his administrative abilities and vision, he was soon appointed by his father to manage the family Jagir. But again because of his stepmother, he left his father's Jagir and went to Bihar where he later joined the service of Mughal emperor Babur.
In 1522, he served Bahar Khan, then governor of Bihar. His master was impressed by his service and devotion. Bahar Khan conferred on him the title of Sher Khan for having shown gallantry in killing a tiger single-handed. Later, Sher Khan was appointed Vakil (deputy governor) and also a tutor of Bahar Khan's son Jalal Khan.
Jealous of Sher Khan's success, his enemies poisoned his master's mind and he was thus deprived of his father's jagir. He joined the Babur camp where he served from April 1527 to June 1528. But soon, he left Babur and returned to Bihar and took over his old job as a guardian of Jalal Khan. Jalal Khan being a minor, Sher Khan became the virtual ruler of Bihar.
[edit] Rise of Sher Khan
In 1531, Sher Khan asserted his independence from Humayun, Babur's successor. The unexpected rise of Sher Khan made the Lohani Afghans and Jalal Khan impatient. They even entered into an alliance with Muhamud Shah, the king of Bengal. Sher Khan defeated the Bengal king on the Kiul River in 1534. Later, he invaded Bengal and Muhamud Shah handed over him a large sum and territory to make amends. He then became the independent ruler of Bihar and Bengal.
In October 1537, Sher Khan again invaded Bengal and besieged the city of Gaur. Humayun, realising the strength of the Afghan, marched to oppose Sher Khan in December 1537, and besieged Chunar. However, the army of Sher Khan baffled all the attempts of the assailants for six months, which gave enough time to Sher Khan for the reduction of Gaur, which was achieved by April 1538. In 1539, as Humayun marched towards Bengal, Sher Khan cleverly occupied the Mughal territories in Bihar and Jaunpur. In 1539, Sher Khan was able to defeat Humayun in the Battle of Chausa. Again in 1540, he defeated Humayun in the Battle of Kannauj, and went on to capture Delhi and Agra at the age of 54.
Sher Khan built the Rohtas Fort in 1541-43 to crush the Gakhars, who were loyal to Humayun, to whom the fort was finally surrendered by a treacherous commander 10 years after Sher Khan's death.
Meanwhile, in Marwar the Rathores were becoming very powerful. The Rathore king Rao Maldeo had extended his territory to within a couple of hundred kilometers of Delhi. In 1544 Sher Khan attacked Maldeo. Maldeo came with a force of 40 thousand against Sher Khan's 60 thousand. In the evening Sher Khan sent forged letters to Maldeo's camp. These letters seemed to indicated that some generals from Maldeo's army were buying arms from Sher Khan's army. This caused great consternation in Maldeo's camp who thought that some of his generals had crossed over to Sher Khan, and he left with 20,000 men. Later events proved that there was no crossing over by Maldeo's generals. When the Rathore generals Kumpa (his progeny are Kumpawat Rathores) and Jaita (his progeny are Jaitawat Rathores) found out what happened they did not lose their cool, and decided they would not leave the field even though they just had 20 thousand men and had to face Sher Khan's 60 thousand Pathans. In the ensuing battle of Sammel Sher Khan emerged victorious, but several of his generals lost their lives and his army suffered heavy losses. After this he commented that "for a few grains of bajra (a grain crop that grows in Marwar) he had almost lost the entire kingdom of India".
[edit] Expansion and victories
Sher Khan continued to expand his empire, subjugating Bengal, Malwa, Raisen, Sindh and Multan. In the Battle of Raisen, Sher Khan attacked the fort of the Rajput ruler Puran Mal. After it became apparent that defending the fort would be too tough, Puran Mal agreed to surrender the fort on the condition that his troops, their wives and children, be allowed to leave unmolested. Sher Khan agreed. But as Puran Mal and his family were leaving the fort they were attacked by Sher Khan's Pathans. The Rajputs of Puran Mal died fighting to the last man.[1].
In a very short time, Sher Khan had extended his kingdom from the Indus in the west to Bengal in the east. He then besieged the strong fort of Kalinjar in Bundelkhand, where he later died in an accidental explosion of gunpowder in May 1545.
Sher Shah Suri was succeeded by his son, Jalal Khan who took the title of Islam Shah Suri.
He adopted the self-appointed title of Shah during his rivalry with Humayun in anticipation of power, so his name was again changed from Sher Khan to Sher Shah. In his reign, Sher Shah conquered a large portion of India.
[edit] Government and administration
Though Sher Shah ruled for only 5 years yet he introduced important administrative reforms, which produced an excellent revenue system. His reforms were accepted by later Mughal and British colonial administrations. His administration was efficient, but somewhat tight. The empire was divided into 47 provinces called Sarkars, and each was subdivided into several smaller districts called Parganas. Each Pargana had its own group of officers called Shiqdar-i-Shiqdaram and a second group called Munsif-i-Munsifan. Every pargana had one military officer, one treasurer, one judicial judge and two accountants, who maintained accounts in both Persian and in Hindi. Sher Shah transferred these officers around every two or three years to prevent any undue influence of officers in one place. He paid attention to improvement of trade, abolishing all taxes which hindered progress of free trade. He built large network of roads. One road ran from Attock to Cacca, second ran from Agra to Burhanpur, third from Agra to Chittor and fourth between Lahore and Multan. Present Grand Trunk Road in India was built by Sher Shah Suri. In order to stay in power, Sher Shah appointed many spies. He was also strict on crime. He even punished his relatives if they were found guilty by the courts.Sher Shah also organised an efficient spy system.
[edit] Reforms
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Sher Shah Suri was a visionary ruler and introduced many military and civil reforms. One of his important innovations was the introduction of the Rupayya or rupee coin; the very name is still used for official coinage in Pakistan, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Mauritius, Maldives, Seychelles among other countries. He was the first in sub-continent to introduce custom duties, which are still followed up to this day. He undertook extensive repairs of major roads and for travellers' comfort constructed resthouses and places for drinking-water along the road.
Sher Shah Suri was, thus, indeed a great ruler. His administrative policies and other policies were so efficient that Akbar, the greatest of the Mughals, followed almost all of them. So, Sher Shah is rightly regarded as the 'forerunner of Akbar'. His genius and chivalry was recognised by his former foe Humayun, who upon hearing of Sher Shah's passing, referred to him as "Ustad-i-Badshahan" (teacher of Kings). [1]
Another reason to call Sher Shah great is because he was the only ruler to have interrupted the Mughal rule, which lasted nearly 2 1/2 centuries.
Sher Shah Suri stands very prominent not only among the monarchs of his age but he is as greater as Aibak, Iltutmish, Balban, Alaud Din Khilji and Muhammad Bin Tughlaq. He shares similarity with them in certain perspectives that he was ambitious, had great qualities of head and heart, was courageous and determined and had not much support from his family or tribe but these qualities do not distinct him from Turk Sultans. The things that make him prominent were all his reforms and public works in five years, which project him as a paternal figure that does not discriminate among his subjects. His reforms have been in practice even in the British rule over India.
As far as his revenue and agricultural reforms, he was the first one among the kings of Delhi to start land measurement, categorize cultivated land according to its product, and implement a revenue system that was never ever heard. He made farmer friendly policy of agricultural loans called “Taqavi system”. He also used his experience of managing his own Jageer at Sehsaram. He introduced system of “Sarkars”, “Parganas” and villages in place of provinces. “Shiqdars” governed Sarkars whereas Parganas were under minor Shiqdars called “Shiqdaran”. There were “Munsifan” in Sarkars and Munsifs in Parganas to run judicial functions. Munsifan also resolved disputes between Sarkar and Pargana. There was a “Qanoongo” in each Sarkar who was the supervisor of records of property. “Fautedar” kept records both in Persian and Hindi.
He gave new trend to the coinage in India. He introduced “Rupaya” and “Paisa” in place of “Tanka” and “Jeetal” that were introduced by Turks. The currency introduced by him has been in fashion till now. Mughals and even British did not care to replace them in their respective rule. The step of changing the currency was a big risk as in past people had shattered Muhammad Tughlaq’s policy of changing the design of currency.
Sher Shah used spying as a tool to be aware of woes of people as powerful Sultans like Balban, Khilji and Muhammad Bin Tughlaq did. Sher Shah established an efficient postal system in which horses carried mail. These horses took mail to the Inns that were at equal distances of 12 miles from each other. These Inns served also as post offices and spying centers and it was the duty of respective villages to bear expenses of their inns.
He was the first one to keep the military away from political and social issues in the empire. He made cantonment areas in the region and deployed there a large army under a commander called “Faujdar”. He crushed the frontier Pathans tribes, Balochs, Rajputs, Gakkhars and Khokhars while chasing Mughals out of India in his brief rule of five years. He also joined, Multan, Bengal, Burhanpur and Jotepur with Agra through the famous GT road to overcome communication gap between center and distant areas. Sher Shah followed the branding and “Huliya” systems of Alaud Din Khilji to avoid forgery done by Nobles. He also established a standing army that got regular salary. Sher Shah was not in the habit of dividing the whole war booty among his soldiers, as it was habit of Babar and Humayun.
One of the most appreciated steps taken by Sher Shah was building Inns, mosques and roads, planting trees, digging wells, spending money on “Ulema” and “Madrassas” and helped the poor and needy. He established free kitchens at various places in his empire and spent 500 Ashrafis on them daily. These steps place him equal to Feroz Shah Tughlaq considered as a kind-hearted ruler by the historians like Ziaud Din Barni and Shams Afif in Tareekh-e-Feroz Shahi.
Sher Shah Suri appears before us as a nation builder who allowed not only Muslims but also Hindus to enjoy all opportunities provided by him. Moreover, he also involved Hindus in the administrative machinery of empire. This also depicts his amiable attitude towards his subjects. He tried to establish a national government, which shows that he followed the policy of Alaud Din Khilji who, for the first time, employed Hindus as soldiers as well as revenue collectors. Sher Shah united Afghans living in India and revived them as a sole power in Sub Continent. Later on, the great Mughal emperor Akbar exceeded all limits in evolving nationhood among people. However, unfortunately, this unity and strength ended with the end of his life when he at siege of Kalinjar in 1545.
Sher Shah appears before us as a military genius because he knew the war strategies of Turks, Afghans and Mughals and used his own delaying tactics of long negotiations and misleading the enemy. He defeated Humayun by using the same tactics in both wars of Chausa and Kanoj in 1539 and 1540 respectively. Sher Shah was a brave soldier and used to fight in first ranks of his army. In battle of Mevat, he made bunkers by using sand bags.
Sher Shah’s theory of kingship and his rules of war depict him as a shrewd ruler. According to him, cruelty is unlawful for every one especially for a ruler. Justice is not only to be dispensed by believers but also infidels. Only stopping some one from crime is not justice. Rather it is supremacy of law over the people no matter rich or poor. Sher Shah once punished his own son on his bad conduct. Sher Shah believed peasantry to be the backbone of state.
Sher Shah had refined taste of architecture. He built mosques and inns at different places of India. Later on, the nearest villages changed into cities as the people moved to those villages near roads. A mosque in Delhi and his own mausoleum are sound proof of his refined taste. He built forts and not the palaces. Another big task accomplished by Sher Shah was construction of the fort of Rohtas-e-Nau near Jehlum. Its area was 2.5 miles, height was 50 meters, there were 68 towers in the fort and the total expenditure on it was 8 Crore rupees.
Sher Shah was a great critic of “Mughal administration” and used this term wherever he found administrative flaws. He seized power when he was 68 but even at this old age, he was active and hard worker. According to Razzaq Mushtaqi and Abbass Sherwani, the contemporary historians, Sher Shah used to get up early for “Fajr” prayers and inspected branding of horses, helped the poor and needy and then held court. He himself used to say: “Alas! When I seized the power it was twilight of my life.”
The hardships faced by Sher Shah were not less than that of Humayun. Like Humayun, he also faced opposition from his no merciful stepbrothers, had large number of rivals that he overcame and had no treasury at the beginning of his rule. Even then, he gave a completely new structure of government along with the revenue system as a permanent source of income. His public works will always keep him alive. We can certainly opine that Sher Shah was pioneer of the Afghan Revolution that started just after battle of Panipat in 1526 and lasted in 1545 due to sudden death of Sher Shah. The successors of Sher Shah proved to be incompetent and wasted energy in war of succession, thus paving the way for Humayun’s return.
The historians have declared Sher Shah the wisest and most successful king of medieval period. S. A. Rashid is of the opinion that as an able general, consummate soldier, as a determined ruler Sher Shah stands head and shoulders above the other rulers. Keene is of the opinion that no government, even the British government has shown as much wisdom as Pathans. V. A. Smith says if he had been alive, he might have established his empire and not let Mughals appear in India. Tripathi’s opinion, to some extent, is similar to that of Iriskin. He says, “Had he lived longer, he might have taken air out of Akbar’s sail. Iriskin says that he had more of the spirit of legislator and guardian of people than any prince before Akbar did. Qanoongo says that Sher Shah reconciled people creeds to build Indian nation."
Muhammad Abid Ali Bukhari
[edit] Important dates
- 1486 Sher Khan born
- 1522 Sher Khan took the service of Bahar Khan
- 1527 - 1528 Sher Khan served the Babur camp
- 1534 Sher Khan defeated the Bengal king on the Kiul river
- October 1537 Sher Khan invaded Bengal and besieged the city of Gaur
- 1539 Sher Khan defeated Humayun at Chausa
- 1540 Sher Khan defeated Humayun at Kannauj
- May 1545 Death of Sher Khan
[edit] Footnotes
- ^ Dr.Khan, Hussain (1994) Sher Shah Suri 1540-1545
[edit] Notes
- ^ Dr.Khan, Hussain (1994) Sher Shah Suri 1540-1545
[edit] Bibliography
- Dr. Hussain Khan, Sher Shah Suri-1539-1545 published by Ferozsons, Lahore, Pakistan.
- The Mertiyo Rathors of Merto, Rajasthan (2 vols.)
- Select Translations Bearing on the History of a Rajput Family, 1462-1660 Translator Saran, Richard D. Annotations by Saran, Richard D. Hardcover Edition: Series#:51; Michigan Papers on South and Southeast Asia (Hardcover) 772 pages Publisher: University of Michigan Press ISBN / EAN: 0891480854
- "Later, ancient Bactria, in northern Afghanistan, was joined to India by a 4,200-kilometer road built by Indian’s Maurya dynasty, and was linked to Central Asia and the Middle East by the imperial highways of the Persians."
- Clive Ponting: World History, A New Perspective, Published by Pimlico 2001, ISBN 0-7126-6572-2, Printed and Bound in Great Britain by Mackays of Chatham PLC.
- "When Chang Ch'ien arrived in Ferghana he was surprised to find that a vast array of Chinese goods were on sale, especially silk which was only manufactured in China. These goods had travelled by the route opened in 4th century BCE from China via Schezwan and Yunnan to Burma and eastern India. From there they had been traded along the India Grand Road (built under the Mauryan Empire) up the Ganges valley to the grand trading city of Taxila and then into central Asia." [Page 250]
- INDIA & Southeast Asia to 1875: Sanderson Beck , Paperback: 775 pages, Publisher: World Peace Communications (December 7, 2004) ISBN 0-9762210-0-4
- "Humayun escaped and went to Lahore while Sher Khan went back to Gaur to destroy the remnant of the Mughal army and imprison a rebelling governor. Sher Khan became Sher Shah and organized his empire while Humayun, unable to get help from his brothers, fled all the way to the Safavid court in Iran. After subjugating Malwa in 1542, Sher Shah invaded central India. He promised to let those capitulating at Fort Raisin go unmolested, but the Afghans treacherously attacked the Rajputs, who killed their own women and children to protect them from disgrace. Sher Shah also used forged letters before defeating Marwar ruler Maldev in a bloody battle in 1544. While capturing a fort in Kalinjar, Sher Shah was killed by a gunpowder explosion in 1545."
[edit] Additional reading
- Tarikh-e-Afghania
- Tarikh-ei- Sher Shahi
- Tarikh-i Shahi
- Tarikh-i Khan Jahani wa Makhzan-i Afghani
- Thomas, Edward (1871) The Chornicles of the Pathan Kings of Delhi
- Sher Shah And His Times,By Kalkar Nijan.
- The Pathans by Sir Olf Cearo
- Pashtoon by Syed Bahadur Shah Zafar Kakakhel
[edit] External links
| Preceded by 'Founder' |
Shah of Delhi 1545-1553 |
Succeeded by Islam Shah Suri |
