Sayyid dynasty

A contemporary writer Yahya Sirhindi mentions in his Tarikh-i-Mubarak Shahi that Khizr Khan was a descendant of Muhammad.{{Cite book|last1=Porter|first1=Yves|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xj83AQAAIAAJ&q=Sayyid+Khizr+Khan+was+a+arab|title=The Glory of the Sultans: Islamic Architecture in India|last2=Degeorge|first2=Gérard|date=2009|publisher=Flammarion|isbn=978-2-08-030110-9|quote=Though Timur had since withdrawn his forces, the Sayyid Khizr Khān , the scion of a venerable Arab family who had settled in Multān, continued to pay him tribute.|language=en}} Members of the dynasty derived their title, Sayyid, or the descendants of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, based on the claim that they belonged to his lineage through his daughter Fatima. However, Yahya Sirhindi based his conclusions on unsubstantial evidence, the first being a casual recognition by the famous saint Sayyid Jalaluddin Bukhari of Uch Sharif of his Sayyid heritage in the household of his adoptive grandfather Malik Mardan Daulat who is also referred to as Malik Mardan Bhatti by Yahya,{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=05dEAQAAMAAJ&q=The+claim+of+Khizr+Kh%C4%81n+,+who+founded+the+dynasty+known+as+the+Sayyids+,+to+descent+from+the+prophet+of+Arabia+was+dubious |title=The Cambridge History of India: Turks and Afghans, edited by W. Haig |date=1958 |publisher=S. Chand |language=en|quote=The claim of Khizr Khān, who founded the dynasty known as the Sayyids, to descent from the prophet of Arabia was dubious, and rested chiefly on its causal recognition by the famous saint Sayyid Jalāl-ud-dīn of Bukhārā.}}{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=V2hRAAAAYAAJ&q=Jalaluddin+Bukhari+born+in+uch |title= Journal of Sikh Studies:Volume 20 |page=61 |publisher=Department of Guru Nanak Studies |date=1996 }}{{Cite book |last=Beveridge |first=Henry |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kzzTmwEACAAJ |title=Tarikh-I-Mubarakshahi |date=1992 |publisher=Rima Publishing House |pages=168 |language=en}} and the second being the Sultan's noble character which distinguished him as possessing the moral qualities of Muhammad's descendant.{{cite book |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=03lDAAAAYAAJ&q=The+Delhi+Sultanate+-+Ramesh+Chandra+Majumdar |title= The History and Culture of the Indian People: The Delhi sultanate |author= Ramesh Chandra Majumdar |year= 1951 |publisher= Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan }}

Abraham Eraly is of the opinion that Khizr Khan's ancestors were likely descendants of an Arab family who had long ago settled in the region of Multan during the early Tughluq period, but he doubts his Sayyid lineage.{{Cite book |last=Eraly |first=Abraham |title=The Age of Wrath: A History of the Delhi Sultanate |date=2015-04-01 |publisher=Penguin UK |isbn=978-93-5118-658-8 |language=en|pages=261|quote=The first of these two dynasties was founded by Khizr Khan, who bore the appellation 'Sayyid', which identified him as a descendant of prophet Muhammad, so the dynasty he founded came to be known as the Sayyid dynasty. The veracity of Khizr Khan's claimed lineage is uncertain, but it is likely that his forebears were Arabs, who had migrated to India in the early Tughluq period and settled in Multan. The family prospered in India, gaining wealth and power. This advancement culminated in Malik Suleiman, Khizr Khan's father, becoming the governor of Multan under the Tughluqs. When Suleiman died, Khizr Khan succeeded him to the post, but lost it during the political turmoil following the death of Firuz Tughluq.}} A.L. Srivastava shares a similar viewpoint.{{Cite book |last=Srivastava |first=Ashirbadi Lal |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ht21AAAAIAAJ&q=al+srivastava+delhi+sultanate |title=The Sultanate of Delhi: Including the Arab Invasion of Sindh, 711-1526 A. D. |date=1953 |publisher=S. L. Agarwala |isbn=978-8193009352 |pages=229 |quote="their claim of Descendants of Prophet Mohammad is dubious but it seems certain that Khizr Khan's ancestors came from Arabia" }} According to Richard M. Eaton and oriental scholar Simon Digby, Khizr Khan was a Punjabi chieftain belonging to the Khokhar clan, who was sent to Timur as an ambassador and negotiator from the most adjacent area, the Punjab, ultimately becoming the power holder in Delhi, thanks to the contacts he had acquired.{{cite book |title= India in the Persianate Age: 1000–1765|publisher= University of California Press |author= Eaton, Richard M. |year= 2019 | isbn=978-0520325128 |page=105|language=en|quote=The career of Khizr Khan, a Punjabi chieftain belonging to the Khokar clan, illustrates the transition to an increasingly polycentric north India.}}{{cite book |author=Digby, Simon |chapter=After Timur Left: North India in the Fifteenth Century |date=2014 |pages=47–59 |publisher=Oxford University Press |doi=10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199450664.003.0002 |chapter-url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199450664.003.0002 |isbn=978-0-19-945066-4 |access-date= |quote= —and we find that a Khokar chieftain, Khizr Khan, who was sent to Timur as an ambassador and negotiator for tribute from the most adjacent area, the Punjab, ultimately became the power-holder in Delhi, thanks to the contacts he had acquired.|editor-last=Orsini |editor-first=Francesca |url= |title=After Timur Left: Culture and Circulation in Fifteenth-century North India |editor-last2=Sheikh |editor-first2=Samira|editor-link=Francesca Orsini}}

File:Lodhi_Garden,_New_Delhi._taken_by_Anita_Mishra.JPG at Lodi Gardens, New Delhi.]]

Khizr Khan was originally a noble in the Delhi Sultanate during the Tughlaq Dynasty and was the governor of Multan under Sultan Firuz Shah. He was expelled from the city by the Muin tribes under Sarang Khan who occupied Multan in 1395,{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZSGzDwAAQBAJ&dq=sarang+main+bhatti&pg=PT298 | title=The Making of Medieval Panjab Politics, Society and Culture C. 1000–c. 1500 |author= Surender Singh |date=2019 }}{{cite book |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=e8o5HyC0-FUC&dq=sarang+khan+main+bhatti&pg=PA280 |page=280 |title= Encyclopaedia Of Untouchables : Ancient Medieval And Modern |date=2008 |author=Raj Kumar|quote=accompanied by the Bhatti and Main crossed the Sutlej }} an Indian Muslim and the brother of Mallu Iqbal Khan, who was the de-facto ruler of Delhi.{{cite book |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=Mr_eYjoVjz8C&dq=sarang+khan+convert&pg=PT538|title= Islamic Jihad: A Legacy of Forced Conversion, Imperialism, and Slavery |author=M. A. Khan |date=2009 |quote=Indian-origin slave-soldiers (converted Muslims) such as Malik Kafur, Malik Naik, Sarang Khan, Bahadur Nahar, Shaikha Khokhar, and Mallu Khans }}{{cite book |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=h0_xhdCScQkC&dq=mallu+khan+slave&pg=PA207 |title=Expanding Frontiers in South Asian and World History: Essays in Honour of John F. Richards |author1=John F. Richards |author2=David Gilmartin |author3=Munis D. Faruqui |author4=Richard M. Eaton |author5=Sunil Kuma |page=247 |quote=Mallu Khan(also known as Iqbal Khan, a former slave }}{{cite book |url= |quote=Indian Musalmans like Malik Kafur , Khusrau Khan and Khan - i - Jahan Maqbul reached close to the throne , and men like Mallu Khan , Sarang Khan , Muqarrab Khan etc |title= Journal of Indian History - Volume 55 |page=105 |date=1977 |publisher=Department of Modern Indian History}}{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nMWSQuf4oSIC&dq=mallu+iqbal+puppet&pg=RA1-PA221|title=History of Medieval India |page=221 |author= V. D. Mahajan |date=2007 |quote=The result of this was that Nasir-ud-Din Mahmud Shah became a tool in the hands of Mallu Iqbal}} Sarang Khan was aided by the servants of Malik Mardan Bhatti, a former governor of Multan and the grandfather of Khizr Khan by adoption.{{Cite book |last=Singh |first=Surinder |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZSGzDwAAQBAJ&dq=malik+mardan+bhatti&pg=PT298 |title=The Making of Medieval Panjab: Politics, Society and Culture c. 1000–c. 1500 |date=2019-09-30 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-000-76068-2 |language=en}}{{Cite book |last=Elliot |first=Sir Henry Miers |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HX9DAAAAYAAJ&q=malik+mardan |title=The History of India, as Told by Its Own Historians. The Muhammadan Period: The Posthumous Papers of H. M. Elliot |date=1952 |publisher=S. Gupta (India) |pages=118 |language=en}}

Following Timur's 1398 Sack of Delhi,{{sfn|Jackson|2003|p=103}} he appointed Khizr Khan as deputy of Multan (Punjab).{{sfn|Kumar|2020|p=583}} He held Lahore, Dipalpur, Multan and Upper Sindh.{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VsujRFvaHI8C&dq=khizr+khan+sind&pg=PA132 |title=The History of India|page=138 |author=Kenneth Pletcher |date=2010 |isbn=9781615301225 }}{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nMWSQuf4oSIC&dq=khizr+khan+sind&pg=RA1-PA229 |title=History of Medieval India |page=229 |author= V. D. Mahajan |date=2007 |isbn=9788121903646 }} Collecting his forces in Multan, Khizr Khan defeated and killed Mallu Iqbal Khan in Delhi in 1405.{{cite book |title=Advanced Study in the History of Medieval India: Volume 2 |author=Jaswant Lal Mehta |date=1979 |page=247 }} He then captured Delhi on 28 May 1414 thereby establishing the Sayyid dynasty.{{sfn|Kumar|2020|p=583}} Khizr Khan did not take up the title of Sultan, but continued the fiction of his allegiance to Timur as Rayat-i-Ala (vassal) of the Timurids - initially that of Timur, and later his son Shah Rukh.{{cite book |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=OghDAAAAYAAJ&q=It+is+generally+acknowledged+that+Khizr+Khan+continued+to+recognise+Timur+and+his+successors+,+Shah+Rukh+,+as+his+nominal+overlords+.+But+later+on+under+his+succesor+,+Mubarak+Khan+,+this+%27+fiction+%27+of+allegiance+to+the+Timurid+rulers |page= 216 |publisher=Indian History Congress |title= Proceedings:Volume 55|year= 1995 }}Mahajan, V.D. (1991, reprint 2007). History of Medieval India, Part I, New Delhi: S. Chand, {{ISBN|81-219-0364-5}}, p.237 After the accession of Khizr Khan, the Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Sindh were reunited under the Delhi Sultanate, where he spent his time subduing rebellions.{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=F3QbAAAAIAAJ&q=khizr+khan+sindh |title=Rajasthan [district Gazetteers] Bharatpur |page=52 |publisher=Printed at Government Central Press |date= 1971 }}

Khizr Khan was succeeded by his son Sayyid Mubarak Shah after his death on 20 May 1421. Mubarak Shah referred to himself as Muizz-ud-Din Mubarak Shah on his coins, removing the Timurid name with the name of the Caliph, and declared himself a Shah.{{cite book |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=nMWSQuf4oSIC&dq=sultan+mubarak+shah+timur++caliph&pg=RA1-PA240 |title= History of Medieval India |author= V. D. Mahajan |date=2007 |publisher= S. Chand |isbn= 9788121903646 }}{{cite book |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=pzZFUcDpDzsC&dq=sultan+mubarak+shah&pg=PA103|page=103 |author= Iqtidar Alam Khan |title=Historical Dictionary of Medieval India |date=2008 |publisher=Scarecrow Press |isbn=9780810855038 }} A detailed account of his reign is available in the Tarikh-i-Mubarak Shahi written by Yahya-bin-Ahmad Sirhindi. After the death of Mubarak Shah, his nephew, Muhammad Shah ascended the throne and styled himself as Sultan Muhammad Shah. Just before his death, he called his son Sayyid Ala-ud-Din Shah from Badaun, and nominated him as successor.{{citation needed|date=July 2020}}

The last ruler of the Sayyids, Ala-ud-Din, voluntarily abdicated the throne of the Delhi Sultanate in favour of Bahlul Khan Lodi on 19 April 1451, and left for Badaun, where he died in 1478.Mahajan, V.D. (1991, reprint 2007). History of Medieval India, Part I, Now Delhi: S. Chand, {{ISBN|81-219-0364-5}}, p.244

File: Sultans of Dehli, D0651, Khidr Khan, BI 80 Rati Tanka INO Firoz Shah Tughlaq.jpg.]]

Khizr Khan was the governor of Multan under Firuz Shah Tughlaq. When Timur invaded India, Khizr Khan, a Sayyid from Multan joined him. Timur appointed him the governor of Multan and Lahore. He then conquered the city of Delhi and started the rule of the Sayyids in 1414. He was ruling in the name of Timur. He could not assume an independent position in all respects. As a mark of recognition of the suzerainty of the Timurids, the name of the Timurid ruler (Shah Rukh) was recited in the khutba but as an interesting innovation, the name of Khizr Khan was also attached to it. But strangely enough, the name of the Timurid ruler was not inscribed on the coins and the name of the old Tughlaq sultan continued on the currency. No coins are known in the name of Khizr Khan.Nizami, K.A. (1970, reprint 2006) A Comprehensive History of India, Vol-V, Part-1, People Publishing House, {{ISBN|81-7007-158-5}}, p.631

File: Sultans of Dehli, D0662, Mubarak Shah, AE Double falus.jpg

Mubarak Shah was the son of Khizr Khan, who ascended the throne in the year 1421. Mubarak Shah discontinued his father's nominal allegiance to Timur.{{cite book |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=CCwuAQAAIAAJ&q=Khizr+Khan+paid+nominal+allegiance+to+the+successors+of+Timur+,+an+allegiance+discontinued+by+Mubarak+Shah+. |title= Journal: Issues 1-3 |publisher= Aligarh Historical Research Institute |date= 1941 |page= 73 }} He freely used the royal title of Shah along with his own name, and professed allegiance to the Khalifah alone.{{cite book |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=nMWSQuf4oSIC |author= V. D. Mahajan |date= 2007 |title= History of Medieval India |page= 239 }} He was the ablest ruler of the Sayyid dynasty.{{cite book |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=gmpKEAAAQBAJ&dq=mubarak+shah+ablest+ruler&pg=PA64 |title= CTET and TET Social Science and Pedagogy for Class 6 to 8 for 2021 Exams |page= 43 |author= Arihant Experts |year= 2021 }} He defeated the advancing Hoshang Shah Ghori, the ruler of the Malwa Sultanate and forced him to pay heavy tribute early in his reign.{{Cite book |last=Lal |first=Kishori Saran |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=C-E_SwAACAAJ&q=twilight+of+the+sultanate |title=Twilight of the Sultanate: A Political, Social and Cultural History of the Sultanate of Delhi from the Invasion of Timur to the Conquest of Babur 1398-1526 |date=1980 |publisher=Munshiram Manoharlal |isbn=978-81-215-0227-6 |language=en |quote=Hoshang tried his luck against Sultan of Delhi but he was beaten back by Mubarak Shah Saiyyad to whom he had to pay a handsome tribute}} Mubarak Shah also put down the rebellion of Jasrath Khokhar and failed to fend off several invasions by the Timurids in Kabul.and He Became a Vassal of Shah Rukh{{Cite book |last=Lal |first=Kishori Saran |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=C-E_SwAACAAJ&q=twilight+of+the+sultanate |title=Twilight of the Sultanate: A Political, Social and Cultural History of the Sultanate of Delhi from the Invasion of Timur to the Conquest of Babur 1398-1526 |date=1980 |publisher=Munshiram Manoharlal |isbn=978-81-215-0227-6 |pages=109 |language=en}}

File:Mubarak Shahs Tomb (2769706808).jpg.]]

Muhammad Shah was a nephew of Mubarak Shah. He ruled from 1434 to 1443. Muhammad Shah acceded to the throne with the help of Sarwar ul Mulk. After that Shah wanted to free himself from the domination of Sarwar ul Mulk with the help of his faithful vizier Kamal ul Mulk. His reign was marked by many rebellions and conspiracies, and he died in the year 1445. Multan became independent under the Langahs during his rule.{{cite book |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=S9kbAAAAMAAJ&q=multan+independent+muhammad+shah |title= Outline History of the Islamic World |page= 1974 |author= Masudul Hasan, Abdul Waheed |publisher= the University of Michigan }}

The last ruler of the Sayyid dynasty, Alauddin Alam Shah was defeated by Bahlol Lodi, who started the Lodi dynasty.

{{Delhi Sultanate|Sayyid}}

• List of Sunni Muslim dynasties
• Persianate states
• Saadat-e-Bara
• Sadaat-e-Bilgram

{{Reflist}}

• {{cite book |chapter=The Delhi Sultanate as Empire |first=Sunil |last=Kumar |title=The Oxford World History of Empire |volume=2 |editor-first1=Peter Fibiger |editor-last1=Bang |editor-first2=C. A. |editor-last2=Bayly |editor-first3=Walter |editor-last3=Scheidel |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2020 }}
• {{cite book |title=The Delhi Sultanate: A Political and Military History |first=Peter |last=Jackson |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2003 }}

• [https://www.britannica.com/topic/Sayyid-dynasty Encyclopædia Britannica – Sayyid dynasty]
• [http://www.zeno.ru/showgallery.php?cat=6708 Coin Gallery – Sayyid dynasty]

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sayyid dynasty}}

Category:Delhi Sultanate

Category:1414 establishments in Asia

Category:15th-century establishments in India

Category:1451 disestablishments in Asia

Category:15th-century disestablishments in India

Category:Arab dynasties

Category:States and territories disestablished in the 1450s