Sher Shah Suri was the founder of the Sur Empire in North India, with its capital at
Delhi.
An ethnic Pashtun, Sher Shah took control of the Mughal Empire in 1540.
After his accidental death in 1545, his son Islam Shah became his successor.
He first served as a private before rising to become a commander in the Mughal army under
Babur and then as the governor of Bihar.
In 1537, when Babur's son Humayun was elsewhere on an expedition, Sher Khan overran the state
of Bengal and established the Sur dynasty.
A brilliant strategist, Sher Shah proved himself a gifted administrator as well as an able
general.
His reorganization of the empire laid the foundations for the later Mughal emperors,
notably Akbar the Great, son of Humayun.
During his five year rule from 1540 to 1545, he set up a new civic and military administration,
issued the first Rupiya and re-organised the postal system of India.
He further developed Humayun's Dina-panah city and named it Shergarh and revived the
historical city of Pataliputra as Patna which had been in decline since the 7th century
CE.
He is also famously remembered for killing a fully grown tiger with his bare hands in
a jungle of Bihar.
He extended the Grand Trunk Road from Chittagong in Bangladesh to Kabul in Afghanistan.
Early life and origin Sher Shah was born as Farid Khan in the present
day district of Mahendragarh in south Haryana, earlier part of Hisar district of combined
Punjab in India.
As his real name is Farid Khan but he was known as Sher Shah because he alone hunted
a Lion in his early age.His surname 'Suri' was taken from his Hometown "Sur".
His grand father Ibrahim Khan Suri was a land lord in Narnaul area and represented Delhi
rulers of that period.
Mazar of Ibrahim Khan Suri still stands as a monument in Narnaul.
Tarikh-i Khan Jahan Lodi. also confirm this fact.
However, the online Encyclopædia Britannica states that he was born in Sasaram, in the
Rohtas district.
He was one of about eight sons of Mian Hassan Khan Suri, a prominent figure in the government
of Bahlul Khan Lodi.
Sher Khan belonged to the Pashtun Sur tribe.
His grandfather, Ibrahim Khan Suri, was a noble adventurer who was recruited much earlier
by Sultan Bahlul Lodi of Delhi during his long contest with the Jaunpur Sultanate.
"It was at the time of this bounty of Sultán Bahlol, that the grandfather of Sher Sháh,
by name Ibráhím Khán Súri,*[The Súr represent themselves as descendants of Muhammad Súri,
one of the princes of the house of the Ghorian, who left his native country, and married a
daughter of one of the Afghán chiefs of Roh.] with his son Hasan Khán, the father of Sher
Sháh, came to Hindu-stán from Afghánistán, from a place which is called in the Afghán
tongue “Shargarí,”* but in the Multán tongue “Rohrí.”
It is a ridge, a spur of the Sulaimán Mountains, about six or seven kos in length, situated
on the banks of the Gumal.
They entered into the service of Muhabbat Khán Súr, Dáúd Sáhú-khail, to whom Sultán
Bahlol had given in jágír the parganas of Hariána and Bahkála, etc., in the Panjáb,
and they settled in the pargana of Bajwára."
During his early age, Farid was given a village in Fargana, Delhi(comprising present day districts
of Bhojpur, Buxar, Bhabhua of Bihar) by Omar Khan, the counselor and courtier of Bahlul
Khan Lodi.
Farid Khan and his father, who had several wives, did not get along for a while so he
decided to run away from home.
When his father discovered that he fled to serve Jamal Khan, the governor of Jaunpur,
Uttar Pradesh, he wrote Jamal Khan a letter that stated:
"Faríd Khán, being an­noyed with me, has gone to you without sufficient cause.
I trust in your kindness to appease him, and send him back; but if refusing to listen to
you, he will not return, I trust you will keep him with you, for I wish him to be instructed
in religious and polite learning."
Jamal Khan had advised Farid to return home but he refused.
Farid replied in a letter:
"If my father wants me back to instruct me in learning, there are in this city many learned
men: I will study here."
Conquering Bihar and Bengal Farid Khan started his service under Bahar
Khan Lohani, the Mughal Governor of Bihar.
Because of his valor, Bahar Khan rewarded him the title Sher Khan.
After the death of Bahar Khan, Sher Khan became the regent ruler of the minor Sultan, Jalal
Khan.
Later sensing the growth Sher Shah's power in Bihar, Jalal sought assistance of Ghiyasuddin
Mahmud Shah, the independent Sultan of Bengal.
Ghiyasuddin sent an army under General Ibrahim Khan.
But, Sher Khan defeated the force at the battle of Surajgarh in 1534.
Thus he achieved complete control of Bihar.
In 1538, Sher Khan attacked Bengal and defeated Ghiyashuddin Shah.
But he could not capture the kingdom because of sudden expedition of Emperor Humayun.
In 1539, Sher Khan faced Humayun in the battle of Chausa.
He forced Humayun out of India.
Assuming the title Sher Shah, he ascended the throne of Delhi.
Battle of Sammel In 1543, Sher Shah Suri set out against Rajputana
with a huge force of 80,000 cavalry.
With an army of 50,000 cavalry, Maldeo Rathore advanced to face Sher Shah's army.
Instead of marching to the enemy's capital Sher Shah halted in the village of Sammel
in the pargana of Jaitaran, ninety kilometers east of Jodhpur.
After one month, Sher Shah's position became critical owing to the difficulties of food
supplies for his huge army.
To resolve this situation, Sher Shah resorted to a cunning ploy.
One evening, he dropped forged letters near the Maldeo's camp in such a way that they
were sure to be intercepted.
These letters indicated, falsely, that some of Maldeo's army commanders were promising
assistance to Sher Shah.
This caused great consternation to Maldeo, who immediately suspected his commanders of
disloyalty.
Maldeo left for Jodhpur with his own men, abandoning his commanders to their fate.
After that Maldeo's innocent generals Jaita and Kunpa fought with the just 20,000 men
against an enemy force of 80,000 men.
In the ensuing battle of Sammel, Sher Shah emerged victorious, but several of his generals
lost their lives and his army suffered heavy losses.
Sher Shah is said to have commented that "for a few grains of bajra I almost lost the entire
kingdom of Hindustan."
After this victory, Sher Shah's general Khawas Khan Marwat took possession of Jodhpur and
occupied the territory of Marwar from Ajmer to Mount Abu in 1544.
But by July, Maldeo reoccupied his lost territories.
Government and administration
The system of tri-metalism which came to characterize Mughal coinage was introduced by Sher Shah.
While the term rūpya had previously been used as a generic term for any silver coin,
during his rule the term rūpiya came to be used as the name for a silver coin of a standard
weight of 178 grains, which was the precursor of the modern rupee.
Rupee is today used as the national currency in India, Indonesia, Maldives, Mauritius,
Nepal, Pakistan, Seychelles, Sri Lanka among other countries.
Gold coins called the Mohur weighing 169 grains and copper coins called Dam were also minted
by his government.
Sher Shah built monuments including Rohtas Fort, many structures in the Rohtasgarh Fort
in Bihar, Sher Shah Suri Masjid, in Patna, built in 1540–1545 to commemorate his reign.
Qila-i-Kuhna mosque, built by Sher Shah in 1541, at Purana Qila, Delhi, a Humayun citadel
started in 1533, and later extended by him, along with the construction of Sher Mandal,
an octagonal building inside the Purana Qila complex, which later served as the library
of Humayun.
Tarikh-i-Sher Shahi, written by Abbas Khan Sarwani, a waqia-navis under later Mughal
Emperor, Akbar around 1580, provides a detailed documentation about Sher Shah's administration.
Death and succession
Sher Shah is believed to have died from a gunpowder explosion during the siege of Kalinjar
fort on 13 May 1545, while fighting against the Chandel Rajputs.
His death has also been claimed to have been caused by a fire in his store room.
Sher Shah Suri was succeeded by his son, Jalal Khan who took the title of Islam Shah Suri.
His mausoleum, the Sher Shah Suri Tomb stands in the middle of an artificial lake at Sasaram,
a town that stands on the Grand Trunk Road.
Legacy Grand Trunk Road
Mughals extended Grand Trunk Road westwards: at one time, it extended to Kabul in Afghanistan,
crossing the Khyber Pass.
The road was later improved by the British rulers of colonial India.
It was extended to run from Calcutta to Peshawar.
Over the centuries, the road acted as a major trade routes in the region and facilitated
both travel and postal communication.
Since the era of Sher Shah, the road was dotted with caravansarais at regular intervals, and
trees were planted on both sides of the road to give shade to the travellers and merchants.
Sher Shah made many roads for tax free trade.The Grand Trunk Road is still used for transportation
in present day India & Pakistan.
Shersabadia community Some soldiers were left behind by Sher Shah
Suri as he escaped from Bengal, avoiding the Humayun invasion.
These people are known as Shersabadia.
They made a colony named Shershahabad which is no more due to a course change of Ganges.
Today the people of this community are found in parts of Malda, Murshidabad, Chapai Nawabganj
and a few other parts of Bengal.
Karachi Sher Shah neighbourhood and Sher Shah Bridge
in Kiamari Town of Karachi and Sher Shah Park in Wah Cantt, Pakistan, are named in the honour
of Sher Shah Suri.
Gallery
Additional reading Tarikh-i-Sher Shahi
Tarikh-e-Afghani Tarikh-i Khan Jahani wa Makhzan-i Afghani
Edward Thomas The Chronicles of the Pathan Kings of Delhi
Sir Olaf Caroe, The Pathans Burgess, James.
The Chronology of Modern India for Four Hundred Years from the Close of the Fifteenth Century,
AD.
1494–1894..
John Grant, Edinburgh.
See also Delhi Sultanate
Shere Khan Pathan of Bihar
List of rulers of Bengal History of Bengal
History of Bangladesh History of India
References
External links Encyclopædia Britannica – Sher Shah of
Sur Encyclopædia Britannica – Sur Dynasty
Columbia Encyclopedia – Sher Khan Sher Shah Suri – The Lion King
Sher Shah brief biography as ruler Coins of Sher Shah Suri