The Lodi dynasty was the first Afghan or Pathan dynasty in India.
Historians regard the Lodi sultans of Delhi as a vestige of the Delhi Sultanate. It is true in the sense that Timur, who reduced the Tughlaq dynasty, left Khizr Khan, the founder of the Sayyid dynasty as his proxy. The last of the Sayyids, Alauddin, in turn, abdicated in favour of Bahlul Lodi. Bahlul Lodi introduced the rule of this dynasty, his son Sikandar Lodi enhanced its power and glory.
Bahlul Lodi (1451-1489)
The founder of the dynasty was an Afghan noble. A good soldier and a man of simple habits, Bahlul Lodi reduced the turbulent chiefs of the provinces to submission and infused some vigour into the government. The most important event of his reign was the conquest of Jaunpur.
ADVERTISEMENTS:
Sikandar Lodi (1489-1517)
On Bahlul’s death, his second son, Nizam Khan, ascended the throne under the title of Sikandar Shah Lodi. He conquered Bihar and Tirhut. He transferred the capital from Delhi to Agra, a city he founded. Sikandar was the most capable monarch of the Lodi dynasty. His administration was strict and impartial.
He organised an efficient system of espionage. In religious matters, however, he was a bigot and an uncompromising enemy of Hinduism. He sacked the temples of Mathura and converted the buildings to Muslim uses. He demolished the famous Jwalamukhi temple at Nagarkot. He charged jaziya and pilgrim’s tax from the Hindus with severity.
It is also said that Sikandar tried to stop certain bad practices of the Muslims as well. He was against taking out tazias in procession during Muharram. Shrines of the Muslim saints were out of bounds for women during his rule. He went so far as to order destruction of the mosques built by the Sharqi rulers of Jaunpur, but retreated hastily when the ulemas disapproved of such moves. The terrible iconoclastic behaviour of Sikandar has drawn an interesting comment from historian, Dr K.S. Lai: “Indeed Indian society was undergoing a change.
ADVERTISEMENTS:
This change was also due to the teachings of the fifteenth century socio-religious reformers like Kabir and Nanak. In such an atmosphere a few acts of intolerance on the part of Sikandar Lodi appeared to be so much out of tune with the spirit of the age that they even shocked the Persian chroniclers. In the fourteenth century Sikandar Lodi’s altitude would have caused no surprise. He would have been considered one among the common run of monarchs. But in the fifteenth century his bigotry was particularly noticeable. Hence the assertion of the chroniclers.”
However, he is also considered a patron of scholars and philosophers, and he got many Sanskrit works translated into Persian.
Ibrahim Lodi (1517-1526).
On Sikandar’s death his eldest son, Ibrahim, became the Sultan. He asserted the absolute power of the sultan and often insulted the Afghan nobles. Some of these nobles turned against him. There were many revolts during his reign. At last Daulat Khan Lodi the governor of Punjab, invited Babur, the king Kabul, to overthrow Ibrahim. Babur seized the opportunity and inflicted a crushing defeat on Ibrahim Lodi in the First Battle of Panipat in 1526 Ibrahim was killed in the battle and with him the Delhi Sultanate came to an end.