History of Sur Dynasty:
The Sur Empire was an Afghan dynasty that ruled the North Indian subcontinent between 1540 and 1556 and had Sasaram, in modern-day Bihar, serving as its capital. They had control over massive regions and ranged from Balochistan, Pakistan (present-day) in the west to modern-day Rakhine, Myanmar in the east.
The Sur dynasty was established by Sher Shah Suri, who was from the Pashtun dynasty in Afghanistan.
He was first appointed as a soldier in the Mughal army under the governor of Bihar. In 1537 he took over the state of Bengal and set up the Sur Empire. He fought and defeated the then ruling Mughal ruler Humayun in two battles: Battle of Chausa (26 June 1539) and Battle of Bilgram (17 May 1540) and took over the northern parts of India from him.
Rulers in the Sur dynasty:
The following table shows the list of rulers in the Sur dynasty:
S. n. | Name | Death date | Reign |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Sher Shah Suri | 22 May 1545 | 17 May 1538— 22 May 1545 |
2 | Islam Shah Suri | 22 November 1554 | 26 May 1545 — 22 November 1554 |
3 | Firuz Shah Suri | 1554 | 1554 |
4 | Muhammad Adil Shah | 1557 | 1554— 1555 |
5 | Ibrahim Shah Suri | 1567/1568 | 1555 |
6 | Sikandar Shah Suri | 1559 | 1555 — 22 June 1555 |
7 | Adil Shah Suri | April 1557 | 22 June 1555 — 1556 |
Sher Shah Suri:
Sher Shah Suri was the first ruler of the Sur dynasty; he established the Sur dynasty by defeating Humayun in two of the most famous battles in Indian history, namely the Battle of Chausa (26 June 1539) and Battle of Bilgram (17 May 1540). After defeating Humayun, the Sur dynasty took over northern India and ruled there for more than 15 years. Sher Shah was a natural administrator and an extraordinary strategist. He knew how to manage people and he could step into the military department whenever needed.
Some significant achievements of the Sur dynasty under his regime are that Sher Shah introduced the rupee as a form of currency which was used as the name for a silver coin of a standard weight of 178 grains before that rūpya was used and it was used as a generic term for any silver coin. The modern rupee proceeded with the rupee introduced by him. Besides this, he also conquered many regions apart from northern India, including Malwa and Marwar’s regions. He built a lot of forts. One of them is Rohtas Fort, and many structures in the Rohtasgarh Fort in Bihar. He also revived the historical city of Pataliputra, which had been in decline since the 7th century CE, as Patna. He died on 22 May 1545 and was succeeded by his son, Jalal Khan.
Islam Shah Suri:
Islam Shah Suri, also known as Jalal Khan, was the son of Sher Shah Suri and succeeded him to become the ruler of the Sur dynasty. He had an elder brother named Adil Khan, who was overlooked for the next king because of Jalal Khan’s potential. Seeking revenge, his brother fled the kingdom, set up his army and attacked Islam Shah Suri but was defeated.
Islam Shah Suri was a good administrator and efficient leader. Islam Shah died on 22 November 1554 during the 2nd Siege of Kalinjara and was succeeded by his son Firuz Shah Suri. Within a few days, the boy ruler had been murdered by Sher Shah’s nephew Muhammad Mubariz Khan, who then ascended the throne as Muhammad Adil Shah.
Muhammad Adil Shah:
He was the fourth ruler of the Sur dynasty, and he was the son of Nizam Khan, the younger brother of Sultan Sher Shah Suri. Adil and his brother-in-law, Ibrahim Shah Suri, had differences and went into war. Adil Shah’s army was defeated and he lost the throne of Delhi.
With this victory, Ibrahim Shah Suri became the 5th ruler of the Sur dynasty. After the defeat, the empire was divided into four parts. As Delhi and Agra came under the rule of Ibrahim Shah Suri, only the territories from the vicinity of Agra to Bihar remained under Adil. After some time, the two rulers fought again, but this time Ibrahim Shah Suri was defeated twice by Adil’s army. Adil died while battling with the Bengal Sultan Khizr Khan Suri. In comparison, Ibrahim Shah Suri died in 1567 in Orissa while he was hiding.
Sikandar Shah Suri:
He was the 6th ruler of the Sur dynasty and was famous for fighting many battles. For example, he fought against Ibrahim Shah Suri, defeated him, and took over Agra and Delhi. Similarly, he fought against the Mughals army to control Punjab but unfortunately lost and was killed.
Adil Shah Suri:
Adil Shah Suri was the final ruler of the Sur dynasty. He was known for his battle with Muhammad Shah, ruler of Bengal. At the battle of Chhapparghatta in December 1555, Adil Shah routed the Bengali forces and Muhammad Shah was killed. He was killed by Bahadur Shah, the son of Muhammad Shah.
Conclusion
In this article, we got to know details about the Sur dynasty and information about all the kings’ achievements and failures during his rule.