allhailIndia
Deity
My previous article was on the founder of the Mughal dynasty, the military and poetic genius Babur. His son, Humayun ascended the Mughal throne in 1531 and sought to consolidate the Mughal Empire. However, Humayun was a strange young man. While he could achieve great things in a burst of activity, he would squander them all in a moment of indolence and complacence. Indeed, this would not be very strange for any ruler, except that his moments of complacence were one too many and he faced a foe whose genius was matched only by his father's, and would end up losing the throne. This foe was none other than Sher Shah Suri.
Sher Shah was born Farid Khan in 1472 to an Afghan Noble in what is now Sasaram in Bihar state in Eastern India. His father was a prominent jagirdar or a governor of a province under the ruler of Bihar, Jamal Khan.Dissatisfied with his father's polygamous ways and his step mother's domineering, Farid left home and went to Jaunpur to study Persian literature and Arabic in the madarsah there. He came under the tutelage of Jamal Khan, who saw the talents of the young man and, brought about a reconciliation with his father. He also gave him his father's jagirs or districts and there, he saw Farid's skill in administration. On the death of his father, he took over the Jagirs and at the age of 22 joined the service of the governor of Bihar, Bahar Khan. It was here he earned his titled of Sher Shah or the tiger prince for having single-handedly killed a tiger.
However, the jealousy of other nobles meant that he lost his jagirs and ironically enough, was forced to join Babur's camp! He observed the Mughals and imbibed some of their best tactics especially the rapid cavalry movements which had won the Mughal Empire. Soon, however, he left Babur's camp in 1928 and assumed the governorship of Bihar, since the actual governor was only a minor.
When Humayun, Babur's son came to power, Sher Shah asserte his independence and earned the wrath of the other Afghan nobles. They entered into an alliance with the governor of Bengal and attacked Sher Shah. However. in 1534, Sher Shah defeated the governor of Bengal, Mahmud Shah and captured Bengal as well.
While Humayun was occupied in trying to pacify the Rajputs, Sher Shah made his move again in 1537, when he attacked Gaur in Bengal. Humayun, still complacent after his victory over the Rajputs, did not pay much attention and only when Gaur was about to fall, did he realize the strength of Sher Shah and went after him. Sher Shah though was ready for Humayun.
When Humayun marched towards Bengal, Sher Shah cleverly captured Bihar and Jaunpur, to the west of Bengal and in 1539 defeated Humayun at the battle of Chausa. Although the Mughals recouped and attacked again at Kanauj, Sher Shah delivered them a stunning blow and wiped out the Mughal Army. In fact, Humayun himself got away by crossing the Ganga with the help of an inflated skin and was so grateful to the water carrier who gave him the skin, he made him Emperor for a day!
Thus, Sher Shah effectively ended the Mughal Rule in India and restored Afghan rule in 1541 with the capture of Delhi and Agra. IN short order, he conquered Bengal and turned his attention to the Rajputs. His battles with the rajputs were bloody and notorious with enormous casualties ans severe atrocities committed by both sides. He quickly annexed Sind and Multan and later conquered Malwa and Marwar as well.
Sher Shah, though is not remembered in Indian history for his conquering skills alone. As mentioned earlier, he was a skilled administrator and his reforms would later be adopted by Akbar and all the Mughals. Indeed, Sher Shah's revenue reforms are a direct ancestor to the revenue laws of post-Independent India. His reforms were a unique blend of Persian and Turkish systems and for the first time made measurement and assesment the focus of revenue collection. He also rotated the revenue collectors around every 2-3 years to cut down corruption and most importantly, he recognized the peasant's right to own the land. Every peasant was given title deeds or pattas which showed his ownership of land in return for revenue, which was usually 1/3rd of the produce, to the state. He also had a system in place for famine relief and made law and order the responsibilty of the village headman....any breakdown in law and order and off went the headman's head
!
He also hired Hindus and Muslims equally, something which would be emulated with much greater success by Akbar and was responsible for the construction of India's first Highway, the Grand Tunk Road or the Sher Shah Suri Mar as he called it. It ran from Sonargaon in today's West Bengal State all the way to Peshawar in Pakistan. All along the highway were planted trees, (which still stand!), inns and resthouses and a unique postal system. He also introduced the rupaiya or the rupee as it is called and thus laid the foundation for an Indian currency. Today this highway still runs between Amritsar in Punjab to Calcutta in Bengal and is called National Highway 1. Moreover, the system of customs duty imposed by him is still followed today, but in a much lesser scope thanks to the WTO.
Amazingly, he did all this in only 5 years of his reign! What Babur and Akbar took over 60 years between them, this amazing ruler did in a mere 5 years. In a sense, he was the real link between Babur and Akbar in the Mughal Empire. Althought Humayun was the son of babur and father of Akbar, it was Sher Shah who laid down the basic structure which the Mughal Empire would later follow. Alas, for Sher Shah, he would never live to see his plans take full shape. He died in a gunpowder accident while besieging the Rajput fort of Kalinjar. Thus, the last truly great Afghan ruler of India died, but not before leaving behind a legacy which lives on till today.
Sher Shah was born Farid Khan in 1472 to an Afghan Noble in what is now Sasaram in Bihar state in Eastern India. His father was a prominent jagirdar or a governor of a province under the ruler of Bihar, Jamal Khan.Dissatisfied with his father's polygamous ways and his step mother's domineering, Farid left home and went to Jaunpur to study Persian literature and Arabic in the madarsah there. He came under the tutelage of Jamal Khan, who saw the talents of the young man and, brought about a reconciliation with his father. He also gave him his father's jagirs or districts and there, he saw Farid's skill in administration. On the death of his father, he took over the Jagirs and at the age of 22 joined the service of the governor of Bihar, Bahar Khan. It was here he earned his titled of Sher Shah or the tiger prince for having single-handedly killed a tiger.
However, the jealousy of other nobles meant that he lost his jagirs and ironically enough, was forced to join Babur's camp! He observed the Mughals and imbibed some of their best tactics especially the rapid cavalry movements which had won the Mughal Empire. Soon, however, he left Babur's camp in 1928 and assumed the governorship of Bihar, since the actual governor was only a minor.
When Humayun, Babur's son came to power, Sher Shah asserte his independence and earned the wrath of the other Afghan nobles. They entered into an alliance with the governor of Bengal and attacked Sher Shah. However. in 1534, Sher Shah defeated the governor of Bengal, Mahmud Shah and captured Bengal as well.
While Humayun was occupied in trying to pacify the Rajputs, Sher Shah made his move again in 1537, when he attacked Gaur in Bengal. Humayun, still complacent after his victory over the Rajputs, did not pay much attention and only when Gaur was about to fall, did he realize the strength of Sher Shah and went after him. Sher Shah though was ready for Humayun.
When Humayun marched towards Bengal, Sher Shah cleverly captured Bihar and Jaunpur, to the west of Bengal and in 1539 defeated Humayun at the battle of Chausa. Although the Mughals recouped and attacked again at Kanauj, Sher Shah delivered them a stunning blow and wiped out the Mughal Army. In fact, Humayun himself got away by crossing the Ganga with the help of an inflated skin and was so grateful to the water carrier who gave him the skin, he made him Emperor for a day!
Thus, Sher Shah effectively ended the Mughal Rule in India and restored Afghan rule in 1541 with the capture of Delhi and Agra. IN short order, he conquered Bengal and turned his attention to the Rajputs. His battles with the rajputs were bloody and notorious with enormous casualties ans severe atrocities committed by both sides. He quickly annexed Sind and Multan and later conquered Malwa and Marwar as well.
Sher Shah, though is not remembered in Indian history for his conquering skills alone. As mentioned earlier, he was a skilled administrator and his reforms would later be adopted by Akbar and all the Mughals. Indeed, Sher Shah's revenue reforms are a direct ancestor to the revenue laws of post-Independent India. His reforms were a unique blend of Persian and Turkish systems and for the first time made measurement and assesment the focus of revenue collection. He also rotated the revenue collectors around every 2-3 years to cut down corruption and most importantly, he recognized the peasant's right to own the land. Every peasant was given title deeds or pattas which showed his ownership of land in return for revenue, which was usually 1/3rd of the produce, to the state. He also had a system in place for famine relief and made law and order the responsibilty of the village headman....any breakdown in law and order and off went the headman's head
!He also hired Hindus and Muslims equally, something which would be emulated with much greater success by Akbar and was responsible for the construction of India's first Highway, the Grand Tunk Road or the Sher Shah Suri Mar as he called it. It ran from Sonargaon in today's West Bengal State all the way to Peshawar in Pakistan. All along the highway were planted trees, (which still stand!), inns and resthouses and a unique postal system. He also introduced the rupaiya or the rupee as it is called and thus laid the foundation for an Indian currency. Today this highway still runs between Amritsar in Punjab to Calcutta in Bengal and is called National Highway 1. Moreover, the system of customs duty imposed by him is still followed today, but in a much lesser scope thanks to the WTO
. Amazingly, he did all this in only 5 years of his reign! What Babur and Akbar took over 60 years between them, this amazing ruler did in a mere 5 years. In a sense, he was the real link between Babur and Akbar in the Mughal Empire. Althought Humayun was the son of babur and father of Akbar, it was Sher Shah who laid down the basic structure which the Mughal Empire would later follow. Alas, for Sher Shah, he would never live to see his plans take full shape. He died in a gunpowder accident while besieging the Rajput fort of Kalinjar. Thus, the last truly great Afghan ruler of India died, but not before leaving behind a legacy which lives on till today.
. Slight slip up on your part:
