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Enjoying the privilege of a
being a capital of diverse dynasties, Delhi, has evolved as a museum
showcasing the royalty of the ruling elite's and their monumental
heritage.
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India -
Delhi - Bahlol Lodi
Bahlol Lodi
¤ Bahlol Lodi's Successful
Crusade To The Throne
How Bahlol Lodi was able to successfully complete his campaign to the
throne makes interesting reading. Muhammad Shah’s powers had
become so depleted that his control ended where Panipat began. So in a
certain campaign against forces from Malwa, Muhammad asked for Bahlol’s
help. Lodi agreed and defeated the Malwa forces in a swift and
well-planned night attack. Muhammad Shah was so happy about this
victory that he honoured Bahlol by bestowing the title of Khan Khanam
on him and indeed styled him his son. Bahlol was also given Lahore and
other areas. All this bonhomie didn’t last for long and Bahlol
soon fell out with Muhammad, went back to his dominion and declared
himself Sultan Bahlol.
¤ Alam's Generosity Towards The Delhi Throne
When Muhammad died, he was succeeded by a complete maverick called
Alam Shah, who didn’t care two hoots about power and ruling. He
went off visiting to Badaun and liked it so much that he settled
there. The concerned nobles in Delhi
then asked Bahlol to take the throne of Delhi. In a courteous gesture,
Bahlol wrote to Alam and intimated him about the wishes of the
nobility. Alam wrote back saying that as far as he was concerned
anyone could take the throne of Delhi and be welcome to it. He was
probably the first and last ruler of Delhi to show such disdain for
the throne.
¤ The Lodi Dynasty
So, on 19th April 1451, Bahlol Lodi was crowned the Sultan of Delhi.
With it was laid the foundation of the Lodi dynasty,the last of the
Delhi Sultanate. The Lodi dynasty lasted longer than the Khaljis and
did more for Delhi than the Tughlaqs and Sayyids put together. The
Lodis were Afghans and the character of their kingship strongly
reflected the tribal set-up of the frontier people. For instance the
army of the sultanate changed from a king’s army to a sort of
locally recruited tribal units. It was not centrally recruited,
maintained or even administered, and hence lacked uniformity. The
privilege of using elephants, which was earlier reserved for sultans
came to be commonly practiced by nobles, who kept and fought on
elephants. It was also during this period that the hub of power began
to gradually drift towards Agra; from where it was found that regions
of both Doab and Marwar could be better administered.
¤ Bahlol Lodi Prooved To Be A Good Administator
Bahlol Lodi gave a strong start to the Lodi dynasty. He spent a lot
of time in battle and most of his wars were successful. This included
the annexation of Jaunpur, which had resolutely evaded others for many
years. Bahlol was not anyone’s idea of a good administrator, but
his people still loved him. This was partly because he was an
extremely unassuming man who did not believe he had to prove his
kingliness to anyone. He would sit on a carpet instead of the throne
and would not hear of his nobles standing while he sat (usually a
practise to show respect to the sultan). He was so patient and just
that he would spend hours listening to the complaints of his subjects
everyday. Like any Afghan warrior leader, he would distribute war
booty equally among his troops. He communicated man to man with his
troops and if anyone was displeased he personally saw to it that
amends were made. The upshot was that his army enthusiastically
followed him everywhere. Bahlol Lodi successfully ruled an empire that
extended upto Rajasthan
in the west and Gwalior
in the south. He was the first ruler to actually pierce through
traditional Rajput strongholds. But for all his goodness, he did not
hesitate to employ all means fair or foul to get what he wanted.
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