Bahlul Khan Lodi, the founder of the Lodi Dynasty

Compiled By: Syed Ali Shahbaz
On July 1, 1489 AD, Bahlul Khan Lodi, the founder of the Lodi Dynasty of parts of Hindustan (northern subcontinent), died after a reign of 38 years, and was succeeded by his son, Sikandar. Born into an Afghan family of traders, he became a renowned warrior and governor of Sirhind in Punjab, under Mohammad Shah of the Seyyed Dynasty of Delhi (appointees of the Turkic conqueror, Amir Timur), who having tested his valour and loyalty during the aggression of the ruler of Malwa, conferred upon him the title of Khan-e Khanaan.
He subsequently forced his benefactor’s son, Sultan Alam Shah to abdicate, and crowned himself king in Delhi on 19 April 1451 with the title Bahlul Shah Ghazi. He and his successors were patrons of Persian literature. The dynasty ended in 1526, with the defeat and death of Bahlul’s grandson, Ibrahim Shah Lodi, in the Battle of Panipat at the hands of Timur’s great grandson, Zaheer od-Din Babar, who went on to establish the famous Mughal Empire of the Subcontinent.