Biography of Sher Shah Suri
Sher Shah Suri was the first King of Sur Empire. Like Babur, the story of Sher Shah Suri’s rise to power is romantic and interesting. His original name was Farid Khan. By killing a tiger alone he got the title ‘Sher’.
Due to ill-treatment of his step-mother, Sher Khan had to loiter from place-to-place in search of job. He got into one service of Bahar Khan Lohani, the ruler of Bihar first and then of the Mughals. Ultimately as a guardian of Jalal Khan, son of Bahar Khan, he succeeded in gathering political power.
He captured the throne of Delhi and became Sher Shah. There were a series of conflict between Humayun and Sher Shah Suri. He defeated Humayun twice in the battle of Chausa and battle of Bilgram.
Sher Shah was on the throne for only five years (1540-1545). But in this short period he introduced a sound administration.
According to a historian, ‘No Government not even the British have shown so much wisdom as did this Pathan.? He was a despot who cared for the good subjects.
For efficient administration he divided his empire into 47 divisions or `Sarkars’. Each Sarkar was again sub-divided into a number of Parganas.
The land revenue system of Sher Shah is praiseworthy. Sher Shah ordered an accurate survey of all lands. Land revenue was fixed at one-third of the produce. Revenue could be paid in cash or kind.
The improvement of the communication system was a splendid achievement of Sher Shah. For this he undertook the road construction project. From Sonargaon of East Bengal up to Sindhu, his constructed road is now known as ‘Grand Trunk Road’. He arranged for the comfort of the travelers by tree-planting, digging well and building inn. The inns played important roles as centers of exchanging trade commodity.
He gave soil right to the tillers. After determining the revenue given by the subjects and his ownership, a document named ‘Patta’ was given to each subject from the government. The subjects also admitting the condition of giving tax signed a deed and it was called ‘Kabuliyat’. For this arrangement the right and responsibility of the government and the subjects took a legal form.
He was the first ruler of Delhi to understand that Hindus should not be kept away from the administration, as the country was of Hindu majority. So he took several Hindus in his administration, according to efficiency and education etc. We can name Brahmajit Gaur, a Bengali Hindu, who was selected as a general in his army. In his time, common man was happy for the system of strict and speedy justice. He was the real guardian of his subjects. From Vincent Smith to Dr. Kalikinkar Dutta everybody praised him as a great warrior and a perfect ruler.
Sher Shah Suri died of a gun power explosion. He died on 22nd of May, 1545. Sadly enough, this cut short the life of a promising ruler of India.
Achievements of Sher Shah Suri
