Sayyid Dynasty
The founder of Sayyid Dynasty was Khizr Khan, the governor of Multan and Timur’s deputy in India. Taking advantage of the confusion that prevailed in India after the death of the last Tughlaq monarch, Nasir-ud-Din Mahmud Shah Tughlaq, he marched on Delhi and defeated Daulat Khan, the head of the military oligarchy, on May 28, 1414 and occupied the throne for himself.
Khizr Khan laid the foundation of a new dynasty of the Sayyids. It was the fourth dynasty of the Delhi Sultanate.
This dynasty had four rulers in all – Khizar Khan, Mubarak, Muhammad Shah, Alam Shah who ruled for 37 years from 1414 to 1451 A.D.
Khizr Khan (1414-21)
Khizr Khan, the founder of the Sayyid dynasty, ruled for seven years (1414-21). But his reign was quite uneventful. The Delhi Sultanate was much reduced in its extent and regular expeditions had to be sent to get the annual tribute even from those areas which lay very near to Delhi.
Mubarak Shah (1421-33)
In 1421 A.D. Khizr Khan was succeeded by his son Mubarak Shah who ruled for about twelve years from 1421-1433 A.D. All his life was spent in curbing one revolt or the other; otherwise his reign was also as uneventful as was that of his father.
At last Mubarak Shah fell a prey to the conspirators and was killed on 20th February, 1434 A.D. in his city Mubarakabad where he had gone to see the construction work.
Muhammad Shah (1434-45 A.D.)
After Mubarak, a grandson of Khizr Khan ascended the throne with the title of Muhammad Shah. He was a weak and incompetent ruler and quite unable to cope with the forces of disorder and rebellion. Various governors became independent and they ceased to pay the amount of tribute. Ibrahim Shah in Jaunpur, Mahmud Khilji in Malwa, and Ahmad Shah in Gujarat and Bahlol Khan Lodhi in Lahore became too powerful to be controlled by the so called Sultan.
Muhammad Shah died in 1445 A.D.
Ala ud-Din Alam Shah (1445-51 A.D.)
In 1445 A.D. Muhammad Shah’s son Ala-ud-Din Alam Shah succeeded him. He was in no way better than his brother. Taking advantage of the weakness of the central power, Bahlol Lodhi, the governor of Lahore and Sarhind, gathered strength and replaced Alam Shah from Delhi in 1447. Alam Shah went to Badaon and stayed there for the rest of his life.
Thus was founded the new line of the Lodhis with the accession of Bahlol to the throne of Delhi in 1451 A.D.
