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For the recipient of the Victoria Cross see Sher Shah (VC).

Sher Shah Suri (born Fahrid Khan; later renamed Sher Khan after killing a tiger; c. 1486 - May 22, 1545)) was an Afghan ruler (shah) in North India from 1540-45 and founder of Sur dynasty.

The son of Hasan Khan Fahrid Khan was, according to his teacher, exceptionally bright as a child. Farid's father was the jagirdar (landlord) of Sasaram in Bihar. Farid left home at the age of 22 and went to Jaunpur. In Jaunpur, he devoted some time to study and very soon became proficient in Arabic as well as Persian literature. In 1522, Farid served for Bahar Khan, the governor of Bihar. His master was impressed by his service and devotion. Bahar Khan conferred on him the title of Sher Khan for having shown gallantry in killing a tiger single-handed. Later, Sher Khan was appointed Vakil (deputy governor) and also a tutor of Bahar Khan's son Jalal Khan.

Jealous of Sher Khan's success, his enemies poisoned his master's mind and he was thus deprived of his father's jagir. He joined the Babur camp where he served from April 1527 to June 1528. But soon, he left Babur and returned back to Bihar and took over his old job as a guardian of Jalal Khan. Jalal Khan being a minor, Sher Khan became the virtual ruler of Bihar.

In 1531, Sher Khan asserted his independence from Humayun, Babur's successor. The unexpected rise of Sher Khan made the Lohani Afghans and Jalal Khan impatient. They even entered into an alliance with Muhamud Shah, the king of Bengal. Sher Khan defeated the Bengal king on the Kiul River in 1534. Later, he invaded Bengal and Muhamud Shah handed over him a large sum and territory to make amends. He then became the independent ruler of Bihar and Bengal.

In October 1537, Sher Khan again invaded Bengal and besieged city Gaur. Humayun realising the strength of the Afghan, marched to oppose Sher Khan in December 1537, and besieged Chunar. However, the brave army of Sher Khan baffled all the attempts of the assailants for six months which gave all the time to Sher Khan for reduction of Gaur by April 1538. In 1539, when Humayun marched towards Bengal, Sher Khan cleverly went and occupied the Mughal territories in Bihar and Jaunpur. In 1539, Sher Khan was able to defeat Humayun in the Battle of Chausa. Again in 1540, he defeated Humayun in the Battle of Kannauj, and went on to capture Delhi and Agra.

Rotas fort was built in 1541-43 by Sher Shah Suri to crush the Gakhars, who were loyal to Humayun, to whom the fort was finally surrendered by a treacherous commander 10 years after Sher Khan's death. The walls of the Rohtas Fort measure up to 12,5 meters in thickness and up to 18,28 meters in height. They extend for 4 km and feature 68 semi-circular bastions. Its sandstone gates, both massive and ornate, are thought to have exerted a profound influence on the Mughal military architecture (see )

In Marwar the Rathores were becoming very powerful. The Rathore king Rao Maldeo had extended his territory to within a couple of hundred kilometers of Delhi. In 1544 Sher Shah attacked Maldeo. Maldeo came with a force of 40 thousand and Sher Shah had 60 thousand. In the evening Sher Shah sent forged letters to Maldeo's camp. In these letters it was stated that few generals from Maldeo's army were buying arms from Sher Shah's army. This caused great consternation in Maldeo who thought there is treachery and that some of his generals had crossed over to Sher Shah. Maldeo left with 20 thousand men. In reality there was no treachery. Later when Maldeo's generals Kumpa (his progeny are Kumpawat rathores) and Jaita (his progeny are Jaitawat rathores) found out what happened they did not loose cool and decided they would not leave the field even though they just had 20 thousand men and had to face 60 thousand Pathans of Sher Shah. Finally battle of Sammel was fought and Sher Shah was shocked by what he saw. SherShah's top generals lost there lives and his army suffered heavy losses. After this Sher Shah commented that "for a few grains of bajra he had almost lost the entire kingdom of India". It is a moot point now but had Maldeo not retreated because of the fake letter Rathores/Rajputs would have defeated SherShah. See ().

Later he subjugated the areas of Bengal, Malwa, Raisina(At Raisina rajputs agreed to a ceasefire but on the condition that they along with there women and children be allowed to leave. SherShah initially agreed but when rajputs were leaving his afghans attacked women and children which who were defended to the very last by rajputs. See ()), Sindh and Multan easily. In a very short time, Sher Khan extended his kingdom from Bengal in the east to the river Indus in the west. He then besieged the strong fort of Kalinjar in Bundelkhand, where he died in an accidental explosion of gunpowder.

Sher Khan adopted the self-appointed title of shah during his rivalry with Humayun in anticipation of power, so his name changed to Sher Shah. In his reign, Sher Shah conquered a large portion of India.

Sher Shah's administration was efficient, but somewhat tight. The empire was divided into 47 provinces called sarkars, and each was subdivided into several smaller districts called Parganas. Each Pargana had its own group of officers called Shiqdar-i-Shiqdaram and a second group called Munsif-i-Munsifan. Sher Shah transferred these officers around every two or three years to prevent any "undue influence" of officers in one place. He was also strict on the subject of crime. He even punished his relatives if they were found guilty by the courts. In order to stay in power, Sher Shah appointed many spies.

Sher Khan introduced the coin rupayya or rupee. He also introduced custom duties which are still followed up to this day.

Important dates

• 1472 Sher Khan born
• 1522 Sher Khan took the service of Bahar Khan
• 1527 - 1528 Sher Khan served the Babur camp
• 1534 Sher Khan defeated the Bengal king on the Kiul river
• Oct 1537 Sher Khan invaded Bengal and besieged the city of Gaur
• 1539 Sher Khan defeated Humayun at Chausa
• 1540 Sher Khan defeated Humayun at Kannauj
• May 1545 Death of Sher Khan

Reference

• Dr. Hussain Khan, Sher Shah Suri-1539-1545 published by Ferozsons, Lahore, Pakistan.
• The Mertiyo Rathors of Merto, Rajasthan (2 vols.)

Select Translations Bearing on the History of a Rajput Family, 1462-1660 Translator Saran, Richard D. Annotations by Saran, Richard D. Hardcover Edition: Series#:51; Michigan Papers on South and Southeast Asia (Hardcover) 772 pages Publisher: University of Michigan Press ISBN / EAN: 0891480854

This book describes the battle of Sammel between Maldev's generals and Sher Shah Suri.

• Indian monarchs
• 1486 births
• 1545 deaths