Everything on Historical Periods & Dynasties

Historical Periods & Dynasties

136 items

• The Viceroy Who Never Went Back: Hyderabad under the Nizams, 1724–1948 — essay · Hyderabad Nizams · 20 sources
  A Mughal governor stopped reporting to Delhi and a state lasted two hundred and twenty-four years. At its end it was the largest and richest principality in India, with its own coinage, railway, airline and university — and an administration in which the majority of its people held almost none of the senior posts. Both of those sentences are documented from the state's own records. This essay sets out the spine of the story; the archive examines its most disputed limbs separately, on eight claim pages, and does not soften what they found.

• Akbar — Person · r. 1556 – 1605 · Akbar 1556–1605
  The Mughal emperor under whom the Rajput alliance system was built — by marriage, by rank, and by the calculation that a served empire is cheaper than a conquered one.
• The Mughal Empire — Dynasty · 1526 – 1857 · Mughal Empire 1526–1857
  The empire into which the Rajput houses were recruited rather than simply conquered — and the receiving end of every marriage in this layer.
• Qudsia Begum — Person · Regent of Bhopal, 1819 – 1837 · Bhopal Begums
  Widow of a nawab shot dead by a child, named Regent for her infant daughter in 1819, and the first of the four women who governed Bhopal for a century — removed in 1837 by an arrangement that gave her an estate and gave her son-in-law the throne.
• Sikandar Begum — Person · Regent from 1847; proclaimed Ruler c. 1860; d. 1868 · Bhopal Begums
  Regent of Bhopal from 1847 and its proclaimed Ruler from 1859/60, Sikandar Begum was the only child of Nawab Nazar Mahomed and Qudsia Begum; her own daughter Shah Jahan Begum stood aside from the throne in her favour before eventually succeeding her.
• Shah Jahan Begum — Person · r. 1868 – 1901 · Bhopal Begums
  The only child of Sikandar Begum, Shah Jahan Begum was recognized as heir in infancy, briefly waived her claim to her mother in 1859, and was installed as Ruler of Bhopal in November 1868, reigning for thirty-three years until her death on 16 June 1901.
• Sultan Jahan Begum — Person · r. 1901 – 1926 · Bhopal Begums
  The only surviving child of Shah Jahan Begum, Sultan Jahan Begum succeeded on her mother's death on 16 June 1901 and was formally installed at a durbar at the Sadar Manzil palace on 4 July 1901; her own account of the accession, and of her mother's death, survives in her memoir An Account of My Life.
• Qutb-ud-din Aibak — Person · r. 1205 – 1210 · Mamluk / Slave Dynasty
  A Turkic slave-general of Muhammad Ghuri who received the insignia of royalty from Ghuri's successor and founded Delhi's Mamluk (Slave) dynasty; he died in a fall from his horse during a game of chogan.
• Aram Shah — Person · r. 1210 – 1211 · Mamluk / Slave Dynasty
  Son of Qutb-ud-din Aibak who succeeded his father but was judged unfit to govern; defeated in battle before Delhi by Shams-ud-din Iltutmish after a reign of scarcely one year.
• Shams-ud-din Iltutmish — Person · r. 1211 – 1236 · Mamluk / Slave Dynasty
  Son-in-law and former slave of Qutb-ud-din Aibak, invited by discontented nobles and then took Delhi by defeating Aram Shah in battle.
• Rukn-ud-din Firuz — Person · r. 1236 · Mamluk / Slave Dynasty
  Son of Iltutmish who succeeded him without opposition at Delhi, but was deposed within seven months after his mother's cruelties provoked a confederacy of chiefs who raised his sister Razia instead.
• Razia Sultana — Person · r. 1236 – 1240 · Mamluk / Slave Dynasty
  Daughter of Iltutmish, raised to the throne at Delhi by seven chiefs who deserted her brother Rukn-ud-din Firuz, whom she then defeated and deposed.
• Muizuddin Bahram Shah — Person · r. 1240 – 1242 · Mamluk / Slave Dynasty
  Son of Iltutmish, raised to the throne by the Toorky officers while his sister Razia was held captive at Bituhnda; besieged in Delhi and put to death after a reign of just over two years.
• Alauddin Masud Shah — Person · r. 1242 – 1246 · Mamluk / Slave Dynasty
  Son of Rukn-ud-din Firuz, raised to the throne by the nobility on the same day a rival usurper was deposed; later deposed himself and imprisoned for the rest of his life.
• Nasiruddin Mahmud Shah — Person · r. 1246 – 1266 · Mamluk / Slave Dynasty
  Youngest son of Iltutmish, summoned from Byraich by the nobles after Alauddin Masud's deposition and seated on his father's throne; died of illness after a reign of twenty years and upwards.
• Ghiyas-ud-din Balban — Person · r. 1266 – 1287 · Mamluk / Slave Dynasty
  A purchased Turkic slave who rose to vizier and, as Nasir-ud-din Mahmud's brother-in-law, ascended the throne on his death with the general consent of the nobility and people.
• Muizuddin Kaiqubad — Person · r. 1287 – 1290 · Mamluk / Slave Dynasty
  Grandson of Balban, seated on the throne in his eighteenth year by the Delhi kotwal Fukhr-ud-din, overriding Balban's chosen heir; later assassinated while paralysed and sick.
• Kayumars — Person · r. 1290 – 1290 (nominal) · Mamluk / Slave Dynasty
  Infant son of Kaiqubad, seized from the harem at three years old by a Mongol-officer faction to be set up as king; kept alive some months as a figurehead by Jalal-ud-din Khilji before being put to death, ending the Mamluk (Shamsi) line.
• Jalaluddin Firuz Khalji — Person · r. 1288 – 1296 (Bosworth: 1290 – 1296) · Khilji Dynasty
  Founded the Khalji dynasty by having the reigning sultan Kaiqubad assassinated and proclaiming himself king in Delhi at the age of seventy; murdered in 1296 at Kurra by men of his own nephew Alauddin.
• Alauddin Khalji — Person · r. 1296 – 1316 · Khilji Dynasty
  Seized the throne in 1296 after his men murdered his uncle Jalaluddin at Kurra and a boy-king briefly installed by the dowager queen fled to Multan; died in 1316 amid suspicion of poisoning by his regent Malik Kafur.
• Shihabuddin Umar — Person · r. 1316 (three months) · Khilji Dynasty
  Placed on the throne at about six years old in 1316 under a forged will naming him heir and Malik Kafur regent; deposed the same year by his elder brother Mubarak, who had him blinded and imprisoned for life.
• Qutbuddin Mubarak Shah — Person · r. 1317 – 1321 · Khilji Dynasty
  Deposed his younger brother Umar and blinded him to take the throne in 1317, after ruling two months as his regent; murdered in his palace in 1321 by his own favourite, Khusrau Khan.
• Khusrau Khan — Person · r. 1321 (five months) · Khilji Dynasty
  A commander raised from low origin by Mubarak Shah, he murdered his king in a palace conspiracy in 1321 and had himself proclaimed sultan; overthrown and killed the same year by Ghazi Malik, founder of the Tughluq dynasty.
• Ghiyas-ud-din Tughluq — Person · r. 1321 – 1325 · Tughlaq Dynasty
  Founder of the Tughluq dynasty at Delhi, who defeated and killed the usurper Khusrau Khan and was raised to the throne by the populace and nobles of the city; died when a temporary pavilion collapsed on him, an event Ferishta himself leaves unresolved between accident and design.
• Muhammad bin Tughluq — Person · r. 1325 – 1351 · Tughlaq Dynasty
  Eldest son and heir-apparent of Ghiyas-ud-din Tughluq, he ascended the throne three days after his father's funeral and reigned 27 years until his death of a fever brought on, Ferishta says, by a surfeit of fish.
• Firuz Shah Tughluq — Person · r. 1351 – 1388 · Tughlaq Dynasty
  A cousin of Muhammad bin Tughluq (son of Salar Rajub and a sister of Ghiyas-ud-din Tughluq) whom the dying king recommended as his successor, and whom the army then proclaimed king in camp; abdicated in old age in favour of his grandson and died soon after at 90.
• Tughluq Shah II — Person · r. 1388 – 1389 · Tughlaq Dynasty
  Grandson of Firuz Shah Tughluq through his eldest son Futteh Khan, placed on the throne by the household troops at the ageing Firuz Shah's own instance; assassinated by conspirators under Mullik Rookn-ood-Deen after a reign of five months.
• Abu Bakr Shah Tughluq — Person · r. 1389 – 1390 · Tughlaq Dynasty
  Grandson of Firuz Shah Tughluq through his son Zuffur Khan, raised to the throne by the conspirators who had just killed Tughluq Shah II; driven out after a contested year-long struggle by his rival Nasir-ud-din Muhammad and sent prisoner to Meerut, where he died some years later.
• Nasir-ud-din Muhammad Tughluq II — Person · r. 1390 – 1394 · Tughlaq Dynasty
  Son of Firuz Shah Tughluq, who first took the throne in his father's lifetime, was expelled twice by his rival Abu Bakr, and only secured Delhi for good on a third attempt in 1390; died of a relapsed fever after roughly six and a half years.
• Sikandar Shah Tughluq — Person · r. 1394 (45 days) · Tughlaq Dynasty
  Son of Nasir-ud-din Muhammad Tughluq II, born Humayun, who took the name Sikundur on succeeding his father but was cut off by sudden illness after only 45 days on the throne; Briggs gives no 'Alauddin' title for him.
• Nasir-ud-din Mahmud Tughluq — Person · r. 1394 – 1412 · Tughlaq Dynasty
  A youth, son of Nasir-ud-din Muhammad Tughluq II, whom the nobles placed on the throne after his brother Sikandar's sudden death; his 20-year reign saw civil war with the rival Nusrat Shah, the loss of the provinces, and Timur's invasion, and ended when he died of a fever while hunting.
• Nusrat Shah Tughluq — Person · r. 1394 – c.1398 (rival claimant) · Tughlaq Dynasty
  Son of Futteh Khan and grandson of Firuz Shah Tughluq, set up by the minister Sadut Khan as a rival king to his cousin Mahmud Tughluq in the same capital; briefly held Delhi again after Timur's sack in 1398 before retiring to Meerut when pressed by Mulloo Yekbal Khan.
• Daulat Khan Lodi — Person · r. 1412 – 1414 (nominal) · Tughlaq Dynasty
  An Afghan noble and former private secretary elevated by Mahmud Tughluq, elected by the nobles in his stead; besieged three times by Khizr Khan and forced to surrender in 1414, then confined at Hissar Feroza, where he died — the last ruler before the Sayyid dynasty.
• Khizr Khan — Person · r. 1414 – 1421 · Sayyid Dynasty
  Founded the Sayyid dynasty of Delhi by taking the capital from Dowlut Khan Lody after a four-month siege in 1414, ruling in the name of Timur's line without assuming the royal title, and died of illness in 1421.
• Mubarak Shah — Person · r. 1421 – 1435 · Sayyid Dynasty
  Succeeded his father Khizr Khan in 1421 on a nomination the dying king had made, confirmed by an assembly of nobles, and was murdered in a mosque in 1435 by conspirators acting for his own vizier, Sarwar-ul-Mulk.
• Muhammad Shah — Person · r. 1435 – 1445 · Sayyid Dynasty
  Placed on the throne the same day Mubarak Shah was assassinated, installed by the vizier who had engineered the killing, and died a natural death in 1445.
• Alam Shah — Person · r. 1445 – 1450 (Delhi); d. 1478 · Sayyid Dynasty
  Succeeded his father Muhammad Shah in 1445, lost Delhi to Bahlul Lodi in 1450 and formally abdicated in his favour, retiring to Budaun until his death in 1478.
• Bahlul Lodi — Person · r. 1450 – 1488 · Lodi Dynasty
  Invited into Delhi by the Sayyid vizier Humeed Khan while governor of Sirhind, Bahlul took possession of the capital and was proclaimed king in 1450, founding the Lodi dynasty; he reigned until his death in 1488, after which his son Sikandar succeeded him.
• Sikandar Lodi — Person · r. 1488 – 1517 · Lodi Dynasty
  Born Nizam Khan to Bahlul Lodi and Zeina, he was declared heir by his father and, on Bahlul's death, was carried by his partisans to Jalali and enthroned there in 1488; he reigned until his death at Agra in 1517, when his son Ibrahim succeeded him.
• Ibrahim Lodi — Person · r. 1517 – 1526 · Lodi Dynasty
  The son of Sikandar Lodi, he succeeded on his father's death at Agra in 1517 and was defeated and slain by Babur, ending the Lodi dynasty and the Delhi Sultanate.
• Sher Shah Suri — Person · r. 1540 – 1545 · Mughal Empire 1526–1857
  Born Farid, son of Hasan Khan Soor; he usurped the Delhi throne from the Mughals after decisively defeating Humayun at Kanauj, assumed the title of Shah, and ruled until dying of wounds from a shell-burst at the siege of Kalinjar in 1545.
• Islam Shah Suri — Person · r. 1545 – 1548 (Briggs's own chronology here runs roughly six years ahead of Bosworth's 952–961/1545–1554) · Mughal Empire 1526–1857
  The younger son of Sher Shah Suri, installed by his father's officers over the elder son Adil Khan Soor, whom Sher Shah had named his successor; he died after a reign Briggs dates to the Hijri year 955, and was succeeded by his own young son.
• Firuz Shah Suri — Person · r. 1548 (three days) · Mughal Empire 1526–1857
  The twelve-year-old son of Islam Shah Suri, placed on the throne at Gwalior by the chiefs of the Sur tribe on his father's death; he was murdered within three days by his maternal uncle Mubariz Khan, who then seized the throne.
• Muhammad Adil Shah Suri — Person · r. 1548 – c. 1554 · Mughal Empire 1526–1857
  A nephew of Sher Shah Suri and brother-in-law of Islam Shah, he murdered the boy-king Firuz Shah and took the throne as Muhammad Adil Shah; contested for most of his reign by the rival claimants Ibrahim Shah Suri and Sikandar Shah Suri, he was eventually defeated and killed by Bahadur Shah (Khizr Khan) of Bengal.
• Ibrahim Shah Suri — Person · r. c. 1554 · Mughal Empire 1526–1857
  A cousin and brother-in-law of Muhammad Adil Shah Suri, he raised an army after Adil Shah moved to arrest him, seized Delhi, and ruled the western territory until Sikandar Shah Suri defeated him and took Agra and Delhi in turn.
• Sikandar Shah Suri — Person · r. 1554 – 1555 · Mughal Empire 1526–1857
  Another nephew of Sher Shah Suri, he assumed the title of Sikandar Shah with the backing of Islam Shah's old nobles, defeated Ibrahim Shah Suri to take Agra and Delhi, and was formally enthroned there in 1554, only to be defeated by Humayun's general Bairam Khan and driven into Bengal, where he died soon after.
• Babur — Person · r. 1526 – 1530 · Mughal Empire 1526–1857
  Founder of the Mughal dynasty in India; defeated and killed Ibrahim Lodi at Panipat and had the khutba read in his own name at Delhi in 1526, reigning until his death in 1530.
• Humayun — Person · r. 1530 – 1540, restored 1555 – 1556 · Mughal Empire 1526–1857
  Succeeded his father Babur by designation in 1530, was driven from Hindustan by the Sur Afghans, and recovered Delhi by force in 1555 before dying the following year, when Akbar was raised to the throne in his stead.
• Muzaffar Shah I — Person · r. 1396/96 – 1411 · Regional Sultanates 14th–17th c
  Appointed viceroy of Gujarat for the Delhi Sultanate in 1391, he proclaimed himself king in AH799/AD1396 and reigned until his death in 1411, when he was succeeded, by his own deathbed nomination, by his grandson Ahmad Shah I.
• Ahmad Shah I — Person · r. 1411 – 1443 · Regional Sultanates 14th–17th c
  Grandson of Muzaffar Shah I, he ascended the throne by his grandfather's dying nomination in 1411 and, after a reign Briggs gives as nearly thirty-three years, died naturally at Ahmadabad in 1443, succeeded by his eldest son Muhammad Shah.
• Muhammad Shah II — Person · r. 1443 – 1451 · Regional Sultanates 14th–17th c
  Eldest son of Ahmad Shah I, he succeeded his father by ordinary inheritance in 1443 and, after a reign Briggs dates to AH855/Feb 1451, was poisoned by his own queen at his officers' instigation, succeeded by his son Qutbuddin Ahmad Shah II.
• Qutbuddin Ahmad Shah II — Person · r. 1451 – 1459 · Regional Sultanates 14th–17th c
  Son of Muhammad Shah II, known in Briggs's text as Kootb Shah, he succeeded his father in 1451 and died, reportedly by poison, in 1459, after which the throne passed to his uncle Dawood.
• Daud Shah — Person · r. 1459 (seven days) · Regional Sultanates 14th–17th c
  Uncle of Qutbuddin Ahmad Shah II, he was installed on the throne by the minister Imad-ul-Mulk and the nobility in 1459 but was deposed by the same nobles after seven days for ennobling a household sweeper, succeeded by his nephew Mahmud, aged fourteen.
• Mahmud Shah I (Begada) — Person · r. 1459 – 1511 · Regional Sultanates 14th–17th c
  Nephew of Daud Shah, he was placed on the throne at fourteen after the nobles deposed his uncle in 1459 and, known by the epithet Begada, reigned until his natural death in 1511 in his seventieth year, succeeded by his son Muzaffar Shah II.
• Muzaffar Shah II — Person · r. 1511 – 1526 · Regional Sultanates 14th–17th c
  Son of Mahmud Shah I, he succeeded his father in 1511 and, after a fifteen-year reign, died naturally in February 1526 having nominated his eldest son Sikandar as heir on his deathbed.
• Sikandar Shah — Person · r. 1526 (three months) · Regional Sultanates 14th–17th c
  Eldest son of Muzaffar Shah II, he was designated heir by his dying father in February 1526 but was murdered by the minister Imad-ul-Mulk's assassins within three months, succeeded by his younger brother Nasir Khan.
• Mahmud Shah II — Person · r. 1526 (about four months) · Regional Sultanates 14th–17th c
  Younger brother of Sikandar Shah, he was installed on the throne by the minister Imad-ul-Mulk under the title Mahmud Shah II after Sikandar's assassination in 1526, but was deposed within about four months when his elder brother Bahadur arrived from Delhi and was acknowledged king by the nobles.
• Bahadur Shah — Person · r. 1526 – 1537 · Regional Sultanates 14th–17th c
  Second son of Muzaffar Shah II, he returned from Delhi to depose his younger brother Mahmud Shah II and was formally crowned in August 1526; he was killed by the Portuguese off Diu in 1537, and, leaving no heir, the throne passed to his nephew Miran Muhammad Shah of Khandesh.
• Miran Muhammad Shah I — Person · r. 1520 (about six weeks) · Regional Sultanates 14th–17th c
  Nephew of Bahadur Shah and ruler of Khandesh, he was invited to the throne by the Gujarat nobles in default of an heir in 1537 but died suddenly within six weeks of his elevation, succeeded by Mahmud, son of the late Bahadur Shah's brother Lutf Khan.
• Mahmud Shah III — Person · r. 1538 – 1554 · Regional Sultanates 14th–17th c
  Son of Prince Lutf Khan and nephew of Bahadur Shah, he had been held prisoner at Burhanpur before the Gujarat nobles secured his release and crowned him in 1538; he died in AH961/1554, an event Briggs's cited verse pairs with the deaths of Delhi's Islam Shah and the Deccan's Nizam-ul-Mulk in the same year.
• Ahmad Shah III — Person · r. 1554 – 1561 · Regional Sultanates 14th–17th c
  Presented by the minister Etimad Khan as the son of a Prince Ahmad, former governor of Ahmadabad, after Mahmud Shah III died without an heir in 1554, he was installed as a minor under Etimad Khan's tutelage and was found assassinated in 1561, after an eight-year reign Briggs calls weak and inglorious.
• Muzaffar Shah III — Person · r. from 1561 · Regional Sultanates 14th–17th c
  Presented by the minister Etimad Khan in 1561 as a concealed son of Mahmud Shah II after Ahmad Shah III's assassination, and recorded by Briggs's own genealogy as a supposititious impostor, he was crowned as a minor while Etimad Khan held power behind him.
• Dilawar Khan Ghuri — Person · r. 1401 – 1405 · Regional Sultanates 14th–17th c
  Governor of Malwa under the Delhi sultanate who assumed the title of Shah and independent royal state at Dhar in A.H.804/A.D.1401, founding the Malwa sultanate; he died suddenly in A.H.808/A.D.1405, amid an unproven rumour that his eldest son had poisoned him.
• Hoshang Shah Ghuri — Person · r. 1405 – 1432 · Regional Sultanates 14th–17th c
  Son of Dilawar Khan Ghuri who took the throne on his father's death under suspicion of having poisoned him, was captured and briefly deposed by Muzaffar Shah I of Gujarat before being restored in 1408, and reigned until his own death in A.H.835/A.D.1432, having named his eldest son Ghazni Khan his successor.
• Ghazni Khan (Sultan Muhammad Ghuri) — Person · r. 1432 – 1435 · Regional Sultanates 14th–17th c
  Eldest son of Hoshang Shah, crowned at Mando two days after his father's death under the title Sultan Muhammad Ghuri; cruel toward his brothers and officers, he was fatally poisoned by his own cup-bearer at the instigation of his minister Mahmud Khan Khalji in A.H.839/A.D.1435, ending the Ghuri line of Malwa.
• Mahmud Khalji I — Person · r. 1435 – 1469 · Regional Sultanates 14th–17th c
  Minister to Ghazni Khan who had his master poisoned and seized the throne on 29 Shuval A.H.839/16 May A.D.1435 as Sultan Mahmud Khalji, founding the Khalji dynasty of Malwa; he reigned 34 years and died on the road from Kechiwara on 19 Zeekad A.H.873/27 May A.D.1469, aged 68.
• Ghiyasuddin Khalji — Person · r. 1469 – 1500 · Regional Sultanates 14th–17th c
  Elder son of Mahmud Khalji I, who succeeded his father in 1469 and reigned peaceably for 33 years while his own son Nasiruddin managed the government; Nasiruddin stormed the fort of Mando against him on 24 Rubi al-Thani A.H.906/22 October A.D.1500, and Ghiyasuddin was found poisoned in his seraglio days later.
• Nasiruddin Khalji — Person · r. 1500 – 1512 · Regional Sultanates 14th–17th c
  Son and designated heir-apparent of Ghiyasuddin Khalji, who forced his way into Mando, killed his younger brother Alla-ood-Deen and his family, and took the throne on 27 Rubi al-Thani A.H.906/25 October A.D.1500 amid accusations (which Ferishta calls unproven) of having also poisoned his father; he reigned 11 years and 4 months, dying of a fever after naming his third son Mahmud his successor.
• Mahmud Khalji II — Person · r. 1512 – 1526 · Regional Sultanates 14th–17th c
  Third son of Nasiruddin Khalji, designated successor by his father and crowned at Mando over a rival claim from his brother Sahib Khan; after prolonged wars with Gujarat, he was besieged and captured at Mando by Bahadur Shah of Gujarat on 9 Shaban A.H.932/20 May A.D.1526, and was killed with his sons five days later, ending the Khalji line.
• Qadir Shah (Mallu Khan) — Person · r. c. 1536 – 1542 · Regional Sultanates 14th–17th c
  A former Khalji-government officer who, after Humayun's occupation and withdrawal from Malwa, retook the country over twelve months of fighting Delhi's officers and crowned himself at Mando as Qadir Shah; he was later abandoned by Sher Shah Suri, fled, and was killed in a night attack by Sher Shah's governor Shujaat Khan.
• Shujaat Khan (Shuja Khan) — Person · r. 1542 – 1554 · Regional Sultanates 14th–17th c
  Minister and relative of Sher Shah Suri, installed as governor of Malwa after Sher Shah's expedition against Qadir Shah and who defeated Qadir Shah outright in a night attack, ruling Malwa for twelve years until his death in A.H.962/A.D.1554, when his eldest son Bayezeed took charge of the government.
• Baz Bahadur — Person · r. 1554 – 1562 (d. after 1562) · Regional Sultanates 14th–17th c
  Eldest son of Shujaat Khan who took charge of Malwa on his father's death, murdered his brother Dowlut Khan to secure it, and was formally crowned Sultan Baz Bahadur at Mando in A.H.963/A.D.1555; he later lost Malwa to Akbar's forces and, after further reversals, entered Mughal service as an officer of two thousand horse.
• Malik Raja Faruqi — Person · r. c. 1370 – 1399 · Regional Sultanates 14th–17th c
  Rose from a private horseman in Firuz Shah Tughluq's service to founder of Khandesh's Faruqi dynasty, and on his death in 1399 was succeeded, by his own deathbed nomination, by his son Nasir Khan.
• Nasir Khan Faruqi — Person · r. 1399 – 1437 · Regional Sultanates 14th–17th c
  Succeeded his father Malik Raja in 1399 by the old king's own nomination, seized Asirgarh and warred with Gujarat, Malwa and the Deccan, and died in 1437, succeeded by his son Miran Adil Khan.
• Miran Adil Khan Faruqi I — Person · r. 1437 – 1441 · Regional Sultanates 14th–17th c
  Succeeded his father Nasir Khan in 1437 and sought Gujarat and Malwa aid against Deccan forces; assassinated at Burhanpur in 1441 and succeeded by his son Miran Mubarak Khan.
• Miran Mubarak Khan Faruqi I — Person · r. 1441 – 1457 · Regional Sultanates 14th–17th c
  Succeeded his father Miran Adil Khan in 1441 and reigned without foreign conquest for seventeen years; died in 1457 and was succeeded by his eldest son Adil Khan.
• Adil Khan Faruqi II — Person · r. 1457 – 1503 · Regional Sultanates 14th–17th c
  Succeeded his father Miran Mubarak Khan in 1457, brought Khandesh to a prosperity it had not known before, and after refusing tribute to Gujarat and being compelled to pay it, died in 1503 leaving no son, so the throne passed to his brother Daud Khan.
• Daud Khan Faruqi — Person · r. 1503 – 1510 · Regional Sultanates 14th–17th c
  Succeeded his childless brother Adil Khan in 1503 as next of kin, accepted Malwa's overlordship under military pressure, and died in 1510, when his officers placed his son Ghazni Khan on the throne.
• Ghazni Khan Faruqi — Person · r. 1510 (two days) · Regional Sultanates 14th–17th c
  Placed on the throne by the minister Hissam-ud-Din and the officers on his father Daud Khan's death in 1510, and was poisoned by the same minister two days later.
• Adil Khan Faruqi III (Azim Homayun) — Person · r. 1510 – 1520 · Regional Sultanates 14th–17th c
  Installed at Burhanpur in 1510 by his maternal grandfather Mahmud Shah Begarha of Gujarat over the rival claim of Alam Khan of Ahmadnagar, and died in 1520 after a nineteen-year reign, succeeded by his son Miran Muhammad Shah.
• Mubarak Shah Faruqi II — Person · r. 1535 – 1566 · Regional Sultanates 14th–17th c
  Assumed the title of Shah at Burhanpur on hearing of his brother Miran Muhammad Shah's death in 1535, since none of his brother's children were of age, and died in 1566 after a thirty-two-year reign.
• Miran Muhammad Shah Faruqi II — Person · r. 1566 – 1576 · Regional Sultanates 14th–17th c
  Succeeded his father Mubarak Khan in 1566 and died of a lingering fever in 1576, leaving only his minor son Hussain Khan.
• Raja Ali Khan Faruqi — Person · r. 1576 – 1596 · Regional Sultanates 14th–17th c
  Placed on the throne at Burhanpur in 1576 after the nobles deposed his late brother's minor son Hussain Khan, submitted to Akbar as a tributary, and was killed by a powder-tumbril explosion at the battle of Peitun in 1596.
• Bahadur Khan Faruqi — Person · r. 1596 – 1601 · Regional Sultanates 14th–17th c
  Succeeded his father Raja Ali Khan in 1596 with Mughal backing, defied Akbar's later summons, and was besieged in Asirgarh, ending the Faruqi dynasty as the last independent ruler of Khandesh.
• Shams-ud-din (Shah Mir) — Person · r. 1326 – 1349 · Kashmir Sultanate
  A Persian-descended Mahomedan who rose to be minister to two Hindu rajas of Kashmir, married Raja Anand Dev's widow Rani Kota Devi after defeating her army, and two days after the marriage imprisoned her and proclaimed himself king; he abdicated in favour of his two elder sons and died the same year.
• Jamshid — Person · r. 1349 – c. 1351 · Kashmir Sultanate
  Elder son of Shams-ud-din Shah Mir, he ascended the throne on his father's death but was defeated in a civil war by his younger brother Ali Sher and expelled from the kingdom, dying shortly afterward.
• Ala-ud-din (Ali Sher) — Person · r. 1351 – 1363 · Kashmir Sultanate
  Younger brother of Jamshid, he seized the throne from him in a civil war and reigned as Ala-ud-din for thirteen years until his death.
• Shihab-ud-din (Siamuk) — Person · r. 1363 – 1386 · Kashmir Sultanate
  Brother and successor of Ala-ud-din, the first Kashmir king to campaign abroad, invading Sind and Peshawar, before dying after a twenty-year reign.
• Qutb-ud-din (Hindal) — Person · r. 1386 – 1396 · Kashmir Sultanate
  Brother and successor of Shihab-ud-din, remembered for personally transacting public business with justice, who died after a fifteen-year reign.
• Sikandar Butshikan — Person · r. 1396 – 1416 · Kashmir Sultanate
  Son of Qutb-ud-din, enthroned as a minor under his mother Soorut Rani's regency; he later destroyed Kashmir's Hindu temples and died of a fever after nearly twenty years, naming his son Ali as successor.
• Ali Shah — Person · r. 1416 – 1422 · Kashmir Sultanate
  Son of Sikandar Butshikan, named heir by his dying father; deposed after seven years by his brother Shahi Khan (Zain-ul-Abidin), who defeated him with Gakkhar help.
• Zain-ul-Abidin — Person · r. 1422 – 1472 · Kashmir Sultanate
  Brother of Ali Shah, who took the throne from him by force with Gakkhar backing; a long-reigning king remembered for tolerance and public works, he died at 69 amid unresolved rivalry among his three sons.
• Haidar Shah — Person · r. 1472 – 1473 · Kashmir Sultanate
  Second son of Zain-ul-Abidin, crowned by his brother Beiram after their father's death; he fell to his death from his palace terrace after a dissolute reign of fourteen months.
• Hasan Shah — Person · r. 1473 – 1486 · Kashmir Sultanate
  Son of Haidar Shah, installed with the help of one Ahmud Ahoo; his death date is not precisely given, after a reign the chronicler puts at about nineteen years.
• Muhammad Shah — Person · r. 1486 (first of several non-consecutive reigns to the 1530s-40s) · Kashmir Sultanate
  Son of Hasan Shah, raised to the throne at age seven by the regent Syud Hussun; he was deposed and restored across several reigns amid contests with Fath Shah, and was finally deposed by his own minister Mullik Atchy in favour of his son Ibrahim.
• Fath Shah — Person · r. 1496 (first of two reigns) · Kashmir Sultanate
  Grandson of Zain-ul-Abidin, who seized the throne after Muhammad Shah was abandoned by his own troops; he alternated the crown with Muhammad Shah across two reigns and died in exile in Hindustan.
• Ibrahim Shah — Person · r. 1525 (8 months) · Kashmir Sultanate
  Son of Muhammad Shah, installed by the minister Mullik Atchy after his father's fourth deposition; defeated at the Battle of Sullah by a Delhi army backing his own son Nazuk, after which the chronicler records no further account of him.
• Nazuk Shah — Person · r. 1525 (first reign, months); second period c. 1540 – 1552 · Kashmir Sultanate
  Son of Ibrahim Shah and grandson of Muhammad Shah, placed on the throne by a Delhi army after the Battle of Sullah; restored as a figurehead under Mirza Haidar Doghlat's Mughal occupation from 1540 and deposed a second time in 1552 in favour of his brother Ibrahim.
• Ibrahim (II) — Person · r. 1552 – 1555 · Kashmir Sultanate
  Brother of Nazuk Shah, raised to the throne by Dowlut Chuk's faction after Nazuk's second deposition; deposed and blinded some five months later by Ghazi Khan Chak's rival faction.
• Ismail Shah (II) — Person · r. 1555 – 1557 · Kashmir Sultanate
  Brother of Ibrahim II, installed on the throne by Ghazi Khan Chak after Ibrahim's blinding; he died two years later and was succeeded by his own son.
• Habib Shah — Person · r. 1557 – c. 1561 · Kashmir Sultanate
  Son of Ismail Shah II, placed on the throne on his father's death; imprisoned some years later when Ghazi Khan Chak declared himself king.
• Ghazi Shah Chak — Person · r. c. 1561 – 1563 · Kashmir Sultanate
  Chak chieftain who imprisoned Habib Shah and had himself proclaimed king; afflicted with leprosy through his reign, he abdicated in his brother Husain's favour after about four years.
• Husain Shah Chak — Person · r. 1563 – 1569 · Kashmir Sultanate
  Brother of Ghazi Shah Chak, who succeeded by his brother's abdication; after his ambassadors' execution by Akbar and the return of his daughter unmarried, he was deserted by his court, compelled to abdicate to his brother Ali, and died of dysentery months later.
• Ali Shah Chak — Person · r. 1569 – 1578 · Kashmir Sultanate
  Brother of Husain Shah Chak, formally crowned on his death; his reign of nine years ended when he died in a fall from his horse.
• Yusuf Shah Chak — Person · r. 1578 – 1586 · Kashmir Sultanate
  Son of Ali Shah Chak, who succeeded him and later sought Akbar's aid against a rival Chak faction; repeatedly deposed and restored, he was ultimately drawn to Akbar's court and detained there while his own son held the throne.
• Yaqub Shah Chak — Person · r. 1586 – 1589 · Kashmir Sultanate
  Son of Yusuf Shah Chak, who took the throne in Kashmir when his father was detained at Akbar's court; after resisting Akbar's invading army for two years he was captured and enrolled, with his father, among the Mughal nobility, ending Kashmir's independence.
• Soorut Rany — Person · regent, from 1396 · Kashmir Sultanate
  Dowager-queen and mother of Sikandar Butshikan, she exercised supreme control of the government during his minority.
• Malik Sarwar — Person · r. 1394 – 1399 · Jaunpur — the Sharqis
  A eunuch minister of the Delhi sultan Muhammad Shah (son of Firuz Shah Tughluq), he was made governor of the eastern provinces in 1394 with the title Malik al-Sharq, made Jaunpur his capital, and used Delhi's disorder to proclaim independence, founding the Sharqi line; he died in office in 1399.
• Mubarak Shah Sharqi — Person · r. 1399 – 1401 · Jaunpur — the Sharqis
  The adopted son of Malik Sarwar, he succeeded him in 1399 and, with his officers' consent, was the first of the line to strike coin and have the khutba read in his own name as king; he died after an eighteen-month reign in 1401.
• Ibrahim Shah Sharqi — Person · r. 1401 – 1440 · Jaunpur — the Sharqis
  The younger brother of Mubarak Shah, he was elevated to the throne on Mubarak's death in 1401, made Jaunpur a noted seat of learning, took Kanauj and Sambhal from Delhi, and died of illness in 1440 after a reign of more than forty years.
• Mahmud Shah Sharqi — Person · r. 1440 – 1457 · Jaunpur — the Sharqis
  The eldest son of Ibrahim Shah, he succeeded him in 1440, campaigned repeatedly against Delhi under Bahlul Lodi, and died of a sudden illness in camp in 1457 after a twenty-year reign.
• Muhammad Shah Sharqi — Person · r. 1457 – 1458 · Jaunpur — the Sharqis
  The eldest son of Mahmud Shah, proclaimed king as Muhammad Shurky in 1457, he had his brother Hussun Khan murdered, drove his mother and remaining brothers into revolt, and was killed by an arrow while fleeing his brother Husain's forces after a reign of five months.
• Husain Shah Sharqi — Person · r. 1458 – 1476 · Jaunpur — the Sharqis
  A brother of Muhammad Shah, he proclaimed himself king at Kanauj before Muhammad Shah's death and took the throne by force in the ensuing civil war; he later campaigned against Delhi and Orissa, was finally defeated by Bahlul and Sikandar Lodi, and lost Jaunpur to Delhi in 1476, ending the dynasty.
• Delhi Sultanate — the Mu'izzi/Shamsi Slave Kings — Dynasty · 1206 – 1290 · Mamluk / Slave Dynasty
  Bosworth's table gives Aybak's accession, in 602/1206, as 'Malik of Hindūstān in Lahore for the Ghūrids' — sovereignty from a Ghurid governorship, and from Lahore rather than Delhi; Iltutmish (607/1211) is the first of the line who is titled 'sultan in Delhi' in the same table.
• Delhi Sultanate — the Khaljis — Dynasty · 1290 – 1320 · Khilji Dynasty
  From Firuz Shah II Khalji's accession, 689/1290, to Khusraw Khan Barwari's usurpation, 720/1320, per Bosworth's table.
• Delhi Sultanate — the Tughluqids — Dynasty · 1320 – 1414 · Tughlaq Dynasty
  From Tughluq Shah I's accession, 720/1320, to the Sayyid succession.
• Kashmir — the Shah Mir line and the Chaks — Dynasty · 1339 – 1588 · Kashmir Sultanate
  One Bosworth chapter covers two lines under one span, 739-996/1339-1588: the Shah Mir line to Habib Shah's deposition (964-8/1557-61), then the Chak dynasty from Ghazi Khan Chak (968/1561) to the 'Definitive Mughal conquest' in 996/1588.
• Khandesh — the Fārūqī Rulers — Dynasty · 1382 – 1601 · Regional Sultanates 14th–17th c
  Bosworth labels Khandesh 'the north-west Deccan', so the existing 'The Deccan' Atlas node was used rather than leaving it null — flag if the Atlas pass wants a separate Khandesh/Gujarat-Malwa borderland node instead.
• Jaunpur — the Sharqi Sultans — Dynasty · 1394 – 1483 · Jaunpur — the Sharqis
  From Malik Sarwar's assumption of virtual rule as Malik al-Sharq, 796/1394, to the Delhi Sultanate's (Lodi) conquest, 888/1483, per Bosworth's table and prose.
• Sultans and Rulers of Malwa — Dynasty · 1402 – 1562 · Regional Sultanates 14th–17th c
  No existing Atlas Regional Divisions node fits Malwa (central India/Madhya Pradesh) — the branch has Northern India, Rajasthan, The Deccan, Bengal & Eastern India, Gujarat & Western India, Kashmir, Punjab & Northwest, Southern Sultanates, Coastal Regions and nothing for the central plateau.
• Gujarat Sultanate — the Muzaffarids — Dynasty · 1403 – 1573 · Regional Sultanates 14th–17th c
  Bosworth's manual heads the dynasty's main span 806-980/1403-1573 (Tātār Khān's/Muẓaffar Khān's reigns to the Mughal conquest), but prints the family's governorship from 793/1391 and a second reign for Muẓaffar Shāh III at 991-1001/1583-1593 after the conquest, which the archive should decide whether to treat as restoration or coda.
• Delhi Sultanate — the Sayyids — Dynasty · 1414 – 1451 · Sayyid Dynasty
  From Khidr Khan's accession, 817/1414, to Alam Shah's withdrawal to Badaon, where the table shows him ruling 855–83/1451–78 as a rump — the archive convention (extinguished by the settlement that ends it) reads 855/1451 as the Delhi succession's actual end, when Bahlul Lodi takes the throne.
• Delhi Sultanate — the Lodis — Dynasty · 1451 – 1526 · Lodi Dynasty
  From Bahlul Lodi's accession, 855/1451, to the 'Mughal victory' over Ibrahim II, 932/1526.
• The Sur Sultanate — the Delhi interregnum — Dynasty · 1540 – 1555 · Mughal Empire 1526–1857
  No Atlas dynasty node exists for the Surs — the Historical Periods branch's 'Delhi Sultanate 1206–1526' node stops at Lodi (its own name-range excludes the Sur years entirely), and 'Mughal Empire 1526–1857' does not carve out the interruption either.
• Bughra Khan — Person · named on the page as father of Muizuddin Kaiqubad · Mamluk / Slave Dynasty
  Father named as Nasir-ood-Deen, Kurra Khan (governor of Bengal, son of Ghiyas-ud-din Balban); he was never himself a Delhi ruler in this house, so has no people/succession entry of his own.
• Shihab-ud-din Mas'ud — Person · named on the page as father of Alauddin Khalji · Khilji Dynasty
  Alauddin was Jalaluddin's nephew (brother's son), not his own child; his father Shahab-ud-din Mas'ud never reigned.
• Sipahsalar Rajab — Person · named on the page as father of Firuz Shah Tughluq · Tughlaq Dynasty
  Firuz's mother was Ghiyas-ud-din I's sister (making Firuz his nephew, per p.444: 'his cousin Feroze, nephew of Gheias-ood-Deen Toghluk'); the plate facing p.401 names his father as Salar Rajub ('Feroze Bin Salar Rajub').
• Fath Khan — Person · named on the page as child of Firuz Shah Tughluq · Tughlaq Dynasty
  Futteh Khan (never reigned) is Firuz Shah's eldest son; father of rulers Tughluq Shah II and Nusrat Shah.
• Zafar Khan — Person · named on the page as child of Firuz Shah Tughluq · Tughlaq Dynasty
  Zuffur Khan (never reigned), third son of Firuz Shah; father of Abu Bakr.
• Malik Sulaiman — Person · named on the page as father of Khizr Khan · Sayyid Dynasty
  Mullik Sooliman is named only as Khizr Khan's father, an adopted son of Mullik Murdan Dowlut, governor of Mooltan under Feroze Toghluk; he was never a Sayyid ruler of Delhi and is not in the people list.
• Zeina — Person · named on the page as mother of Sikandar Lodi · Lodi Dynasty
  Zeina, a goldsmith's daughter raised to Bahlul's bed, is named as Sikandar's mother; she is not otherwise recorded and holds no ruler entry of her own.
• Hasan Khan Sur — Person · named on the page as father of Sher Shah Suri · Mughal Empire 1526–1857
  Hasan (Briggs: 'Hussun'/'Hoossein') Khan Soor, an Afghan of the tribe of Soor holding Sahsaram and Tanda in jageer; not a ruler of this polity.
• Nizam Khan Sur — Person · named on the page as father of Muhammad Adil Shah Suri · Mughal Empire 1526–1857
  Nizam Khan Soor was Sher Shah Suri's brother (both sons of Hasan Khan Soor per the genealogical chart facing p.98); not a ruler of this polity.
• Adil Khan Sur — Person · named on the page as father of Sikandar Shah Suri · Mughal Empire 1526–1857
  The engraved genealogical chart facing p.98 draws 'Sikundur Shah Soor' as the son of 'Adil Khan Soor' (Sher Shah Suri's own eldest son, given Runtunbhore in jageer and originally named Sher Shah's successor).
• Hasan Faruqi — Person · named on the page as father of Adil Khan Faruqi III (Azim Homayun) · Regional Sultanates 14th–17th c
  Father 'Hussun' is named only as son of Nasir Khan; he is not himself attested as ruling and is not entered in people.
• Bibi Raji — Person · named on the page as mother of Muhammad Shah Sharqi · Jaunpur — the Sharqis
  Beeby Rajy, the Dowager-queen, named explicitly as Mahomed Shah's mother; she is not on the ruler list and has no succession record of her own.

Women's Contributions

2 items

• Jahanara — Person · eldest daughter of Shah Jahan; her dates not yet read from a page · Mughal Empire 1526–1857
  Shah Jahan’s eldest daughter, the "Begam Sahib", with an income of three million rupees and the revenues of Surat, and kept unmarried under what Manucci calls "the regulation of Akbar that daughters should not be given husbands".
• Razia Sultana — Person · r. 1236 – 1240 · Delhi Sultanate 1206–1526
  Daughter and designated heir of Sultan Shams-ud-Din Iltutmish of Delhi; the only woman to rule the Delhi Sultanate in her own right. Minhaj-us-Siraj, writing within a generation of her death and translated by H. G. Raverty, records that Iltutmish passed over his adult sons to name her heir-apparent by written decree, that she reigned as 'Sultan Raziyyat-ud-Dunya wa ud-Din' for three years, six months and six days, and that she was seized by rebel Turk Amirs, imprisoned, married her captor, and was killed in 638 H. (1240 CE) after a final defeat.

Regional Divisions

1 item

• Five Unrelated Dynasties: The Bengal Sultanate, 1352–1576 — essay · Bengal Sultanate · 15 sources
  A delta kingdom that beat the Delhi Sultanate twice, sent embassies to Ming China, minted the taka, and built the largest mosque in the subcontinent. Its throne passed through five unrelated dynasties — Turkic, Afghan, a converted Hindu raja's son, four Abyssinian former slaves, and an Arab wazir who murdered the last of them. Its capital was, by one count, the fifth-largest city on earth; by a better one, a fifth that size. The archive prefers the smaller figure and says why.