Ibrahim Khan Lodi
Sultan of the Delhi Sultanate from 1517 to 1526
Ibrahim Khan Lodi (Persian: ابراهیم لودی; 1480 – 21 April 1526) was the last Sultan of the Delhi Sultanate, who became Sultan in 1517 after the death of his father Sikandar Khan Lodi. He was the last ruler of the Lodi dynasty, reigning for nine years until 1526, when he was defeated and killed at the Battle of Panipat by Babur's invading army, giving way to the emergence of the Mughal Empire in India.
Quotes
edit- At the same time the Sultan thought that though 'Sultan Sikandar had led several expeditions for conquering the fort of Gwalior and the country attached to it but met with no success.' Consequently he sent 'azam Humayun, the governor of Kara, with 300,000 horsemen and 300 elephants for the conquest of Gwalior' After some time the royal army laid a mine, filled it with gunpowder, and set fire to it. He entered the fort and took possession of it after the wall of the fort was breached. He saw there a bull made of brass, which the Hindus had worshipped for years. In keeping with a royal order, the bull was brought to Delhi and placed at the Baghdad Gate. It was still there till the reign of Akbar. The writer of this history saw it himself.
- Tabqat-i-Akhari, Translated from the Hindi version by S.A.A. Rizvi included in Uttara Taimur Kalina Bharata, Aligarh, 1955, Vol. I, p. 236-37, In Goel, S.R. Hindu Temples - What happened to them
- Sultãn Ibrãhîm Lodî (AD 1517-1526) Gwalior (Madhya Pradesh) Tabqãt-i-Akharî by Nizamuddin Ahmad.
- “It so happened that Raja Man, the ruler of Gwalior who had been warring with the Sultans for years, went to hell. His son, Bikarmajit, became his successor. The Sultan captured the fort after a hard fight. There was a quadruped, made of copper, at the door of the fort. It used to speak. It was brought from there and placed in the fort at Agra. It remained there till the reign of Akbar Badshah. It was melted and a cannon was made out of it at the order of the Badshah.”
- Sultan Ibrahim Lodi (AD 1517-1526), Gwalior (Madhya Pradesh) Tarikh-i-Shahi, S.A.A. Rizvi in Uttara Taimur Kalina Bharata, Aligarh, 1955, Vol. I, p. 343 In Goel, S.R. Hindu Temples - What happened to them
- “…When the thought occurred to Sultan Ibrahim, he sent ‘Ãzam Humayun on this expedition… The Afghan army captured from the infidels the statue of a bull which was made of metals such as copper and brass, which was outside the gate of the fort and which the Hindus used to worship. They brought it to the Sultan. The Sultan was highly pleased and ordered that it should be taken to Delhi and placed outside the ‘Red Gate’ which was known as the Baghdad Gate in those days. The statue was so fixed in front of the ‘Red Gate’ till the time of the Mughal emperor, Akbar the Great, who ordered in AH 999 that it be melted down and used for making cannon as well as some other equipment, which are still there in the government armoury. The author of this history… has seen it in both shapes.”
- Sultan Ibrahim Lodi (AD 1517-1526) Gwalior (Madhya Pradesh).Tarikh-i-Khan Jahan Lodi, translated by Muhammad Bashir Husain, second edition, Lahore, 1986, quoted in S.R. Goel, Hindu Temples What Happened to them, Vol. II
- “…The fortress of Badalgarh, which lies below the fortress of Gwaliar, a very lofty structure, was taken from Rai Man Singh and fell into the hands of the Muslims, and a brazen animal which was worshipped by the Hindus also fell into their hands, and was sent by them to Agra, whence it was sent by Sultan Ibrahim to Dihli, and was put over the city gate. The image was removed to Fathpur in the year AH 992 (AD 1584), ten years before the composition of this history, where it was seen by the author of this work. It was converted into gongs, and bells, and implements of all kinds.”
- Tãrîkh-i-Firishta by Firishta. Sultan Ibrahim Lodi (AD 1517-1526) Gwalior (Madhya Pradesh)
- “…The Dehly army, arriving before Gualiar, invested the place… After the siege had been carried on for some months, the army of Ibrahim Lody at length got possession of an outwork at the foot of the hill, on which stood the fort of Badilgur. They found in that place a brazen bull, which had been for a long time an object of worship, and sent it to Agra, from whence it was afterwards conveyed to Dehly, and thrown down before the Bagdad gate (AH 924, AD 1518).”
- Tãrîkh-i-Firishta by Firishta. Sultãn Ibrãhîm Lodî (AD 1517-1526) Gwalior (Madhya Pradesh)
- In the long roll of the Sultans of Delhi, Ibrahim Lodi was the only one who died fighting on the field of battle. Therefore, about his bravery there can be no two opinions. In private life too his character was blemishless. He was kindly disposed towards his subjects. Their welfare was ever in his mind. He took a keen interest in the promotion of agriculture. During his reign, crops were abundant, food grains were cheap and the people in general lived happily in the midst of plenty.
- K.S. Lal, Twilight of the Sultanate (1963) p. 225
- In the year 950 H. (1542 CE) Puran-mal, son of Salhdi, held occupation of the fort of Raisin, and brought several of the neighbouring parganas under subjection. He had 1000 women in his harem, from the east and from Sind, and amongst them several Musulmanis, whom he made to dance before him. Sher Khan, with Musulman indigna- tion, resolved to conquer the fort. After he had been some time engaged in investing it, an accommodation was proposed, and it was finally agreed that Puran-mal, with his family and children, and 4000 Rajputs of note, should be allowed to leave the fort ummolested. Several men learned in the law gave it as their opinion that they should all be slain, notwithstanding the solemn engage ment which had been entered into. Consequently, the whole army, with the elephants, surrounded Puran-mal’s encampment. The Rajputs fought with desperate bravery, and after killing their women and children and then burning them, they rushed to battle, and were annihilated to a man.
