After the death of Sher Shah Suri in 1545, his two sons Adil Shah and Jalal Khan were present. Bypassing the elder son Adil Shah, Jalal Khan ascended the throne, adopting the title ‘Islam Shah Suri’. At the time of their father’s death, Adil was in Ranthambore and Jalal was in Rewa. Upon hearing the news of death, Jalal first went to Kalinjar, and on May 26, 1545, the nobles declared Jalal as the ruler.
Islam Shah Suri was well-educated. In his early life, he had demonstrated great skill in all campaigns as his father’s associate. In 1527, he conquered Gaur, and during the capture of Teliagarh fort, known as the gateway to Bengal, he defeated the Mughal army for the first time, proving himself as a capable ruler. He had shown extreme courage and military prowess in the Battle of Chausa in 1539 and the Battle of Kannuaj in 1540.
How Islam Shah Suri continued his father Sher Shah Suri’s legacy
According to the rule, the eldest son becomes the heir to the throne after the father’s death. But in this case, it was the opposite; the younger son ascended the throne. Therefore, there was almost constant conflict between the brothers. Hayat Khan Niazi, a famous general from Sher Shah’s time, took advantage of this internal situation. He advanced towards Ambala with the intention of ascending the throne, but Islam Shah Suri defeated Hayat Khan in the battle of Ambala. During his 9-year reign from 1545 to 1553 AD, most of his time was spent in conflict with his brother Adil Khan and the nobility.
He followed his father’s system of governance. He gave precise instructions, which were read aloud to a group of high grandees every Friday. Where the slipper and the quiver of the sultan were put on a high chair, and all the high grandees who were commanders of 20000, 10000 or 5000 sawars advanced in proper orders and bowed to them. Like his father, he could have used foresight and strategy to employ the Afghan nobility for the benefit of the empire and keep the empire away from internal conflicts, but he didn’t do that. Instead, he suppressed the nobility harshly. He reduced the amount of Jagir for the nobles and increased the Khalisa Jagir.
Military strategies of Islam Shah Suri
Along with administrative skills, we also see evidence of military prowess during Islam Shah Suri’s reign. According to Badayuni, “To improve the efficiency and organization of the army, he divided them into the decimal system.” Later, Akbar used this decimal system to determine the number of troops in his mansabdari system. The lowest number in this military division was 50, and the highest was 20000. He also tried to pay cash salaries to the soldiers, instead of Jagir.
The Administrative reforms of Islam Shah Suri
For administrative convenience, Sher Shah had built one sarai every four miles. Islam Shah, on the other hand, built a sarai every two miles. However, Wolseley Haig in ‘Cambridge History of India’ commented that the enormous expense behind these sarais every two miles was wasteful.
After ruling for 9 years in this way, he died in 1553. This gave an opportunity to the Mughals to reassert themselves. However, in the interest of protecting the empire, he was both a capable general on one hand and a competent ruler who worked hard for the empire’s interest on the other.
Conclusion
Despite being a capable ruler, if we look at all aspects, it can be seen that his ruthless and cruel behavior towards the Afghan nobility became one of the main reasons for the fall of the Sur dynasty. In this regard, we can see evidence of his political shortsightedness. Despite being of Afghan origin himself, he misjudged the mentality of the Afghan people. Nevertheless, it can be said that from the time of his ascension to the throne, despite one storm after another, he maintained the peace and prosperity of the empire. In fact, Islam Shah Suri’s empire was an expanded version of his father’s empire.
