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{{Short description|Founder of the Lodi Dynasty (reigned 1451–1489)}}
{{Use Indian English|date=March 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2024}}
{{Infobox royalty
| name = Bahlul Khan Lodi
| succession = 29th [[Sultan of Delhi]]
| title = Bahlul Shah Ghazi
| image = Coin of Bahlul Lodi.jpg
| image_size = 280
| caption = Billon Tanka (80 ratti) of Bahlul Lodi
| reign = 19 April 1451 – 12 July 1489
| coronation = 19 April 1451
| predecessor = [[Alam Shah]]
| successor = [[Sikandar Khan Lodi|Sikandar Lodi]]
| spouse = Shams Khatun Bibi Ambha
| issue = Khawja Bayazid Barbak Shah [[Sikandar Khan Lodi]] Mubarak Khan Alam Khan Taj Murassa Jamal Khan Yaqub Khan Fath Khan Musa Jalal Khan<ref>{{Cite book |last=Pandey |first=Awadh Bihari |url=https://books.google.com/books/about/The_First_Afghan_Empire_in_India_1451_15.html?id=DVIbAAAAIAAJ |title=The First Afghan Empire in India, 1451-1526 A. D. |date=1956 |publisher=Bookland |language=en |archive-url=https://archive.org/details/dli.bengal.10689.12767/ |archive-date=2018-09-25|page=309}}</ref>
| full name = Bahlol Khan Lodi bin Malik Kala Khan Lodi bin Malik Bahram Khan Lodi
| royal house =
| royal anthem =
| house = [[Lodi dynasty]]
| house-type = Parents House:
| father = Malik Kala Khan Lodi
| mother =
| birth_date = {{C.|1421}}
| birth_place =
| death_date = 12 July 1489 (aged 67–68)
| death_place = [[Delhi]], [[Delhi Sultanate]]
| burial_place = [[Tomb of Bahlul Lodi]] Delhi
| religion = [[Sunni Islam]]
}}

'''Bahlul Khan Lodi''' ({{langx|fa|{{nq|بهلول لودی}}}}; died 12 July 1489) was the chief of the [[Pashtuns|Afghan]] [[Lodi (Pashtun tribe)|Lodi]] tribe.<ref name=":0">{{cite book |first=Clifford Edmund |last=Bosworth |title=The New Islamic Dynasties |publisher=Columbia University Press |year=1996 |isbn=978-0231107143 |page=304}}</ref> He was the founder of the [[Lodi dynasty]] from the [[Delhi Sultanate]],<ref>{{cite book |first1=Catherine B. |last1=Asher |first2=Cynthia |last2=Talbot |title=India Before Europe |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2006 |isbn=9780521005395 |page=116}}</ref> upon the abdication of the last claimant from the previous [[Sayyid]] rule.<ref>{{cite book |title=History & Civics 9 |first=Sudeshna |last=Sengupta |isbn=9788183323642 |page=126 |year=2008 |publisher=Ratna Sagar (P) Limited}}</ref> Bahlul became [[Sultan]] of the dynasty on 19 April 1451<ref name="sen2">{{Cite book |last=Sen |first=Sailendra |title=A Textbook of Medieval Indian History |publisher=Primus Books |year=2013 |isbn=978-9-38060-734-4 |pages=122–125}}</ref><ref name=":0" /> (855 [[Hijri year|AH]]).

== Early life ==
Bahlul's grandfather, Malik Bahram Khan Lodi, was a [[Lodi (Pashtun tribe)|Lodi]] tribal chief from [[Dera Ismail Khan District|Dera Ismail Khan]].<ref name="SultanateOfDelhi">History and Culture of the Indian People ''[https://archive.org/details/delhisultanate0006rcma/mode/2up The Delhi Sultanate]'' Vol-VI (1980) by R.C. Majudar, A.D. Pusalker and A.K. Majumdar (Third Edition)</ref> He later took service under the governor of Multan, Malik Mardan Daulat. Bahram had five sons. His eldest son, Malik Sultan Shah Lodi, later served under the [[Sayyid dynasty]] ruler [[Khizr Khan]] and distinguished himself by killing in the battle Khizr's worst enemy, Mallu Iqbal Khan. He was rewarded with the title of Islam Khan and in 1419 appointed the governor of [[Sirhind]]. Bahlul, the son of Malik Kala Khan Lodi (the younger brother of Malik Sultan) was married to Malik Sultan's daughter.<ref name="Majumdar">Majumdar, R.C. (ed.) (2006). ''The Delhi Sultanate'', Mumbai: Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, pp.134–36, 139–142</ref><ref name=Mahajan>Mahajan, V.D. (1991, reprint 2007). ''History of Medieval India'', New Delhi: S. Chand, {{ISBN|81-219-0364-5}}, pp.245–51</ref>

In his youth, Bahlul was involved in the trading of horses and once sold his finely bred horses to the Sayyid dynasty Sultan [[Muhammad Shah (Sayyid dynasty)|Muhammad Shah]]. As a payment he was granted a ''pargana'' and raised to the status of ''amir''. After the death of Malik Sultan, he became the governor of [[Sirhind]]. He was then allowed to add [[Lahore]] to his charge. Once, Sultan [[Muhammad Shah (Sayyid dynasty)|Muhammad Shah]] asked for his help when the Malwa Sultan [[Mahmud Khalji]] invaded his territory. Bahlul joined the imperial army with 20,000 mounted soldiers. By his cleverness, he was able to project himself as a victor over the army of the Malwa Sultan and Sultan Muhammad Shah conferred on him the title of ''Khan-i-Khanan''. He also accepted Bahlul's occupation over a large part of Punjab.<ref name="Majumdar"/><ref name=Mahajan/>

In 1443, Bahlul attacked Delhi but he did not succeed. During the reign of last Sayyid ruler Sultan Alam Shah, Bahlul again made an unsuccessful attempt to capture Delhi in 1447. In 1448, when Alam Shah retired to [[Badaun]], a minister of Alam Shah, Hamid Khan invited him to occupy the throne of Delhi. After the voluntary abdication of the throne by Alam Shah, Bahlul Shah ascended the throne of [[Delhi]] on 19 April 1451 and adopted the title of ''Bahlul Shah Ghazi''. Alam Shah continued to live in Badaun until his death in July 1478.<ref name="Majumdar"/><ref name=Mahajan/>

==Reign==
[[File:Map_of_the_Sharqi_Dynasty_of_the_Jaunpur_Sultanate.png|thumb|left|Bahlul Lodi conquered the [[Jaunpur Sultanate]] (Sharqis dynasty) in 1479.]]
After ascending to the throne, Bahlul decided to dispose of Hamid Khan. His cousin and brother-in-law Malik Mahmud Khan alias Qutb-ud-din Khan (Governor of [[Samana, Punjab|Samana]]) imprisoned Hamid Khan.<ref name="Mahajan"/>

In 1479, Sultan Bahlul Khan Lodi defeated and annexed the [[Jaunpur Sultanate]] based at [[Jaunpur, Uttar Pradesh|Jaunpur]]. He fortified the city of Jaunpur and turned it into a [[kasbah]] with several [[mosque]]s and [[madrasa]]s.

Bahlul did much to stop rebellions and uprisings in his territories, and extended his holdings over [[Jaunpur, Uttar Pradesh|Jaunpur]] and upper [[Uttar Pradesh]]. Just like the previous [[Delhi Sultanate|Delhi Sultans]], he kept [[Delhi]] the capital of his kingdom.

In 1486, he appointed his son, Babrak Shah as [[viceroy]] of [[Jaunpur, Uttar Pradesh|Jaunpur]]. In time, this proved to be problematic, as his second son, Nizam Khan ([[Sikandar Lodi]]) was named successor, and a power struggle ensued{{citation needed|date=January 2019}} upon his death in July 1489.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Muntakhabu-'rūkh |url=https://persian.packhum.org/pf?file=03601020&ct=0 |chapter= SULṬĀN BUHLŪL [IBN I KĀLĀ]* LODĪ |chapter-url=https://persian.packhum.org/pf?file=03601021&ct=92 |author=Al-Badāoni |author-link=Al-Badauni |translator1-first=George S. A. |translator1-last=Ranking |translator2-first=Wolseley |translator2-last=Haig |translator3-first=W. H. |translator3-last=Lowe |via=[[Packard Humanities Institute]], Persian Literature in Translation website}}</ref>

The site of his grave is disputed. The [[Archeological Survey of India]] has long designated a building close to the shrine of the noted [[Sufi]] saint [[Nasiruddin Chirag-e-Delhi]] in a locality that goes by his name, 'Chirag Delhi', as [[Tomb of Bahlul Lodi|Bahlul Lodi's tomb]].<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20040509191553/http://www.hindu.com/mp/2004/03/01/stories/2004030100750200.htm Delhi's Valley of Kings] [[The Tribune (Chandigarh)|The Tribune]], 1 March 2004.</ref> Other historians argue that the [[Sheesh Gumbad]] in the [[Lodi Gardens]] is actually to be identified with his tomb.<ref>[[Simon Digby (oriental scholar)|Simon Digby]], ''The Tomb of Buhlul Lodi'', The Bulletin of SOAS, Vol. 38, No. 3, 1975, pp. 550–61.</ref>

==Marriages==
[[File:Tomb of Bahlol Lodi.JPG|thumb|Tomb of Bahlol Lodi]]
[[File:Graves inside bahlol lodi's tomb.jpg|thumb|Graves inside Bahlol Lodi's tomb.]]
Bahlul married two times:
* Shams Khatun, daughter of Malik Sultan Shah Lodi, his first cousin;{{efn|also identified by the name of Firdausi.<ref name="SultanateOfDelhi"/>}}
* Bibi Ambha, daughter of a [[Hindu]] goldsmith{{efn|original name, Ziba; romanized as ''Zībā''.<ref name="SultanateOfDelhi"/>}}

== See also ==
* [[Sher Shah Suri]]
* [[Jaunpur Sultanate]]
* [[Shaikh Sama'al-Din Kamboh]]
* [[Tomb of Bahlul Lodi]]

==References==
{{reflist}}
{{notelist}}

{{commons category}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-reg}}
{{s-bef| before = [[Ala-ud-Din]]}}
{{s-ttl| title = [[Delhi Sultanate|Sultan of Delhi]]
| years = 1451–1489 }}
{{s-aft| rows = 2 | after = [[Sikandar Lodi]] }}
{{s-non| reason = New dynasty }}
{{s-ttl| title = [[Lodi dynasty]]
| years = 1451–1525 }}
{{s-end}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lodi, Bahlul}}
[[Category:1489 deaths]]
[[Category:Sultans of the Lodi dynasty]]
[[Category:15th-century Indian monarchs]]
[[Category:15th-century Indian Muslims]]
[[Category:People from Delhi]]
[[Category:Indian people of Pashtun descent]]
[[Category:Year of birth unknown]]
[[Category:People from Dera Ismail Khan District]]

Bahlul Khan Lodi - Revision history

Theodore2940 at 20:04, 30 April 2026