Ronny14Z58 at 06:34, 8 January 2026

2026-01-08T06:34:51Z

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{{pp-extended|small=yes}}
{{pp|small=yes}}
{{short description|Medieval kingdom in Punjab}}
{{Infobox country
| native_name =
| conventional_long_name = Langah Sultanate
| common_name =
| image_map = File:Indie 1525.png
| image_map_caption = Multan in 1525
| government_type = [[Hereditary monarchy]]
| title_leader = [[Sultan]]
| era = Late medieval period
| status = [[Sultanate]]
| official_languages =
| languages_type = Other languages
| languages =
| year_start = 1445
| year_end = 1530
| date_start =
| date_end =
| event1 = Langah Sultanate begins
| event2 = Langah Sultanate ends
| p1 = Delhi Sultanate
| flag_p1 =
| p2 =
| flag_p2 =
| s1 = Multan Subah
| flag_s1 =
| s2 =
| flag_s2 =
| image_flag =
| national_anthem =
| capital = [[Multan]]
| common_languages =
| religion = [[Islam]]
| leader1 = [[Rai Sahra Langah|Qutbu'd-Din Mahmud I Langah]]
| year_leader1 = 1445–1469
| leader2 = Lashkar Khan Langah
| year_leader2 = 1527–1530
| footnotes =
| demonym =
| area_km2 =
| area_rank =
| GDP_PPP =
| GDP_PPP_year =
| HDI =
| HDI_year =
| today = {{tree list}}
* [[Pakistan]]
{{tree list/end}}
}}

The '''Langah Sultanate''' was a [[Medieval India|late medieval]] [[Sultan|sultanate]] based in the [[Punjab|Punjab region]] in the western [[Indian subcontinent]] between the 15th and 16th centuries. It was the dominant power of the lower [[Doab|Doab tract]] with [[Multan]] at its centre. The Langah Sultanate was annexed in 1527 but had autonomous authority until its merger with the [[Mughal Empire]] in 1530.

==Origins==
There is much uncertainty about the ethnic origins and even the chronology of Langah rulers as primary accounts differ among them widely.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Din |first=Dr. Hameed-ud |title=The Delhi Sultanate |date=1967 |publisher=[[Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan]] |others= |editor-last=Majumdar |editor-first=R. C. |editor-link=R. C. Majumdar |edition=2nd |series=[[The History and Culture of the Indian People]] |volume=VI |pages=246–247 |chapter=Appendix to Chapter X: The Origin of the Lankahs |oclc=664485 |orig-date=1960 |chapter-url=}}</ref>

According to the 16th-century writer and author of the ''Tārīkh-i ḥaqqī'', Abd al-Haqq, the founder of the dynasty was one "Buddhan Khan Sindhi", chief of the Langah tribe of the [[Baloch people|Baloch]].<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite book |last=Baloch |first=Nabi Bakhsh Khan |author-link=Nabi Bakhsh Baloch |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YKPjAAAAMAAJ&q=Langah+Baloch+tribe |title=Lands of Pakistan: Perspectives, Historical and Cultural |date=1995 |publisher=el-Mashriqi Foundation |location=Islamabad |pages=110 |language=en |chapter=Independent Sultanates of Uch, Multan and Sindh |oclc=34962301 |quote=According to the scholar historian Abdul Haqq, the author of Tarikh-i-Haqqi (composed in 1005/1592-93), with the decline of the power of Sultans of Delhi, Budhan Khan of Sindh, the chief of the Baloch tribe of the Langah, assembled his force at Uch and invaded Multan.}}</ref> Another origins is given by Nurul Haq, the son of Abd al-Haqq, who (writing during the reign of [[Jahangir]]) in his ''Zabdat al-Tawarikh'' gives the name of the founder as Badan Khan and calls him [[Sindhis|Sindi]] [[Jats|Jat]] chief of [[Lehri, Balochistan|Lahri]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Baluch |first=Muhammad Sardar Khan |url= |title=History of Baluch Race and Baluchistan |date=1977 |publisher=Gosha-e-Adab |pages=41 |language=en |chapter=The wandering of the Baluch Race |oclc=1129477518}}</ref> [[André Wink]] describes the Langahs as being one of a number of Baloch tribes which moved eastwards into the region of Multan.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Wink |first1=Andre |title=Al-Hind: The Making of the Indo-Islamic World Volume IV: The Age of the Great Mughals, 16th-17th Centuries. Part Two: The Rise of Islam from the Indus to the Malay-Indonesian Archipelago|date=2025 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=9789004729216 |page=78 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=otBJEQAAQBAJ&dq=langahs+siwi&pg=PA78|quote=Towards the close of the fifteenth century, the Baluchis were once again on the move in Sind and one of their tribes, the Langahs, became the rulers of Multan}}</ref> According to the historians [[Mafizullah Kabir]] and [[Ishtiaq Hussain Qureshi]] Sihrah Langah was a Rajput chief who had converted to Islam on the hands of [[Bahauddin Zakariya]] or one of his successors.<ref>{{Cite book |author=Kabir |first=Mafizullah |author-link=Mafizullah Kabir |url= |title=Muslim Rule Under the Sultans |date=1967 |publisher=[[University of Karachi|University of Karachi Press]] |isbn=969-404-008-6 |editor-last=Qureshi |editor-first=Ishtiaq Husain |editor-link=Ishtiaq Hussain Qureshi |series=[[A Short History of Pakistan]] |volume=II |location=Karachi |page=125 |language=en |chapter=X. Rise of Independent Sultanates}}</ref> Other sources have assigned the dynasty as Rajputs<ref>{{cite journal |date=24 April 2012 |title=Balōčistān |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/2214-871X_ei1_COM_0035 |journal=Encyclopaedia of Islam |language=en |edition=First |publisher=Leiden: [[E. J. Brill]] |doi=10.1163/2214-871x_ei1_com_0035 |url-access=subscription |quote=}}</ref><ref name="Qanungo">{{Cite book |last1=Qanungo |first1=Kalika Ranjan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ue9tAAAAMAAJ&q=langah+sultanate |title=Sher Shah and His Times |last2= |first2= |date=1965 |publisher=Orient Longmans |page=286 |language=en |chapter=Sher's Problems and Frontier Policy in the Punjab |oclc=1154209378 |quote=Under the shadow of Rajput Langah dynasty of Multan, the Rind tribe of Baloch settled in the valleys of the Chenab, Ravi and Satlej either as mercenaries or as squatting freebooters.}}</ref> or Jats.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Lambrick |first=H. T. |author-link= |title=Sind: A General Introduction |date=1975 |publisher=[[Sindhi Adabi Board]]; sole distributors, [[Oxford University Press]] |isbn=978-0-19-577220-3 |edition=2nd |series=History of Sind |volume=I |location=Hyderabad; Karachi |pages=212}}</ref> The historian, [[Suhail Zaheer Lari]], who specialises in the history of Sindh and southern Pakistan, also calls the tribe as Baloch.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Lari |first=Suhail Zaheer |author-link=Suhail Zaheer Lari |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LfFtAAAAMAAJ&q=Langah+Baloch |title=A History of Sindh |date=1994 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-577501-3 |pages=108 |language=en |chapter=Shah Hasan |quote=Langahs, a Baloch tribe that had manoeuvred to become the overlords of Multan.}}</ref> The 17th century [[Deccan Plateau|Deccan]]-based historian [[Firishta]] on the other hand gives the name of the founder as "Rai Sahra" and further calls the Langahs as [[Afghan (ethnonym)|Afghans]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Jackson |first1=Peter |author-link=Peter Jackson (historian) |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lt2tqOpVRKgC&dq=langahs+afghan&pg=PA323 |title=The Delhi Sultanate: A Political and Military History |date=2003 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-52154329-3 |pages=323 |quote=...subsequently supplanted by the Afghan dynasty of the Langāhs.}}</ref><ref name=":0" /> Dr. Mahmudal Hasan Siddiqi, however, discredits this account for Langahs since their mention is absent in the Afghan genealogies.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=Siddiqi |first=Dr. Mahmudul Hasan |title=History of the Arghuns and Tarkhans of Sindh (1507 –1593) |date=2014 |publisher=Endowment Fund Trust For Preservation Of The Heritage Of Sindh |isbn=978-969-9860-06-5 |edition=2nd |location=Karachi |pages=220–225 |chapter=Appendix H: The Langāhs of Multan |orig-date=1972}} Originally a doctoral dissertation presented at the [[University of Manchester]] in 1958, first published by the [[University of Sindh]] in 1972 (see Preface, pp. ix–xiii)</ref> He also notes that the local traditions of Multan ascribe a [[Rajput]] origins to Langahs, although contemporary Langahs are classed as [[Jats]] now.<ref name=":1" /> In addition to Firishta, [[Nizamuddin Ahmad|Nizamuddin]], [[Masum Shah|Mir Ma'sum]], [[Abbas Sarwani]] and [[Sujan Rai Bhandari|Sujan Rai]] also call the dynasty's founder as Rai Sahra (or Sehra), however, provide no further information regarding his ethnic origins.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":2">{{cite thesis |author=Islam |first=Arshad |title=History of Sind During Pre-Mughal Period |publisher=Aligarh Muslim University |oclc=957003202 |pages=122–129 |chapter=Sind Under the Delhi Sultanate |year=1990}}</ref> According to the historian Dr. Hameed-ud-Din the title [[Rai (title)|Rai]] prefixed to Sahra's name suggests a Rajput origin.<ref name=":0" />

The place of origins for Langah sultans is similarly disputed, with Siwi (modern [[Sibi]]) and Rapar in [[Mailsi Tehsil|Mailsi]] near Multan being usually suggested.<ref name=":0"/> According to Siddiqi, it seems more than probable that Langahs were initially settled near Rapar, and their association with Siwi is probably a transcription error as they have never been noticed near it.<ref name=":1" />

== History ==
{{See also|Battle of Multan (1475)}}
After the invasion of Emir [[Timur]] in 1398, the [[Delhi Sultanate]] greatly weakened and the city of [[Multan]] became independent of the Sultanate of Delhi. The inhabitants chose Shaikh Yousaf Qureshi, a descendant of the famous Sufi [[Baha-ud-din Zakariya]], as ruler in 1438. He was a mild and inexperienced ruler. In 1445, [[Rai Sahra Langah|Rai Sahra]], chief of the Langah, attacked the city at night with the help of his tribesmen, arrested Sheikh Yousaf and proclaimed himself sultan. In this way Multan passed to the Langah clan,<ref name="UNESCO">{{cite book |last1=Baloch |first1=N. A. |author-link1=Nabi Bakhsh Baloch|date=1998 |title=The Regions of Sind, Baluchistan, Multan and Kashmir: The Historical, Social and Economic Setting |page=305 |chapter=The Rulers of Sind, Baluchistan and Multan (750–1500)|series= History of Civilizations of Central Asia |volume=IV |publisher=UNESCO |isbn=978-92-3-103467-1|url=https://en.unesco.org/silkroad/sites/silkroad/files/knowledge-bank-article/vol_IVa%20silk%20road_the%20regions%20of%20sind,%20baluchistan,%20multan%20and%20kashmir.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161028131445/https://en.unesco.org/silkroad/sites/silkroad/files/knowledge-bank-article/vol_IVa%20silk%20road_the%20regions%20of%20sind,%20baluchistan,%20multan%20and%20kashmir.pdf |archive-date=28 October 2016}}</ref> thus establishing the Langah Sultanate.<ref name="UNESCO" /> The reign of [[Husseyn Langah I|Sultan Husayn I]], who ruled from 1469 to 1498, is considered to be the most illustrious of the Langah sultans.<ref name="UNESCO" /> Multan experienced prosperity during this time, and a large number of Baloch settlers arrived in the city at the invitation of Shah Husayn.<ref name="UNESCO" /> Shah Husayn successfully repulsed attempted invasion by the Delhi sultans led by Tatar Khan and [[Rukunuddin Barbak Shah|Barbak Shah]].<ref name="UNESCO" /> He fought off attempts to reinstall Shiekh Yousaf, who had taken refuge under Delhi sultans. Eventually, he signed a peace treaty with [[Sikandar Khan Lodi|Sikandar Lodi]] and abdicated in the favour of his son. His successor, Budhan Khan, who assumed the title Sultan Mahmud Shah I, inherited the sultanate stretched encompassing the neighbouring regions, including the cities of [[Chiniot]] and [[Shorkot]].<ref name="UNESCO" /> During the rule of the Langah, a large number of [[Baloch people|Baloch tribes]] were allowed to settle in the Derajaat Border in turn for military service.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Hussain |first1=J |title=A History of the Peoples of Pakistan: Towards Independence |date=1997 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=9780195778199 |page=167 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oKDjAAAAMAAJ&q=langah+sultanate+baloch}}</ref><ref name="UNESCO"/>
===Decline===
{{See also|Sindh–Multan War}}
{{South Asia in 1525 CE||Location of the Langah Sultanate and neighbouring South Asian polities circa 1525 CE, on the eve of the establishment of the [[Mughal Empire]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Schwartzberg |first1=Joseph E. |title=A Historical atlas of South Asia |date=1978 |publisher=University of Chicago Press |location=Chicago |pages=39, 147 |isbn=0226742210 |url=https://dsal.uchicago.edu/reference/schwartzberg/pager.html?object=076 |archive-date=2022-02-06 |access-date=2022-04-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220206065341/https://dsal.uchicago.edu/reference/schwartzberg/pager.html?object=076 |url-status=dead }}</ref>|{{Annotation|61|56|[[File:Long Rectangle (plain).png|41px]]}}}}
[[Husseyn Langah I|Sultan Husayn I]] being unable to hold his trans-Indus possessions, assigned the region around [[Dera Ismail Khan]] to Sardar [[Malik Sohrab Dodai]] in 1469 or 1471 and appointed him as "Jagirdar".<ref name="UNESCO"/> During the reign of Mahmud Langah, his Vizier rebelled and declared himself independent ruler of Sorkot. The city was invaded during the reign of Sultan Husseyn II by ruler Shah Husayn of the [[Arghun dynasty]], probably at [[Babur]]'s insistence.<ref name="UNESCO" /> [[Multan]] fell in 1528 after an extended siege and Shah Husayn appointed his son Mirza Askari as governor of the city, assisted by Langar Khan, one of the powerful Amirs of Sultan Mahmud Langah I. Shortly after Shah Husayn departed Multan for [[Thatta]], however, the governor was thrown out of the city. The rebels under Sultan Mahmud II administered Multan for a time independently<ref>Davies, pp. 627-8</ref> but in 1541, [[Sher Shah Suri]] captured Multan, and the sultanate ended.<ref name="Chandra">{{cite book|last1=Chandra|first1=Chandra|title=Medieval India: From Sultanat to the Mughals Part – II|date=2005|publisher=Har-Anand Publications|isbn=9788124110669}}</ref>

===Culture===
The position of [[Multan]] as trans-regional mercantile centre for trade with the Islamic world remained dominant during the sultanate era. During their reign, Multan became the principle caravan route between [[Qandahar]] and [[Delhi]]. The extent of Multan's influence is also reflected in the construction of the [[Multani Caravanserai]] in [[Baku]], [[Azerbaijan]] — which was built in the 15th century to house Multani merchants visiting the city.<ref name="Amity">{{cite book|title=Amity, Volumes 1-3|date=1963|publisher=Indo-Soviet Cultural Society|page=135|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=40EtAQAAMAAJ&q=multani+caravanserai|access-date=12 April 2017}}</ref> Legal records from the Uzbek city of [[Bukhara]] note that Multani merchants settled and owned land in the city in the late 1550s.<ref name="Levi">{{cite news|last1=Levi|first1=Scott|title=Caravans: Punjabi Khatri Merchants on the Silk Road|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-uviBQAAQBAJ&q=multan&pg=PT7|access-date=12 April 2017|agency=Penguin UK|date=2016|publisher=Penguin UK |isbn=9789351189169}}</ref>

[[File:Ghazi khan tomb DG khan.jpg|thumb|right|Tomb of [[Ghazi Khan]], the Baloch Governor of [[Derajat]], appointed by Langah rulers.]]
Another important feature of this era was migration of [[Baloch people|Baloch]] tribes and their settling in South Punjab.<ref name="UNESCO" /> They soon became core of the military<ref name="UNESCO"/> and held political positions in regions like [[Derajat]].

Langahs are not known to have issued any coins, and no building built by the Langahs has survived.<ref name=Umar>{{Cite book |last=K̲h̲ān |first=ʻUmar Kamāl |title=Multān, Langah daur men̲: Tārīk̲h̲-i Multān ke sāl 1437 se 1543 tak ke tārīk̲h̲ī vāqiʻāt |publisher=Bazm-i S̲aqāfat |year=1995 |location=Multān |pages=140–141 |language=Ur |oclc=604063289}}</ref> However, several mausolea belonging to the Langah period are still extant, including those of [[tomb of Bibi Jawindi|Bibi Jawindi]] (built {{circa|1494}}, Uch), [[tomb of Tahir Khan Nahar|Tahir Khan Nahar]] (built late 15th century, [[Sitpur]]) and [[Ghazi Khan|Ghazi Khan Mirani]] (built {{circa|1495}}, Dera Ghazi Khan), among others.<ref name=Umar/>

===Ministers===
Following is the list of known ministers of Langah Sultanate:
* Imadul Mulk (1469–1499), he was Vizier of [[Husseyn Langah I]]. He rebelled against him and was imprisoned.
* Jam Bayzid (1499–1503), he was Vizier of Mahmud Langah I. Due to his strained relations with the Sultan, he rebelled and declared himself independent ruler of Sorkot.<ref name=":2"/>
* Shuja Bukhari (1503–1518), He was Vizier of Mahmud Langah.
* Langar Khan (1518–1526), He was last Vizier of Sultanate. He assisted [[Arghun Dynasty|Shah Hussain Arghun]] to conquer Multan.

== Rulers ==
{| style="width:100%;" class="wikitable"
! style="background:#f0dc88; width:17%;"| Titular Name(s)
! style="background:#f0dc88; width:17%;"| Personal Name
! style="background:#f0dc88; width:7%;"| Reign
|-
| style="text-align:center;"|''Sultan Qutbu'd-Din Mahmud I'' {{Nastaliq|سلطان قطب الدین محمود اول}}
| style="text-align:center;"| [[Rai Sahra Langah]] {{Nastaliq|رای سهره لنگاہ}}
| style="text-align:center;"|1445 – 1469
|-
| style="text-align:center;"|''Sultan Husseyn I'' {{Nastaliq|سلطان حسین اول}}
| style="text-align:center;"| [[Husseyn Langah I|Husseyn Shah Langah]] {{Nastaliq|حسین لنگاه}}
| style="text-align:center;"|1469 – 1498
|-
| style="text-align:center;"|''Sultan Feroz'' {{Nastaliq|سلطان فیروز}}
| style="text-align:center;"| Feroz Khan Langah {{Nastaliq|فیروز خان لنگاه}}
| style="text-align:center;"|1498 – 1499
|-
| style="text-align:center;"|''Sultan Husseyn I'' {{Nastaliq|سلطان حسین اول}}
| style="text-align:center;"| [[Husseyn Langah I|Husseyn Shah Langah]] {{Nastaliq|حسین لنگاه}}
| style="text-align:center;"|1499 – 29 August 1502
|-
| style="text-align:center;"|''Sultan Mahmud II'' {{Nastaliq|سلطان محمود دوم}}
| style="text-align:center;"| Budha Khan Langah {{Nastaliq|بدھا خان لنگاہ}}
| style="text-align:center;"|30 August 1502 – 1525
|-
| style="text-align:center;|''Sultan Husseyn II'' {{Nastaliq|سلطان حسین دوم}}
| style="text-align:center;"| Husseyn Langah {{Nastaliq|حسین لنگاه}}
| style="text-align:center;"|1525 – 1527
|-
| style="text-align:center;"|''Sultan Lashkar'' {{Nastaliq|سلطان لشکر}}
| style="text-align:center;"| Lashkar Khan Langah {{Nastaliq|لشکر خان لنگاه}}
| style="text-align:center;"|1527 – 1530
|-
|}

==See also==
*[[History of Multan]]
*[[History of Punjab]]
*[[Emirate of Multan]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Langah Sultanate}}
[[Category:History of Punjab]]
[[Category:Medieval Indian monarchies]]
[[Category:States and territories established in 1445]]
[[Category:States and territories disestablished in 1530]]
[[Category:History of Multan]]
[[Category:Dynasties of Pakistan]]

Langah Sultanate - Revision history

Ronny14Z58 at 06:34, 8 January 2026