The Jaunpur Sultanate () was a late medieval Indian Muslim state which ruled over much of what is now the Indian states of

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh ( ; UP) is a States and union territories of India, state in North India, northern India. With over 241 million inhabitants, it is the List of states and union territories of India by population, most populated state in In ...

and

Bihar Bihar ( ) is a states and union territories of India, state in Eastern India. It is the list of states and union territories of India by population, second largest state by population, the List of states and union territories of India by are ...

and southern

Nepal Nepal, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mainly situated in the Himalayas, but also includes parts of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China Ch ...

between 1394 and 1494. It was founded in 1394 by Khwajah-i-Jahan Malik Sarwar, a eunuch slave and former wazir of Sultan Nasiruddin Muhammad Shah IV Tughluq, amidst the disintegration of the

Delhi Sultanate The Delhi Sultanate or the Sultanate of Delhi was a Medieval India, late medieval empire primarily based in Delhi that stretched over large parts of the Indian subcontinent for more than three centuries.

Tughlaq dynasty The Tughlaq dynasty (also known as the Tughluq or Tughluk dynasty; ) was the third dynasty to rule over the Delhi Sultanate in medieval India. Its reign started in 1320 in Delhi when Ghazi Malik assumed the throne under the title of Ghiyath ...

. Centred in Jaunpur, the Sultanate extended authority over a large part of the

Ganges The Ganges ( ; in India: Ganga, ; in Bangladesh: Padma, ). "The Ganges Basin, known in India as the Ganga and in Bangladesh as the Padma, is an international which goes through India, Bangladesh, Nepal and China." is a trans-boundary rive ...

Yamuna The Yamuna (; ) is the second-largest tributary river of the Ganges by discharge and the longest tributary in India. Originating from the Yamunotri Glacier at a height of about on the southwestern slopes of Bandarpunch peaks of the Low ...

Doab ''Doab'' () is a term used in South Asia Quote: "Originally and chiefly in South Asia: (the name of) a strip or narrow tract of land between two rivers; spec. (with) the area between the rivers Ganges and Jumna in northern India." for the tract ...

. It reached its greatest height under the rule of Sultan Ibrahim Shah, who also vastly contributed to the development of Islamic education in the Sultanate. In 1494, Sultan Hussain Shah Sharqi was defeated by the forces of the Afghan ruler

Bahlul Lodi Bahlul Khan Lodi (; died 12 July 1489) was the chief of the Afghan Lodi tribe. He was the founder of the Lodi dynasty from the Delhi Sultanate, upon the abdication of the last claimant from the previous Sayyid rule. Bahlul became Sultan of the ...

, Sultan of the

Lodi dynasty The Lodi dynasty was an Afghan royal family that ruled Sultanate of Delhi from 1451 to 1526. It was the fifth and final dynasty of the Delhi Sultanate, and was founded by Bahlul Lodi when he replaced the Sayyid dynasty. Bahlul Lodi Followin ...

of the

at Benares at which point Hussain fled to

Kahalgaon Kahalgaon (formerly known as Colgong during British rule) is a municipality town and one of 3 sub-divisions of Bhagalpur District in the state of Bihar, India. It is located close to the Vikramashila, that was once a famous centre of Buddhi ...

in modern-day

where the

Sultan of Bengal The Bengal Sultanate (Middle Bengali: , Classical Persian: ) was a Post-classical history, late medieval sultanate based in the Bengal region in the eastern South Asia between the 14th and 16th century. It was the dominant power of the Ganges- ...

assigned him a

pargana Pargana or parganah, also spelt pergunnah, equivalent to Mohallah as a subunit of Subah (Suba), was a type of former administrative division in the Indian subcontinent during the time of the Delhi Sultanate, Mughal and British Colonial empire ...

. Here he was allowed to mint his own coins and was promised help from Bengal in recovering his kingdom. He died in 1505.

Origin

The Sharqi dynasty was founded by

Malik Sarwar Sultan-ush-Sharq Atabak-i-Azam Malik Sarwar was the first sultan of the Jaunpur Sultanate and the founder of the Sharqi dynasty. Early life Malik Sarwar was an eunuch of common birth, possibly a slave of African descent, in the Delhi Sultanate. ...

, a

eunuch A eunuch ( , ) is a male who has been castration, castrated. Throughout history, castration often served a specific social function. The earliest records for intentional castration to produce eunuchs are from the Sumerian city of Lagash in the 2 ...

slave of probably African origin. He was succeeded by his adopted son, Malik Qaranfal, who was previously a Hindu slave-boy and water-bearer of Firoz Shah Tughlaq. However, according to a contemporary writer, Yahya Sarhindi, Malik Qaranfal was a member of the

Sayyid dynasty The Sayyid dynasty was the fourth dynasty of the Delhi Sultanate, with four rulers ruling from 1414 to 1451 for 37 years.See: * M. Reza Pirbha, Reconsidering Islam in a South Asian Context, , Brill * The Islamic frontier in the east: Expansion ...

. Malik Qaranfal became the next sultan with the title of Mubarak Shah. He was succeeded by his brother, Ibrahim Shah.Mahajan, V.D. (1991, reprint 2007) ''History of Medieval India, Part I'',

S.Chand S. Chand Group is an Indian publishing and education services companies, founded in 1939 and based in New Delhi. The publishing house prints books for primary, secondary and higher education sectors. It was the first company in India to get t ...

& Co., New Delhi, , pp.264-66

History

Malik Sarwar

In 1389,

received the title of ''Khwajah-i-Jahan''. In 1394, he was appointed as the governor of Jaunpur and received his title of ''Malik-us-Sharq'' from

Sultan Sultan (; ', ) is a position with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal noun ', meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it came to be use ...

Nasir-ud-Din Mahmud Shah Tughluq (1394–1413). Soon, he established himself as an independent ruler and took the title of ''Atabak-i-Azam''. He then suppressed the rebellions in Etawah, Koil and

Kanauj Kannauj ( Hindustani pronunciation: ) is an ancient city, administrative headquarters and a municipal board or Nagar Palika Parishad in Kannauj district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is located 113 km (71 mi) from Etawah, ...

. He was also able to bring under his control Kara, Awadh, Dalmau, Bahraich and South Bihar. The Rai of Jajnagar and the ruler of Lakhnauti acknowledged his authority and sent him several elephants.

War with the Ujjainiyas of Bhojpur

During the reign of Malik Sarwar, Jaunpur became embroiled in a 100-year war with the neighbouring

Ujjainiya The Ujjainiya Parmār (also spelled as Ujjaini or simply Ujjainiya) are a Rajput clan that inhabits the Bhojpur region in the state of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. They were an offshoot of the Parmara Rajputs that claims Agnivanshi descent. They ...

s of Bhojpur in modern-day

. The Ujjainiya chieftain, Raja Harraj was initially successful in the forces of Malik Sarwar however the Ujjainiyas were defeated in subsequent battles and retreated into the forests and resorted to guerrilla warfare.

Mubarak Shah

Malik Sarwar was succeeded by his adopted son Malik Qaranfal after his death, who assumed the title of ''Mubarak Shah'', ruled for three years, and issued coins in his own name. After assuming power in 1399, Mubarak Shah struck coins in his own name and the

Khutba ''Khutbah'' (, ''khuṭbah''; , ''khotbeh''; ) serves as the primary formal occasion for public preaching in the Islamic tradition. Such sermons occur regularly, as prescribed by the teachings of all legal schools. The Islamic tradition can be ...

was read in his name. During his reign, Mallu Iqbal tried to recover Jaunpur but failed. He was succeeded by his younger brother Ibrahim after he died in 1402, who took the title of ''Shams-ud-Din Ibrahim Shah''.Majumdar, R.C. (ed.) (2006). ''The Delhi Sultanate'', Mumbai: Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, pp.186-92

Ibrahim Shah

The Jaunpur Sultanate attained its greatest height under the younger brother of Mubarak Shah, who ruled as Shams ud-din Ibrahim Shah (ruled 1402–1440). To the east, his kingdom extended to Bihar, and to the west, to Kanauj; he even marched on Delhi at one point. Under the aegis of a Muslim holy man named

Nur Qutb Alam Nūr Qut̤b ʿĀlam (, ) was a 14th-century Bengali Islamic scholar, author and poet. Based in the erstwhile Bengali capital Hazrat Pandua, he was the son and successor of Alaul Haq, a senior scholar of the Bengal Sultanate. He is noted for his ...

, he threatened the

Sultanate of Bengal The Bengal Sultanate ( Middle Bengali: , Classical Persian: ) was a late medieval sultanate based in the Bengal region in the eastern South Asia between the 14th and 16th century. It was the dominant power of the Ganges-Brahmaputra Delta, ...

under

Raja Ganesha Raja Ganesha was a zamindar ruler and the first Hindu Sultan of the Bengal Sultanate, who took advantage of the weakness of the first Ilyas Shahi dynasty and seized power in Bengal. Contemporary historians of the medieval period considered him ...

. Ibrahim Shah was a patron of Islamic learning and established several colleges for this purpose. A large number of scholarly works on Islamic theology and law were produced during his reign, which include the ''Hashiah-i-Hindi'', the ''Bahar-ul-Mawwaj'' and the ''Fatwa-i-Ibrahim Shahi''. He constructed several monuments in a new regional style of architecture known as the ''Sharqi''. During his reign, Sultan Nasiruddin Mahmud Shah II Tughluq took refuge in Jaunpur to get rid of the control of Mallu Iqbal over him. But he did not treat Sultan Mahmud Shah well. As a result, his relations with the Sultan became bitter and Mahmud Shah occupied Kanauj. In 1407, he tried to recover Kanauj but failed. His attempt to conquer Bengal also failed. He was succeeded by his eldest son Mahmud Shah after his death.

Mahmud Shah Sharqi

Mahmud Shah Sharqi was successful in conquering Chunar, but failed to capture Kalpi. He also conducted campaigns against Bengal and

Odisha Odisha (), formerly Orissa (List of renamed places in India, the official name until 2011), is a States and union territories of India, state located in East India, Eastern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by ar ...

. The monarch of Odisha at that time was the legendary Kapilendra Deva Gajapati. The Odia forces defeated the Jaunpur Sultanate comprehensively. In 1452, he invaded Delhi but was defeated by

. Later, he made another attempt to conquer Delhi and marched into Etawah. Finally, he agreed to a treaty which accepted the right of Bahlul Lodi over Shamsabad. But when Bahlul tried to take possession of Shamsabad, he was opposed by the forces of Jaunpur. At this juncture, Mahmud Shah Sharqi died and he was succeeded by his son Bhikhan, who assumed the title of ''Muhammad Shah''.Mahajan, V.D. (1991, reprint 2007) ''History of Medieval India, Part I'',

& Co., New Delhi, , pp.247-49

Muhammad Shah

On assuming power in 1457, Muhammad Shah made peace with Bahlul Lodi and recognised his right over Shamsabad. He picked up a quarrel with his nobles. In 1458, after his brother Hasan was executed on his order, his other brother Hussain revolted and proclaimed himself as the sultan of Jaunpur, under the title of Hussain Shah. Muhammed Shah was soon killed by Hussain's army in Kanauj.

Hussain Shah

The last ruler Hussain Shah signed a four years' peace treaty with Bahlul Lodi in 1458. Later, in order to invade Delhi reached the banks of the

with a very large army in 1478. Sultan Bahlul Lodi tried to secure peace by offering to retain only Delhi and govern it as a vassal of Hussain Shah but he rejected the offer. As a result, Sultan Bahlul crossed the Yamuna and defeated him. Hussain Shah agreed for truce but again captured Etawah and marched towards Delhi with a huge army and he was again defeated by Bahlul Lodi. He was able to make peace this time also. In March 1479, he again arrived at the banks of Yamuna. He was again defeated by Bahlul Lodi and lost the Parganas of Kampil, Patiali, Shamsabad, Suket, Koil, Marhara and Jalesar to the advancing army of the Delhi Sultan. After the successive defeats in the battles of Senha, Rapri and Raigaon Khaga, he was finally defeated on the banks of the Rahab, after which Bahlul Lodi appointed Mubarak Khan to Jaunpur. Hussain Shah re-assembled his forces, expelled Mubarak Khan and re-occupied Jaunpur, until Bahlul drove him out again. As a result of the Sharqi's being pushed back by Bahlul Lodi's advance, the last Sharqi-dated inscriptions in the region of Uttar Pradesh are from 1476 and 1479 in

Kannauj Kannauj (Hindustani language, Hindustani pronunciation: ) is an ancient city, administrative headquarters and a municipal board or Nagar palika, Nagar Palika Parishad in Kannauj district in the Indian States and territories of India, state of Ut ...

and Jaunpur respectively while Sharqi inscriptions in

continued until 1505. He fled to

in modern-day

, where he was granted asylum by sultan

Alauddin Husain Shah Ala-ud-din Husain Shah (; ; ) was an independent late medieval Sultan of the Bengal Sultanate, who founded the Hussain Shahi dynasty. He became the ruler of Bengal after assassinating the People of Ethiopia, Abyssinian Sultan, Shamsuddin Muzaff ...

and spent his last days there. In 1486, Bahlul Lodi placed his eldest surviving son Barbak Shah Lodi on the throne of Jaunpur. It was during Hussain Shah' rule that a claimant to be the

mahdi The Mahdi () is a figure in Islamic eschatology who is believed to appear at the Eschatology, End of Times to rid the world of evil and injustice. He is said to be a descendant of Muhammad in Islam, Muhammad, and will appear shortly before Jesu ...

of all Muslims, Muhammad Jaunpuri, appeared and Hussain Shah was an admirer of him.

Military

Over the course of the fourteenth century, the Jaunpur Sultanate appeared to have been numerically superior to its neighbours when it came number of troops. It has been posited that this was because Jaunpur had many

Rajput Rājpūt (, from Sanskrit ''rājaputra'' meaning "son of a king"), also called Thākur (), is a large multi-component cluster of castes, kin bodies, and local groups, sharing social status and ideology of genealogical descent originating fro ...

vassals under the sultans who paid tribute with levies of peasant war-bands. Among the contemporary Rajput clans who were situated in the territory or the peripheries of the Jaunpur Sultans, were the Baghelas of Rewa, the Bachgotis of Sultanpur in Uttar Pardesh, Ujjainiyas of Bhojpur as well as the Tomars of Gwalior. The support of these Rajput levies were what allowed the last sultan, Hussain Shah, to continue to challenge the

Sultans of Delhi Sultan (; ', ) is a position with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal noun ', meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it came to be used ...

. One contemporary source, which may have exaggerated, advises of Juga, the chief of the Bachgoti clan of Rajputs, who is said to have assembled a huge band of army consisting of 200,000 infantry and 15,000 cavalry to support the Sultan.

Arts and architecture

The Sharqi rulers of Jaunpur were known for their patronage of learning and architecture. Jaunpur was known as the

Shiraz Shiraz (; ) is the List of largest cities of Iran, fifth-most-populous city of Iran and the capital of Fars province, which has been historically known as Pars (Sasanian province), Pars () and Persis. As of the 2016 national census, the popu ...

of India during this period. Most notable examples of Sharqi style of architecture in Jaunpur are the Atala Masjid, the Lal Darwaza Masjid and the

Jama Masjid A congregational mosque or Friday mosque (, ''masjid jāmi‘'', or simply: , ''jāmi‘''; ), or sometimes great mosque or grand mosque (, ''jāmi‘ kabir''; ), is a mosque for hosting the Friday noon prayers known as ''jumu'ah''.See: * * * * ...

. Though the foundation of the Atala Masjid was laid by Firuz Shah Tughluq in 1376, it was completed only during the rule of Ibrahim Shah in 1408. Another mosque, the Jhanjhari Masjid was also built by Ibrahim Shah in 1430. The Lal Darwaja Masjid (1450) was built during the reign of the next ruler Mahmud Shah. The Jama Masjid was built in 1470, during the rule of the last ruler Hussain Shah. File:Atala Masjid.jpg, Atala Masjid File:Entrance interior, Atala Masjid, Jaunpur.jpg, Entrance interior, Atala Masjid, Jaunpur.

Music

The last ruler Hussain Shah assumed the title of ''Gandharva'' and contributed significantly in the development of

Khayal Khyal or Khayal (ख़याल / خیال) is a major form of Hindustani classical music in the Indian subcontinent. Its name comes from a Persian language, Persian/Arabic language, Arabic word meaning "imagination". Khyal is associated with rom ...

, a genre of

Hindustani classical music Hindustani classical music is the Indian classical music, classical music of the Indian subcontinent's northern regions. It may also be called North Indian classical music or ''Uttar Bhartiya shastriya sangeet''. The term ''shastriya sangeet'' ...

. He also composed several new

raga A raga ( ; , ; ) is a melodic framework for improvisation in Indian classical music akin to a musical mode, melodic mode. It is central to classical Indian music. Each raga consists of an array of melodic structures with musical motifs; and, fro ...

s (melodies). Most notable among these are ', ', ', ''Hussaini-'' or ' (presently known as ''Jaunpuri'') and ''Jaunpuri-basant''.

Coinage

The coin hoards of the Jaunpur Sultan's have mainly been found in the territory of the modern states of

and

in India indicating the circulation of Sharqi coins in these regions. The first two rulers of the Sultanate, Malik Sarwar and Mubarak Shah did not declare their independence from the

hence neither struck coins in their own name. Ibrahim Shah of Jaunpur was the first of the sultans to issue his own coins when he came to rule in 1402. The known coins were issued in

gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

silver Silver is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag () and atomic number 47. A soft, whitish-gray, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, and reflectivity of any metal. ...

and

copper Copper is a chemical element; it has symbol Cu (from Latin ) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkish-orang ...

. On the obverse of the coins is written: "''Fi zaman al-Imam nai'b Amir al-mominin Abulfath khulidat Khilafatahu''" English translation: "''In the time of the Imam, the Deputy of the Commander of the faithful, the father of victory, may the caliphate perpetuate''". His successors, Mahmud Shah and Hussain Shah also continued to mint coins in their own names with billon and

List of Sharqi rulers

Family tree

Notes

External links

Coin Gallery - Jaunpur SultanatHistory of Jaunpur Sultanate
{{Devipatan division topics Shia dynasties Jaunpur Sultanate States and territories disestablished in 1493