Sher Shah Suri and Afghan Empire – 1540-55 AD
- His real name was Farid
- He was born to Hasan a Jagirdar of Sasharam and Hajipur
- Ibrahim Lodhi transferred his jagir to him
- He joined Babar Khan Lohanis service and then appointed as the Deputy Governor of Bihar
- He usurped the throne as Hazarat-i-Ala
- He gained Chunar by marrying a widow Lad Malika
Battle of Chausa
- He captured Chausa from Humayun in 1539
- He assumed the title of Shershah as Emperor
- He also issued coins and Khutba was read in his name
- The whole area from Bengal to Banaras was under his empire
Battle of Kannauj
He also annexed Kannauj after defeating Humayun
Battle of Samel
Defeated Rajput forces of Marwar in 1544
The campaign of Bundelkhand was the last campaign of his life
Sher Shah got burned due to fire in the bundle of rockets in 1545.
Administration
- Shershah divided his whole empire into 47 divisions called Sarkars and further into smaller Parganas.
- Paragana composed of number of village and was under the charge of Shiqdar who looked after the law the order and general administration of the Pargana
- The Amil or Munsif looked after the collection of land revenue in the Pargana
- Civil cases of the Pargana was headed by Amin and criminal cases by a Qazi or Mini-i-Adal
- He introduced the principle of local responsibility for local crimes
Revenue system
Land was measured using the Sikandari-gaz one third of the average produce was fixed as tax
The peasant was given a Patta and Qabuliyat, which fixed the peasants rights and taxes were directly collected
He introduced silver rupiya
He built Purana Qila along with Grand Trunk
He also built his tomb at Sasaram in Bihar
Malik – Muhammad Jayasi wrote Padmavat during his reign