Bihar during the Sultanate Period

• In the late 12th and early 13th century, Ibn Bakhtiyar Khilji, an assistant to the Turkish general Malik Hussamuddin, made a successful campaign east of the Karmnasha River in Bihar.
• At the time of Bakhtiyar Khilji’s campaign, the ruler of Sena dynasty was Laxman Sen and the ruler of Pala dynasty was Indra Pradyumnapala.
• The real credit for the establishment of Turkish power in Bihar goes to Ibne Bakhtiyar Khilji.
• The most important victory of the Turks in Bihar was the victory of Bakhtiyar Khilji at Odantapuri (modern Biharsharif). He achieved this victory in 1198 AD.
• Bakhtiyar Khilji destroyed the Nalanda University with the help of the opponents of Buddhism and established the city of Bakhtiyarpur.
• Bakhtiyar Khilji invaded Nadia (Bengal) in 1203-04 AD, which was the capital of Lakshman Sen, the ruler of the Sena dynasty. Bakhtiyar Khilji established his capital at
• In the state of his illness, Alimardan, an officer of Bakhtiyar Khilji, killed him and buried his dead body in Imadpur locality of Bihar Sharif.
• Bakhtiyar Khilji is also known by the nickname ‘Ghazi Ikhtiyar’.

Slave Dynasty

• Muhammad Ghori granted the aqta to Qutbuddin Aibak in 1191 AD. Iltutmish’s son Nasiruddin Mahmud organized Awadh, Bihar and Lakhnauti as a single administrative unit and ruled from 1227 AD to 1229 AD.
• Iltutmish was the first Sultan to bring Bihar under Delhi Sultanate.
• During the reign of Balban, the region of Gaya was under Delhi, which is described in the Gaya Prashasti of King Vanraj of Gaya.
• Tughril Khan, the ruler of Lakhnauti, accepted Balban’s submission, but rebelled in 1279-80 AD.

Khilji Dynasty

• Jalaluddin Khilji became the Sultan of Delhi in 1290 and the rule of the Khilji dynasty
• In 1297 AD, Alauddin sent Sheikh Mohammad Ismail to Darbhanga, but
• Raja Shukra Singh defeated this army.
• Alauddin’s famous general Zafar Khan was killed fighting against the Mongols.
• The Khalsa lands developed on a greater scale during the reign of Alauddin Khilji.
• The Jabavit relates to state law.
• Alauddin Khilji appointed Malik Kafur to conquer the South.
• Till the time of the Khilji dynasty, the plains south of the river Ganges in Bihar were also dominated by the Turks, but during the Tughlaq period, the Delhi Sultanate had a decisive supremacy over Bihar.
• Some coins of the time of Khilji dynasty have been received from Shahpur (Bhojpur).

Tughlaq Dynasty

• Biharsharif (Nalanda) was the capital of Bihar during the Tughlaq period.
• Ghiyasuddin Tughlaq defeated Hari Singh, the Carnatic ruler of Mithila and Muhammad bin Tughlaq merged Bihar with the Delhi Sultanate.
• A fort and Jama Masjid were built in Darbhanga during the time of Mohammad bin Tughlaq.
• Muhammad bin Tughlaq moved his capital from Delhi to Devagiri (Daulatabad-Maharashtra) and renamed Devagiri as Daulatabad. He again moved his capital from Daulatabad to Delhi, for this reason he is also called a wonderful mixture of contradictions and a crazy or mad emperor.
• Muhammad bin Tughlaq changed the name of Darbhanga to Tughlaqpur.
• In the 14th century, Firoz Shah Tughlaq established a new dynasty by taking over Tirhut. This dynasty is called Vainwar dynasty or Anhilwad dynasty.
• Dar ul Shafa was a charitable hospital established by Firoz Tughlaq.
• Firoz Tughlaq tried to solve the problem of unemployment by opening employment offices and by appointing as many people as possible according to the quality and ability of each person.
• Highest number of slaves were present in the court of Firoz Tughlaq. A separate department ‘Diwan-i-Bandgan’ was formed to take care of the slaves.
• Biharsharif was the main center of Buddhism. Mahavihara of Odantapuri was located here. Along with this, many Buddhist Viharas were located in this area, due to which the Turks named this city as Vihara which later became Bihar. The details of administrative units etc. of this time are found in Minhaj Us Siraj’s composition Tabaqat e Nasri.
• Many inscriptions of Firoz Shah Tughlaq have been found in the areas of Patna and Gaya.
• Inscriptions of some jain temples at Rajgir mention donations made to them by
• It is possible to know the history of Tughlaq rule in Bihar from the works like Malfujat (collection of sayings) and Manaqibul Asafiya of Sufi saint Hazrat Sharfuddin Yahya Maneri.
• There is also a mention of Firoz Shah Tughlaq meeting the famous saint Sheikh Ahmed Chirmposh of Bihar in Sirate Firozshahi.

Note: Biharsharif was the capital of Bihar during the Tughlaq period

Lodi Dynasty

• The first Afghan ruler of India was Bahlol Lodi.
• It is known from the Bihar inscription of Sikandar Lodi that in 1495-96, after defeating the ruler of Jaunpur Hussain Shah Sharqi, he appointed Dariya Khan Nuhani as the administrator of Bihar.
• The position of the Nuhani Afghans in Bihar was strong during the period of the Lodi rulers.
• After the first battle of Panipat (1526 AD), Bahar Khan assumed the name of Sultan Mohammad Shah Nuhani and established independent power in Bihar. In this, he was supported by the main chieftains of Nuhani and Farmuli tribes.
• Sultan Mohammed defeated the army of Ibrahim Lodi in the battle of
• Sultan Mohammad died in 1528 AD and his minor son Jalaluddin alias Jalal Khan was appointed ruler, while Farid Khan alias Sher Khan was appointed his guardian. Sher Khan had foiled the Bihar invasion attempt of Nusrat Shah, the ruler of Bengal.