Sher Shah Suri: The Conquest of Malwa and the quelling of an unborn rebellion

The conquest of Malwa in Sher Shah's hands is probably one of the most controversial takeovers in history. The divided opinion of historians regarding this event still sparks debate.

Malwa region. Image source: DNA India

The journey of a commoner ‘Farid’ to become the ‘Sher Shah’, the supreme leader of North India and widely feared in the South, is hard to miss in the books of history. Sher Shah is credited with establishing the second Afghan rule in India after almost 14 years of Mughal domination. The kind of controversy that his conquest of the Rajputana caused was not merely due to his military strength.

If one is familiar with Sher Shah’s history of rampant conquest, then one will notice that the overtaking of Malwa in 1542, A.D., was not only a strategic political move on Sher Shah’s part but also a cunning approach to avenge the death of his son, Qutb Khan, who lost his life because the ruler of Malwa refused to help him during the military struggle of 1540. However, when viewed from a political perspective, it was also an effective move to quell the Rajput rebellion and establish a secure rule in Malwa and the surrounding territories.

In 1540, the governor of Malwa, Mallu Khan, who had assumed the title of Qadir Shah refused to assist Sher Shah’s son in his battle against Humayun. This not only resulted in the party’s loss in the battle of Kalpi but also the death of Qutb Khan. Moreover, the governor had refused to pay homage to Sher Shah when he overtook the rule of Delhi from Humayun, the act of defiance on the governor’s part in the military front, further estranged Malwa from the Sur kingdom. To add fuel to the fire, Sher Shah seemed to have discovered a possibility of Malwa being taken by Marwar’s ruler, Mahadeva, or possibly even Humayun, therefore to revive himself from a politically vulnerable situation, the most effective method was to conquer Malwa before any move was made by his competitors.

On his way to capture Malwa, Sher Shah managed to conquer Gwalior as well and by the time he reached Sarangpur, Qadir Shah had already surrendered to him. Sher Shah intended to offer him the position of The Jagir of Kalpi but Qadir Shah took to heel to Gujurat out of fear of being killed. Sujaat Khan is recorded to have taken up the position of the governor of Malwa after this historical event and thus, Sher Shah managed to maintain the integrity of his kingdom.

While referencing Sher Shah in comparison to the greatest ruler of the Mughal empire Professor Kaliranjan Qanung commented-

“His reign was short, but its importance was almost as great as Akbar’s rule of half a century.”

Even though the throne of Delhi has seen thousands of illegitimate rules and conquests, there are only a few rulers who can be remembered for their wit and valour equally, Sher Shah is one of them. Regardless of his humble origins, he managed to write his destiny and withstood the challenges that come with holding the title of ‘sultan’.

India under Sher Shah Suri (Image source: wikimedia.org)