Muzaffarids (Gujarat) Explained

The Muzaffarid dynasty, also called the Muzaffarids, and sometimes, the Ahmedabad dynasty or the Ahmad Shahis, ruled the Sultanate of Gujarat in western India from 1391 to 1583. The founder of the dynasty was Zafar Khan (later Muzaffar Shah I) who was governor of Gujarat under the Delhi Sultanate. When the Sultanate was weakened by the sacking of Delhi by Timur in 1398, and Zafar Khan took the opportunity to establish himself as sultan of an independent Gujarat. His Grand son, Ahmed Shah I established the capital at Ahmedabad.^[1] The dynasty ruled for almost 200 years, until the conquest of Gujarat by the Mughal Empire in 1572.^[2] The sultanate reached its peak of expansion under Mahmud Begada, reaching east into Malwa and west to the Gulf of Kutch.^[3]

Origins

The Muzaffarid dynasty was founded by Zafar Khan. He has been described to be of indigenous origins by scholars. There have been various claims about their origin from medieval to modern historians.

According to medieval sources, Zafar Khan was the son of Sahāran (also known as Wajīh-ul-Mulk), a local notable and landholder. The 16th-century Gujarati chronicler Sikandar Ibn Manjhu, author of the Mirʾāt-i-Sikandarī, records that the Tanks and Khatris were originally one community, later separated when the former were expelled due to their fondness for drinking. On the basis of Sikandar’s account, several modern historians identify Zafar Khan’s family as belonging to the Tank subdivision of the Khatri caste from Southern Punjab.^{[4] [5] [6]}

Zafar Khan's father Saharan, has been variously described as a Chaudhary who was an agriculturist by profession of a caste lower in traditional hierarchy.^{[7] [8]} . Some historians such as Aparna Kapadia offer another account, asserting that Sahāran (also spelled Sadhāran), the father of Zafar Khan, was a Tank Rajput who originally lived in Thanesar in present-day Haryana.^[9] Some modern writers have also proposed an association between Zafar Khan’s family and the Kalal caste, traditionally linked with wine-selling.^{[10] [11]}

Zafar Khan adopted the name Wajih-ul-Mulk. Wajih-ul-Mulk and his brother were influential Chaudharis who were agriculturists by profession but could also muster thousands of fighting men on their call.^[12] His Hindu forebears claimed descent from Rāmachandra, who the Hindus worshipped as God. Such genealogies were fabricated to glorify royalty and were generally not accepted.^[13] When the Sultanate was weakened by the sacking of Delhi by Timur in 1398, and Zafar Khan took the opportunity to establish himself as sultan of an independent Gujarat. His grand son, Ahmed Shah I established the capital at Ahmedabad.^[1] The dynasty ruled for almost 200 years, until the conquest of Gujarat by the Mughal Empire in 1572.^[2] The sultanate reached its peak of expansion under Mahmud Begada, reaching east into Malwa and west to the Gulf of Kutch.^[3]

Sultans of Gujarat Sultanate

Genealogy of House of Muzaffar

See also

• List of Sunni Muslim dynasties

Notes and References

1. Book: Gazetteer of the Bombay Presidency: Ahmedabad. 1879. Government Central Press. 249.
2. Book: Sen, Sailendra . A Textbook of Medieval Indian History . Primus Books . 2013 . 978-9-38060-734-4 . 114–115.
3. Book: Sudipta Mitra. Gir Forest and the Saga of the Asiatic Lion. 2005. Indus Publishing. 978-81-7387-183-2. 14.
4. Book: Misra, Satish Chandra . Rise of Muslim Power in Gujarat: History of Gujarat 1298-1442 . May 1995 . Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers Pvt. Limited . 978-81-215-0169-9 . 138 . en . In the very beginning, Sikandar writes that the Tanks and Khatris were brothers and that their customs and practices resembled very greatly, yet the former were expelled by the latter due to their fondness for drinking; and since that time, they came to be known as Tank or expelled.
5. • Book: Wink, André . Indo-Islamic society: 14th - 15th centuries . 2003 . BRILL . 978-90-04-13561-1 . 143 . en . Similarly, Zaffar Khan Muzaffar, the first independent ruler of Gujarat was not a foreign muslim but a Khatri convert, of low subdivision called Tank..
   • Book: Khan, Iqtidar Alam . Historical Dictionary of Medieval India . 25 April 2008 . Scarecrow Press . 978-0-8108-5503-8 . 107 . en . The founder of the Gujarat Sultanate he was a convert from a sect of Hindu Khatris known as Tanks..
   • Book: Misra, S. C. (Satish Chandra) . The rise of Muslim power in Gujarat; a history of Gujarat from 1298 to 1442 . 1963 . New York, Asia Pub. House . Internet Archive . 137 . Zafar Khan was not a foreign muslim. He was a convert to Islam from a sect of the Khatris known as Tank..
   • Book: Khan, Iqtidar Alam . Gunpowder and Firearms: Warfare in Medieval India . 2004 . Oxford University Press . 978-0-19-566526-0 . 57 . en . Zafar Khan (entitled Muzaffar Shah) himself was a convert to Islam from a sub-caste of the Khatris known as Tank..
6. Book: Wink, André . Indo-Islamic society: 14th - 15th centuries . 2003 . BRILL . 978-90-04-13561-1 . 143 . en . Similarly, Zaffar Khan Muzaffar, the first independent ruler of Gujarat was not a foreign muslim but a Khatri convert, of a low subdivision called the Tank, originally from Southern Punjab.
7. Web site: The Rise of Muslim Power in Gujarat. A history of Gujarat from 1298 to 1442. [With a map.] WorldCat.org ]. 2023-02-24 . www.worldcat.org . 138 . en . The two brothers were chaudharis of a rather numerous agrarian community, tilling the soil, not high in the caste hierarchy but not without strength in the neighborhood.
8. Book: The Wonder That Was India. 69. Rizvi . S.A.A. 1987. Allied Publishers. The independent kingdom of Gujarat was founded by Zafar Khan, son of Sadharan, a Jat convert to Islam. . 9788184245684 .
9. Book: Kapadia, Aparna . Gujarat: The Long Fifteenth Century and the Making of a Region . 2018-05-16 . Cambridge University Press . 978-1-107-15331-8 . en.
10. Book: Pawar, Kiran . Women in Indian History: Social, Economic, Political and Cultural Perspectives . 1996 . Vision & Venture . 978-81-86769-01-0 . en.
11. Book: Siddiqi, Iqtidar Husain . Islam and Muslims in South Asia: Historical Perspective . 1987 . Adam Publishers & Distributors . en.
12. Web site: The Rise of Muslim Power in Gujarat. A history of Gujarat from 1298 to 1442. [With a map.] WorldCat.org ]. 2023-02-24 . www.worldcat.org . 138 . en . The two brothers were chaudharis of a rather numerous agrarian community, tilling the soil, not high in the caste hierarchy but not without strength in the neighborhood.
13. Book: Chandra., MISRA, Satish . The Rise of Muslim Power in Gujarat. A history of Gujarat from 1298 to 1442. [With a map.]. . 1963 . London; Bombay printed . 137 . 752803447.
14. The new Islamic dynasties: a chronological and genealogical manual New Edinburgh Islamic Surveys Series; Author:Clifford Edmund Bosworth,
15. Web site: Archived copy . 2011-08-21 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180714022016/https://persian.packhum.org/persian/main?url=pf%3Ffile%3D00702050%26ct%3D0 . 2018-07-14 . dead .
16. Web site: Archived copy . 2011-08-21 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160305011605/http://persian.packhum.org/persian/main?url=pf%3Ffile%3D00701023&ct=151&rqs=256&rqs=436&rqs=514&rqs=601&rqs=734 . 2016-03-05 . dead .