Sher Shah Suri, founder of The Suri Empire
Born as Farid Khan on 1486 in Sasaram, Bihar.
Died at the age of 59 on May 22, 1545, at Kalinjar Fort in an accident.
Spouse/Ex-: Rani Shah
Father: Hasan Khan Sur
Siblings: Nizam Khan
Children: Adil Khan, Islam Shah Suri
His arch foe, Humayun, referred to him as “Ustad-I-Badshahan”, a teacher of kings.
Ten Achievements of Sher Shah Suri:
1. Sher Shah Suri rebuilt (Sadak-e-Azam) the Grand Trunk road, which existed during the Maurya Empire, extending from the mouth of the Ganges to the north-western frontier of the Empire. The purpose behind building the road was to link together the remote provinces of his vast empire for administrative and military reasons. A part from the aforementioned road he constructed following famous roads connecting different cities: (i)From Agra to Jodhpur and the Chittor fort; (ii) From Agra to Burhanpur; (iii) From Lahore to Multan.
History of ROHTAS GARH FORT, BIHAR
2. Sher Shah Suri also built several monuments including Rohtas Fort, Sher Shah Suri Masjid in Patna, and Qila-i-Kuhna mosque at Purana Qila, Delhi
3. He also built a new city Bhera of Pakistan in 1545.
4. Sher Shah Suri was not only a courageous warrior but also an able administrator. He introduced several reforms and reorganized the civil and administrative structures. He divided the empire into a number of administrative units known as Sarkars. Each Sarkar was again subdivided into a number of Parganas. He appointed an executive and a judicial officer for each one of these administrative units.
Purana Qila; Oldest fort in Delhi.
5. He caused a survey of the lands to be made and fixed the revenue at one-fourth of the produce of the soil. He allowed the revenue to be paid either in kind or in cash. Sher Shah Suri introduced the system of granting Kabuliyat and Patta to each tenant, containing a record of the area of the land held by him and the total amount of revenue due from him.
6. He is also credited to have introduced the tri-metal coinage system which later came to characterize the Mughal coinage system. He issued fine coins of gold, silver and copper of uniform standard. The ratio of exchange between the Dam and rupee was fixed at 64 to 1. The same coin-rupee ratio served the basis of the currency during the Mughal and British periods.
7. Sher Shah Suri started well organised Postal service (Dak). The saraits were also used as Dak Chaukis. Two horses were kept at every sarai so that the news-carriers could get fresh horses at short intervals to maintain speed.
A Historic Alliance: The Mughal – Rajput Marriages!
8. About 1700 sarais were constructed on both sides of the roads. Each sarai had separate rooms for the Hindus and the Muslims. Each sarai had a well and a mosque. Seminaries/Madarsa were attached to each mosque of Sarai which gave equal access to both Hindus and Muslims to get educated. Sarai had a Physician (Hakeem) attached to it, assigned to treat the local population and the travellers. These sarais also served as dak Chaukis. In view of the special significance of these sarais, they were called as veritable arteries of the empire.
9. Sher Shah Suri Established efficient espionage System. Sher Shah’s efficient administrative system largely depended upon his well-organised espionage system. The king kept himself posted with the minutest happening in his kingdom. The nobles were afraid of indulging in activities not conducive to the stability of the rule of the Sultan. Even the rates prevailing in the mandis were made available to the king. Spies were kept at all important places and at all importantt offices.
10. Well equipped military was his main source of efficient governance. Sher Shah Suri diversified his military and built navy and navigation. Military boats were part of his military campaigns, specially for river islands. On one occasion he used 300 military boats for his campaign against Bengal.
