Sher Shâh Sûrî (1486 - 1545) - of its true name Fahrid Khan so called Sher Khan , is an Afghan chief, wire of Hasan Khan, small chief of clan.

The combatant

Fahrid Khan, in conflict with the second wife of its father, flees of Sasaram, the capital of the family stronghold. In 1522, it enters to the service of Bahar Khan Lohani, the Master of the Bihar, which gives him the name of Sher Khan after it killed a tiger with naked hands. It however leaves this Master, victim of a plot, and engages near Bâbur which it is used as April 1527 at June 1528, and which thanks it for services rendered while restoring it in its rights on Sasaram.

Fahrid Khan turns over then to Bihar of which he becomes the true Master. Mahmud Shâh, the nabob of the Bengal, anxious of the rise of Sher Khan makes alliance with the armies of Lohani, but Fahrid Khan is victorious with the battle of Surajgarh in 1534. Profiting that Humâyûn is occupied by a military campaign with the Goujerat against Bahadur, it goes on Gaur, the capital of Mahmud Shah which grants grounds to him to put an end to the war. Grown by this victory, it is joined by Afghan armies of Bahadur which in him the chief whom they find missed. In October 1537, it enters to Bengal, and decided to adapt it in a permanent way, puts the seat in front of Gaur. Humâyûn, victorious, turns over to Âgrâ and wastes an invaluable time before carrying out the threat which the countryside of Sher Shâh Sûrî represents. It is started in December, but instead of going to Gaur, the seat puts in front of Chunar which will resist 6 months making it possible Fahrid Khan to make this invaluable time profitable to take Gaur which falls in April 1538.

Put in failure at Bihar, Humâyûn takes the road of Bengal, but Fahrid Khan avoids the confrontation, turns over to Bihar to reduce the last territories held by Moghols and moves towards the west until Kânauj by plundering the crossed areas. Humâyûn which wasted time with Gaur, learns forwarding from Sher Shâh Sûrî, leaves Bengal for Âgrâ before its return does not become impossible, but undergoes, in Chaunsa close to Buxar, a heavy defeat in June 1539. It owes the life only with one boatman of the Gange which collects it after it fled while plunging in the river. After this victory, Fahrid Khan is the true Master of the territory who extends from Kânauj in the west with Assam in the east, and of the the Himalayas in north until the Jharkhand and to the Bay of Bengal in the south.

It installs its capacity by taking the title Sher Shah and while making strike currency with its effigy. The following year, Humâyûn tries to recover its capacity, but its army, demoralized and badly directed, is beaten with punt seams the May 17th 1540 with the Bataille of Kânauj, and Humâyûn must be exiled for about fifteen years. The conquest of the Hindoustan by Babur becomes old story and the Afghans are again the Masters. Sher Shâh Sûrî reduces also the Panjab and reorganizes its empire for best controlling by cutting out it in districts with, at their head, of the sure men who are responsible only in front of him.

By the weapons and the trick, it subjects the Râjput S of Ajmer to the Mont Âbû and puts the seat in front of Kalinjar in the Bundelkhand. During the seat, it is killed the May 22nd 1545 by the accidental explosion of a powder reserve.

The organizer

Sher Shâh Sûrî is often regarded as the true person in charge of the establishment of the Islam in India. It installs an effective administration, strongly centralized, divides its empire into 47 provinces called sarkars , each one subdivided in several smaller districts called paraganas . Each paragana has its own group of officers that Sher Shah makes transfer each two or three years in order to prevent the irruption of a local authority extremely. After an inventory of its grounds, it fixes with the peasants the income of their ground, usually the quarter or one the third of harvest to be paid in kind or in cash. Handing-over are granted in the event of insufficient monsoon or of devastations carried out on harvests by the army rabble.

It reforms the currency and the taxes to support the trade and the movement of the goods and, with a same aim, creates roads, as the Grand Trunk Road which carries out of Eastern Bengal to banks of the Indus, or improves some of others, which also benefits the armies in shift. It makes plant the roadside of trees to provide shade and to build seraglios, with regular intervals, which are also used as relay of station and for harvest of information. The police force is reorganized and the principle of the local treatment of the crimes is established.

Under its administration, justice is indifferent to the social status, certain members of its family know the lightnings of the law besides. Piles Moslem, it treats the Hindu however with respect. Lastly, it shows an architectural taste some of which its mausoleum with Sasaram always offers the proof.

Finally, Sher Shâh Sûrî posed the strong foundations of a state, but will not generate a true dynasty to enjoy it. The emperors Moghols will be the large recipients of its achievements and its visionary spirit.