Muzaffar Shah I

Shams-ud-Din Muzaffar Shah I (born Zafar Khan; 30 June 1342 – 10 January 1411) was the founder of the Muzaffarid dynasty in Medieval India, reigning over the Gujarat Sultanate from 1391 to 1403 and again from 1404 to 1411.

He was appointed the governor of Gujarat by Tughluq dynasty of the Delhi Sultanate and later declared the independence of the Gujarat Sultanate while there was chaos in Delhi following Timur's invasion. Muzaffar was deposed by his ambitious son Tatar Khan in 1403, but he regained the throne in 1404, when Tatar Khan died.

Ancestry The Muzaffarid dynasty was founded by Muzaffar Shah I. He was born as Zafar Khan to Saharan. There are various claims about their origin from medieval to modern ones. Their conversion to Islam is attributed to the marriage of his aunt (sister of Saharan) with Firuz Shah Tughlaq. Their rise to prominence and higher posts is credited to this love affair turned into marriage. They established an elite lineage with Gujarat Sultanate founder Zafar Khan's brother also establishing the principality of Nagaur. There are multiple theories about the origins of Muzaffar Shah

According to the 16th-century Gujarati chronicler Shaikh Sikandar Ibn Muhammad, author of the Mirʾāt-i-Sikandarī, Zafar Khan's ancestors were Hindu Khatris of the Tank subdivision. Sikandar notes that the Tanks and Khatris were originally one community and later became distinct after the former were expelled due to their fondness for drinking. This account represents the earliest narrative on the Muzaffarids’ social background.

According to one theory, he might have lived in Thanesar in modern-day Haryana. Aparna Kapadia describes their origin has been also claimed to be of Tank Rajput tribe of Rajputana but she also suggests them to be Tank Khatri who were expelled because of wine drinking. Misra states that Tank were Khatris who were agrarian people belonging to south Punjab. American historian Richard M. Eaton simply described Zafar Khan being the son of a "peasant convert to Islam", with historians such as Dr. V.K Agnihotri and Saiyid Athar Abbas Rizvi claiming that Sadhāran was a Jat convert to Islam.

Some modern historians identify Zafar Khan's family with the Kalal tribe, traditionally a wine-brewing and selling caste.

Early life Zafar Khan was born on Muharram 25, 743 A.H. corresponding to 30 June 1342 AD. Zafar Khan was a son of Wajih-ul-Mulk. According to Mirʾāt-i-Sikandarī, saint Hazrat Makhdoom Jahaniyan Jahangasht Bukhari (R.A) promised Gujarat to Zafar Khan prophetically in return of food provided to Fakirs at his house. He gave him handful of dates and declared, "Thy seed like unto these in number shall rule over Gujarat". The number of seeds varied from eleven to thirteen according to various sources.

Muhammad Bin Tughluq was on an expedition to intervene in a war but died at Thatta on the bank of the Indus River in 1351 from fever induced by a surfeit of fish. As he had no sons, his cousin Firuz Shah Tughluq succeeded. Zafar's paternal aunt, a Kalal girl was also married in Tughlaq family.

On the death of Nasir ud din Muhammad Shah III in 1392, his son Sikandar assumed the throne but he died just after 45 days. He was succeeded by his brother Nasir-ud-Din Mahmud Shah Tughluq II but his cousin Nusrat Khan also claimed similar rank in Firuzabad.

Zafar Khán's first warlike expedition was against the Rao of Idar, who, in 1393, had refused to pay the customary tribute, and this chief he humbled. The contemporary histories seem to show that the previous governors had recovered tribute from all or most of the chiefs of Gujarát except from the Ráo of Junagadh and the Rája of Rajpipla, who had retained their independence. Zafar Khán now planned an expedition against the celebrated Somnath temple, but, hearing that Ádil Khán of Ásír-Burhánpur had invaded Sultánpur and Nandurbar, he moved his troops in that direction, and Ádil Khán retired to Ásir.

In 1394, he marched against the Ráo of Junágaḍh and exacted tribute. Afterwards, proceeding to Somnath, he destroyed the temple, built an Jumma Mosque, introduced Islám, left Muslim law officers, and established a thána or post in the city of Somnáth Pátan or Deva Pátan. He heard that the Hindus of Mandu were oppressing the Muslims, and, accordingly, marching there, he beleaguered that fortress for a year, but failing to take it contented himself with accepting the excuses of the Rája. From Mándu he performed a pilgrimage to Ajmer. Here he proceeded against the chiefs of Sambhar and Dandwana, and then attacking the Rájputs of Delváḍa and Jháláváḍa, he defeated them, and returned to Pátan in 1396.

About this time his son Tátár Khán, leaving his baggage in the fort of Panipat, made an attempt on Delhi. But Iqbál Khán took the fort of Pánipat, captured Tátár Khán's baggage, and forced him to withdraw to Gujarát. In 1397, with the view of reducing Ídar, Zafar Khán besieged the fort, laying waste the neighbouring country.

In prevailing situation, Timur invaded India and marched on Delhi in 1398. In early 1399, he defeated Mahmud II and looted and destroyed the much of Delhi. Sultan Mahmud II escaped and after many wanderings, reached Patan. He hoped to secure Zafar Khan's alliance to march to Delhi but Zafar Khan declined. He went to Malwa where he was declined again by local governor. Meanwhile, his Wazir Iqbal Khan had expelled Nusrat Khan from Delhi so he returned to Delhi but he had no longer enough authority over provinces which were ruled independently by his governors.

Before Zafar Khan had taken the Idar fort Zafar Khán received news of Timur's conquest of Delhi, and concluding a peace with the Ídar king, returned to Pátan. In 1398, hearing that the Somnáth people claimed independence, Zafar Khán led an army against them, defeated them, and established Islám on a firm footing.

In 1403, Zafar Khan's son Tatar Khan urged his father to march on Delhi, which he declined. As a result, in 1403, Tatar imprisoned him in Ashawal (future Ahmedabad) and declared himself sultan under the title of Muhammad Shah. He humbled the chief of Nandod in Rajpipla. He marched towards Delhi, but on the way he was poisoned by his uncle, Shams Khán Dandáni at Sinor on the north bank of the Narmada river. Some sources says he died naturally due to weather or due to his habit of heavy drinking. After the death of Muhammad Shah, Zafar was released from the prison in 1404. Zafar Khán asked his own younger brother Shams Khán Dandáni to carry on the government, but he refused. Zafar Khán accordingly sent Shams Khán Dandáni to Nágor in place of Jalál Khán Khokhar. Zafar took over the control over administration. In 1407, he declared himself as Sultan Muzaffar Shah at Birpur or Sherpur, took the insignia of royalty and issued coins in his name. One son of Sultan Muzaffar, Mahtab Khan, served in the army of his great-grandnephew, Ahmad Shah II in the Battle of Kapadvanj during Mahmud Khalji's invasion of Gujarat.