Cause of the downfall of Lodi Dynasty

Cause of the downfall of Lodi Dynasty

Ibrahim Lodi was the last ruler of the Lodi dynasty. He led this dynasty to decline by the weaknesses of his character. But Dr. Ishwari Prasad does not regard him fully responsible for the downfall of the Lodi dynasty. He mentions that in case Irahim Lodi had succeeded in getting the sympathy and cooperation of the nobles, even then they would have tried to establish their small independent principalities and let the Sultanate towards downfall. In fact, the following factors contributed to the downfall of the Lodi Dynasty.

Weak Administration of Bahlol Lodi

In spite of all his merits Bahlol Lodi did not prove to be a meritorious sultan. Owing to his cowardice, he granted various facilities to his nobles and treated them as his friends. He considered himself first among equals and never sat on the throne. He often said to them, out of anger and frustration that in case, they did not consider him fit for the throne, they should allot some other work to him and somebody else might be seated on the throne. Dr. R.P. Tripathi has remarked, “He lowered down the glory of kingship and made it equivalent to the post of dignified nobles.” Anyhow he ruled all through his lifetime but his son and grandson had to face several problems after his death.

Conflict between the Sultan and the Amirs

Bahlol had granted too much of concession to the nobles and Amirs but Sikandar Lodi and Ibrahim Lodi were not as liberal as their predecessor. They did not want to award an equal status to the Amirs. Sikandar being a courageous ruler succeeded in crushing the ever increasing ambitions of the Amirs, however, they continued to rebel off and on. Ibrahim Lodi was proud of his position and he imposed several restrictions on the Amirs and turned them into his opponents. Thus a tug of war ensued between the Amirs and the Sultan of Delhi which ultimately led to the downfall of the Lodi dynasty.

Policy of Fanaticism of the Lodi Rulers

The Fanaticism and intolerant policy of the Lodi rulers also contributed to the downfall of the Lodi dynasty. All the three rulers of Lodi dynasty, Bahlol Lodi, SikandarLodi & Ibrahim Lodi were intolerant, orthodox and cruel. They always treated Hindus harshly and thus lost the sympathy of majority of his subjects.   The fanaticism of Sikandar Lodi was the worst and he demolished several temples and broke idols. He imposed various restrictions on the Hindus and offended them. Thus, the lack of public support contributed a lot to the downfall of the Lodi dynasty.

War of succession

There was no definite law of succession in Islamic theology, so the death of one Sultan resulted in conflict for succession. The power of sword and personal capability also proved helpful in deciding the war of succession. Conflict of succession emerged between the sons of Bahlol Lodi after the death of their father. Lives were lost and that weakened the Lodi Empire in India.

Downfall in the Character of Amirs

The Afghan Amirs were ambitious, treacherous and devoid of  patriotism. They were anxious to become partners in affairs of the State as they had been during the reign of Bahlol and because their ambitions were not fulfilled, they raised the standard of revolt against the Sultan. Alam Khan and Daulat Kahn Lodi invited Babur, the ruler of Kabul, just to avenge their insults and contributed to the downfall of the Lodi dynasty.

Disintegration of the Empire and the weaknesses of Ibrahim Lodi

Ibrahim Lodi was not a farsighted ruler, hence various rebellions occurred during his reign and powerful Governors, Bahadur Khan  of Bihar and Daulat Kahn, declared their independence and factions emerged in the court of Delhi. Ibrahim Lodi being an inefficient general failed to establish his control over them. His army was unorganized, indisciplined, weak and untrained. Even his army commanders were dissatisfied with him and spies inefficient. Gradually, his army and public were bored with him.  He lacked in diplomacy and could not establish friendly relations with Rana Sanga when Babur invaded India. If such confederation had been formed, the success of Babur must have been doubtful but Ibrahim did not resort to aggressive policy and was defeated by Babur and killed on the battlefield. Really, his in-capabilities were responsible for the downfall of the Lodi Dynasty.

Efficiency of the Mughals

Comparatively, Babur and his army were very efficient. T he soldiers of Babur were prepared to sacrifice their lives on the instigation of their commander. Babur, who was a great diplomat, roused their religious fervor and took advantage of it. His trained, disciplined and well-organized army was far superior to that of Ibahim. His use of fire weapons proved decisive and he attained victory against Ibrahim who was himself an inexperienced youth and had no planning.

To sum up, we may say that all the factors referred to above were responsible for the downfall of the Lodi dynasty. All the three Lodi rulers contributed to it. So if we hold only Ibrahim Lodi responsible for the downfall of Lodi dynasty, it would be a wrong estimate.

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Milan Tomic

Hi. I’m Designer of Blog Magic. I’m CEO/Founder of ThemeXpose. I’m Creative Art Director, Web Designer, UI/UX Designer, Interaction Designer, Industrial Designer, Web Developer, Business Enthusiast, StartUp Enthusiast, Speaker, Writer and Photographer. Inspired to make things looks better.

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