Sher Shah Suri

Sher Shah Suri
Emperor of North India
Imaginary sketch work of Sher Shah Suri by Afghan artist Abdul Ghafoor Breshna
Reign	17 May 1540 – 22 May 1545
Coronation	1540
Predecessor	Humayun
Successor	Islam Shah Suri
Born	1486 Sasaram, Mughal Empire
Died	22 May 1545 Kalinjar, Bundelkhand
Burial	Sher Shah Suri Tomb, Sasaram
Spouse	Malika Bibi Gauhar Gosain Lad Malika
Issue	Islam Shah Suri
House	House of Sur
Dynasty	Sur Dynasty
Father	Hassan Khan Sur
Religion	Islam

Sher Shah Suri (1486–22 May 1545) was the founder of the Sur Empire in North India, with its capital at Delhi. An ethnic Pashtun, Sher Shah took control of the Mughal Empire in 1540. After his accidental death in 1545, his son Islam Shah became his successor. He first served as a private before rising to become a commander in the Mughal army under Babur and then the governor of Bihar. In 1537, when Babur's son Humayun was elsewhere on an expedition, Sher Shah overran the state of Bengal and established the Sur dynasty. A brilliant strategist, Sher Shah proved himself as a gifted administrator as well as a capable general. His reorganization of the empire laid the foundations for the later Mughal emperors, notably Akbar, son of Humayun.

During his five-year rule from 1540 to 1545, he set up a new civic and military administration, issued the first Rupiya and reorganised the postal system of India. He further developed Humayun's Dina-panah city and named it Shergarh and revived the historical city of Pataliputra, which had been in decline since the 7th century CE, as Patna. He extended the Grand Trunk Road from Chittagong in the frontiers of the province of Bengal in northeast India to Kabul in Afghanistan in the far northwest of the country.

Sher Shah Suri was born as Farid Khan in the present day place Sasaram in the state of Bihar in India. His surname 'Suri' was taken from his Sur tribe . The name Sher (tiger) was conferred upon him when, as a young man, he killed a tiger. His grand father Ibrahim Khan Suri was a land lord (Jagirdar) in Narnaul area and represented Delhi rulers of that period. Mazar of Ibrahim Khan Suri still stands as a monument in Narnaul. Tarikh-i Khan Jahan Lodi (MS. p. 151). also confirm this fact. However, the online Encyclopædia Britannica states that he was born in Sasaram (Bihar), in the Rohtas district. He was one of about eight sons of Mian Hassan Khan Suri, a prominent figure in the government of Bahlul Khan Lodi in Narnaul Pargana. Sher Khan belonged to the Pashtun Sur tribe (the Pashtuns are known as Afghans in historical Persian language sources). His grandfather, Ibrahim Khan Suri, was a noble adventurer who was recruited much earlier by Sultan Bahlul Lodi of Delhi during his long contest with the Jaunpur Sultanate.