The Muzaffarid dynasty, sometimes referred as Ahmedabad dynasty, were Sultans of Gujarat in western India from 1391 to 1583. The founder of the dynasty was Zafar Khan (later Muzaffar Shah I) who was governor of Gujarat under the suzerainty of the Tughlaq dynasty of the Delhi Sultanate. When the Sultanate was weakened by the sacking of Delhi by Timur in 1398, and Zafar Khan took the opportunity to establish himself as sultan of an independent Gujarat. His Grand son, Ahmed Shah I established the capital at Ahmedabad.[1] The dynasty ruled for almost 200 years, until the conquest of Gujarat by the Mughal Empire in 1572.[2] The sultanate reached its peak of expansion under Mahmud Begada, reaching east into Malwa and west to the Gulf of Kutch.[3]
Zafar Khan's father Shaharan, has been variously described as a Chaudhary[4] who was an agriculturist by profession, a Rajput[5][6] from Thanesar in modern-day Haryana,[7] a Tānk Khatri[8] from southern Punjab,[9] or even a Jat convert to Islam.[10][11] During the reign of Bahadur Shah, the Gujarat kingdom was described to be of Afghan origin.[12][13][14] Zafar Khan adopted the name Wajih-ul-Mulk. Wajih-ul-Mulk and his brother were influential Chaudharis who were agriculturists by profession but could also muster thousands of fighting men on their call.[15] His Hindu forebears claimed descent from Rāmachandra, who the Hindus worshipped as God. Such genealogies were fabricated to glorify royalty and were generally not accepted.[16] When the Sultanate was weakened by the sacking of Delhi by Timur in 1398, and Zafar Khan took the opportunity to establish himself as sultan of an independent Gujarat. His grand son, Ahmed Shah I established the capital at Ahmedabad.[17] The dynasty ruled for almost 200 years, until the conquest of Gujarat by the Mughal Empire in 1572.[2] The sultanate reached its peak of expansion under Mahmud Begada, reaching east into Malwa and west to the Gulf of Kutch.[3]
The two brothers were chaudharis of a rather numerous agrarian community, tilling the soil, not high in the caste hierarchy but not without strength in the neighborhood
Saharan by name, men of wealth and consequence, who belonged to Tanka Tribe of Rajputana
Wajih- al - Mulk was by birth a Hindu Rajput of Tanka
Sadharan who was a Rajput who converted to Islam
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: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)Zafar Khan, a son of Rajput convert to Islam was appointed Governor of Gujarat in 1391AD
These men, a certain Saharan and his brother Sadhu, were, mostly likely peasants or pastoralists, non-Muslim Tank Rajputs from Thanesar in northwestern India (modern-day Haryana).
Similarly, Zaffar Khan Muzaffar, the first independent ruler of Gujarat was not a foreign muslim but a Khatri convert, of low subdivision called Tank.
The founder of the Gujarat Sultanate he was a convert from a sect of Hindu Khatris known as Tanks.
Zafar Khan was not a foreign muslim. He was a convert to Islam from a sect of the Khatris known as Tank.
Zafar Khan (entitled Muzaffar Shah) himself was a convert to Islam from a sub-caste of the Khatris known as Tank.
Similarly, Zaffar Khan Muzaffar, the first independent ruler of Gujarat was not a foreign muslim but a Khatri convert, of a low subdivision called the Tank, originally from Southern Punjab
The independent kingdom of Gujarat was founded by Zafar Khan, son of Sadharan, a Jat convert to Islam.
His next opponent was Sultan Bahadur Shah, the ambitious Afghan king of Gujarat. A relatively small but wealthy and increasingly powerful kingdom, which had by now become a place for many disgruntled Afghan warlords from all over Hindustan.
Bahadur Shah was another Afghan chief who had made himself an independent ruler of Malwa and Gujrat. He had given shelter to Alam Khan, the uncle of Ibrahim Lodi and was preparing to fight for the throne in his name.
The Afghans, defeated but not crushed, remained in power in Bihar and Bengal ... Further south was the prosperous Afghan kingdom of Gujarat, a rallying ground for ambitious Afghans.
The two brothers were chaudharis of a rather numerous agrarian community, tilling the soil, not high in the caste hierarchy but not without strength in the neighborhood
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