Khizr Khan
Khizr Khan was the Sultan of Delhi from 1414 to 1421. He was the founder of the Sayyid dynasty, the fourth ruling dynasty of the Delhi sultanate, in northern India soon after the invasion of Timur and the fall of the Tughlaq dynasty.
Khizr Khan was Governor of Multan under the Tughlaq ruler, Firuz Shah Tughlaq, and was known to be an able administrator. He did not take up any royal title due to fear of invasion by Amir Timur and contended himself with the titles of Rayat-i-Ala and Masnad-i-Aali or. During his reign, coins were continued to be struck in the name of previous Tughlaq rulers. After his death on 20 May 1421, he was succeeded by his son Mubarak Khan, who took the title of Muizz-ud-Din Mubarak Shah.
Ancestry and early life
A contemporary writer Yahya Sirhindi says in his Takhrikh-i-Mubarak Shahi that Khizr Khan was a descendant of Muhammad. Members of the dynasty derived their title, Sayyid, based on the claim that they belonged to his lineage through his daughter Fatima. However, Yahya Sirhindi based his conclusions on unsubstantial evidence, the first being a casual recognition by Sayyid Jalaluddin Bukhari of Uch Sharif of his Sayyid heritage, and the second being the Sultan's character whose moral qualities were those of a descendant of Muhammad. Abraham Eraly is of the opinion that Khizr Khan's ancestors were likely descendants of an Arab family who had long ago settled in region of Multan during the early Tughluq period, but he doubts his Sayyid lineage.According to Richard M. Eaton and oriental scholar Simon Digby, Khizr Khan was a Punjabi chieftain belonging to the Khokhar clan, who was sent to Timur as an ambassador and negotiator from the most adjacent area, the Punjab, ultimately became the power holder in Delhi, thanks to the contacts he had acquired. Francesca Orsini and Samira Sheikh have presented a similar view in their work.