Sur Empire

The Sur Empire (Pashto: د سوریانو ټولواکمني‎) was an empire established by a Muslim dynasty of Pashtun origin who ruled a large territory in Northern part of South Asia for nearly 16 years, between 1540 to 1556, with Delhi serving as its capital. It interrupted the rule of the Mughal Empire under Humayun, who later restored the Mughal Empire by ending the Sur Empire.

History

The empire was founded by Sher Shah Suri, an ethnic Pashtun of the tribal house of Sur, who supplanted the Mughal dynasty as rulers of North India during the reign of the relatively ineffectual second Mughal Humayun. Sher Shah defeated padhsah-i-Hind ('Hindustani emperor') Humayun in the Battle of Chausa (June 26, 1539) and again in the Battle of Bilgram (May 17, 1540).

The Sur dynasty held control of nearly all the Mughal territories, from modern-day eastern Afghanistan in the west to Bengal in modern-day Bangladesh in the east.

During the almost 17 year rule of the Sur dynasty, until the return of the Mughals to the throne, the region of the South Asia witnessed much economic development and administrative reforms. A systematized relationship was created between the people and the ruler, minimizing corruption and the oppression of the public.