History Sambhal

Sambhal has a rich history and has been home to several rulers and emperors. From the Lodi’s to the Mughal’s, right from the 5th century BC and spanning up to the 16th Century, it has been under the rule of one emperor or the other.

During 5th century BC, Sambhal was home to the Panchal rulers and was subsequently a part of king Ashoka’s empire.

Babur

During the 12th century, Prithviraj Chauhan, Delhi’s last Hindu ruler is said to have engaged in two fierce battles here which were both fought against Ghazi Sayyad Salar Masud, who was the nephew of the ruler of the Ghazni empire-Mahmud Ghazni. Chauhan gained victory over the latter in the first war and vice versa is said to have occurred in the second war. There nevertheless is no circumstantial evidence to prove the same and is widely regarded as a legend.

Qutub-ud-din Aibak, the first Muslim sultan of Delhi, seized Sambhal and included it under his empire. That was in the early 14th Century and subsequently, Firoz Shah Tughlaq, another sultan of Delhi , raided the town of Sambhal as one of the Hindu rulers from there was responsible for the killing of several of his men. He, therefore, administered a Muslim rule in Sambhal to try and vanquish all of the Hindu ruler’s forces and enslave him for the rest of his life.

In 15th century BC, Sikandar Lodi, the second ruler of the Lodi empire, declared Sambhal as one of the capitals of his vast empire and it remained that way for four long years.

After the previously mentioned empires had collapsed, it was then the turn of the Mughals to stake a claim in the offerings of Sambhal as a place that was most suited to be the capital of their empire.

Babar, the first Mughal ruler constructed the first Babri Masjid in Sambhal which is to date considered to be a historic monument. He later on made his son Humayun the governor of Sambhal and Humayun in turn passed on the reigns to his son Akbar. Sambhal is said to have flourished under the Akbar rule but subsequently deteriorated in popularity when Akbar’s son Shah Jahan was made the in-charge of the city.