Suhaldev

Suhaldev or Suheldev was a legendary king from Shravasti. Persian Hagiography Mirat-i-Masudi, written in 17th century, popularly mentions him to have defeated and killed the Ghaznavid general Ghazi Saiyyad Salar Masud at Bahraich in 1034 CE.

Quotes

• A detailed description of Suhaldev is found in Mirat-i-Masudi , a historical biography on Ghaznavid general Ghazi Saiyyad Salar Masud. The book was written in Persian by Abd-ur-Rahman Chishti in the 17th century. Chishti wrote the historical drama based on the book Tawarikh-i-Mahmudiwritten by Mulla Muhammad Ghaznavi, who belonged to the court of Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni.
  • Rawal M. S. & Rawal Y. S. (2019). Saffron swords. Garuda Prakashan.

• Hindu kings have a track record of following the rules of Dharma in warfare. They took care of the injured at the end of the day. They never interfered into the religious affairs of the followers of other religion. So did Suhaldev. Salar Masud was allowed to be buried at Bahraich. More than 200 years later, Sultan Firuz Shah Tughlaq turned it into a dargah , which emerged as an important pilgrimage site for the Muslims.
  • Rawal M. S. & Rawal Y. S. (2019). Saffron swords. Garuda Prakashan.

• William Henry Sleeman, the British Resident in Awadh, wrote in his book Journey through the kingdom of Oude published in 1850 and later edited by P. D. Reeves in Sleeman in Oudh: An Abridgement of W. H. Sleeman’s A Journey Through the kingdom of Oude , “Strange to say, Hindoos as well as Mahommedans make offerings to this shrine, and implore the favours of this military ruffian, whose only recorded merit consists of having destroyed a great many Hindoos in a wanton and unprovoked invasion of their territory. They say, that he did what he did against Hindoos in the conscientious discharge of his duties, and could not have done it without God’s permission — that God must then have been angry with them for their transgressions, and used this man, and all the other Mahommedan invaders of their country, as instruments of his vengeance, and means to bring about his purposes: that is, the thinking portion of the Hindoos say this. The mass think that the old man must still have a good deal of interest in heaven, which he may be induced to exercise in their favour, by suitable offerings and personal applications to his shrine.”
  • William Henry Sleeman, in Rawal M. S. & Rawal Y. S. (2019). Saffron swords. Garuda Prakashan.