The Sayyid dynasty was the fourth dynasty of the Delhi Sultanate, with four rulers ruling from 1414 to 1451. Founded by Khizr Khan, the Tughlaq and Timurid governor of Multan, they succeeded the Tughlaq dynasty until they were displaced by the Lodi dynasty. Origins A contemporary writer Yahya Sirhindi mentions in his Takhrikh-i-Mubarak Shahi that Khizr Khan was a descendant of prophet Muhammad. Members of the dynasty derived their title, Sayyid, or the descendants of the Islamic prophet, Muhammad, based on the claim that they belonged to his lineage through his daughter Fatima. However, Yahya Sirhindi based his conclusions on meagre and unsubstantial evidence, the first being a casual recognition by the famous Punjabi saint Sayyid Jalaluddin Bukhari of Uch Sharif of his Sayyid heritage, and the second being the Sultan's noble character which distinguished him as posessing the moral qualities of a Prophet's descendant. Sirhindi does not even attempt to provide a geneaology, which he could have easily concocted if he wanted to make the claim more legitimate. According to Saxena, this was likely because such an attempt would not have deceived Khizr Khan's contemporaries. Abraham Eraly and Surendra Nath Sen are of the opinion that Khizr Khan's ancestors might have been descendents of an Arab family who had long ago settled in region of Multan during the early Tughluq period, but both doubt his Sayyid lineage. According to Richard M. Eaton, Khizr Khan was a Punjabi chieftain belonging to the Khokhar clan. Other scholars also agree on Khizr Khan's status as a Khokhar chieftain. According to the Dayal Das Bikaner Khyat, Malik Sulaiman, the father of Khizr Khan, while working as the Nawab of Multan, led an expedition for the recapture of Nagaur from the Rathore Rajputs and installed Firoz Khan the son of Jalal Khan Khokhar as the ruler of Nagaur. Khizr Khan's native town was Fathpur in Punjab (present-day Pakistan) which also served as the capital of the sultanate before the capture of Delhi in 1414. History Following Timur's 1398 Sack of Delhi, he appointed Khizr Khan as deputy of Multan (Punjab). He held Lahore, Dipalpur, Multan and Upper Sindh. Khizr Khan captured Delhi on 28 May 1414 thereby establishing the Sayyid dynasty. Khizr Khan did not take up the title of Sultan, but continued the fiction of his allegiance to Timur as Rayat-i-Ala(vassal) of the Timurids - initially that of Timur, and later his son