of rebels. Over the next few years, Lodi remained busy in other conflicts. In 1516, he made a plan to capture Gwalior, but an illness prevented him from doing so. Raja Man Singh Tomar died in 1516, and Sikandar Lodi's illness also led to his death in November 1517. Religion The Lodi Sultans were Muslim, and like their predecessors, acknowledged the authority of the Abbasid Caliphate over the Muslim World. Because Sikandar's mother was a Hindu, he tried to prove his Islamic credentials by resorting to strong Sunni orthodoxy as a political expediency. He destroyed Hindu temples, and under the pressure from the ulama, allowed the execution of a Brahmin who declared Hinduism to be as veracious as Islam. He also banned women from visiting the mazars (mausoleums) of Muslim saints, and banned the annual procession of the spear of the legendary Muslim martyr Salar Masud. Before Sikandar's time, the judicial duties in smaller villages and towns were performed by local administrators, while the Sultan himself consulted the scholars of the Islamic law (sharia). Sikandar established sharia courts in several towns, enabling the qazis to administer the sharia law to a larger population. Although such courts were established in areas with significant Muslim population, they were also open to the non-Muslim population, including for non-religious matters such as property disputes. References Bibliography 1517 deaths Sultans of the Lodi dynasty Indian people of Pashtun descent 15th-century Indian monarchs 16th-century Indian monarchs 1458 births