Sayyid Khizr Khan was the founder of the Sayyid dynasty, the ruling dynasty of the Delhi sultanate, in northern India soon after the invasion of Timur and the fall of the Tughlaq dynasty. Khan was Governor of Multan under the Tughlaq ruler, Firuz Shah Tughlaq, and was known to be an able administrator. He did not take up any royal title due to fear of Amir Timur and contended himself with the titles of Rayat-i-Ala and Masnad-i-Aali or. During his reign, coins were continued to be struck in the name of previous Tughlaq rulers. After his death on 20 May 1421, he was succeeded by his son Mubarak Khan, who took the title of Muizz-ud-Din Mubarak Shah.
A contemporary writerYahya Sirhindi mentions in his Takhrikh-i-Mubarak Shahi that Khizr Khan was a descendant of Muhammad, but his conclusion was based only on a testimony of the saint Syed Jalal-ud-Din Bukhari of Uchh Sharif. Malik Mardan Daulat, the Governor of Multan, adopted Khizr Khan's father, Malik Sulaiman, as his son. Sulaiman succeeded Malik Shaikh, another son of Malik Mardan, to the governorship. After his death, FiruzShah Tughlaq appointed Khizr Khan as governor. But in 1395, he was expelled from Multan by Sarang Khan, brother of MalluIqbal Khan. He fled to Mewat and later joined Timur. It is believed that before his departure, Timur appointed Khizr Khan his viceroy at Delhi although he could only establish his control over Multan, Dipalpur and parts of Sindh. Soon he started his campaign and defeated Mallu Iqbal Khan. After defeating Daulat Khan Lodi, he entered Delhi victoriously on 6 June 1414.
Reign
After his accession to the throne, Khizr Khan appointed Malik-us-Sharq Tuhfa as his wazir and he was given the title of Taj-ul-Mulk and he remained in office until 1421. The fief of Saharanpur was given to Sayyid Salim. Abdur Rahman received the fiefs of Multan and Fatehpur. In 1414, an army led by Taj-ul-Mulk was sent to suppress the rebellion of Har Singh, the Raja of Katehar. Raja fled to the forests but finally was compelled to surrender and agree to pay tributes in future. In July, 1416 an army led by Taj-ul-Mulk was sent to Bayana and Gwalior where it plundered the peasants in the name of realizing the amount equivalent to the tributes to be paid. In 1417, Khizr Khan obtained permission from Shah Rukh to have his own name also suffixed to that of Shah Rukh. In 1418, Har Singh revolted again but was defeated completely by Taj-ul-Mulk.
