Ahmad Khan Farooqui

By 1382 (784 AH), Malik Raja declared de facto independence from the Delhi Sultanate and established the Khandesh Sultanate (named "Khandesh," or "land of the Khans," after the title held by its rulers). Thalner served as his initial seat and stronghold. At the time of his accession, the region was relatively backwards, inhabited largely by Bhils and Kolis, with Asirgarh as one of the more prosperous areas. One of his early acts was to promote agricultural development.^[5]

He expanded control by subduing local Rajput and other chieftains, forcing tribute from the Gond Raja of Mandla, and briefly annexing Sultanpur and Nandurbar. These gains provoked retaliation from Zafar Khan (later Muzaffar Shah I of Gujarat), who besieged Thalner; Malik Raja was forced to return the annexed territories. He claimed prominent descent from Caliph Umar al-Faruq in dynastic propaganda and regarded himself as a disciple of the Chishti Sufi Shaikh Zayn al-Din Shirazi (d. 1369). His roughly 17-year rule as an independent sultan focused on consolidation rather than major expansion, laying the foundation for the Farooqui dynasty's survival through balanced relations with powerful neighbors such as Gujarat, Malwa, and the Bahmani Sultanate.^[6]

Malik Ahmad died in 1399 after reigning independently for about 17 years. Sources give slight variations in the exact date: 19 April 1399 in most accounts, or 28 April 1399 according to the 16th-century historian Muhammad Qasim Ferishta; the Hijri date is 22 Sha'ban 801 AH (corresponding to one of these April dates). He died in Thalner, where he was buried in a tomb that remains associated with the early Farooqui rulers. He was succeeded by his elder son, Nasir Khan as Nasir Shah Farooqui (also known as Malik Nasir or Garib Khan), who ruled 1399–1437.^[7]