Sher Shah Suri

Sher Shah Suri, born Farid Khan, was a sixteenth century Afghan-descended ruler who founded the Sur Empire in northern India after defeating the Mughal emperor Humayun and ruled from Delhi from 1540 until he died in 1545. He is remembered in transport history for the roads and post he built to hold a large empire together. He extended the Grand Trunk Road from Chittagong in Bengal to Kabul in Afghanistan, which improved trade along the route, and he organised a postal system for the Indian subcontinent. His reign was short, but the road and the administrative reforms he put in place outlasted his dynasty and were taken over by the Mughal emperors who followed, notably Akbar. Sources dispute the year of his birth, giving 1472 or 1486, and the entry records both. He died while besieging the fort of Kalinjar.