The Sayyid dynasty were rulers of India's Delhi sultanate (c. 1414–51) as successors of the Tughluq dynasty until displaced by the Afghan Lodis; this family claimed to be sayyids, or descendants of the Prophet Muhammad. The central authority of the Delhi sultanate had been fatally weakened by the invasion of Timur (Tamerlane) and his sack of Delhi in 1398. For the next 50 years, North India was virtually divided…