The main source of information about him is the chivalric romance Mirat-i-Masudi ("Mirror of Masud"), a Persian-language hagiography written by Abdur Rahman Chishti in the 1620s.
The Mirat-i-Masudi narrates the legend of Salar Masud as follows: In 1011 CE, the Muslims of Jalgaon, whose rights were being infringed upon by the local Hindu rulers, appealed Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni for help.
In fact, it was Masud who persuaded Mahmud to demolish the famous idol at the Hindu temple of Somnath, against the advice of Vizier Khwaja Hasan Maimandi.
[1] Driven by martial and religious fervour, Masud asked the Ghaznavid emperor to be allowed to march to India and spread his empire and Islam there.
[7] However, he had become a well-known figure in Delhi Sultanate by the 12th century, when the pilgrimage to his tomb in Bahraich appears to have started, during the Ghurid rule.
In 1341, the Delhi Sultan Muhammad bin Tughluq and the Moroccan traveler Ibn Battuta visited the Bahraich dargah.
[10] Ibn Battuta narrates the legends of the saints, and also provides some information about his cult, including the ritual veneration of his banner and spear.
[9] The earliest source that connects Masud to the Ghaznavids is Ziauddin Barani's Tarikh-i-Firuz Shahi (1357), written nearly three hundred years later.
[7] The text was composed during the reign of the Delhi Sultan Firuz Shah Tughlaq, who considered himself to be a spiritual disciple of Masud.
[9] In 1353, the ruler of Lakhnauti (Bengal) invaded Bahraich, purportedly because he believed that a visit to Masud's dargah could cure him of vitiligo.
The next day, Sultan Firuz Shah Tughluq got his head shaved like a Sufi neophyte, and started spending his nights in prayers.
[12] The earliest source that mentions Masud as a relative of Mahmud is Mughal court historian Abul Fazl's Ain-i-Akbari (16th century).
The text states, "Salar Masud... was connected by blood with Mahmud Ghazni... sold his life bravely in battle and left an imperishable name.
Abul Fazl further states that in 1561 CE, the Mughal emperor Akbar himself walked among these pilgrims, disguised as an ordinary merchant visiting the urs celebrations at the dargah.
[10] The 17th century Persian language text Mirat-i-Masudi, written by the Sufi scholar Abdur Rahman Chishti, is the most comprehensive biography of Masud.
[2] Mirza Muhammad Qateel's Haft Tamasha (1811–12) and Cazim Ali's Barah Masa (1812) describe the ceremonies held to commemorate Masud.
The Haft Tamasha mentions that an annual ceremony was held in Rudauli to mark Masud's death on the night of his wedding.
Consequently, his shrines were erected in other towns of the Awadh region, including Salargarh (named in his honour), Faizabad, Satrikh and Rudauli.
The mass think that the old man must still have a good deal of interest in heaven, which he may be induced to exercise in their favour, by suitable offerings and personal applications to his shrine.Russian orientalist Anna Suvorova notes that the rituals of the Masud's cult show some indigenous Hindu influence.
Hindu nationalist organizations have characterized Suhaldev as a saviour of Hindus against the Muslim invader Masud (popularly known as "Ghazi Mian").