The Sayyid dynasty was the fourth dynasty of the Delhi Sultanate from 1414 to 1451. They succeeded the Tughlaq dynasty and ruled that sultanate until they were displaced by the Lodi dynasty.

This family claimed to be Sayyids, or descendants of Prophet Muhammad. The central authority of the Delhi Sultanate had been fatally weakened by the successive invasion of Timur and his sack of Delhi in 1398. After a period of chaos, when no central authority prevailed, the Sayyids gained power at Delhi. Their 37-year period of dominance witnessed the rule of four different members of the dynasty.

The dynasty was established by Khizr Khan, deputised by Timur to be the governor of Multan (Punjab). Khizr Khan took Delhi from Daulat Khan Lodi on May 28, 1414 and founded the Sayyid dynasty. But he did not take up the title of sultan and nominally, continued to be a Rayat-i-Ala (vassal) of the Timurids, initially of Timur and after his death, his successor Shah Rukh, grandson of Timur. Khizer Khan was succeeded by his son Mubarrak Khan after his death on May 20, 1421, who styled himself as Muizz-ud-Din Mubarak Shah in his coins. A detailed account of his reign is available in the Tarikh-i-Mubarak Shahi written by Yahya-bin-Ahmad Sirhindi. After the death of Mubarak Khan, his nephew Muhammad Khan ascended the throne and styled himself as Sultan Muhammad Shah. Just before his death, he called his son Ala-ud-Din from Badaun and nominated him as his successor.

Sayyid (pronounced [ˈsæjjɪd], or [ˈsæjjed], Arabic: سيد‎; meaning Mister; plural Sadah Arabic: سادة‎, Sādah) is an honorific title, it denotes males accepted as descendants of the Islamic prophet Muhammad through his grandsons, Hasan ibn Ali and Husain ibn Ali, sons of the prophet's daughter Fatima Zahra and his son-in-law Ali ibn Abi Talib.

Daughters of sayyids are given the titles Sayyida, Alawiyah, Syarifah, or Sharifah. Children of a Sayyida mother but a non-Sayyid father cannot be attributed the title of Sayyid, however they may claim the title Mirza for males or Mirziya for females. Sayyids are by definition a branch of the tribe of Banu Hashim, a clan from the tribe of Quraish that traces its lineage to Adnan and thence to the Prophet Ismael.

In the Arab world, it is the equivalent of the English word "liege-lord" or "master" when referring to a descendant of Muhammad, as in Sayyid John Smith. This is the reason the word sidi (from the contracted form sayyidī, 'my liege') is used in the Moroccan dialect of Arabic.