PART-III OF VIII
Keeping in mind the celebration of the birth centenary of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman or Mujib Barsha in 2020, The Independent took up a study to make a detour around Bengal’s political history from ancient period to the time when Bangladesh emerged as an independent state in 1971. The reason for undertaking this study is to find out 10 most influential rulers who ruled the geographical entity called Bengal during the time span of the last 14 centuries. To make this study successful, the newspaper’s Editorial Board talked to noted historians of Bangladesh namely Prof. Syed Anwar Husain, Prof. Mesbah Kamal, Prof Dr. Aksadul Alam and Associate Prof. Sania Sitara all of whom are history faculties of Dhaka University. After research and interviews, it was found really difficult to single out 10 most important rulers of Bengal because in the last 14 centuries, many rulers permanently shaped the history of Bengal. Many may find the names in the final list incorrect, but few would disagree with the fact that Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was the first Bengali head of state—note the word Bengali—of an independent and democratic Bangladesh, notwithstanding the fact that in the different periods of Bengal history, the map of Bengal was much larger than the map of present Bangladesh. Our aim was not to make a historical research as historians would do on the topic, but we made an attempt to be factually accurate with available information in our hand. The 10 leaders in the study findings are: Shashanka, Gopala, Dharmapala, Vijaya Sena, Shamsuddin Ilyas Shah, Ghiyasuddin Azam Shah, Sher Shah Suri, Murshid Quli Khan, Siraj ud-Daulah and Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
Shamsuddin Ilyas Shah (1342-1358)
Though religion of Islam arrived much earlier in Bengal, the conquest of Bengal by Muslim rulers began with the Turkish general Ikhtiar-ud-din Muhammad Bin Bakhtiar Khalji who attacked Bengal suddenly in 1204-05 AD and captured Nadia, the capital of the last of Sena dynasty, Laksmansena. Ikhtiar-ud-din introduced a feudal power structure in the conquered territory after capturing Gauda declaring it as his capital. He is known to have Islamise Bengal by establishing mosques, madrassahs and patronized Sufi masters who preached Islam among the local people. Islam arrived in Bengal soon after its advent in the Arab world, mainly in connection of business between the two regions. Islam spread here mainly through persuasion and proselytisation. There were a few instances when force conversion took place. Warrior saints like Khan Jahan played a role in establishing Islam. After the Pala rulers many Buddhists converted to Islam.
Before the Sena dynasty Bengal had what is known as folk religion. Even after Islam arrived here, folk religion and its influences were very powerful. From the 15th and 16th centuries onwards, literature, especially poetry, used to be written in Bengali. From that time Bengali literature emerged at a rapid speed and people living in this land created a unique culture of its own. According to Prof. Dr Aksadul Alam, “Despite the reality that people from diverse backgrounds and ethnicities came and lived here, the fact is that they ate fish, they had a habit of chewing betel and most importantly they created a civilisation together.”
However, in 1225 the Delhi Sultan Iltutmish declared Bengal as a province of Delhi. But it was Shamsuddin Ilyas Shah who was the first Sultan of Bengal and established a dynasty called Ilyas Shahi dynasty. He was one of the most powerful Sultan who waged military campaigns across the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent and defeated the rulers of Delhi, Sonargaon, Satgaon, Nepal, Orissa and Assam. A Sistani Sunni Muslim, he was engaged in extending the frontiers of his kingdom in various directions and destroyed territories of Delhi kingdom. Ilyas Shah consolidated his rule over Bengal by making it into an Islamic kingdom and became known in history as Shah-e-Bangalah.
The rule of Shamsuddin Ilyas Shah is very important for Bengal because during his time Bengal became a powerful state in terms of economic and military strength as well as diplomacy. The founder of the dynasty is often compared with Alexander or Napoleon, Shamsuddin Ilyas Shah was very instrumental in developing Bengali culture and society as a unique one.
Under the rule of Shamsuddin Ilyas Shah, it is notable that Lakhnauti (ancient Gauda), Sonargaon and Satgaon (Chittagong) emerged as city states declaring their own independence from Delhi Sultanate. In 1338 Ilyas declared himself as the Sultan of Satgaon, with the title ‘Shamsuddin Ilyas Shah’. He fought war after war since 1339 to 1352 against such rulers as Sultan Alauddin Ali Shah of Lakhnauti and Sultan Ikhtiyaruddin Ghazi Shah of Sonargaon. Ilyas Shah emerged victorious after conquering Lakhnauti and Sonargaon. He then proclaimed the establishment of the Sultanate of Bengal in Lakhnauti in 1352. The area was the former capital of the Gauda kings and the Pal emperors. He built his capital in nearby Pandua. For the first time in Muslim rule in Bengal, the region became a unified Bengali kingdom.
The dynasty Shamsuddin Ilyas Shah founded in Bengal survived for 125 years. He ruled his kingdom on the basis of equality and people of different religions, castes and ethnicities found acceptance in his court. He is known to have standardized the people of Bengal under the banner of one politico-social and linguistic platform, including the Bengali language. During his time, immigrants from across the Muslim world, including North Indians, Turks, Abyssinians, Arabs and Persians came to Bengal and settled here and created a unique people that over the centuries came to be known as Bengali.
Shamsuddin Ilyas Shah was a great military leader and conducted successful military campaigns. He invaded Nepal, Orissa and Kamrupa (present-day Assam). But in 1353, the Delhi Sultan Firuz Shah Tughluq invaded his kingdom with his army occupying Pandua. He was forced to quit battle on the front and took shelter in Dinajpur. After Pandua occupation, the army from Delhi marched towards Dinajpur and took seize of its Ekdala fortress.
As the Delhi Sultanate's forces began to withdrew, the army of Ilyas Shah began to pursue Delhi army and reached as far as Varanasi. The Delhi army formidably fought back. Ilyas Shah regained control of Bengal and he extended his kingdom up to the Koshi River.
The extent of Ilyas Shah's military campaigns, including his conquest of major Indian cultural centres, was considered "world-conquering" in the context of medieval India and this prompted him to style himself as "the second Alexander".
Ilyas Shah’s rule was very important as far as Muslim domination and expansion of Islam as well as unification of Bengal as a kingdom is concerned. According R C Majumdar, “His reign was marked by peace and prosperity, which ‘are attested by the inauguration of national and typical coinage and by the growth of taste for the arts of peace, especially architecture.’”
Ghiyasuddin Azam Shah (1390–1411)
The third sultan of Bengal from Ilyas Shahi dynasty, Ghiyasuddin Azam Shah (1390–1411), is one of the very important rulers of Bengal. He continued to expand the territory of Ilyas Shah dynasty by conquering Assam and increase the importance of Bengal as a kingdom diplomatically by establishing relations with China’s Ming Empire.
Azam Shah ascended to the throne as his forces killed his father Sultan Sikandar Shah at the Battle of Goalpara in 1390, though Azam Shah ordered his forces not to kill his father.
Ghiyasuddin Azam Shah tried to establish an independent judiciary. There is a story. Once an arrow shot by him injured the son of a widow who went to qadi (judge) for justice. Qadi Sirajuddin urged the sultan to appear in his court and compensate. Obeying the order, Ghiyasuddin Azam Shah said if the judge would not have judged fairly, his head would have been chopped off. Qadi Sirajuddin brought out the cane kept under his seat and said if Sultan did not obey the law, he would have been flogged on his back. Ghiyasuddin Azam Shah was a great patron of artists and scholars. He also fostered Persianate and Bengali culture. There was a communication between Azam Shah and the great Persian poet Hafez. During his reign Krittibas Ojha translated the Ramayana in Bengali as Krittivasi Ramayan.
The Sultan pioneered diplomatic relations with not just China, but Mecca and Madinah as well. The Yongle Emperor of China sent his emissaries to Ghiyasuddin Azam Shah three times, in 1405, 1408 and 1409.
Ghiyasuddin Azam Shah sent envoys and gifts to the Yongle Emperor. The Chinese showered praise for the hard-working Bengali farmers and honest businessmen. The Chinese poets wrote poetry by looking at the giraffes sent by the sultan of Bengal.
Ghiyasuddin Azam Shah established a strategic partnership with China so that he could offset influence of his competing neighbours, including the sultan of Delhi. Besides China, he also established strong relations with the Sultanate of Jaunpur in North India. Ghiyasuddin Azam Shah died in 1410 AD as a result of the conspiracy of feudal landlord of Vaturia, Dinajpur and was succeeded by his son Saifuddin Hamza Shah.
Besides Shamsuddin Ilyas Shah and his grandson Ghiyasuddin Azam Shah, there were other important rulers from this dynasty including Mahmud Shah who ruled Bengal for 24 years from 1435 to 1459. But it appeared that none was greater than Shamsuddin Ilyas Shah and Ghiyasuddin Azam Shah as far as extension of the dominion of the dynasty and increasing the importance of Bengal in the world is concerned.
Next part tomorrow