Bengal Sultanate

Coordinates: 24°52′0″N 88°8′0″E / 24.86667°N 88.13333°E / 24.86667; 88.13333
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Sultanate of Bengal
Shahī Baṅgala (
Gaur
(1466–1565)
Tanda
(1565–1576)
Common languagesPersian
Bengali
Arabic
Religion
State religion:
Sunni Islam
Hinduism[note 2]
Minority religions: Hinduism
Buddhism
GovernmentAbsolute monarchy
Sultan 
• 1342–1358 (first)
Shamsuddin Ilyas Shah
• 1572–1576 (last)
Daud Khan Karrani
History 
• Unification
1352
• 
Battle of Raj Mahal
1572 1576
CurrencyTaka
Preceded by
Succeeded by
Delhi Sultanate
Sonargaon Sultanate
Satgaon Sultanate
Bhoi dynasty
Oiniwar dynasty
Sur Empire
Mughal Empire
Today part ofBangladesh
India
Myanmar
Nepal

The Bengal Sultanate (

vassal states in the Indian subcontinent, including parts of Odisha in the southwest, Arakan in the southeast,[4] and Tripura in the east.[5]

The Bengal Sultanate controlled large parts of the eastern subcontinent during its five dynastic periods, reaching its peak under

Gaur was the fifth-most populous city in the world.[13][14] Other notable cities included the initial royal capital of Pandua, the economic hub of Sonargaon, the Mosque City of Bagerhat, and the seaport and trading hub of Chittagong
. The Bengal Sultanate was connected to states in Asia, Africa, the Indian Ocean, and Europe through maritime links and overland trade routes. The Bengal Sultanate was a major trading center on the coast of the Bay of Bengal. It attracted immigrants and traders from different parts of the world. Bengali ships and merchants traded across the region, including in Malacca, China, and the Maldives.

The Bengal Sultanate was described by contemporary European and Chinese visitors as a prosperous kingdom. Due to the abundance of goods in Bengal, the region was described as the "richest country to trade with". The Bengal Sultanate left a strong architectural legacy. Buildings from the period show foreign influences merged into a distinct Bengali style.[9] The Bengal Sultanate was also the largest and most prestigious authority among the independent medieval Muslim-ruled states in the history of Bengal.[15]

History

Background (13th and 14th centuries)

Bengal was gradually absorbed into the

Satgaon ruling southern Bengal. Even this arrangement broke down. By 1338, the three administrative regions had separatist Sultans, including Fakhruddin Mubarak Shah in Sonargaon; Alauddin Ali Shah in Gauda, and Shamsuddin Ilyas Shah in Satgaon.[20] Fakhruddin conquered Chittagong in 1340 and was succeeded by his son Ikhtiyaruddin Ghazi Shah in 1349. Shamsuddin Ilyas Shah (or just Ilyas Shah) defeated Alauddin Ali Shah and secured control of Gauda. He then defeated Ikhtiyaruddin of Sonargaon. By 1352, Ilyas Shah emerged victorious among the Bengali triad.[citation needed
]

Early Bengal Sultanate (14th and 15th centuries)

Ruins of Adina Mosque, the largest mosque in the subcontinent, in Pandua, the first capital of the Bengal Sultanate.
The 14th-century tomb of Sultan Ghiyasuddin Azam Shah in Sonargaon

Ilyas Shah established his capital in

Bengal Sultanate-Delhi Sultanate War. Bengal agreed to pay a tribute to the Delhi Sultan. Despite losing control of many conquered areas, Ilyas Shah remained in firm control of Bengal.[20]

Ilyas Shah founded the

crown estimated to be worth 80,000 taka to Sikandar Shah. The peace treaty ensured Bengal's independence for two centuries.[22]

Sikandar Shah's reign lasted three decades. The

Great Mosque of Damascus- a style used during the introduction of Islam in new areas. During this time, much of the agricultural land was controlled by Hindu zamindars, which caused tensions with Muslim taluqdars.[23]

Bengal became the eastern frontier kingdom among medieval Islamic states.

multiethnic elites. Persian and Arabic were used alongside local languages. Persian was used as a diplomatic and commercial language. Arabic was the liturgical language of the clergy. In Bengal, the Bengali language became a court language and was the main vernacular language under Muslim rule.[10]

The third Sultan

Sufi education and Persian literature and Azam Shah even invited Hafez to settle there. The institutions founded by Abu Tawwama during the Delhi Sultanate were maintained by his successors in the Bengal Sultanate, including the Sufi preachers Ibrahim Danishmand, Saiyid Arif Billah Muhammad Kamel, Saiyid Muhammad Yusuf and others.[27]

Rise of nativists (15th century)

The Sixty Dome Mosque is a UNESCO World Heritage Site
Map of Asia in 1415 showing Bengal and other regional states
The Indian subcontinent in 1525, with Bengal in the east

During the early 15th century, the Ilyas Shahi rule was challenged by

reconquest of Arakan. Jalaluddin established control over Fatehabad.[28] Jalaluddin also promoted more native Bengali elements into the architecture and governance of the sultanate. He was initially loyal to the Abbasid Caliph but later declared himself as the Caliph in a sign of Bengali Muslim independence.[29]
The Ilyas Shahi dynasty was restored in 1432.

Nine kings ruled Bengal from Pandua over the course of ten decades. They built palaces, forts, bridges, mosques, and mausoleums.[30] Chinese envoy Ma Huan described the city at the time in his travel accounts, which state that "the city walls are very imposing, the bazaars well-arranged, the shops side by side, the pillars in orderly rows, they are full of every kind of goods". Pandua was an export center for cloth and wine. At least six varieties of fine muslin and four types of wine were found in Pandua. High-quality paper was produced from the bark of Pandua's mulberry trees.[31] Sultan Mahmud Shah of Bengal shifted the capital from Pandua to Gaur in 1450. One of the probable reasons behind the move was a change in the course of nearby rivers.[32]

The reign of Mahmud Shah witnessed greater control over the

Abyssinian mercenary corps. Tensions between different Muslim communities often affected the sultanate.[23]

Regional empire (15th and 16th centuries)

Gajapati rulers of Orissa and secured control of northern Orissa.[40] Hussain Shah extended Bengali territory in the west beyond Bihar, up to Saran in Jaunpur. The Sultan of Jaunpur took refuge in Bengal after an invasion by the Lodi dynasty of Delhi. The Delhi Sultan attacked Bengal in pursuit of the Jaunpur Sultan. Unable to make headway, the Delhi Sultan withdrew after concluding a peace treaty with Bengal.[43] Under Nasiruddin Nasrat Shah, the Sultanate pushed into the Mithila region and annexed the ruling Oiniwar dynasty in 1526 with the ruler of the Oiniwars, Laksminathasimha, being killed in battle.[44][45]

Embassies from

pirates
who allied with the Arakanese against Bengal.

Babur crossing the Son River. The river was the western boundary of the Bengal Sultanate during the Karrani dynasty

Decline (16th century)

The absorption of Bengal into the

Suri government appointed successive governors to administer Bengal. The third governor Muhammad Khan Sur declared independence after the death of Islam Shah Suri. Muhammad Khan ended the interrupting period of Delhi's rule and re-established the Bengal Sultanate.[citation needed
]

The

petty kingdoms. The Mughal government eventually suppressed the remnants of the sultanate in the Bhati area and brought all of Bengal under full Mughal control.[citation needed
]

Administration

The Sultan's Throne in Kusumba Mosque. Many mosques across the sultanate had an in-built throne for the Sultan. The mosques served as royal courts.
Silver coin of Sultan Jalaluddin Muhammad Shah with a lion inscription

The Bengal Sultanate was an absolute monarchy, and took influence from Persianate traditions. Its revenue system was maintained in the Bengali language throughout the course of its history.[49] The government employed both Muslims and Hindus, promoting a form of religious pluralism.[50] In addition to the royal family and government body, the Sultan also relied on the support of the ulama (Islamic scholars).[51]

The Sultanate was divided into administrative subdivisions such as arsa and iqlim, which were further divided into mahals,

qasbas.[52]

Mint towns

The Bengal Sultanate and its sphere of influence.

Mint towns consisted of royal and provincial capitals where taka coins were minted, thus developing the areas as important economic urban centres within the Sultanate. With the expansion of the empire, the number of mint towns increased gradually. The following is a partial listing of mint towns:[53]

  1. Jannatabad (
    Lakhnauti
    )
  2. Muzzamabad (Sonargaon)
  3. Ghiyaspur (Mymensingh)
  4. Satgaon
  5. Firuzabad (
    Hazrat Pandua
    )
  6. Shahr-i-Naw (Hazrat Pandua)
  7. Fathabad (Faridpur)
  8. Chatgaon (Chittagong)
  9. Mahmudabad (
    Jessore and Nadia
    )
  10. Barbakaabad (Dinajpur)
  11. Muzaffarabad (Pandua)
  12. Muhammadabad
  13. Husaynabad (24 Parganas)
  14. Chandrabad (Murshidabad district)
  15. Nusratabad (Dinajpur district)
  16. Khalifatabad
    /Badarpur (Bagerhat district)
  17. Sharifabad (Birbhum district)
  18. Khwaspur Tandah (Malda district)
  19. Rotaspur (Bihar)

Vassal states

Vassal states were a number of tributary states and protectorates on the periphery of the Bengal Sultanate under the suzerainty
of the Sultan of Bengal. Direct control was not established over these territories for various reasons. Vassal states had Muslim, Hindu and Buddhist rulers. The following illustrates the most notable vassal states.

Arakan

Coinage from Arakan during its vassalage to the Bengal Sultanate

In the southeast, Arakan was a prominent vassal of the Bengal Sultanate. In 1430, the Bengal Sultanate restored the Arakanese throne in Mrauk U after driving out Burmese invaders who came from Bagan. The Kingdom of Mrauk U paid tributes to the Sultan of Bengal for a sustained period, with the timeframe ranging between estimates of a century or a few decades.[54][4] Arakanese rulers replicated the Sultan's governing techniques, including adopting the title of Shah and minting coins in Arabic and Bengali inscriptions. A close cultural and commercial relationship developed across the Bay of Bengal.[55] Eventually, Arakan asserted its independence. The Kingdom of Mrauk U became a formidable coastal power.

Chandradwip

In southern Bengal, the island of Chandradwip hosted remnants of the pre-Islamic Hindu Deva dynasty. The kingdom was a vassal state of the Bengal Sultanate until the reign of the Hussain Shahi dynasty, when it was formally annexed by the sultanate.[56][57]

Pratapgarh

In the northeastern Barak Valley, the ruler Bazid of the Pratapgarh Kingdom declared himself as a Sultan on par with the Sultan of Bengal. This invited the retribution of Alauddin Husain Shah, who dispatched Sarwar Khan to suppress the newly formed sultanate in Pratapgarh. Bazid was defeated and agreed to pay a tribute to the Sultan of Bengal. He was also made to relinquish his claims over Sylhet, which was under direct Sultanate rule.[58][59]

Tripura

In the east, Tripura was vital to Bengal for the supply of gold, silver and other commodities. Tripura had coarse gold mines and mountain trade networks linked to the Far East. In 1464, the Sultan of Bengal helped Ratna Manikya I assume the Tripuri throne. Tripura was a prominent vassal of Bengal.[54][60][61]

Orissa

In the southwest, Orissa was prominent in the military history of the Bengal Sultanate. The first Bengali Sultan Shamsuddin Ilyas Shah defeated the rulers of Orissa and extended his realm up to Chilika Lake. He raided Jajpur and Cuttack. Ilyas Shah returned to Bengal with plunders from Orissa, including 44 elephants.[62] During the reign of Alauddin Hussain Shah, Orissa was a vassal state of Bengal.[54][63] Northern Orissa was directly ruled by Bengal. During the Karrani dynasty, Orissa was the scene of the Battle of Tukaroi and the Treaty of Cuttack between the Mughals and Bengal Sultanate in 1575.[citation needed]

Military

Sultan Daud Khan Karrani receives a robe of honour from Mughal general Munim Khan

The Sultans had a well-organised army, including cavalry, artillery, infantry and war elephants; and a navy. Due to the riverine geography and climate, it was not feasible to use cavalry throughout the year in Bengal. The cavalry was probably the weakest component of the Bengal Sultanate's army, as the horses had to be imported from foreign countries. The artillery was an important section. Portuguese historian João de Barros opined that the military supremacy of Bengal over Arakan and Tripura was due to its efficient artillery. The artillery used cannons and guns of various sizes.[64] The paiks formed the vital part of the Bengal infantry during this period. There were occasions when the paiks also tackled political situations. The particular battle array of the foot-soldiers who used bows, arrows and guns attracted the attention of Babur.[64]

War elephants played an important part in the Bengal army. Apart from carrying war materials, elephants were also used for the movement of the armed personnel. In riverine Bengal the usefulness of elephants, though very slow, could not be minimised. The navy was of prime necessity in riverine Bengal. In fact, the cavalry could ensure the hold over this country for a period of six months whereas the boats backed by the paiks could command supremacy over the other half of the year. Since the time of Iwaz Khalji, who first organised a naval force in Islamic Bengal, the war boats played an important role in the political affairs of the country. The chief of the admiralty had various responsibilities, including shipbuilding, river transport, to fit out strong boats for transporting war elephants; to recruit seamen; to patrol the rivers and to collect tolls at ghats. The efficiency of the navy eroded during the Hussain Shahi dynasty. The Sultans also built forts, including temporary mud walled forts.[64]

Akbar leads his army into battle against Daud Khan Karrani, the last Sultan of Bengal

Bengal–Delhi Wars

In 1353, the Sultan of Delhi attacked the newly formed Bengal Sultanate. After the siege of Ekdala Fort, Bengal agreed to pay a tribute to the Sultan of Delhi. In 1359, Delhi again invaded Bengal after the previous peace treaty collapsed. However, negotiations ultimately resulted in a new treaty in which Delhi recognized the independence of Bengal.[20] The Bengal Sultans also received support from South Indian allies. During the 16th century, the Lodi dynasty of Delhi again attacked Bengal in pursuit of the Sultan of Jaunpur. The Lodis eventually agreed to a peace treaty with Bengal.

Bengal–Jaunpur War

The Jaunpur Sultanate attacked Bengal during the 15th century. With diplomatic help from Ming China and the Timurid ruler of Herat, Bengal fended off the Jaunpuri invasion.[65][66]

Campaigns in Arakan and Assam

Arakan and the

Arakanese persisted to fight over Chittagong, often allying with Portuguese pirates
.

During Husain Shah's rule, Bengali control over Assam reached its zenith. Under the military command of Shah Ismail Ghazi, the Bengali army overthrew the Kamata Kingdom's Hindu Khen dynasty in 1498, extending the Sultanate as far as Hajo and preparing to advance towards central Assam. Assamese Bhuyans eventually overthrew the local administrations within a few years and restored local rule.[68]

Sher Shah Suri's invasion

Bengal was overwhelmed during the pan-Indian invasion of Sher Shah Suri and became part of the Suri Empire. The invasion prompted the Mughal Empire to occupy parts of Bengal. Both the Mughals and Bengal Sultanate were overrun by the Suri forces. Bengal regained its independence after Suri governors rebelled and re-established the sultanate.

Bengal–Mughal Wars

The first Mughal emperor Babur turned his sights on Bengal after the Battle of Panipat in 1526. At the Battle of Ghaghra in 1529, Bengal reached a peace treaty with Babur. During the invasion of Sher Shah Suri, the second Mughal emperor Humayun occupied Gaur. The third Mughal emperor Akbar launched a war against Bengal at the Battle of Tukaroi in 1575. Akbar finally defeated the last Sultan of Bengal at the Battle of Raj Mahal in 1576.

Economy

Chinese porcelain and coins from the Bengal Sultanate in the British Museum
Maritime links of the Bengal sultanate
The Baghlah was a type of ship widely used by traders in the Indian Ocean, the Arabian Sea, the Bay of Bengal, the Malacca Straits and the South China Sea

The economy of the Bengal Sultanate inherited earlier aspects of the Delhi Sultanate, including mint towns, a salaried bureaucracy and the

jagirdar system of land ownership. The production of silver coins inscribed with the name of the Sultan of Bengal was a mark of Bengali sovereignty.[69] Bengal was more successful in perpetuating purely silver coinage than Delhi and other contemporary Asian and European governments. There were three sources of silver. The first source was the leftover silver reserve of previous kingdoms. The second source was the tribute payments of subordinate kingdoms which were paid in silver bullion. The third source was during military campaigns when Bengali forces sacked neighboring states.[70]

The apparent vibrancy of the Bengal economy in the beginning of the 15th century is attributed to the end of tribute payments to Delhi, which ceased after Bengali independence and stopped the outflow of wealth.

entrepots, importing goods and re-exporting them to China.[72]

A vigorous riverine shipbuilding tradition existed in Bengal. The shipbuilding tradition is evidenced in the sultanate's naval campaigns in the Ganges delta. The trade between Bengal and the Maldives, based on rice and cowry shells, was probably done on Arab-style baghlah ships. Chinese accounts point to Bengali ships being prominent in Southeast Asian waters. A vessel from Bengal, probably owned by the Sultan of Bengal, could accommodate three tribute missions- from Bengal, Brunei and Sumatra- and was evidently the only vessel capable of such a task. Bengali ships were the largest vessels plying in those decades in Southeast Asian waters.[73]

All large business transactions were done in terms of silver taka. Smaller purchases involved

mulberry trees. The high quality of paper was compared with the lightweight white muslin cloth.[74]

Europeans & Ming Chinese referred to Bengal as "the richest country to trade with".

Pegu in Burma traded in silver and gold with Bengalis.[77]
Overland trade routes such as the Grand Trunk Road connected Bengal to northern India, Central Asia and the Middle East.

Foreign relations

The Bengal Sultanate had robust

In the Islamic world, the sultanate pledged allegiance to the contemporary

Mamluk Sultan of Cairo. The Abbasid caliph was still considered to be the symbolic leader of Sunni Islam at the time, despite dwindling territory under direct caliphate rule. For the Bengali Sultans, relations with the caliphate provided legitimacy among the Muslim clergy. For example, the converted Sultan Jalaluddin Muhammad Shah received recognition from Al-Mu'tadid II, which strengthened Jalaluddin's legitimacy in the eyes of the clergy.[28] Many coins minted by the Bengal Sultanate bore the names of both the Bengali Sultans and the Abbasid Caliphs.[80]

Chinese manuscript Tribute Giraffe with Attendant, depicting a giraffe presented by Bengali envoys to the Ming court (Philadelphia Museum of Art)

Sultan

Taqi al-Din al-Fasi, a contemporary Arab scholar, was a teacher at the madrasa in Makkah. The madrasa in Madinah was built at a place called Husn al-Atiq near the Prophet's Mosque.[82] Several other Bengali Sultans also sponsored madrasas in the Hejaz.[28]

In Africa, Sultan

Shahrukh Mirza of the Timurid Empire. In Southeast Asia, European accounts refer to the presence of a large number of Bengali merchants in the Malacca Sultanate. The merchants were wealthy shipowners. It is yet to be ascertained whether these merchants had a significant role in the Sultan's court.[71] Ship-owning merchants were often royal envoys.[86] Contacts between Bengal and the Bruneian Empire and the Sumatran Aceh Sultanate are recorded in Chinese accounts.[73]

Within the subcontinent, Bengal had both tense and peaceful relations with the Delhi Sultanate and the Jaunpur Sultanate. The Delhi Sultanate initially received tributes from the Bengal Sultanate between 1353 and 1359. Tributes stopped after a war and peace treaty in 1359. Sultan Ghiyasuddin Azam sent envoys to the neighboring Jaunpur Sultanate. He sent elephants as gifts to Sultan Malik Sarwar Khwajah-i-Jahan.[87] The two sultanates fought a war between 1415 and 1420. The end of the war brought a long period of peace between the neighbouring states. In 1494, the Jaunpuri Sultan Hussain Shah Sharqi was given refuge in Bengal after being defeated by the Lodi dynasty of Delhi.[43]

On the coastline of the Bay of Bengal, the Bengal Sultanate became influential in the control of Arakan.

Portuguese Chittagong against Bengal. Despite achieving independence from the Sultans of Bengal, the Arakanese kings continued to fashion themselves after the Bengali Sultans by copying clothes, coins, titles and administrative techniques. Bengali Muslim influence on Arakan lasted for 350 years.[88]
In the Indian Ocean, the Bengal Sultanate was involved in trading with the Maldives where Bengali rice was exchanged for Maldivian shell currency.

Historians have focused on Bengal's relations with Ming China during the early 15th century. For example, Trade and Diplomacy in India-China Relations: A Study of Bengal During the Fifteenth Century chronicles the relationship between the Bengal Sultanate and Ming China.

Admiral Zheng He.[92] The exchange of embassies included the gift of an East African giraffe by Sultan Shihabuddin Bayazid Shah to the Chinese emperor in 1414.[85][93][92] China also mediated an end to the Bengal-Jaunpur War after a request from Sultan Jalaluddin Muhammad Shah.[28] Ming China considered Bengal to be "rich and civilized" and one of the strongest countries in the entire chain of contacts between China and Asian states during the 15th century.[94]
Sino-Bengali contacts was the main feature of relations between China and the Indian subcontinent during the 15th century.

Culture and society

"People of the Kingdom of Bengal", 16th-century Portuguese illustration

The

Betel nut was offered to guests. The population included royalty, aristocrats, natives and foreigners. Many of the rich built ships and went abroad for trade. Many were agriculturalists. Punishments for breaking the law included expulsion from the kingdom, as well as bamboo flogging.[74]

Bengal received settlers from North India, the Middle East and Central Asia. They included Turks, Afghans, Persians and Arabs.[95] An important migrant community were Persians. Many Persians in Bengal were teachers, lawyers, scholars and clerics.[96] Mercenaries were widely imported for domestic, military and political service. One particular group of mercenaries were the Abyssinians.[49]

Arts

Literature and painting

A Bengali Persian manuscript showing Alexander sharing his throne with Queen Nushabah. The scene is based on Nizami Ganjavi's Iskandar Nama (Book of Alexander). The manuscript was published by Sultan Nusrat Shah who reigned between 1519 and 1538. (British Library)

Muslim poets were writing in the Bengali language by the 15th century. By the turn of the 16th century, a vernacular literature based on concepts of

Islamic cosmology flourished in the region. Bengali Muslim mystic literature was one of the most original in Islamic India.[76]

And with the three washers [cups of wine], this dispute is going on.

All the parrots [poets] of India have fallen into a sugar shattering situation (become excited)

That this Persian candy [ode], to Bangalah [Bengal] is going on.

-An excerpt of a poem jointly penned by Hafez and Sultan Ghiyasuddin Azam Shah in the 14th century.[97]

With Persian as an

golden age of Persian literature in Bengal". Its stature is illustrated by the Sultan's own correspondence with the Persian poet Hafez. When the Sultan invited Hafez to complete an incomplete ghazal by the ruler, the renowned poet responded by acknowledging the grandeur of the king's court and the literary quality of Bengali-Persian poetry.[97]

Manuscript paintings depict the fashion and architecture of the Bengal Sultanate. Persian manuscripts with paintings are a key artistic hallmark of the Bengal Sultanate. One of the best-known examples of this heritage is the Sharafnama published by Sultan Nusrat Shah in the middle of the 16th century. It includes epic poetry by Nizami Ganjavi about the conquests of Alexander the Great.[98][99]

In the 15th century, the court scholar

Thousand and One Nights and the Shahnameh.[100][101]

Hindu poets from the period included Maladhar Basu, Bipradas Pipilai and Vijay Gupta.

Architecture

A majority of the Bengal Sultanate's mint towns and surviving structures are found in Bangladesh. These structures have been studied in the book Sultans and Mosques: The Early Muslim Architecture of Bangladesh by Perween Hasan, who completed her PhD at Harvard University and has taught Islamic history and culture at the University of Dhaka.[102][103] The Indian state of West Bengal is home to two of the sultanate's former capitals Gaur and Pandua, as well as several notable structures including a watchtower, fortified walls and mausolea. The oldest mosque in the Indian state of Assam dates from the Bengal Sultanate. A 15th-century sultanate-era mosque lies in ruins and covered with vegetation in Myanmar's Rakhine State.[104]

Urban architecture

Cities in the Bengal Sultanate had stately medieval architecture, particularly in the royal capitals of Gaur and Pandua. In 1500, the royal capital of Gaur had the fifth-largest urban population in the world after Beijing, Vijayanagara, Cairo and Canton. It had a population of 200,000 (at the time, the global population is estimated to have ranged between 400 and 500 million).[13][105][106][107] The Portuguese historian Castenhada de Lopez described houses in Gaur as being one-storeyed with ornamental floor tiles, courtyards and gardens. The city had a citadel, durbar, watchtowers, canals, bridges, large gateways, and a city wall.[108] The royal palace was divided into three compartments. The first compartment was the royal court. The second was the living quarter of the Sultan. The third was the harem. A high wall enclosed the palace. A moat surrounded the palace on three sides and was connected to the Ganges. The city of Pandua developed from a small hamlet into a military garrison. It included imperial mosques and mausolea. Urban architecture in the Bengal Sultanate was based on Arab, Bengali, Persian, Indo-Turkish, and Byzantine influences. A glimpse of houses in the Bengal Sultanate can be seen in the Iskandar Nama (Book of Alexander) published by Sultan Nusrat Shah.[98] There were significant indigenous developments. The Bengal roofs began appearing in concrete forms during the 15th century. These roofs were later widely replicated in the Mughal Empire and the Rajput kingdoms of the northwestern Indian subcontinent.

  • Urban architecture in the Bengal Sultanate
  • Dakhil Doorway
    Dakhil Doorway
  • Baisgazi Wall was a city wall
    Baisgazi Wall was a city wall
  • The Firoz Minar was a watchtower
    The Firoz Minar was a watchtower
  • Fading enameled bricks on Gumti Gate
    Fading enameled bricks on Gumti Gate

Mosque architecture

According to Perween Hasan in a book edited by

Ponds were often located beside a mosque. Arabic inscriptions in the mosques often include the name of the patron or builder. The most commonly cited verse from the Quran in inscriptions was Surah 72 (Al-Jinn).[98] The buildings were made of brick or stone. The brick mosque with terracotta decoration represented a grand structure in the Bengal Sultanate. They were often the gift of a wealthy patron and the fruit of extraordinary effort, which would not be found in every Muslim neighborhood.[98] Mosques were built across the length and breadth of the Bengal Sultanate. The highest concentration of mosques from the Bengal Sultanate can be found in the North Bengal regions of Bangladesh and Indian West Bengal. A mosque city developed near the southwestern Bengali Sundarbans forest as a result of the patronization of Governor Khan Jahan Ali. In 1985, UNESCO designated the city as a World Heritage Site.[110] In central areas, the Pathrail Mosque in Faridpur is one of the best-preserved sultanate-era structures. In the northeast, the Shankarpasha Shahi Masjid in Sylhet is a well-preserved structure of the Bengal Sultanate. In the northeastern Indian state of Assam, the Panbari Mosque was built during the reign of Sultan Alauddin Hussain Shah. Other mosques can be found in coastal areas of West Bengal and parts of Bihar, such as the Sayed Jamaluddin Mosque. In the southeast, the Santikan Mosque (built in the 1430s) stands in ruins in Rakhine State (formerly Arakan) of Myanmar (formerly Burma).[111]

Imperial mosques had an in-built throne for the Sultan. These thrones are termed as Badshah-e-Takht (King's Throne). The Sultans sat on the elevated throne and addressed his subjects below. The Sultans also administered justice and managed government affairs while sitting on these thrones. Mosques served as royal courts.[109] Mosques across the Bengal Sultanate had these thrones. The Sultans traveled from one town to another and hosted royal court activities in mosques with a Badshah-e-Takht. The Badshah-e-Takht in Kusumba Mosque is heavily decorated with a small intrinsically designed mihrab. The Adina Mosque has one of the largest royal galleries in the subcontinent.[109]

Tomb architecture

Mausoleums of the Bengal Sultanate are an important architectural hallmark. Initially,

Tomb of Cyrus. Sarcophagi would include mihrabs and arches resembling the architecture in Adina Mosque. For example, the tomb of Sultan Ghiyasuddin Azam Shah in Sonargaon has features similar to the architecture of Adina Mosque built by his father Sultan Sikandar Shah. An indigenous Islamic mausolea style developed with the Eklakhi Mausoleum, which is the royal tomb chamber of Sultan Jalaluddin Muhammad Shah. Other mausolea, such as the Tomb of Fateh Khan in Gaur, featured a Bengal roof.[112]

Legacy

The architecture of the Bengal Sultanate has influenced modern architecture in Bangladesh. The sultanate era inspired the Baitur Rauf Mosque, which won the Aga Khan Award for Architecture in 2016.[113]

List of dynasties

Ilyas Shahi dynasty (1342–1414)
Name Reign Notes
Shamsuddin Ilyas Shah 1342–1358 Became the first sole ruler of whole
Satgaon and Lakhnauti
.
Sikandar Shah 1358–1390 Assassinated by his son and successor, Ghiyasuddin Azam Shah
Ghiyasuddin Azam Shah 1390–1411
Saifuddin Hamza Shah 1411–1413
Muhammad Shah bin Hamza Shah 1413 Assassinated by his father's slave Shihabuddin Bayazid Shah on the orders of the landlord of Dinajpur, Raja Ganesha
Shihabuddin Bayazid Shah 1413–1414 Assassinated by Raja Ganesha
Alauddin Firuz Shah I 1414 Son of Shihabuddin Bayazid Shah. Assassinated by Raja Ganesha
House of Raja Ganesha (1414–1435)
Name Reign Notes
Raja Ganesha 1414–1415
Jalaluddin Muhammad Shah 1415–1416 Son of Raja Ganesha and converted into Islam
Raja Ganesha 1416–1418 Second Phase
Jalaluddin Muhammad Shah 1418–1433 Second Phase
Shamsuddin Ahmad Shah 1433–1435
Restored Ilyas Shahi dynasty (1435–1487)
Name Reign Notes
Nasiruddin Mahmud Shah I
1435–1459
Rukunuddin Barbak Shah
1459–1474
Shamsuddin Yusuf Shah 1474–1481
Sikandar Shah II
1481
Jalaluddin Fateh Shah 1481–1487
Habshi rule (1487–1494)
Name Reign Notes
Shahzada Barbak 1487
Saifuddin Firuz Shah 1487–1489
Mahmud Shah II 1489–1490
Shamsuddin Muzaffar Shah 1490–1494
Hussain Shahi dynasty (1494–1538)
Name Reign Notes
Alauddin Hussain Shah
1494–1518
Nasiruddin Nasrat Shah 1518–1533
Alauddin Firuz Shah II 1533
Ghiyasuddin Mahmud Shah 1533–1538
Governors under Suri rule (1539–1554)
Name Reign Notes
Khidr Khan
1539–1541 Declared independence in 1541 and was replaced
Qazi Fazilat 1541–1545
Muhammad Khan Sur 1545–1554 Declared independence upon the death of Islam Shah Suri
Muhammad Shahi dynasty (1554–1564)
Name Reign Notes
Muhammad Khan Sur 1554–1555 Declared independence and styled himself as Shamsuddin Muhammad Shah
Ghiyasuddin Bahadur Shah II 1555–1561
Ghiyasuddin Jalal Shah 1561–1563
Ghiyasuddin Bahadur Shah III 1563–1564
Karrani dynasty (1564–1576)
Name Reign Notes
Taj Khan Karrani 1564–1566
Sulaiman Khan Karrani 1566–1572 Defeated by the Mughal Gajpatis & Bhurshut allianced marry his daughter to Bhurshut Maharaj brother and his conversion to Islam

Rise of Kalapahar

Bayazid Khan Karrani 1572
Daud Khan Karrani 1572–1576

Family Trees

Ilyas Shahi Dynasty (1342–1414)

Ganesha Dynasty (1414–1436)

Restored Ilyas Shahi Dynasty (1436–1487)

Habshi Rule (1487–1494)

Hussain Shahi Dynasty (1494–1538)

Muhammad Shahi Dynasty (1554–1564)

Karrani Dynasty (1564–1576)

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Sultan Ghiyasuddin Azam Shah held his court in Sonargaon.
  2. ^ Under Raja Ganesha, from 1414 to 1415 and again from 1416 to 1418

References

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Further reading

24°52′0″N 88°8′0″E / 24.86667°N 88.13333°E / 24.86667; 88.13333