Bengal Sultanate–Delhi Sultanate War
Ekdala Wars | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
Bengal Sultanate | Delhi Sultanate | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Shamsuddin Ilyas Shah Sikandar Shah |
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Strength | |||||||
200,000 infantry 10,000 horses 51 elephants |
90,000 infantry 30,000 horses Elephants | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
180,000 soldiers and civilians killed[2] | Heavy |
Part of a series on the |
Bengal Sultanate |
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The Ekdala Wars (
Background
In the early 14th century, Delhi's rebel governors in Bengal formed their own sultanates. By 1352, Shamsuddin Ilyas Shah defeated other rulers in Bengal and united the region into one sultanate. Ilyas Shah proclaimed himself as the Sultan of Bengal. Ilyas Shah's earlier military campaigns also involved the sacking of Kathmandu and Varanasi; and an invasion of Orissa.
Location
The conflict centered on the mud fort of Ekdala. The fort was located on an island surrounded by a moat and marshy jungle. The exact location of the area is unclear; with various sources saying it may have been in Dinajpur, Dhaka or Pandua.[3]
First Ekdala War
In 1353, the Sultan of Delhi
Second Ekdala War (1359)
Firuz Shah Tughluq again invaded Bengal in 1359 when Ilyas Shah's successor Sikandar Shah took the throne. Tughluq felt Sikandar Shah had violated the terms of the treaty reached with his father. Tughluq sought to place the son-in-law of one of Ilyas Shah's rivals as the sultan of Bengal. During the invasion, Sikandar Shah based himself in Ekdala fort like his father.
The Delhi army besieged the island fort for months. After growing exhausted of Bengal's climate, the Delhi Sultan reached a peace treaty with Sikandar Shah.[5] Delhi recognized Sikandar as an independent ruler. The peace treaty ensured Bengal's independence for two centuries.[4]
Atrocities
When the Indian Sultan planned to return home to Delhi after his conquest of Bengal. He ordered his army for collecting the heads of the slain Bengalis, and a silver Tanka offered for every head. The whole army went busily to work, and brought in the heads of the slain and piled them in heaps, receiving in payment the silver tankas. The heads were later counted and amounted to '180,000.'[1]
References
- ^ a b Elliot, Henry (1953). Tarikh-i Firoz Shahi Of Shams-i Siraj Afif. Gupta, Susil.Page 34-38
- ^ Elliot, Henry (1953). Tarikh-i Firoz Shahi Of Shams-i Siraj Afif. Gupta, Susil. Page 34-38
- OL 30677644M. Retrieved 29 April 2024.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-14-341678-4.
- ISBN 978-0-8108-8024-5.