Muslim Period in Bangla (1204-1757)

• Mohammad Morad Hossain Khan

• Assistant Professor
• General Education
 Establishment of Islam in Bangla
• According to unconfirmed traditions, some
Muslim sufi-saints came to Bengal even
before the political conquest, but Islam
actually entered in full force with the
Turkish conquest towards the beginning of
the 13th century.
• Bangladesh is today a Muslim majority
country; about 90% of her population
belong to the Islamic faith.
 How was Islam established?
• The Muslim rulers of Bengal belonged to three
racial groups- the Turks, the Afghans and the
Mughals. The last were originally linked with the
Turks.
• Islam entered Bengal both by land and water. By
land the Turkish conquerors came with their
religion, culture and concept of governance, while
the Arab traders came through waterway.
• But the Arabs probably did not affect the society
as deeply as was done by the Turkish conquerors.
• The Turks came with the avowed intention of
establishing political power.
• Ever since the establishment of the first Muslim
kingdom in Bengal there was a continuous flow
of Muslims into Bengal.
• There came the soldiers, who were, in fact the
backbone of political power; the religious
learned people, the Sayyids, Ulama and
the Mashayikhs to disseminate religion; the civil
servants, experts in politics, finance and
governance; the traders and businessmen, and
also the artisans and craftsmen.
• They all came in search of employment and /or
better livelihood.
• The Mongol destruction of the Baghdad
Caliphate in the thirteenth century led to
widespread displacement of Central Asian
Muslims, who took refuge in the capitals of
Delhi and LAKHNAUTI (the Maldah district
of West Bengal, India).
• They even spread to the remote places.
Muslims coming from the cultural centres of
central Asia were welcomed, they were
known as aizza('respectable') and given
suitable employment.
 Independent Bangla from 1338
• Bakhtyar's kingdom was only a nucleus and the
Muslims took more than two hundred years to
bring the whole of Bengal under their control.
• In 1338 Bengal witnessed the beginning of an
independent Sultanate under FAKHRUDDIN MUBARAK
SHAH.
• This was a period of overall development of the
country both politically and culturally. But the
most important development of this period was
that the country for the first time received a
name, ie. Bangalah.
• Before this there was no geo-political unity
of Bengal, no common name for the whole
country.
• Bengal was known by the names of its
different units, Gauda, Radha, Vanga etc.
• After Sultan Shamsuddin ILIYAS SHAH
conquered all these three regions and
united the whole of Bengal, the
name Bangalah emerged and he earned for
himself the title of Shah-i-
Bangalah and Sultan-i-Bangalah.
• The independent Sultanate saw the expansion of
Muslim power which spread into every nook and
corner of the country, up to KAMARUPA in the
north, Tippara in the east and the sea in the
south.
• Chittagong was conquered by Fakhruddin
Mubarak Shah (1338-1349), Faridpur was
conquered by JALALUDDIN MUHAMMAD SHAH (1415-
1432) and renamed FATHABAD.
• Fakhruddin Mubarak Shah ruled an independent
kingdom in areas that lie within modern-day
eastern and southeastern Bengal.
• Khan Jahan brought the Khulna-Jessore area
under the Muslim rule in the reign
of NASIRUDDIN MAHMUD SHAH (1435-1459) and
RUKNUDDIN BARBAK SHAH (1459-1474)
conquered Bakerganj.
 Shamsuddin Ilyas Shah (reigned: 1342–1358)
• Shamsuddin Ilyas Shah was an independent ruler
of Bengal, who became the sultan of the kingdom
of Lakhnauti in 1342 and after conquering the
kingdom of Sonargoan in 1352, he became the
sole ruler of whole Bengal and thus he became
the founder of a sultanate of the unified Bengal.
• He founded the Ilyas Shahi dynasty which ruled
Bengal for 73 years (1342–1415) and after a gap
of 20 years (1415–1435) the dynasty again ruled
Bengal for 52 years (1435–1487).
• Ilyas Shah was succeeded by his son Sikandar
Shah.
 The Mughals in Bangla
• The Mughals took over this kingdom gradually
from 1576 and onwards.
• After the death of AURANGZEB, when Mughal
power declined, Bengal like other provinces of
the empire was ruled by the NAWABS more or less
independently. This position continued up to
the BATTLE OF PALASHI, 1757.
• Mughal supremacy in Bengal lasted for several
hundred years.
 Muslim Society
• They built mosques, MADRASAHs and KHANQAHs for
this purpose.
• Mosques form an important feature of Muslim
society and culture, because they afford
opportunity to offer prayers, one of the
fundamental pillars of the Islamic faith.
• Mosques also served as maktabs to impart
elementary religious education to the children.
There were many madrasahs to impart
elementary education, and also institutions of
higher learning, particularly in the towns and
cities.
• In those days, as in the present day, a person had
to pursue his study up to a certain level to
become an Alim, and the subjects which he had to
study were the Quran, Hadith, Tasawwaf,
Mantiq, Kalam, and such other subjects, as also
the Arabic and Persian languages.
• The Ulama and Mashayikh enjoyed economic
security so that they could engage themselves in
the pursuit of knowledge and meditation. The
Muslim rulers always encouraged Muslim Ulama,
Sufis and other religious leaders, built religious
institutions and thus helped the growth of a
Muslim society in Bengal.
Ibn Battuta
• Over a period of thirty years, Battuta visited most
of the known Islamic world as well as many non-
Muslim lands.
• His journeys included trips to North Africa,
the Horn of Africa, West Africa,Southern
Europe and Eastern Europe in the West, and to
the Middle East, South Asia, Central
Asia, Southeast Asia and China in the East, a
distance surpassing threefold his near-
contemporary Marco Polo.
• Battuta is considered one of the
greatest travellers of all time.
• Ibn Battuta visited Bangla in 1344-46 during the
reign of Fakhruddin Mubarak Shah (1338-1349).
• He reached the port of Chittagong in modern-
day Bangladesh intending to travel to Sylhet to
meet Shah Jalal in 1345 CE.
• Ibn Batuta noted that Shah Jalal was tall and lean,
fair in complexion and lived by the mosque in a
cave, where his only item of value was a goat he
kept for milk, butter, and yogurt.
• He observed that the companions of the Shah Jalal
were foreign and known for their strength and
bravery. He also mentions that many people
would visit the Shah to seek guidance.
 Islam Khan
• Shaikh Alauddin Chisti (1570 – 1613; known
as Islam Khan Chisti) was a Mughal general and
the Subahdar of Bengal.
• He transferred the capital of Bengal to Dhaka and
renamed it Jahangirnagar.
• He was awarded the titular name of Islam
Khan by Mughal emperor Jahangir.
Shaista Khan, the Mughal governor
of Bengal from 1664 to 1688
• Shaista Khan encouraged the construction of
modern townships and public works in Dhaka,
leading to a massive urban and economic
expansion.
• He was a patron of the arts and encouraged the
construction of majestic monuments across the
province, including mosques,mausoleums and
palaces that represented the finest in Indo-
Saracenic and Mughal architecture.
• Khan greatly expanded Lalbagh Fort, Chowk
Bazaar Mosque, Saat Masjid and Choto Katra. He
also supervised the construction of the
mausoleum for his daughter Bibi Pari.
 Now the mosque falls in Mohammadpur
Thana region. A street, Saat Masjid Road,
commemorates the name of the mosque.
Pari Bibi's tomb inside Lalbagh Fort complex
 End of the Muslim Rule in Bengal

• The Battle of Plassey (Palashi) on 23 June 1757.

Siraj ud-Daulah (1733 – July 2, 1757)
 Siraj ud-Daulah (1756–1757)

• Siraj succeeded Alivardi Khan as the Nawab in

April 1756 at the age of 23, under the titles
of Mansur-ul-Mulk (Victory of the Country).
Mir Jafar (left) and his eldest son, Mir Miran (right).
Results/Impacts of Muslim Rule in Bangla
• Economic: huge exports like rice, chili or pepper,
turmeric, ginger, sugar, molasses, cotton, muslin,
minor imports like carpet, ornaments: gold, silver,
marvelous stone,
• Banking system developed during Mughal period.
• Most of the people were solvent.
• There was a popular proverb: “There were many
doors to enter Bangla, but no way to go out.”
 Political
• Sometimes independent (especially from 1338
-1538 ), sometimes province of Delhi
• monarchy, no democracy
• Administration was more or less very friendly
and pro-people.
 Social
• Society was very peaceful. All religious people lived
in harmony.
• Many Hindus were employed in the administration
during Sultanate and Mughal periods.
• Education was given importance. Besides Farsi or
Arabic, local language ‘Bangla’ was also patronized.
• During Mughal period Muharram started in Bangla.
• Baul song, Gajal, etc became very popular.
Thanks a lots.