Akananda and Bakananda

Akananda and Bakananda (Bengali: অকানন্দ ও বকানন্দ, মতান্তরে আকানন্দ ও বাকানন্দ) were the Bengali Hindu generals of Hatiagarh, who mortally wounded Arab missionary Pir Gorachand, in a pitched battle.[1][2][3][4]

Early life

Little is known about the early life of the princes Akananda and Bakananda. Satish Chandra Mitra however identified Akananda with his apparently uncorrupted name viz. Akshayananda.[1] Akananda and Bakananda were the sons of Mahidananda, the ruler of Hatiagarh. According to Dr. Girindranath Das, Akananda and Bakananda were two generals based at Hatiagarh, under the command of king Chandraketu.[3] According Binay Ghosh, Akananda and Bakananda were either Poundra Kshatriyas or Byagra Kshatriyas by caste.[4]

Resistance to Arab missionaries

In the middle of the 14th century, an Arab missionary named Syed Abbas Ali arrived in lower Bengal with a team of 21 auliyas and other mercenaries. At Balanda, near Deganga in present North 24 Parganas district the missionaries began to convert the Hindus by force.[5] When the missionaries reached nearby Hatiagarh, they were confronted by Akananda and Bakananda, the princes of Hatiagarh. A pitched battle ensued between the missionaries and their mercenaries on one side and the common people, mainly belonging to the lower castes led by the princes of Hatiagarh on the other. In the battle, Akananda mortally wounded Gorachand with a sharp arrow.[3][4] According to Dr. Girindranath Das, both Akananda and Bakananda died in the battle.[3], but according to Satish Chandra Mitra only Bakananda died in the battle.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c Mitra, Satish Chandra. Jashor Khulnar Itihash Volume I. Deys Publishing, p. 482.
  2. ^ "Lal Masjid - The Red Mosque". www.historyofbengal.com. http://www.historyofbengal.com/rangan_datta/Lal_Masjid_Rangan_Datta.html. Retrieved February 20, 2011. 
  3. ^ a b c d Chakraborty, Dr. Barun Kumar (ed) (2007). Bangiya Loksanskriti Kosh. Aparna Book Distributors (Publishing Division), p. 143.
  4. ^ a b c Ghosh, Binay (1980). Paschimbanger Sanskriti Volume III. Prakash Bhavan, p. 168.
  5. ^ Mitra, Satish Chandra. Jashor Khulnar Itihash Volume I. Deys Publishing, p. 328.