Bengal Sultanate

Sultanate of Bengal
Persian: سلطنت بنگله‎
সুলতানাত-এ-বাঙ্গলাহ
Bengali: শাহী বাংলা
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1342–1538

1555–1576 		→
 
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The Sultanate of Bengal in 1500, including Bengal and parts of Bihar, Assam and Arakan
Capital Gaur, Pandua, Sonargaon
Languages Persian (official), Bengali, Arabic
Religion Sunni Islam (official), Hinduism, Buddhism
Government Monarchy
Sultan
 -  1342-1358 Ilyas Shah (first)
 - 1572-1576 Daud Khan Karrani (last)
Historical era Late medieval
 -  Establishment 1342
 -  Battle of Raj Mahal 1576
Currency Tanka
Today part of  Bangladesh
 Burma
 India
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The Sixty Dome Mosque in Bagerhat is a UNESCO World Heritage Site
Old Gateway of Gaur
Tomb of Sultan Ghiyasuddin Azam Shah at Sonargaon.
Silver tanka of Jalaluddin Muhammad Shah
The Sona Mosque in Rajshahi
The Firoz Minar at Gaur
The pet giraffe of Saifuddin Hamza Shah, which was gifted to the Yongle Emperor of China as part of the growing relations between the sultanate and the Ming Dynasty.
Ruins of Shamsuddin Ahmad Shah's palace in Dinajpur

The Bengal Sultanate, Shahi Bangala (Bengali: শাহী বাংলা; Persian: شاهی بنگله‎ "Monarchical Bengal" or "Kingdom of Bengal") or Sultanate of Bengal (Persian: سلطنت بنگله‎ Sultanat-e-Bangalah; Bengali: বাংলার স্বাধীন সুলতানি আমল "Independent Sultanate Period of Bengal") refers to an independent medieval Indo-Islamic state established in Bengal in 1342. Its realm and influence extended across modern-day Bangladesh, East India and West Burma. The sultanate was dominated by numerous dynasties of Turkic, Arab, Afghan, indigenous/Bengali and Abyssinian origin. It disintegrated at the end of the 16th-century and was absorbed into the pan-South Asian Mughal Empire and the Arakanese Kingdom of Mrauk U.

History

In 1342, a local warlord, Shamsuddin Ilyas Shah proclaimed himself as monarch of the Kingdom of Lakhnauti. He would go on to consolidate his rule by conquering the other independent kingdoms of Bengal before proclaiming himself as Sultan of Bengal.

The absorption of Bengal into the Mughal Empire was a gradual process beginning with the defeat of Bengali forces under Sultan Nasiruddin Nasrat Shah by Babur at the Battle of Ghaghra and ending with the Battle of Raj Mahal where the Pashtun Karrani dynasty, the last reigning Sultans of Bengal were defeated.

List of Sultans

Ilyas Shahi dynasty (1342-1414)

Main article: Ilyas Shahi dynasty
Name Reign Notes
Shamsuddin Ilyas Shah 1342–1358 Became the first sole ruler of whole Bengal comprising Sonargaon, 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
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 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)

Main article: Hussain Shahi dynasty
Name Reign Notes
Alauddin Hussain Shah 1494–1518
Nasiruddin Nasrat Shah 1518–1533
Alauddin Firuz Shah II 1533
Ghiyasuddin Mahmud Shah 1533–1538

Bengal Governors under Suri Empire (1532-1555)

Name Reign Notes
Sher Shah 1532–1538 Defeated Mughals and became the ruler of Delhi in 1540.
Khidr Khan 1538–1541
Qazi Fazilat 1541–1545
Muhammad Khan Sur 1545–1554

Muhammad Shah 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 1561–1564
Ghiyasuddin Bahadur Shah III 1564

Karrani dynasty (1564-1576)

Main article: Karrani dynasty
Name Reign Notes
Taj Khan Karrani 1564–1566
Sulaiman Khan Karrani 1566–1572
Bayazid Khan Karrani 1572
Daud Khan Karrani 1572–1576

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Sultanate of Bengal.

References