Bengal Sultanate

Sultanate of Bengal
বাংলা সুলতানাত
Sultanate
←   ← 1342–1538 1555–1576 →   →
The Sultanate of Bengal in 1500, including Bengal and parts of Bihar, Assam and Arakan
Capital		Gaur, Pandua, Sonargaon
Languages		Persian, Bengali and 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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History of Bangladesh
Ancient Neolithic, c. 7600 – c. 3300 BCE Bronze Age, c. 3300 – c. 1200 BCE Iron Age, c. 1200 – c. 200 BCE Janapada, c. 1200 - c. 600 BCE Northern Black Polished Ware, c. 700 - c. 200 BCE Pundra Kingdom, c. 700 - c. 200 BCE Bengal in Mahabharata, c. 400 - c. 325 BCE Gangaridai Kingdom, c. 350 - c. 325 BCE Mauryan Empire, c. 325 – c. 185 BCE Samatata Kingdom, c. 232 BCE - c. 800 CE Southwestern Silk Road, c. 114 BCE - c. 1450 CE Indo-Roman trade relations, c. 30 - BCE - c. 600 CE
Classical Shunga-Kushan Period, c. 185 – c. 75 CE Gupta Empire, c. 200 - c. 550 CE Sylhet-Assam Varmans, c. 350 - c. 650 CE Gauda Kingdom, c. 590 - c. 626 CE Khadga dynasty, c. 650 - c. 750 CE Pala Empire, c. 750 - c. 1100 CE Arrival of Islam, c. 800 - c. 1050 CE Harikela Kingdom, c. 900 - c. 1050 CE Candra dynasty, c. 900 - c. 1050 CE Sena dynasty, c. 1070 - c. 1320 CE Deva dynasty, c. 1100 - c. 1250 CE
Medieval Delhi Sultanate, c. 1204 - c. 1338 CE Mamluk Dynasty Khilji Dynasty Tugluq Dynasty Sonargaon Sultanate, c. 1338 - c. 1352 CE Bengal Sultanate, c. 1352 - c. 1576 CE Ilyas Shahi dynasty Hussain Shahi dynasty Karrani dynasty Suri Dynasty, c. 1540 - c. 1556 CE Twelve Bhuyans, c. 1550 - c. 1620 CE Porto Grande de Bengala, c. 1528 - c. 1666 CE Chittagong-Arakan Kingdom, c. 1530 - c. 1666 CE Mughal Empire, c. 1576 - c. 1717 CE Bengal Subah
Modern Nawabs of Bengal, c. 1717 - c. 1757 CE Company Raj, c. 1757 - c. 1858 CE Faraizi Movement, c. 1818 - c. 1884 CE The Great Rebellion, c. 1857 - c. 1858 CE British Raj, c. 1858 - c. 1947 CE Bengal Renaissance Eastern Bengal and Assam Prime Minister of Bengal East Bengal-East Pakistan, c. 1947 - c. 1971 CE Bengali Language Movement Six Point Movement 1969 uprising in East Pakistan Pakistani general election, 1970 Bangladesh Liberation War, c. 1971 CE Declaration of Independence Provisional Government of Bangladesh 1971 Bangladesh Genocide Bangladesh Forces Bangladeshi Republic, c. 1972 CE - present
Related articles Timeline of Bangladeshi history Bangladeshi art History of Bengali literature

The Bengal Sultanate refers to an independent medieval Islamic state established in Bengal in 1342. Its realm and influence extended across modern-day Bangladesh, East India and West Burma. Several dynasties ruled over Bengal Sultanate sequentially. 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.

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

History

Delhi lost its hold over Bengal in 1338, thus paving the way for the assumption of independence by Ilyas Khan.^[1] 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)

House of Raja Ganesha (1414-1435)

Restored Ilyas Shahi dynasty (1435-1487)

Habshi rule (1487-1494)

Hussain Shahi dynasty (1494-1538)

Governors under Suri rule (1539-1554)

Muhammad Shah dynasty (1554-1564)

Karrani dynasty (1564-1576)

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Sultanate of Bengal.

• List of rulers of Bengal

References

• The Bengal Sultanate: Politics, Economy and Coins, A.D. 1205-1576, Syed Ejaz Hussain (2003)
• The Rise of Islam and the Bengal Frontier, Richard M. Eaton (1996)
• Sultans and Mosques: The Early Muslim Architecture of Bangladesh, Perween Hasan (2007)
• Between Integration and Secession: The Muslim Communities of the South Philippines, Southern Thailand and Western Burma/Myanmar, Moshe Yegar (2002), Part One: The Muslims of Arakan
• The Grammar of Sultanate Mosque in Bengal Architecture, Nujaba Binte Kabir (2012)