Class 15: Sultanate Period in

Medieval Bengal
Independent Sultanate Period in Bengal (1338-1538)

HIS 101: Bangladesh History and Culture

April 2, SPRING 2023
▪Independent Sultani Rule in Bengal (1338-1538)
 Iliyas Shahi Dynasty
• Iliyas Shahi dynasty was the first independent Muslim ruling dynasty in late
medieval Bengal, which ruled from 14th century to 15th century. The dynasty was
founded by Iliyas Shah (1342-1358 A.D.), who succeeded to achieve the
political unity of Bengal and begin what is known as the Sultanate of
Bengal. He consolidated the independent Sultanate of Bengal. lliyas Shah
was an inhabitant of Sijisthan, a country of east -Persia and came from a noble
family.

• At the beginning of career Iliyas Shah worked under Malik Firuz of Delhi. But
for some unknown reason, he escaped to Bengal and took service under
lzauddin Yahya, the imperial governor of Satgaon. After Izauddin Yahya's
death, he became the ruler of Satgaon in 1338. Consolidating his authority
there, he waged a long drawn war (1339 to 1342) against Alauddin Ali Shah
and ascended the throne of Lakhnauti in 1342.
• After killing Alauddin Ali Shah of Lakhnawti in 1342, Haji Ilias Shah assumed with
the title of Sultan Shamsuddin Abul Muzaffar Iliyas Shah in 1342 ACE and thereby
laid the foundation of the Iliyas Shahi Sultanate in Bengal, which lasted for
nearly one hundred and fifty years (1342-1487 ACE).
• By 1352 ACE Iliyas brought the whole of Bengal under his authority.
• He was able to win over the support of the people and gave a distinct character to his
administration, thereby earning the title of Shah-i-Bangalah, Shah-i-Bangaliyan
and Sultan-i-Bangalah. He sent expeditions to Tirhut, Nepal, Orissa and Bihar and
occupied Kashi and Gorakhpur districts.
• Ilias Shah’s ability and courage were proved by his authority over Bengal and the
neighboring territories.
• The period of Iliyas Shahi rule is important and significant for various reasons. The
Muslim administration was given a distinct shape in this period. Arts and literature,
particularly Bangla literature flourished. Also the name Bangalah emerged as a name
of a large geographical territory.
• He also maintained a friendly relation with the Delhi Sultanate and thus strengthened
the foundation of independent Sultanate rule in Bengal. He was a pious ruler and
maintained peace and stability and highly respected Sufis and Saints. He built many
mosques and fortress across regions of Bengal.
• During his reign Bengal Sultanate emerged as one of the leading diplomatic, economic
and military powers in the subcontinent.

• The people of Bengal came under the banner of one political, social and linguistic
platform including Bangla language.
• Iliyas Shah earned for himself the titles of Shah-i-Bangalah and Sultan-i-Bangalah.
He died at Pandua in 1358 AD after a reign of about sixteen years and was
succeeded by his son Sikandar Shah.
• During the reign of Sikandar Shah, Firoz Shah Tughlaq invaded Bengal for the
second time, but no result was achieved. Finally both parties agreed to establish
peace. Sikandar Shah was recognized as an independent ruler of Bengal. He was a
great patron of architecture and built Adina Masjid of Pandua in the latter half of
14th century.
• Sikandar Shah enjoyed a long and prosperous reign of about 33 years and died
sometime around 1390 in the course of a fight with his son Azam Shah at
Goalpara near Pandua.
• On his death, Ghiyasuddin Azam Shah ascended the throne in 1391 AD. He was a
capable ruler with a profound regard for the law. Patronage of poets and the learned,
devotion to sufi-saints and Islamic culture and his foreign relations earned him a distinct
place in the history of Bengal. His correspondence with the famous Iranian poet Hafiz
and the establishment of Madrasa at Mecca and a rest house in Madina is well-known.

• He died in 1410 AD and was succeeded by his son Saifuddin Hamza Shah who ruled
Bengal for a short period. During his reign Raja Ganesh, a Hindu Zamindar of Rajshahi
District, became powerful and he seized the power of the Iliyas Shahi dynasty in 1414
AD.
 History of Raja Ganesh Dynasty (1415-33)
• During the reign of Hamza Shah, a Hindu Zamindar Raja Ganesh became extremely
powerful who eventually managed to kill Azams successors and captured the power of the
throne in 1414. Ganesh dominated the history of Bengal for three decades.
•The leading Muslim saint Nur-Kutub-al-Alam invited Sultan Ibrahim Sharki of Jaunpur to
invade Bengal, who eventually defeated Raja Ganesh, converted his son Jadu to Islam and
placed him on throne of Bengal with the name Jalaludddin Muhammad. During the reign of
Jalaluddin several mint towns including Firozabad, Sonargaon, Satgaon, Chittagong and
Fatehabad flourished, showing that a major portion of Bengal was controlled by him.
•In 1414, Jadu or Yadu was renamed Jalaluddin muhammad shah and took the throne
after a revolution which thrown out the Ilias Shah dynasty. He ruled for 16 years in two
phases. The first phase lasted only one year from 1415-1416.

•He was then dethroned by his father and was reconverted to Hinduism. After his
father demise, he once again changed his religion to Islam and began ruling his second
phase from 1418 to 1433.

•He transferred his capital from Pandua to Gaur where his family members were buried
at the Ekdala mausoleum – a unique design of Muslim architecture in Bengal.

•He declared himself as a ‘Caliph of Islam”.

• More importantly, local buddhist rulers took Islamic titles while coins portrayed
Burmese script on one side and Arabic script on another side.
•During Jalaluddin’s reign, Bengali became a court language alongside
Persian.
❑2nd Phase of Iliyas Shahi Synasty

•The year from 1435 to 1487 A.D., Bengal was ruled

by the later Iliyas Shahi rulers. The Iliyas Shah
dynasty was briefly revived by his descendent
Nasir Khan, who assumed the title of Nasiruddin
Mahmud Shah (1435-1459), Rukunuddin
Barbak Shah (1459-1474), Shamsuddin Yusuf
Shah (1474-1481) and Jalaluddin Fateh Shah
(1481-1487). He and his successors ruled in
Bengal for about 45 years.
 Iliyas Shahi rulers made distinct contributions to the
history of Bengal;
 They firmly established Muslim rule in Bengal and pursued a liberal
and enlightened policy of their own.
 2. Appointment of non-Muslims to high positions, stress on vernacular
languages and patronage of local scholars gave a distinct character to
their rule.
 3. Apart from encouraging art and architecture, they also spread the
messages of Islam and its culture across the rural areas of Bengal.
 4. Bengal was linked with Muslim countries as well as with China
under their reign.
 5. Muslim military victory in Bengal along with cultural liberalism gave
rise to a new kind of society that shaped the real identity of Bengal.
• The rule of the Iliyas Shahi dynasty occupies a distinct and
significant place in the history of Bengal. The Muslim Kingdom of
Bengal, known as the Kingdom of Lakhnauti, was transformed into
the Sultanate of Bangalah.
• During this period, for the first time the different parts of Bengal were
united under the sole authority of Sultan Shamsuddin Iliyas Shah.
From this time, the united territories of Bengal received the name
of Bangalah and its people came to be known as the Bengalis.
This unification of Bengal also integrated the Bengali-speaking
people into one politico-social union and laid the foundation of
Bangalah and Bengalis.
 HUSSAIN SHAHI DYNASTY (1494-1538 A.D.)
The Ilias Shah dynasty came to end with the death of Jalaluddin Fateh
Shah in 1486. There was a brief period of rule by the Habshi dynasty
between 1487 and 1493. This period has been considered as the darkest
period of Bengal as it was marked by chaos, conspiracies, rebellions,
murder and usurpation of powers.

Syed Hussain, a Persian nobleman and Wazir of Muzaffar Shah, the last
habshi ruler, established himself as the Sultan with the title Alauddin
Husain Shah. With this the Husain Shahi period in Bengal history began
which lasted from 1493 to 1538. At the very outset he suppressed the
rebellious elements in the army and created a new security force. The
Habshis were driven out of the country and appointed Muslim noblemen
from Turkey, Arabia and Afghanistan and the local Hindus to high
government posts.
Husain Shah extended his territory in the north and south of Bihar
and to Kamrup, and Tripura. One of the significant aspect of his rule
was his relation with Delhi. 1526, Mughal rule was established in
Delhi and Nusrat Shah, son of Husain Shah, maintained cordial
relation with Babur, who was being abstained for attacking Bengal.

Ghiyasuddin Mahmud Shah was the last of the Husain Shahi sultans.
In 1537 Sher Khan, the ruler of Bihar appeared in Gaur for the
second time and demanded a large sum of money from Mahmud
Shah as annual tribute. Mahmud's refusal led Sher Khan to
besiege Gaur, which fell into the hands of the Afghans in April 1538.
Thus the independent Sultanate of Bengal came to an end.
 Contributions of Hussain Shah Dynasty
The Husain Shahi dynasty ruled Bengal for more than four decades. They were
responsible in bringing peace and stability in the region. He expanded his
territory by conquering neighboring kingdoms.
✓He introduced a welfare administration and led Bengal to prosperity.
✓He treated all his subjects equally, irrespective of religious faith and appointed
local Hindus to high positions.
✓They were great patrons of art and learning.
✓Under Husain Shah many books were written in Bengali language, and even
Mahabharata and Bhagwat Gita were translated in Bengali.
✓He constructed many buildings including Mosques, Madrasas, Khanqas and tombs.
• Choto Sona Masjid of Gaur and a Mosque in Pandua in honor of
Sufi Nur Kutub Alam bear testimony to his love for architecture.
• His tolerance for other religions earned him the respect of Sri
Chaitannya Dev, the founder of Vaishnavism. Worship of Sattya
Pir in his time example of his liberal views. He wanted to bring
Hindus and Muslims closer.
• With the foundation of independent Muslim rule in Bengal ports like
Satgaon, Sonargaon and Chittagong became prominent in this
region. Encouraged trade and thus the Muslim rule brought Bengal
from rural to urban phase of civilization based on the introduction
of money economy.
• The period witnessed intense literary activities. The
growth of the Bangla language and the birth of Bangla
literature also coincided this period. The sultans,
because of their close association with the local
people, gave status and dignity to Bangla language
which now began to play the role that was played by
Sanskrit in the pre-Muslim period.
Bara Sona Mosque, Gaur-Lakhnauti
The Kotwali darwaza, the southern most gate in the city's walled ramparts, probably constructed during the reign of
Nasir al Din Muhammad Shah I ( r. 1435–59) acts now as a border between India and Bangladesh.
Ruins of the palace exposing underground
brick structure after excavation

Ruins of the palace area of Gaur

Sixty Dome Mosque, Bagerhat