The Muslim Heritage of Bengal: The Lives, Thoughts and Achievements of Great Muslim Scholars, Writers and Reformers of Bangladesh and West Bengal

D. 1206

HISTORIANS OFTEN TRACE initial Muslim contact with Bengal to the seventh century, when the early Arab and Persian traders and seafarers came to the remote coastal regions of India in pursuit of business and commerce. The presence of early Muslim traders in Bengal has been confirmed by the discovery of coins issued by the Abbasid Caliphs at sites in Paharpur in Rajshahi and Mainamati in Comilla. Indeed, the early Arab and Persian traders paved the way for the Sufis and other Muslim preachers to proceed to Bengal in order to convey the message of Islam to its non-Muslim inhabitants: the majority of whom were Hindus and Buddhists at the time.

Some early Muslim preachers included Baba Adam Shahid of Dhaka, Shah Sultan Rumi of Mymensingh and Makhdum Shah Dawlah Shahid of Pabna. These pioneering preachers not only played a pivotal role in disseminating Islam in Bengal, they also prepared the way for political Islam to make inroads into that part of the subcontinent. Although political Islam first entered the subcontinent in the year 711 under the leadership of the young and inspirational Muhammad ibn al-Qasim al-Thaqifi, it was left to the genius of Sultan Mahmud, the great Turkish Ghaznavid ruler, to make serious inroads into India during the beginning of the eleventh century. His repeated excursions into mainland India not only opened the floodgates for Islam in the subcontinent, they also paved the way for Mu‘izz al-Din Muhammad Ghuri to instigate his conquests in northern India; which, in turn, enabled Muhammad Bakhtiyar Khalji to march into Bengal virtually unopposed.

Ikhtiyar al-Din Muhammad Bakhtiyar Khalji (known as Muhammad Bakhtiyar Khalji) was born in Garamsir (located in modern-day Dasht-i-Marg) in Central Afghanistan, into the tribe of Khalaj in Khaljistan. Although the Khalaj tribe was of Turkish origin, it consisted of people of various ethnic groups. They initially settled in eastern Afghanistan, before being recruited into the Ghurid military and civil services.¹ Although little is known about his early life, according to some historians, Muhammad Bakhtiyar Khalji was born into an ordinary family of the Khalaj tribe and, not unlike his fellow tribesmen, he was known to have been a brave and ambitious young man. Despite being short in height and of slim build, with unusually long arms, he nonetheless aspired to become a soldier. According to Minhaj al-Din Siraj (also known as Minhaj-i-Siraj), author of Tabaqat-i-Nasiri (The Chronicle of Nasir), Muhammad Bakhtiyar Khalji initially worked for the Ghurids until he was dismissed from his job for repeatedly turning up to work late.² However, according to another account, he proceeded to Ghazni in order to join the army of Muhammad Ghuri, but was not recruited due to his short height and long arms. Distraught but undeterred, he then travelled all the way to Delhi to serve Qutb al-Din Aybak (who served as a commander of Muhammad Ghuri, then became a ruler in Lahore after the latter’s death in 602). Again he was unable to secure permanent employment, probably because he did not have a horse or any armour.

Determined to prove his skills and talent, Muhammad Bakhtiyar Khalji then proceeded to Badayun in Northern India where, at last, he was able to join the service of Malik Hizbar al-Din as a low-ranking army commander. Since the salary he received was very poor and there were no prospects of promotion, he subsequently quit this job, moved further towards the east and settled at Oudh. As luck would have it, Malik Husam al-Din, the governor of this province, was impressed with Muhammad Bakhtiyar Khalji and offered him a sizable plot of land in Mirzapur District (located in the present-day Indian state of Uttar Pradesh). Accordingly, Muhammad Bakhtiyar Khalji settled there and began to consolidate his political position in and around that area. Having worked as a soldier and military strategist, it did not take him long to out-manoeuvre his opponents and thereby become the undisputed master of the neighbouring territories.

Hoping to extend his dominion further, sometime between 1203 and 1205 he marched towards the east and annexed the province of Bihar (which was then known as Magadha) and added this territory to his expanding state. It should be mentioned here that Muhammad Bakhtiyar Khalji marched towards Bihar with no more than 200 soldiers, yet he managed to capture one of its most heavily fortified forts, Udantapuri with ease. Although it is true that the locals put up resistance against the Muslim general and his army (and, as a result, many people died on the battlefield), it is factually inaccurate to suggest that he destroyed many ancient seats of learning at Nalanda and Vikramshila before instigating a wholesale massacre of innocent people upon entering the fort. In fact, according to majority of the historians, the opposite is true: Muhammad Bakhtiyar Khalji was far from being a cruel, ruthless and bloodthirsty military general. Nevertheless, the importance of this victory should not be underestimated, not least because this fort had in the past successfully resisted many attacks on it from Vallala Sena, the powerful Hindu ruler of Bengal. As expected, the capture of Bihar greatly enhanced the Muslim general’s standing and this, no doubt, prompted the Viceroy Qutb al-Din Aybak to publicly recognise and honour him for his success and achievements, thus encouraging him to continue his military conquests.

The annexation of Bihar opened the way for Muhammad Bakhtiyar Khalji and his cavalry to move into Lakhnawati (Bengal) and to capture this large province. However, before launching an excursion into Bengal, he first consolidated his grip on Bihar and its neighbouring territories. He did so by creating several garrisons (thanas) throughout his expanding state. The creation of military outposts not only enabled the Muslim general to strengthen his hold on those areas, but also enabled him to swiftly establish his political authority across those territories. This shows that Muhammad Bakhtiyar Khalji was more than a successful conqueror; he was also a brilliant political strategist and organiser. With Bihar and its neighbouring territories firmly under his sway, the Muslim general prepared for his next important move: the conquest of Bengal. Bengal at the time was under the rule of the members of the Sena dynasty, who hailed from the south of India (that is, from the region that today consists of Andhra Pradesh, Mysore and Karnataka). The mother tongue of the Sena ruler was Kanarese. Although historians do not know exactly when the Senas moved to Bengal and acquired power there, according to one account, they came to Bengal to serve in the military service of the Pala dynasty: when this dynasty began to decline irreversibly the Sena generals assumed power and inaugurated their rule.

However, according to other historians, the Senas came to Bengal with an army from the Deccan, and they acquired power in this region by ousting the Palas. Since historians have provided conflicting accounts about the arrival of the Senas to Bengal, it is not surprising that very little is known about Samantasena, the founder of the Sena dynasty, who most probably lived during the middle of the eleventh century. His descendants (such as Hemantasena and Vijaysena), however, went onto establish their rule across Bengal by ousting their rivals. After a long reign, Vijaysena was succeeded by his son, Vallalasena, who was a prominent scholar and writer, and—like his father—a devotee of the Hindu god Shiva. Prior to the arrival of the Senas, the dominant religion of Bengal was Buddhism; but after assuming power they ruthlessly suppressed the Buddhists and instead forcibly imposed their rigid version of Brahmanic Hinduism on the locals. This creed required strict adherence to the caste system and the practice of kulinism (a form of racial and cultural superiority).

By the time Laksmanasena became the ruler of the Sena dynasty, he was considered to be rather old and weak, and this probably contributed to the political disruption and decline that occured towards the end of his reign. As the Sena dynasty became politically weak and disunited, various independent rulers emerged across Bengal, and this led to the irreversible fragmentation and disintegration of the Sena dynasty. Sensing the Sena’s vulnerability, Muhammad Bakhtiyar Khalji advanced in the direction of Bengal and thereby established Muslim rule for the first time in the history of Bengal. Indeed, as soon as the Muslim general marched into Bihar and established his rule there, the Sena ruler knew he was in trouble: not least because he was very unpopular at home and his political rivals were busy plotting his downfall. Caught between a rock and a hard place, Laksmanasena was not in a position to repel the Muslim general once the latter had decided to march into Bengal.

As expected, Muhammad Bakhtiyar Khalji proceeded as far as the gates of the Hindu ruler’s palace virtually unopposed. Although historians have continued to debate the exact details of the route taken by the Muslim general and his army, they agree that he planned and executed his military excursion with much precision and effectiveness. Minhaj al-Siraj, the earliest and most reliable historical source, states that Muhammad Bakhtiyar Khalji marched into Nadia (the capital of the Sena dynasty) at great speed, with only 18 horsemen able to keep pace with him.³ Seeing the Muslim general march into his capital virtually unopposed, the Sena ruler attempted to escape from his palace through the back door in order to seek refuge (this refuge was in a location nearby modern Dhaka). Muhammad Bakhtiyar Khalji did not pursue him; he allowed the Sena ruler to escape with his family and close aides. The arrival of the Muslim general in Bengal in around 1204 represented the end of the Sena dynasty. In so doing, Muhammad Bakhtiyar Khalji inaugurated Muslim rule in Bengal for the first time.

According to Muhammad Yusuf Siddiq, an underlying reason for this victory was the Senas failure to gain support from the ordinary people, both Hindus and Buddhists, who had not supported them fully from the outset. Since Bengal was ruled by a prominent native Buddhist Pala dynasty for many centuries, the Hindu Senas, who were Brahman Kshatriya (one of the highest Hindu castes), had failed to connect with the masses. Their hold on Bengal was also weakened by their strict adherence to the caste system, which led to social segregation. In addition to this, the Senas did not speak Bengali; thus culturally, linguistically and spiritually they were alienated from the ordinary people. For this reason, the Vedic religion of the Aryans had never captured the imagination of the locals. This probably prompted, according to Muhammad Yusuf Siddiq:

[The] indigenous Mlechcha (a Sanskrit term essentially connoting non-Aryan natives/uncivilized non-Hindu aborigines of India) population (such as the Mech tribe in the north, according to Tabaqat-i-Nasiri) to cooperate with the Muslim conquerors identified by the Aryan (Vedic) Hindus as Yavana (originally Sanskrit word meaning polluted outsiders/aliens).⁴

Unlike the Senas, Muhammad Bakhtiyar Khalji quickly won over the non-Aryan people of the region; to such an extent that he even sponsored the construction of a monastery for the Buddhists. His open and welcoming approach enabled the indigenous people to interact with the Muslim newcomers from Arabia, Turkistan, Afghanistan and Persia during the early days of Muslim rule, and this fostered a culture of respect and mutual understanding in Bengal.

Unfortunately, the chronicler Minhaj al-Din Siraj did not provide any date for the conquest; as expected, historians have suggested various dates, although the majority of historians are of the view that Bengal was conquered in the year 1204. By all standards, the Muslim conquest of Bengal was a remarkable military feat, as it was achieved without any collateral damage. This has prompted many modern Hindu nationalists and historians to play down the significance of this epoch-making event. Perhaps the idea of a heroic Muslim conqueror and military general marching into the bastion of Brahmanic Hinduism, while its supposed patron and defender chose to flee for his life through the back door of his palace, is too disconcerting and humiliating for these nationalists to accept. Be that as it may, Muhammad Bakhtiyar Khalji’s conquest of Bengal was remarkable. The majority of researchers and historians—Muslims and non-Muslims alike—have recognised this to be the case.

After the conquest of Nadia, the Muslim general stayed there in order to establish as many military outposts (thanas) as were necessary to enable him to administer the area properly before proceeding to Gaud (Lakhnawati), which was his political capital. Within a very short period Muhammad Bakhtiyar Khalji had carved out a huge dominion, and he did so without causing unnecessary damage and destruction. From his original base in Mirzapur in Oudh (located in southern Bihar), his dominion extended all the way to Rajmahal, Rajshahi, Rangpur, Dinajpur and Bogra in the north; and from the borders of the Kingdom of Kamrup in the east to as far as Jessore in the south. The considerable size of his dominion prompted him to devise and implement effective political administration throughout his territories. He did this by dividing his realm into different regions and districts. He then sent governors to those areas, who reported directly to him at his headquarters in Gaud. Three of his chief governors were: Muhammad Shiran Khalji, who was put in charge of Lakhnur (Birbhum); Husam al-Din Iwad Khalji, who took charge of Tirhut, Oudh and the surrounding areas; and Ali Mardan Khalji, who was dispatched to an area close to modern Rangpur. With these governers Muhammad Bakhtiyar Khalji established a sound political administration.

After creating an inclusive and effective political and administrative structure, Muhammad Bakhtiyar Khalji helped to undermine the socially and morally reprehensible Brahmanically-inspired caste system. In so doing, he liberated the masses from the bondage of decades—if not centuries—of slavery and destitution. As expected, his kindness and benevolence won the locals (mostly Hindus and Buddhists) over to Islam. As the Muslim population gradually increased, he instigated a programme that included building mosques, madrasahs and khanqahs to meet his people’s social, cultural, religious and educational needs. In this sense, Muhammad Bakhtiyar Khalji was more than a great military general and conqueror: he was also a liberal and humane ruler and administrator. Unsurprisingly, he became a pioneer of Islamic thought, culture and civilisation in northern India in general and in Bengal in particular.

After consolidating his rule in Bengal, Muhammad Bakhtiyar Khalji planned and launched yet another large-scale military expedition. This time, he planned to set out in the direction of Tibet. Unfortunately, very little is known about the aims and objectives of this expedition. Historians suggest differing reasons for this military campaign. Some claim that he was keen to secure the trade route which linked Bengal to Tibet and Central Asia; while others argue that he wanted to expand his territory further in the north because the area in the south, beyond the borders of Jessore, consisted mainly of forests and delta land, and therefore would not have been an attractive proposition for him. Either way, after much planning and due preparation he led an expedition to Tibet. Before setting out, he contacted many local tribal leaders, and one of them, known as Ali Mech, not only embraced Islam at the invitation of Muhammad Bakhtiyar Khalji but also volunteered to act as the official guide during the expedition. Guided by Ali Mech and accompanied by 10,000 strong cavalry, the Muslim general left Deokot (located close to modern Dinajpur) early in 1206, and marched in the direction of Tibet.⁵

After two weeks of travel through extremely cold and difficult terrain, the Muslim general and his forces arrived at a location that was very close to the borders of Tibet. In response, the Tibetan forces came to meet the advancing Muslim army. The two armies fought a fierce battle, which continued for some time. Unable to breach enemy defence, Muhammad Bakhtiyar Khalji and his cavalry were forced to retreat. However, his forces had suffered considerable casualties, and as a result of injuries, and exacerbated by severe cold and hilly terrain, many of the remaining cavalry were unable to continue the long journey back. To add insult to injury, Muhammad Bakhtiyar Khalji and his tired cavalry were then ambushed by the forces of the-then ruler of Kamrup (located in Assam). Attacked by the Tibetan forces from one direction and ambushed from the rear by the Kamrupis, he was forced to abandon his expedition. Things went from bad to worse when most of his forces perished while trying to cross a local river, and only the Muslim general and around a hundred of his men reached the other side of the river. Muhammad Bakhtiyar Khalji’s failure to conquer Tibet, coupled with the loss of his entire contingent, represented a major blow to his pride and prestige. On his return to his cantonment in Deokot, he fell seriously ill and subsequently died in 1206. According to an unconfirmed account, he was actually stabbed to death by Ali Mardan Khalji (who was one of his governors) while he was sick. However, Minhaj-i-Siraj has suggested that Muhammad Bakhtiyar Khalji was so devastated by his loss that soon after returning home he died heartbroken.⁶

Even so, according to Muhammad Yusuf Siddiq, Muhammad Bakhtiyar Khalji’s conquest of Bengal led to the creation of a strong Muslim presence in the eastern India. This, in turn, inspired the new Muslim rulers to expand their territories through expedition and conquest. If Muhammad Bakhtiyar Khalji’s expedition to Tibet had succeeded, the history of Islam in Asia in general, and of the subcontinent in particular, might have been rather different. Even so, the successors of Muhammad Bakhtiyar Khalji continued their expeditions and in so doing they expanded their territories substantially. Thus, Husam al-Din Iwad Khalji and Mughith al-Din Tughril instigated several military campaigns in eastern Bengal. In the first half of the fourteenth century Muslims conquered a wide area: ‘Sylhet, Kamru (Kamrup) and Assam, crossing the Brahmaputra in the east and northeast, and to Chittagong on the Bay of Bengal in the south.’⁷

Although Muhammad Bakhtiyar Khalji had died without being able to extend his rule to Tibet, he and his successors achieved enough success for him to be recognised as one of Islamic history’s great military generals and conquerors. This was no mean feat for a man who, at one stage, was not considered to be good enough to enter the military service of Muhammad Ghuri. Despite setbacks, the brave and indomitable Ikhtiyar al-Din Muhammad Bakhtiyar Khalji went onto carve out a vast dominion and inaugurated Islamic rule in a region that has remained Islamic to this day, in the form of Bangladesh.

His achievement and legacy has continued to inspire the Muslims of Bengal to this day. For this reason, many prominent Muslim writers and poets of Bengal have composed songs and poetry in praise of the son of Bakhtiyar Khalji. For example, al-Mahmud (b. 1936), the renowned contemporary Bangladeshi writer and poet, composed a book during the early 1990s in which he praised and glorified the Muslim conqueror as a great Islamic hero of Bengal.⁸ Likewise, Mufakhkharul Islam (b. 1921), a prominent Bangladeshi writer, historian and poet, fondly remembered and praised Muhammad Bakhtiyar Khalji as a great Muslim conqueror in his book Jalali Kabutar (Jalal’s Pigeon), which was published in 1978.

Notes

1.  Jadunath Sarkar (ed.), The History of Bengal: The Muslim Period.

2.  Minhaj-i-Siraj, Tabaqat-i-Nasiri.

3.  Ibid.

4.  Muhammad Yusuf Siddiq, Historical and Cultural Aspects of the Islamic Inscriptions of Bengal: A Reflective Study of Some New Epigraphic Discoveries.

5.  Muhammad Mohar Ali, History of the Muslims of Bengal, Volume 1A: Muslim Rule in Bengal (600–1170/ 12031757).

6.  Minhaj-i-Siraj, Tabaqat-i-Nasiri.

7.  M. Y. Siddiq, op. cit.

8.  al-Mahmud, Bakhtiyarer Ghora.

C. 1271–1347

SIR THOMAS W. ARNOLD once wrote:

It was not to force that Islam owed its permanent success in Lower Bengal. It appealed to the people, and it derived the great mass of its converts from the poor.¹

Historically speaking, Islam had not only reached Bengal long before the arrival of Muhammad Bakhtiyar Khalji, it had also become permanently established in that region long before the Muslim conquest. Due credit for this must go to missionary efforts of the early Muslim preachers, including Jalal al-Din Tabrizi, Sharaf al-Din Abu Tawwamah, Ala al-Haq and Nur Qutb Alam, who played a pivotal role in the dissemination of Islam in Bengal.

Tabrizi was a contemporary of prominent scholars and sages, including Mu‘in al-Din Chishti, Shihab al-Din Umar Suhrawardi, Abu Sa‘id Tabrizi and Farid al-Din Attar. After travelling extensively in Arabia, Iraq and Iran, he came to the subcontinent in order to preach Islam. He eventually settled in northern Bengal in the beginning of the thirteenth century and attracted a large following there.

Like Tabrizi, Abu Tawwamah was a prominent Muslim scholar and sage who came to the subcontinent to disseminate the message of Islam. He settled in Sonargaon (close to Dhaka), where he established one of Bengal’s first Islamic seminaries. Abu Tawwamah and his disciples thus disseminated Islam in East Bengal.

Unlike Tabrizi and Abu Tawwamah, Ala al-Haq and Nur Qutb Alam were father and son, and they also played an important role in the propagation of Islam in Bengal. Ala al-Haq initially lived in Sonargaon but then moved to northern Bengal, where he transformed Pandua into a prominent centre of Islamic activities. Like his father, Nur Qutb Alam was a famous sage who exercised considerable influence in Bengal on account of his profound learning and spiritual attainments.²

Although the aforementioned scholars and sages have been largely forgotten today, this is not the case with Shaykh al-Mashaykh Makhdum Shaykh Jalal al-Din Mujarrad ibn Muhammad. Better known as Hazrat Shah Jalal, this sage was one of the most famous scholars and preachers to have disseminated Islam throughout Bengal. Despite the fact that he was a high-profile Muslim preacher and reformer, his family background and early life remains shrouded in mystery. It is not surprising therefore that his biographers disagree concerning some of the most important details about his ancestry and early life. So much so, that the exact date of birth and death of Shah Jalal is strongly debated: one view is that that he was born in 1271 while others (such as Ibn Battutah) have stated that he died in 1347. However, these dates are no more than suggestions and should not be considered to be definitive.

According to Maulvi Nasir al-Din Haidar (or Haldar), the author of Suhail-i-Yaman, Shah Jalal’s father was a Sufi from the Yemen. Having lost both his father and mother very early on in life, young Shah Jalal was raised and educated by his maternal uncle Sayyid Ahmad Kabir Suhrawardi, who was a prominent Muslim scholar and practitioner of Sufism. After Shah Jalal had completed his formal education, his uncle gave him a handful of earth. He then urged Shah Jalal to travel to India and settle in a place where the colour of the soil matched the earth in his hand. This sacred place, according to the author of Suhail-i-Yaman, was none other than Sylhet in East Bengal (located in the north east of present-day Bangladesh). Since Haidar’s biography of Shah Jalal was composed in around 1860 using two other eighteenth century Persian sources, it is not surprising that, over time, it became a standard source of information about the life and activities of Shah Jalal. This book inspired many other writers to compose their own accounts of the life and activities of Shah Jalal. Unfortunately, however, most of those writers rehashed Haidar’s views and arguments without subjecting them to critical analysis and scrutiny. Haidar’s biography of Shah Jalal consisted of authentic historical data as well as unconfirmed information about supernatural events, miracles and legends, and most of the subsequent biographers of Shah Jalal found it impossible to separate the wheat from the chaff; as such they—wittingly or unwittingly—popularised myth and legend along with the facts.

Thankfully, several modern historians of Bengal have taken on the task of sifting fact from fiction. They have not only questioned the authenticity of certain information contained in Haidar’s biography of Shah Jalal, they have also corrected many of his misconceptions and unsubstantiated claims. For instance, Haidar’s contention that this great Muslim preacher and saint came from Yemen has been thoroughly discredited by the discovery of an inscription dated 1505. This inscription was found inside the dargah (mausoleum) of Shah Jalal in Sylhet in 1873, and refers to Shah Jalal as Kunyayi: that is, from Kuniya (today known as Konya, a town located in present-day Turkey). This is supported by other reliable historical accounts of the conquest of Sylhet, including the Gulzar-i-Abrar (composed in 1613) by Muhammad Ghausi Shattari, which categorically states that Shah Jalal hailed from Turkistan. Most interestingly, this book’s main source of information was Sharh-i-Nuzhat-ul-Arwah, which, in turn, was written by Shaykh Nur al-Huda Abul Karamat, a disciple of Shah Jalal who (according to some historians) also participated in the conquest of Sylhet. As such, it would not be unreasonable to consider the Gulzar-i-Abrar to be a more authentic and reliable source of information concerning Shah Jalal’s ancestry than Haidar’s views on this matter.

According to Muhammad Ghausi Shattari, Shah Jalal was not only born in Turkistan, he was also a prominent disciple of Shaykh Ahmad Yisiwi, an eminent Naqshbandiyyah Sufi scholar and sage of Western Turkistan. In fact, Shah Jalal may have joined the Yisiwiyyah tariqah, as it was a popular and widely-followed Sufi order in Turkey at the time. He was a follower of this Sufi order, rather than a direct disciple of Shaykh Ahmad Yisiwi, because the latter had died in 1166, long before Shah Jalal was born. By all accounts, young Shah Jalal was raised in a devout Muslim family, since his father was a noted Islamic scholar who, according to one account, was also a contemporary of Jalal al-Din Rumi, the famous Muslim poet and Sufi saint, who died in 1273 and was buried in Konya.

Shah Jalal was blessed with a highly retentive memory and a sharp intellect, and he assimilated Islamic principles and practices with relative ease. The standard curriculum of the day required him to learn Turkish (his mother-tongue) along with Arabic, in addition to completing the memorisation of the Holy Qur’an. Being a gifted student, he soon committed the entire Qur’an to memory and became familiar with the traditional Islamic sciences, thus acquiring proficiency in Arabic grammar, Qur’anic exegesis (tafsir), Islamic jurisprudence (fiqh), Prophetic traditions (hadith) and aspects of Islamic mysticism and spirituality (tasawwuf) during his formative years. Since a thorough study of traditional Islamic sciences was a sine qua non for pursuing training in Islamic spirituality, Shah Jalal must have acquired a sound knowledge of traditional Islamic subjects before receiving training in the mystical dimension of Islam under the tutelage of prominent local Naqshbandiyyah and Yisiwiyyah sages.

According to the author of Suhail-i-Yaman, after completing his religious education and spiritual training, Shah Jalal set out for India. At the time, India was a bustling centre of Islamic learning and religious activities, thanks to the efforts of scholars and mystics including Abul Hasan Ali al-Hujwiri (better known as Data Ganj Bakhsh) and Mu‘in al-Din Chishti (better known as Khwajah Mu‘in al-Din Chishti Ajmeri). These pioneers of Islam in the subcontinent paved the way for scholars such as Shah Jalal to enter India and carve out an indelible place for themselves in the annals of the subcontinent. After reaching Delhi, Mu‘in al-Din Chishti settled in Ajmer (located in the Indian province of Rajasthan) and gathered around him a large following, who subsequently spread across India in order to propagate the message of Islam. As a prominent adherent of the Chishtiyyah order, Shaykh Nizam al-Din Awliya lived in Delhi during the beginning of the fourteenth century and, on his arrival there he met this great Sufi luminary who may have also initiated him into the Chishtiyyah tariqah. According to some of Shah Jalal’s biographers, he had met Khwajah Mu‘in al-Din Chishti: however, this view is erroneous, because the latter died in 1236, long before Shah Jalal was born. Given this, Haidar’s claim that Shah Jalal met Nizam al-Din Awliya is more plausible: indeed, he stated that Nizam al-Din was so impressed with Shah Jalal that he gave him a beautiful, rare pair of pigeons as a gift, which subsequently became known as Jalali Kabutar (‘Jalal’s pigeons’). According to local folklore, these species have continued to breed to this day and they can be seen in and around the dargah of Shah Jalal in Sylhet.

According to the author of Suhail-i-Yaman, after thanking Nizam al-Din for his generous hospitality, Shah Jalal left Delhi and set out in the direction of East Bengal. This was a period of considerable socio-political volatility and confusion across the subcontinent, however, it was also a time of great opportunity, and the saint from Konya was only too aware of this. Unsurprisingly, he was very keen to seize this opportunity and take the message of Islam to the hitherto unexplored part of Eastern Bengal. Historians suggested that this region was known as Srihatta (or the ‘encircled marketplace’) until the Sultanate period, when it became known as Jalalabad. Today this area is known as Sylhet. Unlike this region, the northern part of Bengal had become the hub of Sufi activities much earlier, thanks to the efforts of Shaykh Jalal al-Din Tabrizi.³ However, as both of these men had similar names, some scholars have erroneously claimed that there was, in fact, only one Jalal al-Din. This view was reinforced by Ibn Battutah’s statement that he had met a great Muslim saint in Bengal by the name of Shaykh Jalal al-Din Tabrizi. However, according to majority of modern historians, the two Jalals were not one person. Furthermore, incontrovertible historical evidence (including inscriptions and literary accounts) has confirmed that they were, in fact, two different individuals: one called Shah Jalal and the other known as Jalal al-Din Tabrizi. As such, although Ibn Battutah had met Shah Jalal of Sylhet, he wrongly claimed to have had met Jalal al-Din Tabrizi; he clearly confused the former with the latter.⁴ What is more, Jalal al-Din Tabrizi lived and propagated Islam in and around Pandua and Deotala during the thirteenth century, long before Shah Jalal’s time. Therefore, they could not have been the same person, even though their lives and careers were strikingly similar, in addition to both of them sharing the same name.

Given Jalal al-Din Tabrizi’s successful propagation of Islam in and around Deotala, one could be forgiven for thinking that Shah Jalal’s mission would also be resoundingly successful. Yet, upon the arrival of Shah Jalal and his followers in Sylhet, the local ruler, Gaur Govinda, put up forceful resistance. Shah Jalal was a tall, handsome, profoundly learned and charismatic Sufi, who was in the habit of picking up disciples during his travel from one place to another. He had acquired a sizable following by the time he had moved close to Sylhet: in fact, according to one account he had a total of 360 disciples with him at the time. Although not a match for the local Hindu ruler’s forces, Shah Jalal and his disciples were undeterred by the threat of military strike against them. According to the author of Suhail-i-Yaman, the episode was precipitated by Burhan al-Din, a local Muslim who had sacrificed a cow to celebrate the birth of his son: a kite picked up a piece of the beef and dropped it in the house of a Brahmin, who not only informed King Gaur Govinda but also demanded redress. In response, the King had Burhan al-Din amputated and his son brutally murdered. Distraught and devastated by his loss, Burhan al-Din proceeded to Gawr, the capital of Sultan Shams al-Din Firuz Shah, and begged the latter to intervene. Moved by the tragic tale, the Sultan sent an expedition to Sylhet under the command of his nephew Sikander Khan Ghazi. Gaur Govinda’s forces successfully repelled the Muslim army twice in succession. Alarmed by his failure to topple the Hindu ruler, the Sultan then sent Nasir al-Din, his chief military commander, on another expedition to Sylhet. On this occasion Shah Jalal and his band of followers met and joined the advancing Muslim army. Together they helped to liberate Sylhet from the grip of the tyrannical Hindu ruler and brought this region under Muslim rule for the first time.⁵

According to the author of Gulzar-i-Abrar, however, the conquest of Sylhet was solely masterminded by Shah Jalal and his band of 313 disciples. In this account, as soon as they arrived on the outskirts of Sylhet, the local ruler resisted Shah Jalal and his disciples. Undeterred by the enemy’s superior forces, they fought back. The saint was reported to have performed many miracles during the battle including crossing the river Surma on carpet as well as triggering the collapse of King Gaur Govinda’s palace by pronouncing the adhan (call to prayer). These and many other supernatural events, myths and legends have been attributed to Shah Jalal and his disciples by his biographers: but most—if not all—of these stories have neither historical credence nor religious value. Having said that, all the sources agree that Shah Jalal and his disciples played a pivotal role in the conquest of Sylhet. It is also an undisputed fact that Gaur Govinda was the ruler of Sylhet at the time and that Sultan Shams al-Din Firuz Shah was the ruler of Bengal from 1301 to 1322. The claim that Sylhet was conquered during the reign of Sultan Shams al-Din is therefore credible, and is confirmed by many epigraphic and literary sources.

In addition to this, Ibn Battutah’s monumental work, A Gift to Observers, Dealing with the Curiosities of Cities and the Wonder of Travels (Tuhfat al-Nuzzar fi Ghara’ib al-Amsar wa Aja’ib al-Asfar), known in short as Accounts of Travel (Rihla), furnishes further light on Shah Jalal and his activities in Sylhet. Abu Abdullah Muhammad ibn Abdullah ibn Muhammad ibn Ibrahim al-Luwati (better known as Ibn Battutah), was born in 1304 in Tangier (in modern Morocco) and travelled around the Muslim world before reaching India in 1333 at the age of 29. During his stay of nearly a decade in India, he visited Chittagong in East Bengal and it was on this occasion that he went to Sylhet specifically to meet Shah Jalal and his disciples. In Ibn Battutah’s own words:

[Shah Jalal] was numbered among the principal saints and was one of the most distinguished men. He had performed many noteworthy acts, and wrought many celebrated miracles. He used to remain standing (in prayer) all night. The inhabitants of these mountains received Islam from his hands, and it was for this reason that he stayed among them.⁶

In Sylhet, Shah Jalal settled in an area today known as Chowkidhiki and established a Sufi lodge (known as khanqah in Persian and zawiyah in Arabic), which became the centre of Islamic education, propagation and spiritual training for the locals. Ibn Battutah must have met Shah Jalal in this lodge, because he provided a detailed and vivid description of the saint and the local area. It is also worth pointing out here that although Shah Jalal was a pioneering Muslim preacher, he was not the founder of the institution of khanqah or zawiyah in Bengal: indeed, according to the chronicler Minhaj al-Din Siraj, the credit for establishing some of the first mosques (masajid), Islamic schools (madaris), Sufi lodges (khanqah) and tombs (mazar) in Bengal must go to Muhammad Bakhtiyar Khalji and his immediate successors who ruled during the beginning of the thirteenth century.

According to Ibn Battutah, Shah Jalal was tall, of slim build, had a light complexion and was very energetic. He lived in a small lodge, surviving on bare minimum (that is, milk, butter and yoghurt). Most of the saints’ disciples, according to Ibn Battutah, looked ‘like the Turks possessing strength’ (which seems to imply that most were of foreign origin) and that they became known for their bravery and devotion to Islamic values and principles.⁷ When Ibn Battutah went to Sylhet to visit Shah Jalal, the latter was very advanced in age and by that time had already established his reputation as the patron saint of that area. Perhaps Shah Jalal’s increasing fame prompted Ibn Battutah to make a detour and pay homage to the saint of Sylhet. During his stay with Shah Jalal, Ibn Battutah observed that the locals visited the lodge of Shah Jalal on a regular basis for instruction and guidance on all sorts of issues, including religious and worldly matters. In other words, Shah Jalal was more than a conqueror of land, as he was also a great conqueror of people’s hearts, minds and thoughts, and this enabled him and his disciples to win the locals (most of whom were low caste Hindus and Buddhists) over to the fold of Islam.

Shah Jalal was an adherent of the Yisiwiyyah Sufi order, which was an offshoot of the more famous and prevalent Naqshbandiyyah tariqah. He seemed to have been a strict practitioner of zuhd (asceticism) because he remained a confirmed bachelor throughout his life. This also explains why he became known as mujarrad, meaning ‘selfless, pure’. Although the Prophet Muhammad (peace be on him) married and encouraged his Companions (Sahabah) to marry and set up their own families, some Sufis, such as Rabi‘a al-Adawiyyah, did not marry because they felt this would inevitably divert them from their single-minded devotion and dedication to the Almighty. Even so, majority of great Sufis (including Muhyi al-Din Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani, Khwajah Mu‘in al-Din Chishti and Jalal al-Din Rumi) married and established their own families, and in so doing they continued to adhere to the Prophetic sunnah (norms and practices). Perhaps Shah Jalal had no desire to marry and instead devoted all his effort and energy to the pursuit of spirituality and gnosis as well as to the teaching and dissemination of Islam.

As expected, his efforts bore fruit, as the locals came in their droves to enter the fold of Islam. Inspired by their success, all of Shah Jalal’s prominent disciples then spread throughout East Bengal and beyond in order to propagate the message of Islam. These included the well-known preacher Shah Paran, who was also Shah Jalal’s nephew. Shah Paran settled on the outskirts of Sylhet town (near Major Tila area), whereas Shah Taqi al-Din settled in Jalalpur in Sadar Thana. Likewise, Shah Siddiq moved to Panchpara (located in Balaganj Thana in Sylhet). Another prominent disciple of Shah Jalal was Shah Malik, who settled in Dhaka, the capital of present-day Bangladesh. Similarly, Sayyid Ahmad Kolla Shahid moved to Comilla District to propagate Islam there, while Shah Nasir al-Din moved to Pargana Taraf region where he established his religious centre.⁸

In short, the combined efforts of these pioneering Muslims soon gathered pace and this led to the Islamisation of this whole region. Due credit for this remarkable achievement must go to Shah Jalal, the famous patron saint of Sylhet and one of Muslim Bengal’s most influential and enduring personalities. As such, it would not be an exaggeration to consider Shah Jalal and his disciples to be the real pioneers of Islam in East Bengal and especially in Sylhet. In recognition of his remarkable efforts and achievements, the Shah Jalal University of Science and Technology in Sylhet—which is one of Bangladesh’s leading universities—was named after him. Recently, the country’s main international airport in Dhaka was also named after this pioneering Muslim peacher and Sufi sage of Bengal.

Notes

1.  Thomas W. Arnold, The Preaching of Islam.

2.  Muhammad Abdur Rahim, Social and Cultural History of Bengal.

3.  Shamsuddin Ahmed, Inscriptions of Bengal.

4.  S. M. Ikram, ‘An Unnoticed Account of Shaikh Jalal of Sylhet’.

5.  D. N. A. H. Choudhury, Hazrat Shah Jalal: Dalil-o-Shakhyo; Azharuddin Ahmed, The History of Shahjalal.

6.  Ibn Battutah, The Travels of Ibn Battutah, AD 1325–1354.

7.  Ibid.

8.  M. A. Aziz et al. (eds.), Brihattar Sylheter Itihas.

C.1375–1459

ISLAM CAME INTO contact with Bengal in more than one way. This contact began with the establishment of lucrative trade and business by the early Arab and Persian traders in and around the coastal regions of India during the seventh century. This, in turn, brought the early Arab and Persian traders directly into contact with Bengal, via Chittagong and its surrounding areas. As a result of this exchange, Islam began to make headway into the coastal regions of Bengal. Following in the footsteps of the early Muslim traders, the armies of the Umayyad dynasty of Damascus then marched into northern India during the beginning of the eighth century and conquered Sindh and Multan. This later inspired Sultan Mahmud, the Turkish Ghaznavid ruler, to make serious in-roads into mainland India during the early part of the eleventh century. This activity brought political Islam directly in contact with mainland India for the very first time. As the Umayyad and Ghaznavid conquerors opened up the borders of India, other Muslim rulers of the time moved into different regions of India and established Islamic presence there. Ikhtiyar al-Din Muhammad Bakhtiyar Khalji was one such military conqueror: he marched into Bengal for the first time in the beginning of the thirteenth century and brought political Islam directly into contact with this region of subcontinent.

This, in turn, inspired the Sufis and other Muslim preachers to enter India en masse, in order to propagate the message of Islam in that country. As mentioned in the previous chapter, these early pioneering Sufis and Muslim preachers included Baba Adam Shahid of Dhaka, Shah Sultan Rumi of Mymensingh, Makhdum Shah Dawlah Shahid of Pabna, Jalal al-Din Tabrizi of Deotala and Shah Jalal of Sylhet.¹ However, all of these Sufis were primarily Islamic preachers, and therefore none of them claimed to be the political leader of their people. Indeed, being Sufi sages, they considered themselves to be the champions of faith, morality and Islamic spirituality. Their Islamic mission and activities were certainly not motivated by material considerations or any political ambition. Their selflessness and strict asceticism (zuhd) proved that they had little time for things temporal and transient (such as wealth, political power and status); instead they had devoted themselves to the pursuit of things that are permanent and enduring (like faith, spirituality and the attainment of Divine pleasure). Even so, one influential Muslim personality of Bengal successfully combined both roles by being a Sufi and a political ruler at the same time: this was Khan Jahan Ali of Bagerhat.

Khan-i-Azam (‘the great Khan’) Khan Jahan, better known as Hazrat Khan Jahan Ali, may have been of Turkish extraction, although very little is known about his early life, education and background. According to historians, he hailed from a noble Turkish family, and as such he may have had some training in Turkish, Arabic and aspects of Islamic sciences during his early years, before pursuing a career under the Tughluqids.² The Tughluqids came to power in Delhi under the leadership of Ghiyath al-Din Tughluq Shah I and his son, Abul Mujahid Muhammad Shah II, in 1320. They restored sultanate rule by ousting Nasir al-Din Khusraw Khan Barwari, who had assumed power after Qutb al-Din Mubarak Shah, the last of the Khalji Sultans of Delhi. Both Ghiyath al-Din Tughluq Shah and his son restored the Delhi sultanate after a period of considerable socio-political upheaval and helped to re-establish Muslim control over Deccan. However, it was not until the reign of Kamal al-Din Firuz Shah III, the third Tughluqid ruler, that the sultanate rule of Bengal was restored. Khan Jahan may have been born during the rule of Ghiyath al-Din Mahmud, the fourth Tughluqid Sultan, going on to serve the rulers of this dynasty with considerable distinction, and he was a notable member of this ruling family. However, the rule of this dynasty was brought to an abrupt end towards the final years of the fourteenth century in the wake of Timurid invasion and destruction of Delhi.

Amir Timur’s sacking of Delhi may have persuaded Khan Jahan to move to Bengal in 1398. However, according to another account, thanks to his dedicated service to the Tughluqids, the Sultan of Delhi offered Khan Jahan a plot of land in the Sundarban area (located in present-day Bangladesh). This offer was subsequently confirmed by the then Sultan of Bengal, and this prompted Khan Jahan to take necessary steps to establish himself in this difficult and challenging part of Bengal. Located in the southwestern District of Khulna, Khan Jahan’s fief (jagir) was virtually an inhabitable plot of land, albeit an integral part of the Sundarban, and the the largest mangrove forest in the world. This region was surrounded by dense forest, with wild animals and beasts roaming around at will. Khan Jahan must have moved into this unusually fertile jungle somewhat reluctantly. After clearing up the locality, he established several settlements in and around the area today known as Bagerhat. This took place during the early part of the fifteenth century. Thanks to his devotion and dedication to his task, Khan Jahan soon cleared up a large area and formally established his rule there.

Inspired by Islam, Khan Jahan was a prominent adherent and practitioner of Sufism. Although it is not clear if he was a Chishtiyyah, Suhrawardiyyah, Naqshbandiyyah or Qadiriyah Sufi (or an adherent of a combination of two or three of those Sufi orders), soon after establishing himself in Bagerhat he became instrumental in the conversion of the local Hindus, Buddhists and animists to the fold of Islam. Similar to Shah Jalal of Sylhet (located in the north-eastern Bengal) and Jalal al-Din Tabrizi of Deotala, Khan Jahan became the pioneer of Islam in south-western Bengal. His valiant and pioneering efforts to transform a largely inhospitable region into permanent human settlement proved to be such a success that he later gave the name of Khalifatabad to this region. Derived from the Arabic word khalifah (meaning ‘representative’ or ‘vicegerent’), this word is used in the Holy Qur’an to refer to human beings as God’s trustworthy khalifah (representative on the earth).³ The choice of the name Khalifatabad says a lot about Khan Jahan as Sufi preacher, Islamic reformer and ruler. He was steeped in Islamic thought, culture and spirituality, and was determined to establish a settlement where the people would live by the principles and practices of Islam: that is to say, they would live as khalifat Allah fi’l-ard or God’s representatives on the earth. Inspired by the Qur’anic view of humanity, and the role and purpose of people in this world, Khan Jahan encouraged the locals not only to embrace Islam but also to co-operate with him to transform the Bagerhat region into a fully-fledged Islamic dominion.

While Khan Jahan was busy expanding his settlements by clearing the dense forests of the Sundarban, the Ilyas Shahi rule of Bengal was passing through a volatile and unpredictable period. After Firuz Shah’s reign came to an end in 1414, Raja Ganesh’s descendants assumed power. Their rule lasted only two decades, until the Ilyasids restored their rule under the leadership of Abul Muzaffar Nasir al-Din Mahmud Shah, who was a descendant of Sultan Shams al-Din Ilyas Shah, the founder of the Ilyas Shahi rule in Bengal. By all accounts, Nasir al-Din Mahmud Shah was a wise and peaceful ruler who took full advantage of political rivalry and military conflict that then ensued between the Sharqi rulers of Jaunpur and the Lodis of Delhi, and he instigated a large programme of reconstruction and restoration throughout his dominion. Since he ruled a very large kingdom, which extended all the way from Sylhet in the east to Bhagalpur in the west and from Hughli in the south to Gawr Pandua in the north, Nasir al-Din Mahmud Shah strengthened his hold on power by promoting socio-economic development and Islamic expansion across his expanding kingdom.⁴

During this period of political calm and considerable socio-economic prosperity in Bengal, Khan Jahan consolidated his power base in Khalifatabad. He expanded his political suzerainty to include not only the whole of the modern Khulna division but also a significant part of Jessore and its neighbouring territories. Given the eagerness of Sultan Nasir al-Din Mahmud Shah to promote Islamic expansion, he may have directly, or indirectly, encouraged Khan Jahan to pursue his programme of Islamisation across the south-western territories of Bengal. Due to the absence of reliable historical information, it is not possible to say, categorically, whether the latter was in the service of the former or they were, in fact, two independent rulers in their own right. According to inscriptions found on Khan Jahan’s tomb, he was known variously as Khan-i-Azam and Ulugh Khan: these names suggest that he may have been in the service of Sultan Nasir al-Din Mahmud Shah who, in turn, probably bestowed these titles on him.⁵ Either way, the two men were certainly aware of each other, and as such, it would not have been unusual for them to communicate with each other from time to time, although there is no evidence to prove this.

With the assistance of his able deputies (including Burhan Khan and Fatih Khan) the ruler of Khalifatabad transformed a large inhospitable part of present-day Bangladesh, and then went out of his way to rule that region according to Islamic law (Shari‘ah). In so doing, he established justice, fair play and accountability across his dominion. The majority of the local people were low caste Hindus with little real status or position in society, and Khan Jahan’s exposition of the Islamic message of equality and brotherhood clearly struck a chord, as they came in their droves to enter the fold of Islam. This, in turn, inspired the saintly Muslim ruler to clear more areas for the establishment of additional human settlement. His policy was to construct mosques (masajid), Islamic schools (madaris), lodges (khanqah), roads, highways, bridges and trading centres (bazars) in each and every new settlement. In this way, Khan Jahan was more than a conqueror; he was also a wise and able administrator who was keen to promote social justice and equality, economic development and fairness and cultural advancement and solidarity. In this respect, he was very much like Caliph Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz, the great saintly Umayyad ruler of the eighth century, and Sultan Nur al-Din Zangi, the famous saintly ruler of the Zangid dynasty of the twelfth century. These two great Muslim rulers became renowned for living in the world, but—by the same token—refusing to become a part of it. As a pioneering Sufi and powerful ruler, Khan Jahan led a very simple and austere lifestyle, while striving hard to meet the social, economic and religious needs of his subjects. This was not surprising given the fact that he was, after all, following in the footsteps (Sunnah) of the Prophet of Islam who, as tradition reliably informs us, consistently gave priority to the needs and requirements of others at the expense of his own comfort and pleasure.

Khan Jahan was not only an able administrator and ruler, he must also be considered to be one of the most prolific builders in the history of Muslim Bengal. According to his biographers, in addition to instigating numerous madrasah, khanqah, mazar, bazars, roads and highways he constructed around 360 mosques and dug