North South University

Spring Semester 2020

His101: Bangladesh Culture and Heritage

Instructor: Muhammad Asiful Basar (Mab2)

Department of History and Philosophy

Section 12, Group C

Submitted by:

Name ID
Labiba Hasan 1712106030
Nashrur Rudaba 1712444030
Md. Assaduzzaman Shawon 1721216630
Swarup Deb Nath 1721424630

Date of Submission: 18th April, 2020.

 Acknowledgement

First of all, we would like to thank the Almighty in completion of this report. Our heartiest
gratitude to our faculty Muhammad Asiful Basar for helping us in every step of this report.

I would like to thank all my group members for the completion of this report. Without their hard
work, dedication and efforts, this report couldn’t have been completed. At last, we would like to
thank our families for supporting us throughout this report.
 Letter of Transmittal

Muhammad Asiful Basar

North South University

Block B, Bashundhara, Dhaka 1212, Bangladesh

Dear Sir,

It is indeed a great pleasure for us to be able to hand over the result of our combined efforts of
His101 report on ‘Emergence and Expansion of Islam in Bengal’. This report reflects our
knowledge which we have acquired from this respective course. We tried our level best to prepare
this report. The information from this report is mainly based from secondary research.

We sincerely hope that your time will be worth reading this report. Please feel free to ask us for
any query or clarification. We hope that you will appreciate our hard work and excuse our minor
mistakes in this report. Thank you for your cooperation.

Sincerely,

Labiba Hasan

Nashrur Rudaba

Md. Assaduzzaman Shawon

Swarup Deb Nath

 Abstract

Islam came to Bengal through the travelers and traders who were coming to Bengal. The Turkish
and the Arab merchants brought in their goods in Bengal along with their religious influence. Many
theories were proposed by many historians, each of which faced its fair share of criticism. The
conventional and the modern theories takes a stance at the idea of how Islam might have emerged
and expanded in Bengal.

Under the conventional theory, the sword theory suggests that people were forced to convert to
Islam. The political patronization theory suggests that people might have accepted Islam to escape
the rigidity and harshness of other religions and gain personal advantage. The social campaign
theory suggests the building of different institutions to enhance the Islamic culture and the religion
of social liberation theory suggests that mass conversion took place from Hinduism to Islam
because people wanted to escape the rigid class system.

Under the modern theories, the cultural mediation theory suggests that people could practice Islam
by still retaining their own social customs so they accepted Islam because of its flexibility. Bengal
was a melting pot and a land of resources. For this reason, the frontier theory suggests that because
of its different resourceful feature, islamization was widespread in Bengal. The regional
personality theory tells us that different regions of Bengal possessed different geographical and
religious personalities and these different identities helped in the expansion of Islam in Bengal.
Lastly, the open village theory suggests that in regions or villages of Bengal that were very weak,
it was easy to persuade people to convert to Islam.

This research paper aims to find out which theory or theories might have played a major role in
the expansion of Islam in Bengal.
 Introduction

Emergence of Islam in Bengal was significant because it changed many aspects of Bengal at that
time. There are a lot of underlying theories, concepts and debates that revolves around the fact of
the emergence and expansion of Islam in Bengal. Many historians have put forward their theory
while many historians debated against the theories. Many people believed that Islam came from
the foreign travelers who entered Bengal from the and the sea while many people believe that the
acceptance and expansion of Islam was due to political, social or economic reasons. The Turkish
and the Arab influence had major impact on the emergence of Islam in Bengal. They were Muslim
traders and travelers who had keen interest in the golden land, Bengal. Eventually as time
progressed, they conquered and set up their kingdoms in this land of resources and had major
influence on the people of Bengal.

Research Question

As we know, there are a lot of theories about how Islam entered Bengal and was successful in
spreading its influence all around it. Two major theories, the conventional and the modern theory
each of which has four sub-theories in it describes how Islam might have entered Bengal. This
research paper aims to investigate which theory was the most successful in its expansion and
acceptance of Islam in Bengal.

Methodology

In the following research paper, we have used primarily used secondary resources to aid us in
writing. We took help from different research papers and search engines to find out more about
which theory might have the most significant impact in the emergence and acceptance of Islam in
Bengal.
Conventional Theory

There are four different conventional theories. They are as follows:

The sword theory, political patronization theory, the social campaign theory and the religion of
social liberation theory.

The Sword Theory

As the name suggests, this theory mainly refers on the role of military force to diffuse Islam in
Bengal. It stresses on the harsh idea that a sword was literally put on the necks of the people to
force the conversion to Islam from other religions. By means of coercion and threat, they forced
the people to convert to Islam. Many people believe that the Turko-Iranian rule from the early
1200s had something to do with the emergence of Islam in Bengal. The core of the sword theory
was that mass people surrendered to Islam forcibly to survive but at the end of the day, they never
had that Islamic faith in them. Nineteenth and Twentieth century orientalists took a stand and
explained that the emergence and expansion of Islam in Bengal was to drive the Europeans away
from Bengal (Eaton R.M, 1993).

Political Patronization Theory

This theory suggests that the conversion of Islam took place because people wanted to gain non-
religious favors or accepted Islam as a means of escapism from rigidity and harshness of other
religions. They wanted to gain favors such as exemption from taxes, promotion in bureaucracy
(Eaton R.M, 1993). They used Islam as a tool to climb up the social ladder and gain prestige and
status in society which they would otherwise not be able to obtain from other religions. Later on,
we can see that these ‘New Muslims’ were even awarded with a robe of honor by the Khalaji
Sultans. However, this theory fails to explain how the emergence and acceptance of Islam moved
away from these people to the peasants and the urban elites.

Social Campaign Theory

The Muslim ruler had a noteworthy influence in building the Muslim society in Bengal. The
point of the Sultans was not exclusively to proceed with Muslim standard yet additionally
manufacture foundations and start works that helped Muslim society and culture. So as to reach
to that objective they began to construct quantities of Mosques, Madrasa and Maqtabs in various
pieces of Bengal. They were worked in such areas which is helpful for the individuals to visit
and play out their strict obligations. A considerable lot of these foundations kept up private
convenience with free nourishment and lodgings. Under the patronization of these considerate
Muslim rulers, a huge quantity of Sufi and Ulama began enormous scope social battle, which
came about a mass change. During this crusade, the Sufis used to show their otherworldly
mysterious forces which pulled in the oblivious mass.

The first of these, which I shall call the Immigration theory, is not really a theory of conversion
at all since it views Islamization in terms of the diffusion not of belief but of peoples. In this
view, the bulk of India’s Muslims are descended from other Muslims who had either migrated
overland from the Iranian plateau or sailed across the Arabian Sea. Although some such process
no doubt contributed to the Islamization of those areas of South Asia that are geographically
contiguous with the Iranian plateau or the Arabian Sea, this argument cannot, for reasons to be
discussed below, be used to explain mass Islamization in Bengal.

Religion of Social Liberation Theory

The Religion of Social Liberation postulation, is made by British ethnographers and students of
history, expounded by numerous Pakistani and Bangladeshi nationals, and bought in to by
endless writers and antiquarians of South Asia, particularly Muslims, this hypothesis has for
since quite a while ago been the most generally acknowledged clarification of Islamization in the
subcontinent. The hypothesis hypothesizes a Hindu station framework that is perpetual through
time and unbendingly biased against its own lower orders. For quite a long time, it is stated, the
lower endured under the devastating weight of abusive and domineering high-standing Hindus,
particularly Brahmans. At that point, when Islam "showed up", conveying its freeing message of
social equity as lectured by Sufi-Shaikhs, these equivalent persecuted positions, trying to escape
from the Brahminic mistreatment and, "changed over" to Islam in mass.

It tends to be seen that by comparing what it sees as the characteristic equity of Islam and the
intrinsic devilishness of Hindu society, the Religion of Social Liberation hypothesis distinguishes
thought processes in transformation that are, from a Muslim point of view, prominently
commendable. The issue, nonetheless, is that no proof can be found on the side of the hypothesis.
In addition, it is significantly silly. To start with, by crediting present-day esteems to people
groups of the past, it peruses history in reverse. Prior to their contact with Muslims, India's lower
positions are thought to have had, nearly just as acquainted with the compositions of Jean-
Jacques Rousseau or Thomas Jefferson, some intrinsic idea of the central balance of all mankind
denied them by a harsh Brahminic oppression. Indeed, be that as it may, in pondering Islam
according to Indian religions, premodern Muslim learned people didn't pressure their religion's
optimal of social balance instead of Hindu disparity, but instead Islamic monotheism rather than
Hindu polytheism.

Modern Theories

During the last half of the twenty century there were few theories emerged on Islamisation
process of Bengal which many scholars considered as the modern theories of Islamisation. Also,
each of these theories was distinct in characteristic. These theories cover:
Cultural Mediation Theory
Asim Roy interpreted the theory of Cultural Mediation of Islam in Bengal through his book
which is ‘The Islamic Syncretistic Tradition in Bengal’. According to his explorations, in
medieval Bengal there were two great traditions. The first one was the ‘Great Tradition’ and the
second one was the ‘Little Tradition’. In addition, on the assimilation of these two traditions the
Islamic tradition was emerged. Also, he said to the process of Islamisation in Bengal
‘syncretism’ remained integral. As a result of an interaction between an indigenous culture and
an intrusive religion which formulated the cultural, religious and social life model of Bengali
Muslims. Afterwards, in Bengal Islam gained a character which is quite separate from its
exogenous inevitable existence. Besides, Islam had to compromise a spacious diversity of local
religio-cultural elements through those characteristic. The impact of the newly arrived Islam was
the public of tribal peoples and Hindu-Buddhist with their unseverable links with past traditional
cultural and religious practices came under to grant Islam. But they keep up their old ideas and
customs. Also, they assimilated to a new faith with their previous socio-religious experience.
(Roy, 1984)
The Frontier Theory
Professor R.M. Eaton was initiated this frontier theory through his book ‘The Rise of Islam in the
Bengal Frontier’. He illustrated his book that in several parts of South Asia Bengal has a various
kind of special frontier which is not visible. Bengal’s historical experience was remarkable
because of its frontier character and its widespread greeting of Islam. One of the main frontiers is
the special geographical frontier that provides the Bengal delta a grandiose fertile land, over the
years by giving a great source of food and economic enrichment which has glamored many
ethnic stocks. He also noticed that Cultural Frontier, Agricultural Frontier, Political Frontier and
Islamic Frontier etc. which are also impact in the Islamisation process. In addition, through its
own progressives each of these Bengal’s frontiers moved. Besides, in the cultural frontier
through the enhancement of Buddhist and Brahman commanded societies; the political frontier
through the force of weapon and the articulation and acceptance of the Muslim rules legal
domination; the agricultural frontier through the inherent processes of riverine movement and
colonization; and the Islamic frontier through the step by step council of internal societies into a
Muslim oriented devout life. Moreover, each of these frontiers overlapped one another in several
ways by having their own laws of pace. Finally, consequent to his observation, the South-eastern
Bengal’s religious plane was traditionally generous. On the other hand, the Western Bengal’s
more inflexible socio-religious existence defend it from the Islamisation process. (Eaton, 1993)
Regional personality theory:

Another type of modern theory is the “Regional Personality Theory” which was introduced by
Professor Abdul Momin Chowdhury. The plain facts of political history made it clear that, Bengal
was not a Hindu region. During the pre-Islamic period, Bengal was clearly ruled by two dynasties:
The Buddhist Pal Dynasty and the Brahminic Sen Dynasty. Thus, most people before the arrival
of Islam was the follower of the Buddha, but they were not Hindu. The Pal dynasty was succeeded
by the Sen Dynasty, and the Muslim conquest ended the Sen rule by the 1204. And hence the 500
years of Pal and Sen Rule was conquered by the Muslim Rulers.

According to the Regional Personality theory, the distinctive socio religious personality, the
tradition and the history developed a kind of personality throughout the Bengal. According to
Professor Chowdhury Bengal had her own “Geographical” and “Historical” entity. These entities
have given Bengal the regional personality that were different from the ancient times. This regional
individuality was named by the professor as the “Bengal’s personality” and he implied that
“Humanism” and “Liberalism” were the reason of this unique personality which made them to
flourish in the 13th and 14th century. According to Chowdhury religious toleration and liberal
attitude were the main reason for Islamization. In the socio-cultural ups and downs the Bengals
nurtured their individuality. Before Islam the era was in the control of Buddhism and the Brahmins.
So, most of the courtiers, court poets, counsellors were Buddhist and they distributed tax free land
to the followers. Through all that the Bengals developed a religious tolerance towards other
religions. The “Liberal” ideas pushed Bengalis to adapt Islam as their religion. And the liberal
ideas were mostly preached by the Sufi and the Darbesh. The crucial role was thus done by the
Sufis. Because the then Bengal was a cultural base for “Buddhism”, the land was fertile for the
propagation of Islam, and perhaps it attracted the Sufi preachers from all the corners of the world
to come here and preach Islam. And hence the unique Bengal personality gave a positive result for
the Islamisation in Bengal.

Open Village Theory

Another theory was introduced by Dr. Ali Akbar Khan. He says that the availability of the
resources and the water gave freedom to the peasant class. They grew vast majority of crops all
through the year. This led to a weak organization of village. The villages in the deltaic regions
were mostly open. The villages were a mixture of corporate and open villages where the role of
open villages were predominant. The weakness of the village organization is based on the
settlement patterns. The villages of Eastern Bengal were linear settlements (Where one village
ends other village begins), on the other hand the villages in western settlements were mostly
nuclear settlements. The weak formation of villages resulted from the characteristics of physical
and social environment of Bengal. Most of the Bengal was riverine and therefore floods occur
frequently, so as a result the village organization was weak. They were not able to operate as one
united successful village. The less united, less structural, relatively weak social setting was not
found elsewhere in South Asia. Thus, this set the motion of Islamic domination over the region.
As the villages had a weaker administrative structure, penetrating by Islam was relatively easy.
The weak and loose structure of the villages were easily penetrated by naturalization, patronization
and forced conversion.
 Findings

The most two substantial theories are “Cultural Mediation Theory” and “Religion of Social
Liberation Theory”.

According to Cultural mediation there were two incredible conventions that were accessible in
medieval Bengal. The first was the 'Incomparable Tradition' and the subsequent one was the
'Little Tradition'. The Islamic convention rose on the premise on the absorption of these two
customs. Islam in Bengal achieved a character very not quite the same as its exogenous crucial
element. This trademark can be clarified by accepting that Islam needed to suit a wide assortment
of nearby religion and social components. The majority of Hindu-Buddhist and ancestral people
groups with their indistinguishable connections with past conventional social and strict practices
went under the impact of the recently shown up Islam. Be that as it may, they held their old
thoughts and customs and absorbed to another confidence with their prior socio-strict experience.
Islam was flexible in this theory. People of other religion could relate their cultural procedure
and traditional rules with Islam. They were not coerced to abide the all rules of Islam just
advised to abide some mandatory rules who had converted to the Islam. Before in Islam there
was no Pohela Baishakh celebration but now Muslim people can celebrate this because of
flexibility of Islam.

According to Religion social liberation theory a Hindu station framework that is perpetual
through time and unbendingly biased against its own lower orders. For quite a long time, it is
stated, the lower endured under the devastating weight of abusive and domineering high-standing
Hindus, particularly Brahmans. At that point, when Islam "showed up", conveying its freeing
message of social equity as lectured by Sufi-Shaikh’s, these equivalent persecuted positions,
trying to escape from the Brahminic mistreatment and, "changed over" to Islam in mass. Lower
Hindu caste people wants to have all the human rights, but they didn’t get that because of lower
caste. That’s why they converted to Islam where everybody was equal.
 Conclusion

The emergence of Islam is significant because it changed the aspects, the rules the regulations,
the cultures, the norms and traditions for our lives. Previously, our region was dominated by the
Buddhist nut after the Islamization, Bengal became a Muslim dominated region. There are
different conventional and modern theories to support why the Bengal region became an Islam
dominated area. But no theories can fully establish the reason of Islamization in Bengal. We can
finally come to a decision that according to Abu A. Ghuznavi, that the majority of the modern
Mahomedans were foreign expulsion. He also told that before the Turkish victory at that time in
Muslim culture Sultan Husain Shah made land awards of foreigners, Muslims owing to their
practices of polygamy and widow remarriage. Later conversion played an important role in
expanding the ranks of the Muslims in Bengal. As a result, people escaped from the rigidness of
Hindu caste system and also, they could practice Islam in a flexible manner like they could
celebrated Pahela Baishakh and other festivals. Also, we can say that these theories did not work
independently, rather these theories have a mixed result on the Islamization process. We can also
say that, the flexibility of the Islam has attracted people to take Islam as their religion. Islam has
no rigid cast system, no boundaries, we can embrace people from all religions, from all casts
with our open arms. The widow remarriage is allowed in this religion, one can marry multiple
times and these flexibilities has attracted the low cast of Hindus and the ones who were tortured
to take Islam as their religion as an escape. We perform our religion in a flexible manner, but the
inner faith is strong. That is why Islam has dominated and is still dominated the Bengal region.
 References

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Eaton, R. M. (1993). The Rise of Islam and the Bengal Frontier. London: University of
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Roy, A. (1984). The Islamic Syncretistic Tradition in Bengal. Princeton University Press.

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