Muslim Rule: Bengal

Sultanate
Muslim Rule
• The period of Muslim rule in Bengal continued for about five
centuries and a half from Bakhtiyar Khalji’s conquest in 1204 to the
Battle of Plassey in 1757. After the battle, the EIC became the
controlling power in Bengal’s politics; the administration, however,
was carried on in the name of the puppet Nawabs for some years
more.
• This Muslim period is dividend into two phases – Sultanate and
Mughal;
Bengal Sultanate
• The sultanate rule in Bengal started after the death (in 1206 AD) of
Bakhtiar and lasted up to 1576;
• The Bengal Sultanate was an Islamic empire that was ruled under
many dynasties. Some of the major dynasties in this period are: khalji
dynasty, Turkish period, Ilias Shahi Dynasty, Habshi Rule, Husain Shahi
Period, Afgan Period etc.
Bengal Sultanate
• During this period some Delhi sultanate ruler ruled Bengal for a brief
amount of time in different times. But that was not long lasting.
Because by the time another independent Bengal Sultan emerged
and declared himself as independent from the Delhi sultanate. This
process goes on until 1576.
• Another point to be noted is that during this Bengal sultanate period
Raja Ganesh (a Hindu ruler) ruled Bengal for a brief amount time
through manipulation and conspiracy against Azam Shah in 1415.
Bengal Sultanate
• In summary, during this nearly 4 centuries of Bengal Sultanate, most
of the rulers ruled this area independently. Though some of the rulers
from Bengal sultanate had some contact with the Delhi sultanate, but
it was absent for most of the sultans of Bengal.
• With this independent nature in the Bengal Sultanate, ports like
Satgaon, Sonargaon, and Chittagong came into prominence. These
together with a number of mint towns greatly encouraged Bengal’s
maritime trade with the outside world. Thus the Muslim rule brought
Bengal from rural to urban phase of civilization based on the
introduction of trading with the rest of the world.
Bengal Sultanate
• The Delhi Sultanate was also an Islamic empire based in Delhi that
stretched over large parts of the Indian subcontinent for 320 years
(1206–1526).
• Five dynasties ruled over the Delhi Sultanate sequentially: the Mamluk
dynasty (1206–90), the Khalji dynasty (1290–1320), the Tughlaq dynasty
(1320–1414), the Sayyid dynasty (1414–51), and the Lodi dynasty
(1451–1526).
• After 1526 Mughal rule started in Delhi. However, the Mughal rule in
Bengal started from 1576.
• The Bengal Sultanate ended in the battle of Rajmahal on 12th July, 1576;
the last Afghan Sultan Daud Khan Karrani was defeated by Khan Jahan, the
general of the great Mughal emperor Akbar.
Bengal Sultanate
• However, the Mughal army controlled and established authority over
a small portion surrounding the capital city.
• But the rest of Bengal was controlled by independent and
semi-independent military chiefs , the Afghans, and Bengai Bhuiyans
and Rajas, both Muslims and Hindus.
• Akbar made strenuous efforts by sending general after general, to
bring the whole of Bengal under his control but failed. His dream of
conquering Bengal was fulfilled in the reign of his son Jahangir by a
young, energetic Subahdar, Islam Khan Chisti.