Pratna Samiksha

A Journal of Archaeology

New Series

Volume 4

2013

CENTRE FOR ARCHAEOLOGICAL STUDIES & TRAINING

EASTERN INDIA • KOLKATA

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Eastern India, Kolkata
K. Paddayya
Professor Emeritus, Deccan College, Pune
B. D. Chattopadhyaya
Former Professor, Centre for Historical Studies,
Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
Pratip Kumar Mitra
Former Keeper, State Archaeological Museum,
West Bengal
Suchandra Ghosh
Associate Professor, Department of Ancient Indian
History & Culture, University of Calcutta, Kolkata
The Director (ex officio)
Directorate of Archaeology and Museums,
Government of West Bengal
EPIGRAPHY

First and Only Discovered Inscription of

Sultan ‘Ala al-din ‘Ali Shah (ah 740-746/ad 1339-1345/46)
of Bengal – Preliminary Observation
PRATIP KUMAR MITRA
Former Keeper, State Archaeological Museum, Government of West Bengal
ABUL BARKAT JILANI
Department of Persian, Magadh University, Bodhgaya

Abstract : An initial notice of an unpublished Persian inscription of Sultan ‘Ala al-din ‘Ali Shah (ah 740-746/ad
1339-1345/46) of Bengal of great importance. It is the first and only discovered inscription of this Sultan which
throws new light on the chronology of this obscure period in the history of the early Bengal Sultans.

Keywords : ‘Ali Shah, inscription, Hemtabad.

Some years ago, Sri Amal Ray, the then Superin sition of the verses, while not brilliant, is fairly com-
tendent of Archaeology,1 Government of West petent. The epitaph bears the name of the reigning
Bengal, informed the first author about the existence Sultan ‘Ali Shah with his honorific title (‘ala al-dunya
of a Persian inscription intricately carved in black wa’l-din ‘Alishah) and a date of ah 744 (ad 1343/44).
stone among the collections of Uttar Dinajpur In his few coins discovered so far the name of this
District Museum. Sri Ray found the inscription while Sultan (not the honorific title) is written in similar
setting up this district-level museum at Raigunj, the arrangement (see obverse of the coin in the figure
district headquarters of Uttar Dinajpur district in below). The inscription mentions a name for the
West Bengal. Recently, in course of documentation ‘founder of this work’ implying probably the com-
of Perso-Arabic inscriptions of West Bengal,2 the poser of the verses, which defies a satisfactory read-
authors had the opportunity to examine the visual ing. The inscription does not mention directly that
of this inscription and to their delight it was found this infant was ‘Ala al-din’s child, but the elaborate
to belong to the period of Sultan ‘Ala al-din ‘Ali and delicate epigraph must indicate that it belongs
Shah (ah 740-746/ad 1339-1345/46)3 of Bengal. to a royal child. The tone of the epigraph also hints
This is the first and only discovered inscription of that the deceased was most probably one of the
this Sultan. Sultan’s children.4
The inscription (21.5 × 68.5 × 8 cm) carved on The inscription is provisionally read by the sec-
a fine-grained black stone was found from Hemta- ond author as follows:
bad in the Uttar Dinajpur district of West Bengal, a
place of considerable antiquity. It is now displayed
in the Uttar Dinajpur District Museum, Raigunj, a
district-level museum set up in 2004 out of a rudi-
mentary collection of antiquities acquired mainly
through administrative sources. The inscription is
the epitaph of a young person (apparently a child)
written in three lines of Persian verse divided into
eighteen stanzas marked by bold borders in relief.
The text is embellished with stylized floral motifs
neatly arranged over and between the alphabets.
The script is a fine variety of naskh and the compo- Fig. 1. Silver Coin of ‘Ali Shah
Pratna Samiksha, New Series 4, 2013. © Centre for Archaeological
Studies & Training, Eastern India, Kolkata, pp. 99-104.
100 PRATIP KUMAR MITRA l ABUL BARKAT JILANI

Line 1

Line 2

Line 3

Fig. 2. Inscription of Sultan ‘Ala al-din ‘Ali Shah

dated ah 744 (ad 1343-44)
 Only Discovered Inscription of Sultan ‘Ala al-din ‘Ali Shah of Bengal
Translation
Line 1
1. The world has snitched away my reliance from
my treasure;
I construed the reliance of Gnostic and saint.
2. Between the heart and the soul which one is bet-
ter than the other?
‘Ali is the pride among the descendants of the
Prophet (PBUH).
3. He has pinned no hope on this world and has
snapped all his relations with earth.
Line 2
4. He has left this world as an alien; he has gone
astray and made himself care-free.
5. Such is the nature and the custom of this world
that one who loves this world is an ill-natured
one.
6. On the branch of hyacinth do away with the
bleeding of the heart.
Inscribe these few verses on the tablet of that
indolent heart.
Line 3
7. ‘Ala al-dunya wa’l-din ‘Alishah is the lord of this
world and the seal of this earth.
8. … founder of this work; the chronology gives
the date (ah) 744.
9. The shrine is auspicious … one who passes by
this place should pray for this. influence in the army and appears to have occupied
Sultan ‘Ala al-din ‘Ali Shah ruled over north-
western Bengal during the years ah 740-746 (ad
1339-1345/46) as the present discussion will reveal.
His original name was ‘Ali Mubarak and he was
the ‘Ari -i-Lashkar or paymaster of the army of Qa-
dar Khan, the Governor of Lakhnauti under the
Delhi Sultan Muhammad bin Tughluq. Muham-
mad bin Tughluq on his accession to the throne on
ah 725 (1324/25) reorganized the administration
of Bengal. He divided Bengal into three independ-
ent principalities of Lakhnauti, Sunargaon, and
Satgaon and placed a Governor in charge of each.
From around ah 728 (ad 1327/28) for nearly a dec-
ade, his three governors – Qadr Khan, Bahram
Khan and ‘Izz-al-din Yahya ruled over Lakhnauti,
Sunargaon and Satgaon, respectively. After the
101
death of Qadar Khan (ah 739/ad 1338/39) in the
hands of his own army at Sunargaon, ‘Ali Mubarak
captured power in Lakhnauti. After a short while,
he proclaimed independence and assumed the ti-
tle of ‘Ala al-din ‘Ali Shah (Sarkar 1972: 99; Karim
1987: 139; Sarhindi 1931: 106-7). In ah 740 (ad
1339/40), he shifted his capital from Lakhnauti to
Firuzabad (Pandua) from where he issued his first
coins in the same year. He was initially challenged
by Fakhr al-din, the Silah-dar (Armour-bearer) of
Barham Khan, the Governor of Sunargaon, who
upon the death of Bahram Khan in ah 737 (ad
1336/37) gained control of Sunargaon. Although
Fakhr al-din was initially defeated by the joint forc-
es of the Governors of Lakhnauti and Satgaon, he
regained control over the principality in ah 739 (ad
1338/39) and declared independence assuming the
title of Sultan Fakhr al-din Mubarak Shah. There
were constant aggression between ‘Ali Shah and
Mubarak Shah; the former used to attack Sunar-
gaon during the dry season because of his superior-
ity in land forces, while the latter retaliated during
rainy season because of his strength in river flotilla
(Gibb 1929: 267). None could gain clear supremacy
over the other, however. A more serious threat to
‘Ali Shah appeared in the person of Haji Ilyas, an
officer of Delhi Sultan Muhammad bin Tughluq,
who came to Bengal at this time and entered ‘Ali
Shah’s service. Haji Ilyas soon gained considerable
some territories of Satgaon principality5 after the
death of its Governor, Izz al-din Yahya. From ah
743 (ad 1342/43) onwards, there was a bitter strug-
gle for supremacy between ‘Ali Shah and Haji Ilyas
which ultimately ended in the dethronement of ‘Ali
Shah within a few years after ah 744 (ad 1343-44),
probably in ah 746 (ad 1345/46). Haji Ilyas gained
control over the whole of Western Bengal and
styled himself as Sultan Shams al-din Ilyas Shah.
Modern historians (Sarkar 1972: 99; Karim
1987: 152; Ejaz Hussain 2003: 85) generally as-
sign ‘Ali Shah a reign period of ah 740-743 (ad
1339-1342/43) on the ground that the next Sultan,
Shams al-din Ilyas Shah, issued his coins from the
mint of Firuzabad in the year ah 743 (ad 1342/43).
One scholar (Karim 1992: 79) thinks, not without
102 PRATIP KUMAR MITRA
reason,6 that the inscription of Ilyas Shah dated ah
743 (ad 1342/43) found from Bania Pukur, Kolka-
ta, originated from Firuzabad instead of Satgaon,
as it generally believed (Hussain 2003: 88), since
it refers to Shaikh ‘Ala’ al-Huq, the great saint of
Pandua (Firuzabad). But, there are in existence
coins of ‘Ali Shah dated ah 744 (ad 1343/44) is-
sued from Firuzabad mint. These coins are clearly
dated and there is no doubt regarding their au-
thenticity (Karim 2000: 104; Goron and Goenka
2001: 167; Hussain 2003: 86-7). The discovery of
the present inscription now puts it beyond doubt
that ‘Ali Shah was alive and the ruling Sultan of
the Lakhnauti-Firuzabad kingdom or part thereof
in ah 744. Simultaneous issues of ‘Ali Shah and
Ilyas Shah from the Firuzabad mint are available
for the years ah 744 and 746 (Goron and Goenka
2001: 168; Karim 2004: 104, 108, 110)7. A coin of
‘Ali Shah dated ah 745 (ad 1344/45) of Firuzabad
mint was also reported from a coin auction (Singa-
pore 1999: 48, no. 746). These simultaneous issues
suggest, as already stated, that there was a fierce
struggle for supremacy between the two in which
both the sides alternatively gained control of the
capital city of Firuzabad for brief a period. The
struggle ended sometime after ah 746 (ad 1345/46)
when Ilyas Shah finally subjugated ‘Ali Shah and
gained supreme control of the western dominion
of Bengal. No coin of ‘Ali Shah dating beyond ah
746 was reported so far. In his coins ‘Ali Shah as-
sumed the high-sounding titles of Sikandar al-zaman
al-makhxus ba-‘inayat al-rahman naxir amir al-mu’ minin
or the Sikandar of the age, the chosen one, with
the support of the Merciful One, the helper of the
Leader of the Faithful. His coins also posthumously
bear the name of the Caliph al-Musta‘sim.
Acknowledgements : The visual of the inscription of Sultan ‘Ala al-din ‘Ali Shah is published through
the courtesy of the American Institute of Indian Studies, Gurgaon and with the permission of the
Director of Archaeology, Government of West Bengal.
l ABUL BARKAT JILANI
Hemtabad, the find-spot of this inscription, is
situated about twelve kilometres northeast of Rai-
gunj, the district headquarters of Uttar Dinajpur
in West Bengal. The place is an early Sufi centre
of Bengal and associated with some notable Sufi
saints like, Makhdum Ghuribal Hoseyn Dokorposh
(Buchanan 1833: 34; Martin 1990: 54)8 and Pir
Bazaruddin (Haque 1975: 180; Hanif 2002: 55).
Nothing much is known about Makhdum Dokor-
posh beyond that he is an early settler in Hemta-
bad (c. fourteenth century ad). Pir Bazaruddin was
a contemporary of Sultan ‘Ala al-din Husain Shah
(ad 1493-1519). His tomb is reported to be still in
existence in Hemtabad as well as the dargah of Ma-
khdum Dokorposh and a mosque built in ah 906
(ad 1500-01)9 by Rukn Khan, the General of Sul-
tan ‘Ala al-din Husain Shah (ARIE 1989-90 (2004):
106). Prior to the arrival of the Sufis, there was a
Pre-Islamic settlement in Hemtabad probably of
Pala-Sena period (c. eighth-twelfth century ad).
Francis Buchanan visiting Hemtabad in the first
decade of the nineteenth century found carved
architectural fragments and stones, reused pillars,
door frames and lintels embellished with the figures
of deities, and heaps of bricks scattered at various
places (Martin 2000: 54-6; PWD List 1896: 164).10
One of the early Sufis of Hemtabad, probably
Makhdum Dokorposh, may well have been ‘Ali
Shah’s patron saint as he chose to inter the mortal
remains of his infant family member in Hemtabad,
instead of Firuzabad (Pandua) his capital city, for
eternal blessings of the saint to his dear departed
soul. On the other hand it is also possible that ‘Ali
Shah pushed hard by Ilyas Shah had to leave his
capital city and take refuge in Hemtabad to mar-
shall his resources for another battle for Firuzabad.11
 Only Discovered Inscription of Sultan ‘Ala al-din ‘Ali Shah of Bengal
Notes
1. Sri Amal Ray is now the Deputy Director of Ar-
chaeology, Government of West Bengal. The first author
is beholden to Sri Ray for kindly drawing his attention
to this inscription. He is also thankful to Sri Shiharan
Nandy, Cameraman-cum-Darkroom Assistant of the Di-
rectorate of Archaeology & Museums, West Bengal for
providing him with a working photograph of the inscrip-
tion taken during the set-up of the District Museum.
2. In connection with a research project entitled ‘Is-
lamic Heritage of West Bengal (1205-1757 ce). A Da-
tabase of Primary Sources’ funded by the Ministry of
Culture, Government of India.
3. ah 740 commences on 9 July ad 1339. ah 746
begins on 4 May 1345 and ends on 23 April 1346.
4. On the first author’s request Professor Mehrdad
Shokoohy, Chair of Architecture and Urban Studies,
School of Architecture and Construction, the University
of Greenwich, London, made a preliminary examina-
tion of the epitaph and offered his comments. The first
author is indebted to him.
5. This is said on the basis of the discovery of the
only inscription of Ilyas Shah dated ah 743 (ad 1342/43)
from a mosque at Bania Pukur, Kolkata. Kolkata is about
48 kilometres from Satgaon. However, Ilyas Shah’s earli-
est coin issued from Satgaon mint is dated ah 747.
6. The inscription refers to Shaikh ‘Ala’ al-Huq, the
great saint of Pandua and may have originally put up
in a mosque built at Pandua (Firuzabad) instead of Sat-
gaon. There is no clear evidence that Ilyas Shah occu-
pied Satgaon in ah 743 (ad 1342/43). In fact Ilyas Shah’s
earliest coin issued from the Satgon mint is dated ah 747.
References
Archaeological Survey of India. Annual Report on Indian
Epigraphy for 1989-90, New Delhi, 2004 (referred as
ARIE).
Buchanan, Francis (1833). A Geographical, Statistical and
Historical Description of the District or Zila of Dinajpur
in the Province or Soubah of Bengal (1807-8), Calcutta:
Baptist Mission Press.
Asher, Catherine B. (1984). ‘Inventory of Key
Monuments’, George Michell (ed.), The Islamic
Heritage of Bengal, UNESCO, Paris.
Gibb, H. A. R. (1929). Ibn Battuta: Travels in Asia and
Africa, Broadway House, London.
Goron, Stan and J. P. Goenka (2001). The Coins of
the Indian Sultanates, New Delhi: Munshiram
Manoharlal.
103
The detached slab was possibly removed from Pandua
after the ruination of the mosque with other building
materials by the Calcutta undertakers in the nineteenth
century. Since the inscription contained sacred text it
was not destroyed or reused but put up in a modern
mosque. The inscription slab is big enough not to be eas-
ily removed but there are instances of such removal of
epigraphs from Gaur-Pandua region to Calcutta. See,
for example, Pratip Kumar Mitra, ‘A Lost Inscription of
Sultan ‘Ala’ al-din Husain Shah of Bengal (1493-1519)’,
Journal of the Asiatic Society LII (1): 105-10, Kolkata, 2010.
7. There are two coins of ‘Ali Shah dated ah 746
among the new collection of coins in the cabinet of the
British Museum, London (Accession numbers: 1990-6-
39-44 and 1990-6-39-45). The authors are indebted to
Dr Sutapa Sinha, Associate Professor, Department of
Islamic History & Culture, University of Calcutta, for
this information.
8. Catherine Asher records the saint in the name of
Makhdum Dukh al-Posh and says that he was an early
saint (Asher 1984: 84).
9. Catherine Asher thinks that the mosque was con-
structed much earlier as it bears striking resemblance to
the mosque of afar Khan at Tribeni built in ad 1298
(Asher 1984: 84).
10. The author is grateful to Sri Indrajit Chowdhury
of Ananda Bazar Patrika for informing him about the pres-
ent state of ruins in Hemtabad.
11. The authors are working on the full publication
of this interesting epigraph and its historical implica-
tions.
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Ancient Monuments in Bengal (Revised and Corrected up to
31st August 1895), Calcutta: Bengal Secretariat Press,
1896.
Hanif, N. (2002). Bibliographical Encyclopedia of Sufis of
South Asia, Delhi: Sarup & Sons.
Haque, Muhammad Enamul (1975). A History of Sufism
in Bengal, Dacca: Asiatic Society of Bangladesh.
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Economy and Coins. Delhi: Manohar.
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Bengali). Dhaka: Bangla Akademi.
Karim, Abdul (1992). Corpus of the Arabic and Persian
Inscriptions of Bengal. Dhaka: Asiatic Society of
Bangladesh.
104 PRATIP KUMAR MITRA
Karim, Muhammad Rezaul (2000). A Critical Study of the
Coins of the Independent Sultans of Bengal (from ad 1205
to 1538), unpublished thesis, Department of Islamic
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II, Muslim Period, 1200-1757. Dacca: University of
Dacca.
l ABUL BARKAT JILANI
Singapore Coin Auction. Catalogue 28. Taisei-Baldwin-Gillo,
4 March 1999. Raffles City Convention Centre,
Singapore.
Sihrindi, Yahya Ibn Ahmad (1931). Tarikh-i-Mubarak
Shahi, Hidayat Hossain (ed.). Calcutta: Asiatic
Society of Bengal.