EMB-101: Emergence of Bangladesh

Class - 3

From Origins of Bengal Sultanates to the Battle of

Polashi (1204-1757) : Society, Religion and Politics
 Overview of the Class
• Root, route and rule of Islam in Bengal
• Bengal under Delhi Sultanate
• Bengal under Mughal rule
• Understanding North-Indian Hegemony
• Quasi-independent Bengal
• Nawabi rule
• British in Bengal and The battle of Plassey

Brac University Emergence of Bangladesh 2

Backdrop of Muslim Rule
in Medieval Bengal

Social change:
•Bengal x Islam
•Liberation theology x Muslim
leadership
•Claims of social cohesion,

Brac University
tolerance, harmony, liberalism
•Trade imperialism and
economic expansion
•Muslim population of
immigrant Muslims and
converted Muslims
•Sufis as agents of Islamization

3
 Muslim Trade & Rule in Bengal
• 8th century arrival of Islam in
India.
Silver coin of Harun-ar-Rashid,
an Abbasid Caliph, found at
Paharpur, issued in 788

Islamization in India/Bengal:
• Khilji conquered Bihar in
1203 and Gour in 1204
Bokhtiar Khilji issued coins by using both
• Bengal for Muslim Sanskrit and Arabic
immigrants
• Social liberation from the
Hindu caste system

Brac University Emergence of Bangladesh 4

 Root and Route of Islam in Bengal
“Many early Bengali saints, whose shrines are located in a large arc
extending from the Twenty- four Parganas and Khulna Districts in the
south, through Noakhali, Comilla and Sylhet Districts in the east, are
associated with the clearing of the jungle and the teaching of wet-rice
agriculture, along with, of course, the preaching of Islam. It appears, then,
that in this earliest phase of the Islamization of Bengal Muslim pioneers
took part in the settlement of this land, and that some of them actually
organized the indigenous peoples for purposes of clearing the land for rice
cultivation. Overtime, these same indigenous peoples seem in turn to have
sanctified those pioneers by whose hands they had become integrated in
to an expanding agrarian economy.”
- Richard M. Eaton, cited in the Islamic Heritage of Bengal (Edited by George
Michell), Page-26

Brac University Emergence of Bangladesh 5

 Sufism in Bengal
Sufism in Bengal:
• Agents of Islamization in Bengal
• Religious missionaries that preach
Islamic egalitarian principals
• Advocate of spiritualism to ordinary
people
• Sufism is a significant dimension of
religious and cultural expression in
Islam
• Sufis, Saints and Ulemas played the
most important rule in the mass
conversion process
• Promotion of syncretic attitude

Brac University Emergence of Bangladesh 6

 Root and Route of Islam in Bengal
It took nearly a
millennium to
form majority
of Muslim in
Bengal or
todays
Bangladesh.
This increase
became clearly
visible in the
census of
1872-1941.

Muhammad Abdul Rahim, Social and Cultural History of Bengal (1201-1576), Vol-1, p.59)
Brac University Emergence of Bangladesh 7
 Bengali language and literature
The evolution of Bengali from Sanskrit and
Arab-Persian languages

Ma-Huan, a Chinese traveler visited Bengal in 1433

commented “although Persian was spoken by some in the Muslim
court, the language in universal use is Bengali”.

- Richard M. Eaton, cited in the Islamic Heritage of Bengal (Edited by

George Michell), Page-29

Development of Bengali language and literature

Brac University Emergence of Bangladesh 8
 The Delhi Sultanate
• Medieval empire
• 5 ruling dynasties over 320 years
• Rapid Muslim conquests deep into South
India
• Political transformation
• North-Indian hegemony was not a religious
factor, rather was a part of expansion of
imperialism (happened in Morya rule,
Gupta rule, Pala rule, Sena rule, even
during Muslim period)
• Ghiyas-Ud-Din Iwaz Khilji (1212-1227), a
Governor of Delhi Sultan Iltutmish (a ruler
of Mamluk dynasty)

Brac University Emergence of Bangladesh 9

 Bengal under Delhi Sultans
• North Indian Hegemony continued
• Bengal was a province of Delhi up to 1338
• Bengal used to be known as the city of rebellion due to its frequent revolt against Delhi Sultans

Brac University Emergence of Bangladesh 10

 The First Independent Muslim ruler of Bengal
• Fakhruddin Mubarak Shah was the first Independent
Muslim sultan (1338-1350)
• Sonargaon was his capital
• Constructed a royal road from Chandpur to Chottogram
• Patron of art, literature, culture, and Sufism

Moroccan Traveller Ibn Batuta

Came to Bengal in 1345 – 46.
Visited Hazrat Shah Jalal

Coins of Fakhruddin Mubarak Shah

Brac University Emergence of Bangladesh 11

 Independent Sultanate in Bengal
Ilyas Shahi dynasty (1342-1487 except some short interregnums)

• Established by Shamsuddin Ilyas Shah (1342-1357)

• Initially ruled Lakhnauti, later conquered Satgaon and Sonargaon
• He united Bengal and titled himself as Shah –E –Bangala or Sultan-E-
Bangala
• Pandua, a city of Maldah district, was the capital
• He promoted the participation of local people in the administration
• Another prominent ruler was Giasuddin Azam Shah (1393-1409)
• GAS was the patron of art and Bengali language and literature. For
instance, Shah Sagir wrote Yusuf Julekha in response to the request of
Sultan. Ramayana got translated into Bengali by Krittibas
• Ilias Shahi rulers were the patron of Muslim art and culture

Brac University Emergence of Bangladesh 12

 Independent Sultanate in Bengal
Ilyas Shahi architecture

Adina Mosque, the largest mosque in Indian-sub Shat Gombuj Mosque was built by Khan Jahan
Continent at that time was built by Sikandar Shah Ali, a governor of Nasiruddin Mahmud Shah

Brac University Emergence of Bangladesh 13

 Independent Sultanate in Bengal
Husain Shahi dynasty (1494-1538)
• Established by Alauddin Husain Shah
• Golden Age of Bengal
• Conquered Assam, Kamrup, Teppera, Jajnagar and Chittagong
• Gaur/Lakhnauti, a city of Maldah district, was the capital
• He and his successors promoted the participation of local Hindu people in the
administration. His Private Secretary Rupa Goswami and several ministers were
from Hindu religion, specially the followers of Vaishnavism.
• Religious tolerance and pluralism
• Monoshamongal was written by Vijoy Gupta
• Maha Bharat was translated into Bengali
• They patronized the development of Vaishnavism
• Appointed Vaishnavis and liberal Hindus in their court Coins of Alauddin Husain Shah
Brac University Emergence of Bangladesh 14
 Mughal rule in Bengal
• Disintegration of Bengal Sultanate, and North-Indian hegemony
• Rise of Sher Sha Sur and Karrani dynasty
• Babur started Mughal Rule in Delhi in 1526
• Akbar conquered Bengal in 1576, and consolidated
Mughal rule in Bengal
• Mughal supremacy was challenged by regional
Bengali chieftains or Baro-Bhuiyaans

Palace of Isa Kha

at Sonargaon, Narayangonj

Isa Kha, one of the

Baro-Bhuiyaas

Brac University Emergence of Bangladesh 15

 Mughal rule in Bengal
The trajectory of Mughal rule in Bengal

Bengal under Mughal Subedar or Governors

Mir Jumla Prince Azimuddin

Prince Shah Shuja Shaista Khan

Brac University Emergence of Bangladesh 16

 Backdrop of Bengal coming under Nawabs

Murshid Quli Khan Alivardi Khan Sirajuddaula Lalbagh Fort, a Mughal architecture
• Emperor Akbar was one of the greatest rulers in Asia
• Patron of arts, culture and education
• Pluralism in the society and administration, and religious tolerance
• Mughal India was wealthier than contemporary European states
• Bengal turned into one of the wealthiest province of Mughal Empire
• Decay of Mughal central authority after the death of Aurangajeb in 1707
• Bengal turned int a quasi-independent entity during Murshid Quli Khan
Brac University Emergence of Bangladesh 17
 Bengal under Nawabs

• Central Mughal rule contentiously suffered from internal

clash and weakness
• European traders took the chance of weakness
• European traders built forts, maintained mercenary
army/Sipahi, often took part in the palace conspiracy
• European trade created an affluent and wealthy business
class, who also often took part in palace conspiracy
• Battle of Polashy in 1757

Brac University Emergence of Bangladesh 18

 British East India Company in India

Factory in Hariharpur, Bihar in 1633

First trading outpost

in 1615 in Surat Fort William (Calcutta),
1696

Fort St George
(Madras/ Chennai) as
the headquarter,1644

Established in 1600 AD

19
Fort William in Calcutta

20
 Timeline: British East India Company Takes over Bengal
Nawab Sirajuddaula came
Established the head Purchased 3 villages to power after the death
quarter of the (Calcutta, of his grandfather
First trading outpost company’s business Alivardi Khan and found
Govindapur, Sutanuti)
at Surat in Gujrat by building fort St. himself surrounded by a
and established Fort
George at Madras William in Calcutta group of palace
conspirators

1615 1644 1696 1756

1600 1633 1651 1717 1757

Received permission from
British East India Expanded to Bengal in Subehdar Shah Shuja to trade Murshid Quli Khan Battle of Polashi and
Company was 1633 through in Bengal without any became the first the conquest of
established with a establishing a factory customs duties in lieu of an Nawab of Bengal British
royal charter of at Hariharpur in Bihar annual lump sum of Rs. 3000 replacing Subehdari
Queen Elizabeth I only system in 1717
21
The Company and the Conquest of Bengal
Robert Clive conspires with Mir Jafar and others in Bengal
against Sirajuddaula, and defeats him in the battle of Polashi

22
The Masterminds of the Conspiracy

Mir Jafar and his son Miran Robert Clive

23
 Mir Jafar and his son Miran delivering the treaty
Robert Clive meeting with Mir Jafar
of 1757 to William Watts (chief of the Kasimbazar
after Polashi, by Francis Hayman
factory of the British East India Company)

24
 Aftermath of the Battle

Nawab Sirajuddaula was defeated and killed

Mir Jafar became the puppet Nawab

Company became the king maker

Battle of Buxar and the defeat of Mir Kasim

Colonial rule started which lasted for 190 years

25
 Company Takes over the Diwani

Immediately after the battle of Buxar, Shah Alam II granted the Diwani right over
Bengal to the East India Company in 1765, allowing it to collect revenue
26
 Aspirations for an Empire

After the battle of Buxar, Clive wrote to England:

“We have at last arrived at that critical Conjuncture, which I

have long foreseen,’ he wrote to the chairman of the EIC. ‘I
mean that Conjuncture which renders it necessary for us to
determine whether we can, or shall, take the whole [Mughal
Empire] to ourselves.”
Source: Dalrymple, William, The Anarchy: The East India Company, Corporate Violence, and
the Pillage of an Empire (New York: Bloomsbury Publishing, 2019), pp. 215.

27
 Suggested Readings
Required Reading:
Salahuddin, A. F. (2004). Bangladesh National Culture and Heritage. Dhaka : IUB.
Pages: 95-115

Recommended Readings:
Rahim, M. A. (1963). Social and Cultural History of Bengal . Karachi: Pakistan Historical Society.

Sengupta, N. (2011). Land of Two Rivers. India: Penguin Books

Eaton, R. M. (1996). The Rise of Islam and the Bengal Frontier: 1204-1760. USA: UCL Press.

Rahim, M. A., Choudhury, A. M., Mahmud, A. B. M. & Islam, S. (2005). Bangladesher Etihash (History of
Bangladesh). Dhaka: Nouruj Kitabistan.

Ahmed, R. (ed.). (2001). Understanding Bengal Muslims. Oxford University Press.

Brac University Emergence of Bangladesh 28

 ?
Brac University Emergence of Bangladesh 29
 Next Class Preview

British India (1757-1857):

Colonialism, Reform and Resistance

Brac University Emergence of Bangladesh 30