Origin of the word 'Bangla'

The exact origin of the word Bangla or Bengal is unknown, though it is believed to be derived
from the Dravidian-speaking tribe Bang that settled in the area around the year 1000 BCE.[1][2]
Other accounts speculate that the name is derived from Vanga (bngo), which came from the
Austric word "Bonga" meaning the Sun-god. According to Mahabharata, Purana, Harivamsha
Vanga was one of the adopted sons of king Vali who founded the Vanga kingdom. The Muslim
Accounts refer that "Bong", a son of Hind (son of Hm who was a son of Noah) colonized the
area for the first time.[3]
Some linguists believe that the name originates from the Tibetan word, "Bans" which means wet
or moist and Banga (Bengal) is a wet country crisscrossed by a thousand rivers and washed by
monsoons and floods from the Himalayas. Some others believe that the name originated from the
Bodo (original Asamese in North Eastern India) "Bang La" which means wide plains. This
theory is extremely plausible. Another school suggests the name comes from the name of Prince
Banga.
The earliest reference to "Vangala"(bngal) has been traced in the Nesari plates (805 AD) of
Rashtrakuta Govinda III which speak of Dharmapala as the king of Vangala. Shams-ud-din Ilyas
Shah took the title "Shah-e-Bangalah" and united the whole region under one government for the
first time.
There are many theories about the origin of the name Banga or Bangla. According to legend,
Prince Banga, the son of King Bali and Queen Sudeshna of the Lunar dynasty was the first to
colonise Bangla. What is probably the real root is from the name of the original people of
Bangla. This also is taken from legend. One of the tribes who according to a claim emerged from
the Indus Civilization after its demise had entered the plains of Bengal while others went
elsewhere. They were called the Bong tribe and spoke Dravidian. We know from many ancient
Aryan texts of a tribe called Banga that existed in that region.

1. ^ (1989) "Early History, 1000 B. C.-A. D. 1202", in James Heitzman and Robert L. Worden:
Bangladesh: A country study. Library of Congress.

2. ^ History, Banglapedia
3. ^ RIYAZU-S-SALTN: A History of Bengal, Ghulam Husain Salim, The Asiatic Society,
Calcutta, 1902.

The Advent of Islam in Bengal

Bengal at the time of advent of Islam
To understand the success of Islam in Bangladesh, it is necessary to have an appraisal of the
conditions prevailing in undivided Bengal at the time of the advent of this revolutionary religion.
In the early seventh century when the Prophet (s) was delivering his Message in Arabia and the
Arabs felt the lion of a new life, the whole of the subcontinent including Bengal presented a
picture of discord and strife in the political as well as religio-social life, there was no political
unity in the land and as such strife and confusion prevailed all throughout, the existing religions,
Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism failed to hold an ideal before the people and to meet their
spiritual and material needs. The Buddhists suffered persecution under the domination of
Brahmanical Hinduism. In the caste-ridden Hindu society the Brahmins enjoyed the monopoly of
all privileges and the lower caste people lived under their bondage. Inequalities and injustices
held away in the Hindu society of the time.
In the time of the great Prophet, Harshavardhan was the Emperor of Northern India (A.D.606647) with his capital at Thaneswar and Kanouj. Southern India was divided into a number of
kingdoms.
Eastern
Bengal
was
under
the
rule of the Brahman Ratt dynasty. The rulers of these dynasties were Hindus. A Buddhist family
known as the Khadga Dynasty ruled over south-eastern Bengal in the second-half of the seventh
century. This was followed by another Buddhist dynasty of the Deva family which ruled in the
second
half
of
the
eighth century. About this time the Kingdom of the Palas, a Buddhist family, was established in
Western and Northern Bengal.
In the seventh century there were three religions in Bengal: Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism.
The Brahmanical Hindu religion far outnumbered the Buddhists and Jains. The Jains gradually
declined. The Nirgranthas, who later on came to be known as Jainas lost much of their influence
in Bengal during subsequent ages. The Buddhists who were in a flourishing condition upto the
beginning of the Gupta rule in the time of the Chinese Pilgrim Fahien (5th century A.D) were
still numerous at the time when Hiuen-Tsang, the Chinese pilgrim, visited Bengal in the seventh
century. The Gupta Emperors were Brahmanical Hindus and there was the ascendancy of the
Brahmins in the state and society. The absence of patronage by the rulers and the domination of
the Brahmins accounted for the decline of Buddhism in Bengal.
Buddhism had also become divided into several sects, such as Hinayana, Mahayana Vajrayana
and Sahajayana. Some of these were influenced by the Hindu beliefs and practices. The
Vajrayana and Sahajayana Buddhism fell under the influence of Hindu Tantrikism. The Hindu
belief in the worship of female deity found way into the Mahayana Buddhism. To then Buddha
and Buddhachitta become gods, and Tara, as the mail power of Buddha, appeared as a female
deity.
In the pre-Muslim period as, indicated above, the Hindus believe in idolatry. They worshipped
many gods and goddesses. They made images of these gods, and goddesses, built temples for
them, and adored them with elaborate rituals and ceremonies. The Brahmins, the priestly class,
conducted the ceremonial worship as the sole religious functionary of the Hindus. The Brahmins
held the ascendancy in the Hindu religious and social life and enjoyed the monopoly of all
privileges in every field of life. Their prescriptions regulated and governed the life of all Hindus
from birth to death.
The Hindus of the time divided into many castes and sub-castes. The Brahmins, Vaidyas, and
Kayasthas belonged to the upper class of the Hindu society. There were a few Khatriyas in
Bengal, and they were immigrants like the Senas. There were rigid barriers between different

castes and subcastes of the Hindus.

The position of women was much more inhuman and degraded. They had hardly any
independent legal or social status. They could not inherit their parents and husbands and any
other relatives. They were to be cremated along with their husbands or to remain in the husbands'
family to serve the younger brothers of the husbands as their female-slaves. Marriageable age for
bride and bridegroom, according to the social prescriptions, was in the ratio of 1:3.
On the eve of the Muslim conquest of Bengal, the Hindu demoralised. There was not only the
tyranny of the Brahmins over the non-Brahmins, particularly over the lower class Hindus, and
the Buddhists, but corruption and vices of all sorts prevailed in the social life. The contemporary
evidences and epigraphic reveal the immoralities and sensual excesses among the Hindus in the
pre-Muslim Bengal.
The second evil was the custom to dedicating young girls, popularly known as devadasi (female
attendant to the deity) for service in temples. Whatever was the primary nature and object of this
ancient institution, there is no doubt of its degradation in Bengal in the later days of the Hindu
period. These girls well-versed in dancing and music, and other arts dedicated to the service of
gods, or associated with ceremonies in temples, were often no better than common courtesans, in
the institution of Devadasis the- upper class and influential Hindus got an element of enjoyment.
This undermined the morality of the Hindu society and corruption and vices pervaded all the
strata of their social life.
In short, the religious life in Bengal in pre-Muslim days was devoid of an ideal and spiritual
impulse. Disunity, discord, strife, misbeliefs and persecution held sway in the religious field. A
small class of the Brahmins enjoyed the monopoly of all the religious and social privileges and
degraded the common people into the position of serfs. Inequality and injustice characterised the
Hindu society of the time. The pernicious system of rigid caste division with its elaborate code of
purity and untouchability and the low standard of morality caused the disintegration and
degeneration of the Hindus and sapped the strength and vitality of their society. When such was
the condition of the religious and social life of the Hindus, the revolutionary force of Islam
appeared in Bengal.

Bengal at the time of advent of Islam

The history of the arrival of Islam into Bengal may be divided into three broad categories. In
fact, there are three ways by which the religion of Islam found its way into Bengal.

A) Arab Trades:
Islam entered this land with the Arab trade in the East. In the eighth and ninth
centuries of the Christian era, the Arabs were the foremost sea-faring and maritime
people of the world and the Arab merchants sailed across all waters to far off
countries of the East. The Arab's conquest of Sind and Multan in 712 A.D. and
their settlement in that region naturally stimulated further Arab trade with India
and the East. In the course of this trade a few Arabs settled in Ceylon and the
Malabar coast. The eastern trade of the Arabs flourished so much that the Indian
Ocean and the Bay of Bengal turned into Arab lakes.
The writings of Arab geographers reveal that Arab traders had frequented the
Bengal coast long before the Turkish conquest. The location bordering Bengal that
finds prominence in the Arab accounts is Samandar, identified with a place in the
mouth of the Meghna river near Sandip islands on the Bay of Bengal. The Arab
writers also knew about Samrup and the kingdom of Ruhmi, the latter being

identified with the kingdom of Dharmapal of the Pal dynasty. It is not certain
whether the Arab contacts led to any Muslim settlement in Bengal; some coins of
the Caliphs have been discovered from ancient sites of Paharpur in Rajshahi and
Mainamati near Comilla. On the basis of the word Thuratana in the Arakanese
tradition, some scholars have concluded that the Arabs founded a Muslim
Kingdom in Chittagong.
The facial resemblance's of the people of Chittagong, the mixture of Arabic words
in the Chittagonian dialect, and place names in and around the port city have been
put forward to prove the Arab settlement in Chittagong.
Varthema and Barbosa who visited Bengal in the early sixteen century saw many
Arab and Persian merchants and Muslims in that locality. This indicates earlier
Arab connection with this region before its conquest by the Muslims
In Chittagong and its adjacent areas of Eastern Bengal there were greater
Arabicization than in North and West Bengal which had p assed under the Muslim
possession about a century and half earlier. The Arabic words, idioms and phrases
and Arabic names of persons and places of the locality speak of its intimate
connection with the Arabs and such a deeper Arabicization was possible only
through the settlement of the Arabs and their constant contact with the local people
over a long period.
The coin of Khalifs Harun'-ur Rashid, dated 172 H/788 A.D. found at Paharpur in
the Rajshahi district, and the coin of one of his successors discovered at Mainamati
in the Comilla show that the Arab Muslim used to come to Bengal as traders or
preachers from the eighth century. This indicates that the Muslim traders used to
come to -Bengal in the pre-Muslim period. According to the local traditions, a
number of subs of Arabia and Persia came to Bengal before the Muslim conquest
of this country. They made Bengal the centre of their mission of preaching Islam
and adopted it as their home. There are some families which trace their descent
from these early sufi preachers who had settled down in different localities of
Bengal. These Arab settlers introduced Islam in. Bengal and laid down the basis of
the Muslim culture in this land.
B) By Conquest
The second way by which Islam entered into Bengal was the Muslim conquest of
this land in the beginning of the thirteenth century. A large body of the Muslim
Turks accompanied Ikhtiyaruddin Muhammad ibn Bakhtiyar Khalji in his conquest
of Bengal from the hands of the powerful Hindu King Lakshmanasena. It is known
from Minhajus Siraj that the Bengal conqueror Muhammad ibn Bakhtiyar Khalji
led a cavalry force of 10,000 in his Tibet expedition. This suggests that he must
have left behind a large army to maintain his control over the newly acquired
territories of North and West Bengal and to conquer such territories as Jajnagar,
etc. Moreover, the Khalji Turks who came to Bengal as conquerors, soldiers or
fortune seekers, were accompanied by their wives and children. According to
Minhaj the wives and children of the soldiers, who fell in the Tibet expedition,

reviled the adventurous general Muhammad ibn Bakhtiyar Khalji, holding him
responsible for the death of their husbands and fathers. The author of tabaqat-iNasiri stated that the Khalji chief came to Lakhnauti with their families
After the Muslim conquest of Lakhnauti, the Muslim Turks continued to pour into
Bengal with every new Governor and chief. A considerable number of Ilbari Turks
accompanied Balbans Governor Mughithu'd-Din Tughral to this province. A
strong force was essential for him to establish his authority in view of the
opposition of the Khalji Maliks. Then, Sultan Balban, in his campaign against the
rebellious governor Tughral, was accompanied by a huge force, consisting of
soldiers, camp followers and traders numbering three lakhs. After suppressing
Tughral, Sultan Balban left his son an, as Governor of Bengal. Bughra Khan had a
following of his own and his father provided him with a sufficient force to preserve
his authority in the province. When Balban's dynasty was overthrown by the
Khaljis in Delhi more Ilbari Turks left for Bengal, seeking home and employment
under Nasir'ud Din Bughra Khan, who had established a dynastic rule in this
province. In the time of the Tughlaq Sultanate of Delhi, a number of Turks came to
Bengal with the new governors and amirs. Fakhru'd-Din Mubarak Shah, who
established his independent rule in East Bengal, and Haji Shamsu'd-Din, the
founder of the independent sultanate in Bengal, had their own following to support
them in throwing off the authority of Delhi and maintaining their sovereignty in
this province.
Sultan Muhammad ibn Tughlaq, after the transfer of capital from Daulatabad to
Delhi, found the city and the adjacent territories in the grip of a terrible famine. For
the relief of the people of the locality, the Sultan arranged for the shifting of a
number of its inhabitants to the provinces. Accordingly, many people with their
families and followers trekked to Bengal where foodstuffs were plenty and cheap
The Afghans came to Bengal as hirelings in the army of the Khalji Maliks, and
other generals and rulers of the Turks. The Habshi Sultan Muzaffar Shah had a few
thousand Afghans in his service. Mahmud Ludi, brother of Sultan, and his family
and followers took refuge with Sultan Nusrat Shah of Bengal after being ousted
from Northern India by Emperor Babur. They received the grant of Jagirs and
allowances and settled down in Bengal. Sultan Nusrat Shah also married a
daughter of the late Sultan Ibrahim Ludi. After the loss of Northern India and,
during the Karrani Afghan rule, the Afghans settled in Bengal in large numbers.
During the Mughal rule many officers and soldiers settled in Bengal. It is known
from Akbarnama that Emperor Akbar liberally granted Jagirs to the officers and
soldiers who served in these provinces. According to Abul Fazl, the Emperor at one
time assigned several hundred Jagirs to the soldiers in Bengal. It appears from the
writings of Mirza Nathan that Emperor Jahangir also followed his father's policy of
making liberal grant to the Mughal Officers and Soldiers in this province. Many of
the Jagir holders settled down in Bengal permanently.
Many-Persians came to Bengal during the period of Muslim rule as sufis, teachers,

officers and soldiers. There was great flow of the Persian officers, teachers,
physicians and traders in this province after the Mughal conquest. It is known from
the contemporary histories and accounts that a large number of Persians settled in
Bengal during the period of the Mughal rule and the Nizamat of Murshidabad.
C) Spread of Islam by Sufi Preachers
The Sufi saints and preachers had a large share in the spread of Islam in Bengal.
By their religious fervor, missionary zeal, exemplary character and humanitarian
activities, they greatly influenced the mind of the masses and attracted them to the,
faith of Islam. The Khanqahs of the sufis which were established in every nook and
corner of Bengal were great centres of spiritual, humanitarian and intellectual
activities and these had a significant role in the development of the Muslim society
in this country. Hundreds of sufis came to Bengal in different times from the lands
of Islam in Western and Central as well as Northern India. They belonged to
different sufi orders, particularly the Chishtia and Suhrawardia. Though imported
from outside, Bengal proved to be the most congenial for sufism. It spread
throughout Bengal, even to the remotest villages, so that Khanqahs and dargahs
grew up every where in the country. Sufism prospered so much in the soil of
Bengal that several new mystic orders developed on the basis of the teaching of
some of the distinguished Bengali sufis.
It is impossible to say who was the first Muslim saint to come to Bengal. If
traditions that persist in different parts of Bangladesh are to be believed, a large
number of saints came to Bengal long before the Turkish conquest. From the
beginning the saints paid attention to educating the people. They also influenced
the rulers in molding their policies and interfered in the politics of the country
whenever they thought that policies of the rulers were going against the spirit and
interest of Islam. Muslim society in Bengal was founded upon three important
supporting groups--the Muslim ruling class, Muslim scholars, and the saints, Sufis
and Pirs. The popular form of Islam in Bangladesh includes pirism and mullaism.
Etymologically, the word "pir" means old. But it is generally used to denote the
teachers who give spiritual guidance. Reverence to the pirs is not of Bangladesh
origin--it was imported from Iran through northern India.
Local tradition is noticeable in the growth of mullaism or priestly influence.
Mullahs are held in more reverence in the rural areas. The miracles and the piety of
the Muslim saints and pirs played upon the people's imagination and led them
ultimately to accept Islam.
According to local evidences, circumstantial proofs, and traditional accounts many
saints and sufis are traced out to have come and preached Islam into various parts
of Bengal. History recorded that a sufi named Baba Adam came to Vikrampur of
the Dhaka district. Another named Muhammad Sultan Rumi is said to have come
to Bengal in the middle of the eleventh century (1045 A.D.) and preached Islam in
the Netrokona locality in the district of Mymensingh. The name of Sufi Makhdum
Shah is associated with the preaching of Islam in Pabna district. Makhdum Shah

Mahmud Ghaznavi, better known as Rah Pir, is credited with the spread of Islam in
the locality of the Burdwan district. Tradition also connects the great sufi Bayazid
Bistami (died in 874 A.D.) with Bengal whose shrine is found at Nasirabad near
Chittagong. Shaikh Jalal Uddin Tabrizi was the most celebrated of the early sufis
of Bengal. Hailed from Tabriz in Persia, he visited Delhi, came to Bengal and
settled down in Pandua and established his Khanqah there. His great spiritual
personality, missionary zeal, and humanitarian services attracted the attention of
the downtrodden and persecuted Buddhists, Hindus, and other people of the North
Bengal who then flocked to him for deliverance and accepted Islam. Shaikh Jalal
Uddin popularly known as Shah Jalal was one of the great sufi preachers of this
period who is credited with the acquisition of Sylhet and the spread of Islam in this
region. There are many other sufis and saints, some of them are known and some
others are unknown, who immensely contributed to the spread of Islam in this
region.
The name of another sufi preacher
D) Progress of Islam in Other Ways:
Apart from the missionary activities of the sufis there were other ways through
which Islam made steady progress in Bengal. The largest section of the converts to
Islam came from the Buddhists and lower class Hindus to whom the simplicity,
equality and brotherhood of the religious and social system of Islam appealed as a
deliverance from the persecution and tyranny under the Brahmanical society. There
are instances which show that Islam gained a considerable number of converts
through marriage in upper class Hindu families. It is the educated and enlightened
Brahmins and Kayasthas, who generally came in political and social contacts with
their Muslim neighbours. This naturally prepared the ground for social intimacy
and matrimonial relations between the Muslims and the upper class Hindus.
According to a Hindu tradition, Shamsu'dDin Ilyas Shah (7434342-7581357) the
Bengali Sultan, married a beautiful Brahmin widow, who was known as Phulmati
Begum. The sultan had several sons by this Hindu wife. It is known from the poet
Muhammad Khan that his great ancestor Mahiswar married a Brahmin girl. By this
marriage Mahiswar left behind illustrious family which produced some
distinguished governors and generals of the time of the Ilyas Shahi 1487) and
Husain Shahi (1493-1519) Sultans of Bengal. Vijayagupta, a Hindu poet of the
fifteenth century, refers to a marriage of a Qadi with a Hindu woman of the upper
class who was well acquainted with the Hindu sastras. The Qadi had several sons
by this Hindu wife. In the local traditions there is reference of the marriage of
Sonamoyi, a beautiful sister of Kedar Roy, the Brahmin Zamindar of Sripur, with
Isa Khan, Zamindar of Sonargaon and the leader of the Bara Bhuiyan of Bengal.
By Sonamoyi, `Isa Khan had two sonsAdam Khan and Biram Diwan, who also
were married to two daughters of Kedar Roy. Shamsher Ghazir Puthi mentions that
Shamsher Ghazi married a Brahmin girl.

All the instances cited above, show that the Muslims married in upper class Hindu
society. Many such instances can be added to illustrate the marriage of the
Muslims with the Hindu women of the upper class.
There are instances of many upper class Hindus, who were attracted by the
superior ideals of Islam and accepted this faith. It is known from the Ainritkhand, a
Sanskrit work, that a vedantist Brahmin called Bhojar Brahmin came to Lakhnauti
in the early days of the Muslim rule. He discussed philosophy with Qazi Ruknu'd
Din Samarqandi and accepted Islam at his hands. The same book also refers to
another Brahmin sage of Kamrup, Ambhavanth by name, who embraced Islam
about this time. The acceptance of Islam by Jadu, son of Raja Kans,
is a well-known fact of the history of Bengal. He belonged to aristocratic and
influential Brahmin family. After conversion, Jadu became Jalaal Din and was
elevated to the royal dignity under the name of Jalaud Din Muhammad Shah. He
left behind a line of kings and princes in Bengal.
That many Brahmins and Kayasthas voluntarily accepted Islam either on religious,
social or material grounds, was noticed by the contemporary poets and travellers.
In his Chaitanyamangala, the poet Vrindvandas says, "In the Hindu community
even the Brahmins came and voluntarily accepted Islam.
The contemporary Bengali literature reflects that if a Brahmin accepted Islam, he
persuaded his relations and brethren to come to the fold of Islam. The Rasul Vijaja
of Shaikh Chand mentions that three Brahmins accepted Islam and induced his
relations to embrace this faith. In many cases the defeat of the Pundits, the religio
social leaders of the Indus, in religious debates with the Muslim Ulama and Sufis
resulted in the conversion not only of their families including themselves, but of
their followers and relations.
Conclusion:
The real cause of the progress of Islam in Bengal was its great inherent quality
which fascinated the educated and enlightened Hindus. Islam offered equality,
justice and a status of respectability in the society to the degraded and persecuted
low caste Hindus. It also came as a grant deliverance to the persecuted Buddhists
of Bengal. The Brahmins were persecuting the Buddhists in a worst form. It is
known from an inscription at Nalanda that the army of the Hindu King Jatavarman
of the Verman dynasty burnt a portion of the Buddhist vihara at Sumpur. The
Tibeton Buddhist monk Taranath, who visited Bengal in the sixteenth century, left
on account of the Brahminical tyranny on the Buddhists in the Sena period. He
observed that persecuted Buddhists welcomed the Muslims and helped Muhammad
ibn Bakhtiyar Khalji in the conquest of. Bengal
The early Bengali literatures also express how the tyranny of the Brahmins drove
the Buddhists and lower class Hindus to take refuge in Islam. Ramai Pandit, a poet
of the fourteenth century, in his poem Niranjaner Rukshina has revealed a dark
picture of the Brahminical tyranny which alienated the Buddhists and the common
Hindus so much that they welcomed the Muslims as great liberators. According to

the poet, being unable to tolerate the inhumanities of the Brahmins their Gods
goddess came in the form of Muslim sufis, Saints, Ulama and religious warriors
and destroyed the tyranny of the Brahmins. The Muslims thus delivered the
suffering people and in this work of deliverance the prominent role was played by
the sufis and `Ulama. In short, the advent of Islam ushered in a new epoch of
equality, fraternity and brotherhood of men in the region now known as
Bangladesh.

The Establishment of Muslim Rule in Bengal

Introduction:
There are three phases in the expansion of Muslim rule in the Sub-continent. The
first phase is the conquest of Sind and Multan by Muhammad ibn Qasim, a
Lieutenant of Hijjaj ibn Yusuf, the viceroy of the Eastern province of the Umayyad
Khilafat. Politically, this conquest was no more than an episode, having no
permanent result; but it established a lasting cultural contact between the Arab
Muslims and the Western part of India. The second phase saw the repeated
invasions of the Sub-continent by Amir Sabuktagin and his son Sultan Mahmud.
The latter penetrated deep into the sub-continent conquering, as far East as Kanauj
and as far South as Somnath in Gujiat, but he consolidated his position only in the
north-western area centring round Lahore. The third phase began with the Battle of
Tarain, when Prithviraj Chauhan was defeated by Sultan Muizz-ud-Din Muhamnad
ibn Sam, better known in Indian history as Muhammad Ghori. He established his
Indian Kingdom with Delhi as capital, where Qutbu'd-Din Aibak was appointed his
viceroy. The conquest of Bengal is a continuation of this third phase of Muslim

penetration into the Sub-continent and the leader of this conquest was Malik
khtyarud-Din-Muhammad ibn Bakhtyar Khalji.
After the conquest of Muhammad Bakhtiyar Khalji, Bengal remained under the
Muslim rule for five hundred and fifty four years unto 1757 when it was crushed
and ended in the tragic field of Plassey. The Muslim rule in Bengal may be divided
into a few divisions:
Rulers in Bengal

Periods

Khalji Rule

1203-1227 A. C.

Delhi Rule
Ilyas Shahi Dynasty
Raja Gonesh- Jalal Uddin Rule

1227-1341 A. C.
1342-1413 A. C.
1414-1441 A. C.
1442-1487 A. C.
1487-1493 A. C.
1493-1538 A. C.
1538-1564 A. C.
1565-1576 A. C.
1576-1757 A. C.

Ilyas Shahi Dynasty (Second Term)

Habshi Rule
Hussain Shahi Dynasty
Pathan Rule (Sher Shah & Sur Dynasty

Karrani Dynasty
Mughal Rule

Contemporary Delhi Emperors

1. Qutubuddin Aibek
2. Iltutmish (d. 1236)

Muhammad Bakhtiyar Khalji: (Khalji Rule)

Muhamad Bakhtiyar Khalji was an inhabitant of Garamsir or modern Dasht-i'Margo in Afghanistan. He belonged to the Khalji clan of the Turkish race and was
one of the many adventurers who came out of their homeland in search of a better
livelihood. He first came to Ghazni, then to Delhi but failed to be enrolled in the
army in both the places, because he could not procure a horse and a suit of armour,
which in those days, were pre-requisite for entry into the armed force. His short
stature and ugly countenance also probably went against him. He then came to
Badayun, where the Sipah-Salar Malik Hisbarud-Din appointed him on a cash
salary. Discontent with a meagre salary, Muhammad Bakhtiyar Khalji moved on to
farther east and came to Awadh, where fortune favoured him as Malik HusamudDin, the governor of the province granted him a jagir of two parganas, Bhiuli and
Bhagawat at the far corner of his area in the modern Mirzapur district of Uttar
Pradesh (India). This was what Muhammad Bakhtiyar Khalji aspired after his new
assignment brought him in the border of small Hindu principalities and he made
good use of his position. He began to raid the surrounding one with much profit.
Every raid gave him some additional booty, which he utilised to strengthen his
fighting power. The number of troops under him increased day by day. It was
because many people from Ghor, Gazni, Khorasan and other places left those
places because of warfare, shortage of food and flocked here in the Sub-continent
in search of fortune. They came to know the name and fame of Bakhtiyar and
joined his army. In the meantime, Bakhtiyar suddenly came upon a seemingly

fortified place which he occupied without difficulty, which was a Buddhist

monastery and any monastery in the language of the local people was called to be
Bihar, he named the place Bihar.
The King Lakshman Sena was then ruling in Bengal and he was staying in the
town of Nadia, a sacred place on the bank of the river Ganges (Bhagirathi
Channel). One day, the Brahmins, the astrologers and the wise men of his court
represented to the king saying that in their books of old it was stated that their
country would be conquered by the Turks, and that the time had come near since
Muhammad Bakhtyar Khalji had already conquered Bihar. They advised the king
to leave Nadia and take shelter in a distant place. On being questioned they also
told the king that in their books the physical features of the conqueror was
mentioned and it was that: 'When he stands upright on his two feet, and lets down
his two hands, his hands will reach beyond the point of his knees in such way that
his fingers will touch the calves of his legs," The king sent trustworthy persons to
verify the physical - feature of Muhammad Bakhtiyar Khalji; who reported back to
him that Muhammad Bakhtiyar Khalji had the same physical features as had been
stated by the Brahmins. The news caused a great commotion among the people of
Nadia; though the king decided not to leave the place, the Brahmins and the wise
men fled towards different directions. After sometime Muhammad Bakhtiyar
Khalji -actually marched against Nadia; he divided his army into small groups and
proceeded through an unfrequented hilly region of Jharkhand. He marched so fast
that when he appeared before Nadia, not more than 18 (according to another
report: 17) horsemen could keep up with him. No one suspected that he was the
Turkish invader but all took him to be a horse-dealer. By the time Muhammad
Bakhtiyar Khalji reached the place, the King Lakshman Sena was seated on the
table for mid-day meals; when he heard noise caused by the onslaughts of
Muhammad Bakhtiyar Khalji, the King could sense what had happened and
without delay he escaped by the back door of the palace and fled on boats towards
Vikrampur (Dacca). Nadia was thus captured without difficulty. After getting hold
of the booty from the palace and the city, Muhammad Bakhtiyar Khalji left Nadia,
went to Lakhnauti (Gaur) and made it his capital. After ensuring all the
administrative set-up and establishing religious institutions, he went forward to
Tibet with approximately 10,000 soldiers where he was discomfited totally and the
whole army was lost there. In despair he fell ill and died in the early part of 1206
A. C. Some also say that he was killed in his sick-bed by one of his own amirs, Ali
Mardan Khalji.
Chart of the Khalji Rule in Bengal
1203- 1206 A. C.
1206- 1208 A. C.
1208-1210 A. C.
1210- 1213 A. C.
1213-1227 A. C.

: Muhammad Bakhtiyar Khalji

: Malik Muhammad Shirin Khalji
: Husamud Din Iwaz Khalji
: Ali Mardan Khalji
: Sultan Ghiyathud Din Iwaz Khalji

After Muhammad Bakhtiyar Khalji's death his lieutenants were involved in an

internecine warfare; one of them Muhammad Shiran Khalji came to Devkot,

Imprisoned Ali Mardan Khalji and himself took the leadership of the Muslims.
`Ali Mardan somehow escaped from imprisonment, went to Qutubud-Din Aibak at
Delhi and instigated him to occupy Lakhnauti. As a result Muhammad Shiran
Khalji was ousted and Husamud-Din Khalji was put in charge of Lakhnauti. But
later Husamud -Din Iwaz Khalji was replaced by 'Ali Mardan Khalji as Governor.
On the death of Qutbud-Din Aibak in 1210 A.D. Mardan assumed independence
and styled himself Sultan. He was a hot-tempered man, perpetrated oppressions
over the people, and army and soon alienated all, the nobles and soldiers conspired
against him and killed him. As a result Husamud-Din' Iwaz Khalji occupied the
throne of Lakhnauti with the title of Sultan Ghyathu'd-Din Iwaz Khalji. Iwaz was a
sagacious ruler; he attended to the weal of the people and executed welfare projects
like building of roads, construction of dams and dykes for controlling the floods.
He orgainsed a navy, keeping in view the military needs, established Masjids,
Madrasahs, Khanqahs, and other religious institutions and did many developmental
works. Iwazs sovereignty was not accepted by Iltutmish, he sent an army against
him under his son Nasir Uddin who defeated and killed him. Here is the end of this
rule.
Delhi Rule: (Bengal under the Mamluks and the Balbans)
Lakhnauti now passed to the hands of Delhi and was administered from there as a
province. This position Lakhnauti continued for about 60 years. Governors were
sent from Delhi, but when after the death of Iltutmish in 1236 the Delhi Sultans
became weak, the governors at Lakhnauti exercised more powers than they were
entitled to; they sometimes acted as virtual independent rulers assuming lofty titles
like Malikus-Sharq (Lord of the East). Two of the governors actually assumed
independence the first of them was Mughi-thu'd-Din Yuzbak, who assumed
sovereignty in 1255 A.D. But his independence was extremely shortlived; soon he
lost his life in his Kamrup expedition. The second governor who assumed
independence was 'Mughithu'd-Din Tughral in the reign of Sultan Ghyathud-Din
Balban. A strong ruler as Balban was, he did not accept the independence of
Tughral rather took prompt action against him. When his two expeditions against
Tughral failed, Balban personally marched to Lakhnauti in 1280 A.D. Tughral was
searched out from his jungle hide out and was brutally killed along with his family
relations and adherents. After placing his second son Bughra Khan on the
governorship of Lakhnauti, Balban returned to Delhi. Bughra Khan soon abdicated
in favour of his son who ruled unto 1300 A. D. when he died he left no heir except
a few nobles one of whom named Shamsuddin Firoz Shah ruled unto 1332, and
Delhis rule remained there until 1341 during Sultan Muhammad bin Tughlaq.
Ilyas Shahi Dynasty:
The era of Ilyas Shah is an epoch making event in the history of Bengal. With the

establishment of his rule, the independence of Bengal retained nearly for four
hundred years uninterrupted, and this dynasty could have successfully resisted the
attack of the Delhi rule. This long period of independence helped the rulers to
forge national unity, solidarity and homogeneity in Bengals body-politic. The
rulers could also take many sustainable developmental policies and it gave an
increase in the Muslim population and their power. In this era, Bengali literature
and culture developed tremendously under their patronage. Ilyas Shah was the first
Muslim Sultan to appoint Hindu generals in his army. He extended the empire
beyond imagination and when he died in 1357 A. D. he left for his son and
successor a large kingdom comprising almost the whole Bengal.
Chart of the Ilyas Shahi Dynasty in Bengal
1358- 1391 A. C.
1391- 1396 A. C.
1396- 1406 A. C.
1406- 1409 A. C.
1409- 1414 A. C.

: Sikander Shah
: Ghiyathuddin Azam Shah
: Sifuddin Hamza Shah
: Shamsuddin (Son of Hamza Shah)
: Shahabuddin Bayezid Shah (2nd son of H Shah)

Sikandar Shah ruled successfully for 32 years resisting all attacks of Delhi and
building many religious institutions. But his last days were full of sorrow. His son
Azam Shah by his second wife was forced to revolt against him by the
machinations of his step-mother, the first wife of Sikandar Shah. Sikandar Shah
came out to oppose his own son but as illluck would have it, Sikandar Shah
himself fell in the battle field, Azam Shah then occupied the throne with the title of
Sultan Ghiyathu'd-Din Azam Shah. Ghiyathu'd-Din Azam Shah also continued
many welfare activities and maintained a good relation with the religious scholars.
He was latter killed by Ganesh, Sifuddin Hamza Shah was put in the throne, who
was the dethroned, his elder son was placed in the throne, was killed and lastly his
younger brother of 12 years was put in the kingdom from whom Ganesh took up
the power.
Raja Ganesh
It may be recalled that from the time of Shanisu'd-Dinilyas Shah, the Bengal
Sultans made it their policy to associate local people with the administration and
particularly to appoint Hindus in the key-positions of the state. The policy was
followed in the time of `Azam Shah also, but unfortunately that proved detrimental
to the existence of the Sultanate. In the time of Azam Shah one Raja Ganesh, a
Hindu Zamindar was appointed to the high post, possibly in the military
department. Ganesh, however, became ambitious and secretly plotted to overthrow
the Sultan and to occupy the throne himself. Through the machinations of Ganesh,
Ghiyathu'd-Din 'Azam Shah was killed in 1410 A.D., Ganesh now placed Saifu'dDin Hamzah Shah, Azam Shah's son on the throne. But soon Hamzah Shah was
also overthrown, and one of his slaves Shihabu'd-Din Bayazid Shah was put on the

throne. Soon Bayazid Shah was also dethroned and his son Alau'd-Din Firoz Shah
was placed on the throne, and within a few months he was also ousted by Raja
Ganesh. Within 4 years from 1410 to 1414' A. D. three kings were chosen by
Ganesh, but as none of them served his purpose, he ousted them all. And now with
the supplanting of the Ilyas Shahi dynasty, Ganesh himself occupied the throne of
Bengal-with the title "banuirtiardana Deva. The 'Muslim kingdom of Bengal now
passed to the hands of a Hindu king. This could not-be tolerated by the learned
Muslims and particularly the Muslim saints. Raja Ganesh was extremely
oppressive to the Muslim learned people, and according to one account he killed
several saints and savants and thus tried to silence them. Shaikh Nur Qutbul 'Alam,
the guardian saint of the capital city of Pandua (Ferozabad) invited Sultan Ibrahim
Sharqi of Jaunpur to invade Bengal and to free the country from the oppression of
the infidel, Raja Ganesh. Sultari Ibrahim Sharqi accepted the invitation and
marched with a large army. On his approach to the capital, Raja Ganesh got
alarmed, went to Shaikh Nur Qutbul Alam and requested him to ask Sultan Ibrahim
Sharqi to go -back. The Shaikh replied that he could not intercede on behalf of a
infidel king but if Ganesh accepted Islam, he might consider his request. Ganesh
agreed but his wife did not allow him to do so. So
Ganesh brought his 12 years old son Jadu to the saint and
represented saying, "I have grown old .and I am thinking of
renouncing the world. Please accept my son, and place him on the throne after
converting him to Islam".The Shaikh now requested Sultan Ibrahim Sharqi of
Jaunpur to go back because Bengal had now become a Muslim country with a
Muslim king ruling over it. The Sultan of Jaunpur was very much annoyed at this
attitude of the Shaikh because he came all the way from Jaunpur at his invitation,
but the Sultan did not dare oppose, the aikh and most reluctantly retraced his steps.
Ganesh was silently observing the course of events; when found that the Sultan of
Jaunpur had crossed the border of Bengal, he dethroned Jalalu'd--Din, reconverted
him to his former religion, performed religious rites for such conversion,
acceptable to the Brahmins, and himself re-occupied the throne. Ganesh soon died,
and after his death Jalalu'd-Din re-occupied the throne. He chose to remain in the
fold of his new faith i. e. Islam and ruled the country according to the tenets of
Islam. He repaired damages done to the Muslim monuments by his father and
restored the old Muslim nobles to their positions. He inscribed the Kalima in his
coins, a practice which was given up by some of the previous Sultans of Bengal.
Chart of Ganesh Rule
1409- 1414 A. C.
1414- 1431 A. C.
1431- 1442 A. C.

: Ganesh (Virtually he instead ruled)

: i) Jadu Sen, Jalaluddin ii) Mohebdra
: Shamsuddin Ahmad Shah

Soon Shamsuddin Ahmad Shah was dethroned by the surviving successors Ilyas
Shahi dynasty and again for the second term Ilyas Shahi dynasty was established in
Bengal.

Ilyas Shahi Dynasty Restored:

The following people of the Ilyas Shahi dynasty ruled Bengal for the second term
according to the following chart:
Chart of second term Ilyas Shahi Dynasty
1442- 1459 A. C.
1459- 1474 A. C.
1474- 1482 A. C.
1482
1482- 1486 A. C.

: Nasir Uddin Mahmud Shah

: Rukunuddin Barrak Shah
: Shamsuddin Yusuf Shah
: Sikandar Shah (Second)
: Jalaluddin Fateh Shah

Nasir Uddin Mahmud Shah was a just and sagacious ruler. He extended the rule
and administered everything at everyones happiness and prosperity. He died a
natural death to be succeeded by his son Rukunuddin Barrak Shah who is praised
by the historians to be a sagacious and law-abiding sovereign in whose kingdom
the soldiers and citizens alike enjoyed contentment and security. But he imported a
huge number of Habshi slaves, some say 8,000 in number and appointed them in
the army: their leaders were appointed to the higher state services. Probably he
wanted to organise these Habshis as a strong support to his family, but as we will
be seen presently, the Habshis proved faithless and themselves occupied the throne
for sometime. Barrak Shah died and was succeeded by his son Shamsuddin Yusuf
Shah who was a learned, just and sagacious ruler. He promoted the Habshis to
more important positions. He was succeeded by Sikander Shah who was ousted by
Fath Shah and as the habshis were opposed to this he wanted to control them which
compelled the Habshis to kill him and took up the reign.
Habshi Rule:
The next seven years in the history of Bengal is known as the period of Habshis in
which four/five rulers reigned one after another. But unfortunately all of these
Habshi kings were killed by the next one. Of them Firoz Shah Maliki was
decidedly the best and he reigned for three years.
Chart of Habshi Rule:
1486- 1487 A. C.
1487- 1490 A. C.
1490- 1491 A. C.
1491- 1493 A. C.
1493- 1519 A. C.

: Sultan Shahjada Barrak

: Syfuddin Firoz Shah
: Nasir Uddin Mahmud Shah
: Shamsuddin Muzaffar Shah
: Ala Uddin Hossain Shah

Hossain Shahi Dynasty:

During the Habshi reign of Shamsuddin Muzaffar Shah, a man named Hussain
Shah came to the prominence through many accomplishments. After the death of

the last Habshi ruler, he became the ruler of Bengal. He is both famous and
notorious by the critics. Some praised him even to be the best of Bengal rulers
while some attributed the most objectionable allegations against him. He is
accused on one hand to have imported idolatry and innovations, superstitions and
introduced many un-Islamic practices in the Muslim society. He took up a Hindu
ascetic to be his spiritual mentor.
Others say that removed lawlessness and indiscipline from the society, kept the
boundary of Bengal intact, nourished Bengali culture, extended the empire, kindhearted and great warrior. He appointed a large number of Hindus to higher
positions demonstrating a non-partisan attitude.
He ruled for 26 years and the next rulers from his family including Nusrat Shah,
Aluddin Shah, Firoz Shah, and Ghyathuddin Mahmud Shah, who ruled, in all, for
forty five years, were able and fit rulers.
Chart of Hossain Shahi Rule:
1493- 1519 A. C.
1519- 1532 A. C.
1532- 1538 A. C.
1532 A. C.

: Ala Uddin Hossain Shah

: Nasiruddin Nusrat Shah
: Ghyathuddin Mahmud Shah
: Alauddin Firoz Shah

Afghan rule
The last Sultan of the dynasty, who continued to rule from Gaur, had to contend
with rising Afghan activity on his northwestern border. Eventually, the Afghans
broke through and sacked the capital in 1538 where they remained for several
decades until the arrival of the Mughals.
Sher Shah Suri established the Sur dynasty in Bengal. After the battle of Chausa he
declared himself independent Sultan of Bengal and Bihar. Sher Shah was the only
Muslim Sultan of Bengal to establish an empire in northern India. The Afghan rule
in Bengal remained for 44 years. Their most impressive achievement was Sher
Shah's construction of the Grand Trunk Road connecting Sonargaon, Delhi and
Peshawar.
The Sur dynasty was followed by the Karrani dynasty. Sulaiman Karrani annexed
Orissa to the Muslim sultanate permanently. Daud Shah Karrani declared
independence from Akbar which led to four years of bloody war between the
Mughals and the Afghans. The Mughal onslaught against the Afghan Sultan ended
with the battle of Rajmahal in 1576, led by Khan Jahan. However, the Afghans and
the local landlords (Barn Bhuyans) led by Isa Khan resisted the Moghul invasion.
Mugnai period/Rule:
Bengal came once more under the suzerainty of Delhi as the Mughals conquered it
in 1576. Not far from Sonargaon, Dhaka rose from the mists of obscurity as a

Mughal provincial capital. But it remained remote and thus a difficult to govern
region--especially the section east of the Brahmaputra River--outside the
mainstream of Mughal politics. The Bengali ethnic and linguistic identity further
crystallized during this period, since the whole of Bengal was united under an able
and long-lasting administration. Furthermore its inhabitants were given sufficient
autonomy to cultivate their own customs and literature.
In 1612, during Emperor Jahangir's reign, the defeat of Sylhet completed the
Mughal conquest of Bengal, except for Chittagong. At this time the capital was
established at Dhaka. Chittagong was later annexed in order to stifle Arakanese
raids from the east. A well-known Dhaka landmark, Lalbagh Fort, was built during
Aurangzeb's sovereignty.
History repeated itself as the frontier Bengal province broke off from a Delhi-based
empire around the time Aurangzeb's death in 1707. Murshid Quli Khan ended
Dhaka's century of grandeur as he shifted the capital to Murshidabad ushering in a
series of independent Bengal Nawabs. Nawab Alivardi Khan showed military skill
during his wars with the Marathas. He completely routed the Marathas, from
Bengal. He crushed an uprising of the Afghans in Bihar and made the British pay
150,000 Tk for blocking Mughal and Armenian trade ships.
Conclusion:

The Independence Movement of The Muslim in Bengal:

After 1757 to 1947
Introduction:
In 1757 the Muslims had not lost to the English only their kingdom, but also they
lost everything. Those who were earlier the kings and rulers were reduced to
subject-people and peasant class after that unfortunate event. The Hindus
submitted to the English whole-heartedly and took unhesitantly everything the
English offered, whereas the Muslims took up the weapons and responsibility to
resistance. The Muslims remained defiant in the face of all brutality by the English
in order to regain their freedom and prestige whereas the Hindus worked as favorseekers and remained completely loyal. The struggle for independence by the
Muslims stated almost immediately after the tragedy of Plassey and continued until
they could earn the much-coveted freedom in 1947.
Different Independence Movements:
The Muslims launched different independence movements just after the tragedy of
Plassey and continued till the achievement of that freedom. The following are just
sketches of those movements:
Battle of Boxer:1
The Battle of Buxar was fought in October 1764 between the forces under the
command of the British East India Company, and the combined armies of Mir
Kasim, the Nawab of Bengal; Shuja-ud-Daula, the Nawab of Awadh; and Shah
Alam II, the Mughal Emperor. The battle fought at Buxar (currently in Bihar state,
India), a town located on the bank of the Ganges river, was a decisive battle won
by the forces of the British East India Company.
The battle and booty: British troops engaged in the fighting numbered 7,072
comprising 857 Europeans, 5,297 sepoys and 918 Indian cavalry. Estimates of the
native forces vary from 40,000 to 60,000. Lack of co-ordination among the three
disparate allies, each with a different axe to grind, was responsible for their
decisive debacle.
British losses are said to have been 847 killed and wounded, while the three Indian
allies accounted for 2,000 dead; many more were wounded. The victors captured
133 pieces of artillery and over 1 million rupees of cash.
Treaty of Allahabad: Suja-ud-Daula, the prime victim, signed the Treaty of
Allahabad that secured Diwani Rights for the Company to administer the collection
and management of the revenues of almost 100,000,000 acres (400,000 km2) of
real estate which currently form parts of the Indian states of West Bengal, Orissa,
1

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Buxar

Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh , as well as of Bangladesh. He was also forced to

pay a war indemnity of 5 million rupees. However, all his pre-war possessions
were returned except for the districts of Karra and Allahabad.
Shah Alam II became a pensioner with a monthly stipend of 450,000 rupees
towards upkeep of horses, sepoys, peons, burcandazes and household expenses.
Mir Kasim, who was not a general, was quietly replaced. He also received a small
share of the total land revenue, initially fixed at 2 million rupees.
The Battle of Buxar heralded the establishment of the rule of the East India
Company in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent. While the Battle of Plassey
secured a foothold for the British East India Company in the rich province of
Bengal, the Battle of Buxar is really the battle that made them the dominant force
in India.
Fakir Movement:
Fakir Movement started/got momentum when the East Indian Company was
granted Diwani in 1765 by the Mughal Emperor Shah Alam II and as a result
the Company inflicted oppressively exorbitant taxes on the Muslim peasants,
and it continued until it was weakened in 1833 or 1834. In the sub-continental
Islamic terminology, a Fakir is religious saint who would devote himself to
disseminating religious knowledge and depend on people's benevolence for his
livelihood.
The objectives of Fakir Movement were to relieve the poor peasants, especially
Muslims, of the tyranny and oppression of the British East India Company and
the oppressive Zamindars and their over-taxation under its suzerainty and
shelter. The second alleged objective of this movement was to loot the treasures
of the East India Company and the Zamindars and distribute those among the
poor. But it was found latter on that the zamindars propagated those false stories
to avert paying any revenue to the Company.
Among the pioneers/leaders of the Fakir Movement, Mognu Shah, Maju Shah,
Tipu Pagla, and Gojonfor TurkShah are famous and notable. In 1784 Maju Shah
attacked different places of Mymensing, Sherpur, Pargona and allegedly looted
the properties of the Zamindars. The Company's soldiers resisted that attack
which compelled the Fakirs to retreat.
After two years, Fakir Movement again ensued in 1786 in Mymensingh. Armed
soldiers of the Company came to the rescue of the Zamiondars this time, and
the Fakirs were defeated and their movement subsided for long since then.
Fakir-sannyasi raids got intensified in 1776 in the districts of Bogra, Rajshahi,
Dinajpur and Chittagong. During the period between 1777 and 1781 the fakirsannyasi raids mainly continued in Bogra, Rajshahi, Rangpur, Chittagong,
Sylhet and Mymensingh areas. The activities of the rebels took a serious turn in

Alapsingh pargana of Mymensingh in 1782. After a severe battle at Pukhuria

Majnu Shah receded into the Madhupur jungle with his followers. In 1785 he
proceeded towards Mahasthangarh and was defeated in a battle. In the
following year Majnu Shah planned simultaneous attack in eastern Bengal
under himself and in North Bengal area under his lieutenant Musa Shah. In a
battle against the company army under Lieutenant Brenan in Kaleswar area (8
December 1786) Majnu Shah lost a large number of his followers. After 1786
Majnu Shah is not seen to lead any expedition. It appears that he himself was
wounded in the battle at Kaleswar and died sometime in late 1787 or early 1788
AD. (Banglapedia)
After the death of Majnu Shah his able lieutenants like Musa Shah, Cherag Ali
Shah, Paragal Shah, Sobhan Shah, Madar Baksh, Jari Shah, Karim Shah,
Kripanath, Rowshan Shah, Anup Narayan and Sri Nibash continued the revolt
till the closing of the year 1800 and even upto 1812 AD. But after the death of
Majnu Shah the movement was gradually losing its direction and dynamics. In
the late 1790s, the rebels fell out and all parts of Bengal came under firm
British control. [Muazzam Hussain Khan] (Banglapedia)
In 1826 a Fakir called Tipu Pagol organized a huge army comprising the
peasants-subjects. He was a great sufi-saint. Tpu's mother was a charismatic
woman who would inspire the people to revolt against the British-Zamindar
injustices. In 1825 Tipu called upon people to stop paying tax to the Zamindars.
Resultantly a battle ensued between the Zamindars' soldiers and those of Tipu
where the former was completely discomfited. Thus the Company came to the
rescue of the Zamindars and they confiscated Tipu and his mother.
Faraizi Movement:
1st Phase:
The first half of the 19th century witnessed a movement known as Faraizi
Movement in East Bengal. The founder of this movement was Haji
Shariatullah. At this time the condition of the Bengali Muslims in the Subcontinent was very miserable. The British policy of distrust and oppression
towards the Muslims rendered them economically and educationally crippled;
and the oppression of the Zamindars made their lives unbearable. The Muslims
were also barred to perform their religious duties. The Hindu Zamindars
forbade cow-sacrifice and Azan pronouncements. They compelled the Muslims
to pay tax for growing beard, imposed extortion during Hindu religious
festivals, forced them to wear dhuti and grow mustache in stead of beard. It was
part of the blue print to efface Islamic custom-culture from the Muslim society.
Haji Shariatullah came forward with the mission to save the Muslims and their
culture from this formidable attack.
He was born on 1784 Pargana of Faridpur. When he was 18, Haji Shariatullah

went to Mecca on the Pilgrimage. He returned to his country after 20 years and
studied all the known branches of religious science. He also came in touch with
the reform movement of Abdul Wahab Nazdi and attracted to the puritan vision
of this Movement. After coming back, he started his reform movement known
as the Faraizi movement. His movement basically targeted the most depressed
class of the Muslims. He asked them to give up un-Islamic customs and
practices and to act upon the fundamental commandments of the religion called
Faraiz or basic duties. Hence his followers came to be known as Faraizi. He
forbade Tazia on the occasion of Muharram and singing and dancing at the time
of wedding ceremonies. His movement was also directed against the oppression
of the Zamindars. He declared the country Dar-ul-Harab, as Eid and Friday
prayers could not be offered there.
The movement infused new life into the lives of the Muslims of Bengal. It
wrought great agitation among them, especially the peasants who were imbued
with his doctrines. But a few groups from among the opportunists and favorseekers Muslims along with the British and Hindu Zamindars opposed this
movement. Despite all these, the movement got tremendous popularity and took
root in different parts of Bengal.
He was also attracted to the Jihadi Movement of Syed Ahmad Shaheed of Rai
Bareilly and would send to the latter Mujahid, money from zakat, Fitrah and
sources.
Thus, he sowed the seeds of independence in Bengal. He died in 1840.
2nd Phase:
His son Muhammad Mohsin, known as Dadhu Mian, succeeded Haji
Shariatullah. He was born on 1819. In 1831 he went to Makkah for performing
Hajj and came back after five years. He then joined his father's movement.
Dadhu Mian popularized and strengthened the movement by organizing it in a
systematic way. He acquired great influence amongst the Muslim peasants and
craftsmen of Bakerganj, Dhaka, Faridpur and Pabna districts. He organised
resistance to Hindu landlords and money lenders, boycotting the payment of
taxes for the decoration of the image of Durgah and interest charges. He also
formed an armed force of cudgel bearers to attack the zamindars and their
followers and then went one stage further by attempting to form a parallel
Muslim government within East Bengal. District Commissioners called khalifas
were appointed to each village, their role being to raise funds, carry out
propaganda, and settle disputes between villagers who were expressly forbidden
from taking their cases to the British courts without permission.
The British made persistent attempts to prosecute Miyan for crimes ranging
from theft to murder, but all such allegations foundered from a lack of witnesses
prepared to give evidence though he was placed under arrest during the
Mutiny.

 He asked his followers to settle in lands managed by the government. During

the revolt of 1857, he was put under arrest for organizing the peasants of
Faridpur districts against the British government. He died in 1860.
Shaheed Titu Mir:2
Titu Mir (1782-1831) a peasant leader who resisted the oppression of the local
zamindars and European indigo planters on the peasantry with ultimate object
of liberating the country from British domination. He was a leader of the
tariqah-i-muhammadiya in Bengal and his movement initially aimed at socioreligious reforms, elimination of the practice of shirk (pantheism) and bidat
(innovation) in the Muslim society and at inspiring the Muslims to follow
Islamic principles in their day to day life.
The real name of Titu Mir was Sayyid Mir Nisar Ali. He was born on 14 Magh
1188 BS (1782 AD) at village Chandpur (controversially Haiderpur) under
Bashirhat sub-division of the district of 24 Parganas in West Bengal. His father
was Sayyid Mir Hasan Ali and his mother's name was Abida Rokaiya Khatoon.
Titu's family claimed descent from Hazrat Ali (R). His predecessor Sayyid
Shahadat Ali came to Bengal from Arabia to preach Islam. Sayyid Abdullah,
son of Shahadat Ali, was appointed the chief qazi of Jafarpur by the emperor of
Delhi and was invested with the title of Meer Insaaf. Henceforth the
descendants of Shahadat Ali used both the hereditary titles 'Sayyid' and 'Mir'.
Titu Mir had his early education in the village maktab and then entered into a
local madrasah. He was a hafiz, excelled in three languages- Bangla, Arabic and
Persian and developed keen interest in Arabic and Persian literature. He was
well versed in Islamic theology, jurisprudence, philosophy, tasawwaf (Islamic
mysticism) and mantiq. While a student in the madrasah Titu Mir grew up into a
good gymnast and a renowned pahlwan (wrestler).
Titu Mir went on a pilgrimage to Makka in 1822 AD and came in close contact
with the great Islamic reformer and revolutionary leader Sayyid Ahmad of
Bareilly who inspired him to free his fellow countrymen from un-Islamic
practices and foreign domination. On his return from Makka in 1827 Titu Mir
started preaching among the Muslims in the districts of 24 Parganas and Nadia.
He advised them to refrain from practising shirk and bidaat and inspired them,
especially the weavers and peasants, to follow the Islamic way of life. But soon
he was in conflict with the Hindu zamindar Krishnadeva Rai of Purha for his
sectarian attitude towards the Muslims and imposing illegal taxes on them. Titu
Mir happened to be in conflict with other landlords like Kaliprasanna
Mukhopadhyay of Gobardanga, Rajnarayan of Taragonia, Gauri Prasad
Chowdhury of Nagpur and Devanath Rai of Gobra-govindpur for their
oppression on the peasantry.
2

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 To face the situation and to give protection to the peasants Titu Mir formed a
Mujahid force and trained them in lathi and other indigenous arms. His disciple
and nephew Ghulam Masum was made commander of the force. The increasing
strength of Titu Mir alarmed the zamindars who however attempted to take
united stand and to involve the English in their fight against him. Being
instigated by the zamindar of Gobardanga, Davis, the English kuthial (factor) of
Mollahati, advanced with his force against Titu Mir, but was beaten back. The
zamindar of Gobra-govindpur was killed in a conflict with Titu Mir. Alexander,
the collector of Barasat, advanced against Titu with the daroga of Bashirhat and
sustained a severe defeat in the hands of Titu Mir. By this time Titu Mir filed a
complaint to the government of East India Company against the oppression of
the zamindars, but to no result.
Titu Mir built a strong fort with bamboo poles at Narkelbaria in October 1831,
recruited mujahids and gave them military training. The number of Mujahids
rose to nearly five thousand. Having completed his military preparation Titu
Mir declared himself Badshah (king) and urged upon the people to participate
in jihad against the British. He soon established his control over the districts of
24 Parganas, Nadia and Faridpur. Titu Mir demanded tax from the zamindars of
Taki and Gobardanga who implored protection of the English. An English
contingent was sent from Calcutta. But the combined forces sustained severe
defeat in the hands of the mujahids. Subsequently Lord William Bentinck sent a
regular army against Titu Mir under Lieutenant Colonel Stewart consisting of
100 cavalry, 300 native infantry and artillery with two cannons.
The English launched attack on the mujahids on 14 November 1831. The
mujahids with traditional arms failed to resist the English army equipped with
modern arms and took shelter inside the bamboo fort. The English opened fire
and totally destroyed the fort. There was heavy casualty on the side of the
mujahids. Titu Mir along with many of his followers fell in the battle (19
November 1831). 350 mujahids including their commander Ghulam Masum
were captured. Ghulam Masum was sentenced to death and other 140 captives
were sentenced to imprisonment on different terms. [Muazzam Hussain Khan]
In fact, Titu Mir did not want to engage in war with the British. It was instigated
by the Hindu landlords and self-interested groups. It is reported that when
Lieutenant Colonel Stewart arrived Narkelbaria in the night of 13 November
1831 and seized the whole village Titu Mir and his followers erected a fort with
bamboos around the hujrah of Titu Mir for his protection which is known as
'Bamboo Fort of Titu Mir'. Colonel Stewart wanted to meet with Titu Mir. He
brought a Hindu translator with him named Ram Chandra Bondhopadhay.
Reaching the door of Titu's Hujrah, he found a man with pure white dress and
pagri who was very much obsessed in meditation. Stewart became
overwhelmed and asked Ram Chandra, 'Is it Titu Mir? He does not seem to be a
revel'. At this, Ram Chandra said that, He is rebel Titu Mir. He claimed himself
to be Sultan. Today he changed his guise because of arrival to deceive you.'

Stewart said, 'I want to talk with him.' Ram Chandra said to Titu, ' You waged
war against the British, now pretends innocent. If are a true Sultan then wage
war now against the British.' Titu retorted, 'We have not waged war against the
British, we only protested against the oppressive of the Zamindars, and tried to
bring the Muslims back to their pure monotheistic religion.' But Ram Chandra
reported to Stewart that Titu said that he would not come to any negotiation, he
wanted battle, he did not fear the arms and ammunition of the British, and he
would devour every one of the British, he claimed himself to be the Sultan, and
he would not recognize the British.(Shaheed Titu Mir, Abdul Gafur Siddiquee,
pp. 95-96)
Thus the war was instigated and what happened in the battle field in known to all.
Syed Ahmad Shaheed:
Syed Ahmad of Rai Bareilly (b.1786 d.1831), also called Syed Ahmad Shaheed,
was a martyr from Rae Bareli, India. and founder of the "The Way of the
Prophet Muhammad" (Tariqah-i Muhhamdiyah), a revolutionary Islamic
movement. Syed Ahmad Shah was from a family of Hasni Syeds, distantly
related to the family of Shah Waliullah. Syed Ahmad Barelvi, or Syed Ahmad
Shaheed, as he became known, was born near Lucknow, in the town of Rae
Bareli (Bareli) in 1786. There is a popular story about him that before his birth
his mother saw in the dream that a sheet of paper written with her blood was
hoisting in the air. It was interpreted in the way that her child which would be
born soon would be a well-known personality in the history.
His father died while he was still young and after attempting to find employment in
Delhi, Syed Ahmed decided he needed further education. In 1806, Syed Ahmed
enrolled in the famous Madrassa (Islamic religious school) of Shah Walliullah in
Delhi. Syed Ahmad was amongst the generation of Muslims who were dismayed at
the end of the Islamic Mughal Empire.
He was fond of wrestling from his early life. His childhood passion was to
participate in the Jihad. Sometimes he would form two artificial camps of
Muslim soldiers and enemy soldiers from among his friends or local people,
and then would fight each other, and at the victory of the Muslim camp he
would shout at the top of his voice. Later on, his launching and forming a Jihadi
movement was the manifestation of this latent desire in him.
At the age of 18, Syed Ahmad arrived Lucknow to get jobs. Shortly after four
months he abandoned the idea and came to be a student of Shah Abdul Aziz. He
studied under him the major sciences of Islam, and Islamic spiritualism. But it was
soon obvious that Syed Ahmed was not destined to be a great scholar, despite his
piety. The latent desire in him for the restoration and re-establishment of the
Islamic administration/Khilafat again stirred his thought, which was further
inspired by Shah Abdul Aziz's declaration that British rule made the subcontinent
Dar-ul-Harb, an area not under Islamic control. This implied that non-Muslim rule

should be resisted and fought. Initially, however, it had to be resisted secretly so as

not to attract British attention and hostility. Such a movement still required a leader
and people who would be willing to fight for the cause.
After five years he went back to his own locality, married there, and got three
daughters. But nothing could suppress him from his target of establishing
Islamic Khilafat. He then joined a Pathan military force led by Amir Khan,
mainly as a fighter, but with the added duty of leading the troops in prayer!
During this time, Syed Ahmed learnt about European weaponry, including the
use of artillery. Historical proofs suggest that he was encouraged by Shah Abdul
Aziz to launch such type of program. This is why on his return to Delhi, Syed
Ahmed was greeted very warmly by Shah Abdul Aziz, and many of the
graduates and students of Shah Abdul Aziz were instructed to become disciples
of Syed Ahmad.
In 1821, Syed Ahmed left for hajj to Mecca but instead of the shorter journey from
the west coast, he went via Calcutta, and held large meetings all along the way.
After spending one and half years in Arabia, he returned to Delhi in May 1823 with
much more enthusiasm and clearer conception of the basics of Islam, including
Jihad. He soon founded the Jihad Movement, which was aimed at nothing less than
the rejuvenation and restoration of sole Muslim power. The Punjab was under Sikh
rule at this time and the Muslims were being brutalized there. In the other hand, the
Muslims had not only lost their power, prestige, and personality, but also they
became immerged into idolatrous beliefs and practices borrowed from the powerful
Hindus. The true nature of Islamic monotheism was almost lost. Thus Syed Ahmed
convinced his followers of the need to declare jihad against the Sikhs and to
liberate Punjab and the North West Frontier area from Sikh rule, restore it under
Muslim rule, and to bring the Muslims back to their original political and puritan
monotheistic positions.
Activism: Syed Ahmed visited towns around the Punjab and the United
Provinces to whip up support and was joined by notable Muslim leaders. The
initial force of a few hundred men led by Syed Ahmed could not reach the area
directly from Delhi for obvious reasons and so had to proceed through the long
and difficult route through Rajasthan, Sindh and Balochistan until they reached
Kabul. Apart from the obvious need to avoid the Sikh forces at this stage, Syed
Ahmed also collected support and troops along the way. In many areas the
population was more enthusiastic than their rulers: the Mirs of Sindh were
reluctant to fight with the Sikhs as was Bahawalpur, while Afghanistan was torn
by internal differences. In spite of this, many men from these areas joined Syed
Ahmed's forces.
Military campaigns: In 1826, the mujahideen, or Muslim army, launched its
armed conflict. Attacks were made on Sikh forces in Okara. By the end of 1830,
Peshawar was captured by the forces of the Jihad. This success encouraged
other Pathan tribes to join Syed Ahmed. The Sikhs were now seriously

concerned by this threat. They tried to spread dissent amongst the tribes
supporting Syed Ahmed. This time Syed Ahmad encountered treachery and had
to fight against three forces at the same time: the Sikhs, treacherous Pathan
tribal leaders, and the owner of the fort Hund 'Khade Kha' who would always
instigate the local Pathans against the Mujahedeen.
Syed Ahmed set up his headquarters at Naushera in December 1826 and initial
skirmishes with the Sikh forces left the Muslim mujahideen with the advantage.
Syed Ahmed was however accepted by all the communities as the Imam or
supreme Islamic leader. The Muslim mujahideen swelled to eighty thousand men
and taxes were collected from the local population to keep the force equipped. The
Sikhs started preparing for war and also began a diplomatic campaign aimed at the
tribal chiefs. They succeeded in winning over the chief of Peshawar at the time,
Yar Muhammad Khan. Yar Muhammad deserted on the battlefield after having
tried to assassinate Syed Ahmed by poisoning him. Syed Ahmed survived the
assassination attempt but was forced to move his headquarters to Panjtar, near
Kashmir. After a complete victory, Peshawar was again safe for Syed Ahmed's
army. In an effort at reconciliation with some Pathan tribes, Syed Ahmed appointed
the brother of Yar Muhammad as governor of the Peshawar valley. Sultan
Muhammad Khan, however, was to prove as treacherous as his brother, Yar
Muhammad. Most of the people of this area were uneducated, thus revolted a few
days after against the reform movement of Syed Ahmad, being instigated by Sultan
Muhammad Khan, and made ambush against the preachers Mujahadeen of Syed
Ahmad, which hurt him immensely and gave him untold pains and agony. He now
realized that his strength was being spent fighting against fellow Muslims, and so
his headquarters were moved to Balakot.
The Sikhs got this information, and thought that Syed lost most of his force, and
thus would be easily defeated. There were two roads to Balakot, one was replete
with wild and mountainous jungles dangerously risky for any non-locals, while the
other was trough a road between two mountains via a bridge. Both roads were
guarded by the armies of Syed Ahmad. But being bribed by handsome amount of
money, some treacherous showed the Sikhs the hilly road, who then surrounded the
Mujaheed of Syed Ahmad in secret, and made ambush on them. Nearly six
hundred men of his force were killed, including Syed Ahmed himself and his chief
officer, Shah Ismail were effictively defeated by the forces of Sardar Sher Singh.
But this tragedy could not demolish the spirit of independence movement on the
part of the Muslims which had been proved by the Sepoy Mutiny (or Independence
Movement of 1857) contemporary to that of Syed Ahmad Shaheed.

War of Independence or Sepoy Mutiny of 1857:

Introduction:
The Indian war of Independence of 1857 (Azadi Movement) began as a mutiny
of sepoys of British East India Company's army on 10 May 1857, in the town of
Meerut, and soon erupted into other mutinies and civilian rebellions largely in the
upper Gangetic plain and central India, with the major hostilities confined to
present-day Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, northern Madhya Pradesh, and the Delhi region.
The movement posed a considerable threat to Company power in that region, and it
was contained only with the fall of Gwalior on 20 June 1858. The movement is
also known as India's First War of Independence, the Great Rebellion, the
Indian Mutiny, the Indian Rebellion of 1857, the Revolt of 1857, the Uprising
of 1857 and the Sepoy Mutiny.

By 1845, the British Empire had expanded from Bengal to Sindh, and all that
remained free was Punjab. The Sikhs were ruling over Punjab and after the Second
Sikh War in 1848, the British gained control over the Indus. The Koh-i-Noor
diamond that Ranjit Singh had worn in his headdress now became a part of the
crown jewels at Westminster.
The War of Independence broke out in January and March 1857. The British army
had recruited local Indians in their forces. These soldiers were issued cartridges
greased with fat from tabooed animals. The soldiers refused to use these cartridges.
In 1857, starting with an uprising in Meerut, soldiers in the British Army in Bengal
launched a full-scale mutiny against the British. This mutiny spread swiftly across
the Sub-continent. Initially, the Indian soldiers were able to push back the British
forces. The British army was driven out of Delhi and the Indian soldiers took
control of the city. Bahadur Shah Zafar, the last Mughal King, was compelled to
lead the freedom fighters. In Bahadur Shah Zafar, the rebels found a symbol of
freedom, but a mere symbol was all he was. Wanting to spend his days writing
poetry, the man was in no way even a remnant of the glory of his forefathers. He
proclaimed himself the Emperor of the whole of India. The civilians, citizens and
other dignitaries took oath of allegiance to the Emperor. The Emperor issued his
own coin and appointed his sons to key posts.
The initial success of the freedom fighters gave a boost to the War of
Independence. The Indian army captured the important towns of Haryana, Bihar
and Mahdya Pardesh. However, the British forces at Meerut and Ambala put up a
resolute resistance to the royal army and held them back for several months. The
British proved to be a formidable foe with their superior weapons and better

strategy. The freedom fighters badly lacked in adequate resources and their
planning proved to be extremely brittle. The royal forces were finally defeated. The
British army entered Delhi and the Mughal emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar went into
hiding.
The British quickly regained control of Delhi. They ransacked and destroyed the
city. They took revenge in the most gruesome manner by killing innocent people
indiscriminately. A wide scale massacre of the inhabitants of Delhi was carried out
to avenge the killings of the British soldiers. The Mughal emperor was captured
from his sanctuary, the tomb of Emperor Humayun. The emperor's sons were
slaughtered in cold blood. Their bodies were beheaded and their heads were
presented to the aging emperor in prison. Bahadur Shah was imprisoned in
Rangoon, Myanmar, where he breathed his last.
After the War of Independence in 1857, the British government assumed
sovereignty over the lands of the British East India Company. The British control
over the Sub-continent grew in the next 50 years and culminated in the British Raj.
Queen Victoria's Indian realm continued to expand, until Hunza, the remote
kingdom bordering China, fell into British hands in 1891, bringing the expansion
to its zenith.
The British delineated the frontier separating British India from Afghanistan in
1893. The resulting Durand Line cut straight through the tribal area of the Pathans.
The British left the tribal areas to govern themselves under the supervision of
British political agents.
The British thus became masters of India, where for nearly 800 years Muslims had
ruled. However, their attitude towards the Muslims was that of antipathy.
According to Hunter, a prominent historian, "The Muslims of India are, and have
been for many years, a source of chronic danger to the British power in India". The
British attributed the war of 1857 to the Muslims alone. As a result, property
belonging to Muslims was confiscated and they were denied employment
opportunities everywhere in the army, revenue department, and judiciary.
The British administrators deliberately followed a discriminatory policy against the
Muslims, even in filling minor jobs. Advertisements inviting applications for
government jobs specifically mentioned that Muslims would not be appointed.
Hunter admits that the exclusion of the Muslims was so complete that in the
government offices of Calcutta they could not accept a post higher than that of a
porter, messenger, filler of inkpots and mender of pens.
By a series of revenue and financial measures, the British smashed the political and
social position of the Muslims. In the province of Bombay, the government
appointed "Inam Commission" to inquire into the land grants of the Muslim times.
The Commission took away 20,000 estates from the Muslims and thus ruined
many families and institutions of the community.
The Company's commercial policy eliminated the Muslims from internal and
foreign trade. When the Europeans came to the Sub-continent, the Muslim

merchants lost much of their commerce with foreign countries. But they
maintained their hold on internal trade and their commercial activities extended to
the Persian Gulf and the coastal territories of the Arabian Sea. During the
Company's rule, the Muslim traders were pushed out of this area as well by the
competition of the Company's traders who enjoyed many special concessions.
The newly introduced English system of education had many drawbacks for the
Muslims, mainly because it made no provisions for religious education. As a result,
they stayed away from it. Thus, within a few years of loss of political power, the
Muslims lost all avenues of employment, were dispossessed of their estates and
deprived of the benefits of education. A highly cultured community turned into a
backward and poor people. In their place British-educated Hindus began to occupy
positions in governments offices formerly held by the Muslims.

Brief History of the Creation of Bangladesh from that of Pakistan

Creation of Pakistan
As the independence movement throughout British-controlled India began in the late nineteenth
century gained momentum during the twentieth century, Bengali politicians played an active role
in Mohandas Gandhi's Congress Party and Mohammad Ali Jinnah's Muslim League, exposing
the opposing forces of ethnic and religious nationalism. By exploiting the latter, the British
probably intended to distract the independence movement, for example by partitioning Bengal in
1905 along religious lines. The split only lasted for seven years. At first the Muslim League
sought only to ensure minority rights in the future nation. In 1940 the Muslim League passed the
Lahore Resolution which envisaged one or more Muslim majority states in South Asia. Nonnegotiable was the inclusion of the Muslim parts of Punjab and Bengal in these proposed states.
The stakes grew as a new Viceroy Lord Mountbatten was appointed expressly for the purpose of
effecting a graceful British exit. Communal violence in Noakhali and Calcutta sparked a surge in
support for the Muslim League, which won a majority of Bengal's Muslim seats in the 1946
election. Accusations have been made that Hindu and Muslim nationalist instigators were
involved in the latter incident. At the last moment Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy and Sarat
Chandra Bose came up with the idea of an independent and unified Bengal state, which was
endorsed by Jinnah. This idea was vetoed by the Indian National Congress.
British India was partitioned and the independent states of India and Pakistan were created in
1947; the region of Bengal was divided along religious lines. The predominantly Muslim eastern
half of Bengal became the East Bengal (later renamed East Pakistan) state of Pakistan and the
predominantly Hindu western part became the Indian state of West Bengal.
Pakistan's history from 1947 to 1971 was marked by political instability and economic
difficulties. In 1956 a constitution was at last adopted, making the country an "Islamic republic
within the Commonwealth". The nascent democratic institutions foundered in the face of military
intervention in 1958, and the government imposed martial law between 1958 and 1962, and
again between 1969 and 1971.
Almost from the advent of independent Pakistan in 1947, frictions developed between East and
West Pakistan, which were separated by more than 1,000 miles of Indian territory. East
Pakistanis felt exploited by the West Pakistan-dominated central government. Linguistic,
cultural, and ethnic differences also contributed to the estrangement of East from West Pakistan.
When Mohammad Ali Jinnah died in September 1948, Khwaja Nazimuddin became the
Governor General of Pakistan while Nurul Amin was appointed the Chief Minister of East
Bengal. Nurul Amin continued as the Chief Minister of East Bengal until 2 April 1954. The
abolition of the Zamindari system in East Bengal (1950) and the Language Movement were two
most important events during his tenure.

The Bengali Language Movement

The question as to what would be the state language of Pakistan was raised immediately after its
creation. The central leaders and the Urdu-speaking intellectuals of Pakistan declared that Urdu
would be the state language of Pakistan, just as Hindi was the state language of India. However,
Bengalis strongly resisted attempts to impose Urdu as the sole official language of Pakistan, and
the students and intellectuals of East Pakistan, demanded that Bengali (Bangla) be made one of
the state languages, arguing that it was in any case the native language of the majority (54%
native speakers as opposed to 7% native Urdu speakers) in the whole of Pakistan.

The Bengali Language Movement began in 1948 and reached its climax in a demonstration on
21 February 1952 at which several demonstrators were killed by police. After a lot of
controversy over the language issue, the final demand from East Pakistan was that Bangla must
be the official language and the medium of instruction in East Pakistan, and that for the central
government it would be one of the state languages along with Urdu. The first movement on this
issue was mobilised by Tamaddun Majlish headed by Professor Abul Kashem. Gradually many
other non-communal and progressive organisations joined the movement, which finally turned
into a mass movement, and ended in the adoption of Bengali as one of the state languages of
Pakistan.

Politics: 1954 - 1970

The first election for East Bengal Provincial Assembly was held between 8 March and 12 March
1954. The Awami Muslim League, Krishak-Sramik Party and Nezam-e-Islam formed the United
Front, on the basis of 21-points agenda.
Notable pledges contained in the 21-points were:

making Bengali one of the main state languages

autonomy for the province
reforms in education
independence of the judiciary
making the legislative assembly effective

The United Front won 215 out of 237 Muslim seats in the election. The ruling Muslim League
got only nine seats. Khilafat-E-Rabbani Party got one, while the independents got twelve seats.
Later, seven independent members joined the United Front while one joined the Muslim League.
There were numerous reasons for the debacle of the Muslim League. Above all, the Muslim
League regime angered all sections of the people of Bengal by opposing the demand for
recognition of Bangla as one of the state languages and by ordering the massacre of 1952.
The United Front got the opportunity to form the provincial government after winning absolute
majority in the 1954 election. Of the 222 United Front seats, the Awami Muslim League had won
142, Krishak-Sramik Party 48, Nezam-i-Islam 19, and Ganatantri Dal 13.
The major leaders of the United Front were Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy and Maulana Abdul
Hamid Khan Bhasani of Awami Muslim League and A. K. Fazlul Huq of Krishak-Sramik Party.
Suhrawardy and Bhasani did not take part in the election and Fazlul Huq was invited to form the
government. But a rift surfaced at the very outset on the question of formation of the cabinet. The
unity and solidarity among the component parties of the United Front soon evaporated. Finally,
on 15 May, Fazlul Huq arrived at an understanding with the Awami Muslim League and formed
a 14-member cabinet with five members from that party.
But this cabinet lasted for only fourteen days. The Muslim League could not concede defeat in
the elections in good grace. So, they resorted to conspiracies to dismiss the United Front
government. In the third week of May, there were bloody riots between Bengali and non-Bengali
workers in different mills and factories of East Bengal. The United Front government was
blamed for failing to control the law and order situation in the province.
Fazlul Huq was then quoted in an interview taken by The New York Times correspondent John P
Callaghan and published in a distorted form that he wanted the independence of East Bengal.
Finally, on 29 May 1954, the United Front government was dismissed by the central government
and Governor's rule was imposed in the province, which lasted till 2 June 1955.
Curiously enough within two months of his sacking, Fazlul Huq was appointed the central Home
Minister. As Home Minister, Fazlul Huq utilised his influence to bring his party to power in East
Bengal. Naturally, the United Front broke up. The Muslim members of the United Front split into

two groups. In 1955 the Awami Muslim League adopted the path of secularism and noncommunalism, erased the word 'Muslim' from its nomenclature and adopted the name "Awami
League".
Great differences began developing between the two wings of Pakistan. While the west had a
minority share of Pakistan's total population, it had the largest share of revenue allocation,
industrial development, agricultural reforms and civil development projects. Pakistan's military
and civil services were dominated by the fair-skinned, Persian-cultured Punjabis and Afghans.
Only one regiment in the Pakistani Army was Bengali. And many Bengali Pakistanis could not
share the natural enthusiasm for the Kashmir issue, which they felt was leaving East Pakistan
more vulnerable and threatened as a result.

Independence
After the Awami League won all the East Pakistan seats of the Pakistan's National Assembly in
the 1970-71 elections, West Pakistan opened talks with the East on constitutional questions about
the division of power between the central government and the provinces, as well as the formation
of a national government headed by the Awami League.
The talks proved unsuccessful, however, and on March 1, 1971, Pakistani President Yahya Khan
indefinitely postponed the pending National Assembly session, precipitating massive civil
disobedience in East Pakistan.
On March 4, a group of students, lead by Abdur Rob, of Dhaka University raised the new
(proposed) flag of Bangla.
On March 7, there was a historical public gathering in Paltan Maidan to hear the guideline for the
revolution and independence from Shaikh Mujib, the frontier leader of movement that time.
Although he avoided the direct speech of independence as the talks were still underway, he
influenced the mob to prepare for the separation war. The speech is still considered a key
moment in the war of liberation, and is remembered for the phrase, "Ebarer Shongram Muktir
Shongram, Ebarer Shongram Shadhinotar Shongram...." ("This revolution is for victory, this
revolution is for freedom....")
After the military crackdown by the Pakistan army began on the night of March 25, 1971 Sheikh
Mujib Mujibur Rahman was arrested and the political leaders dispersed, mostly fleeing to
neighbouring India where they organized a provisional government afterwards. The people were
at a loss. At this crucial moment with a sudden forced political vacuum, the Eighth East Bengal
Regiment under the leadership of Major Ziaur Rahman revolted against the Pakistan Army and
took up the Bangladesh flag as its mainstay on the night of March 26 - March 27, 1971. Major
Zia declared, on behalf of the Great Leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the independence of
Bangladesh. The Bangladesh Government was formed in Meherpur, adjacent to Indian border.
There the war plan was sketched.
A war force was established named "Muktibahini". M. A. G. Osmani was assigned as the Chief
of the force. The land sketched into 11 sectors under 11 sector commanders. Major Ziaur
Rahman was the sector commander of Chittagong-Comilla region. The training and most of the
arms-ammunitions were arranged by the Meherpur government which was supported by India.
As fighting grew between the Pakistan Army and the Bengali Mukti Bahini ("freedom fighters"),
an estimated ten million Bengalis, mainly Hindus, sought refuge in the Indian states of Assam,
Tripura and West Bengal.
The crisis in East Pakistan produced new strains in Pakistan's troubled relations with India. The
two nations had fought a war in 1965, mainly in the west, but the refugee pressure in India in the
fall of 1971 produced new tensions in the east. Indian sympathies lay with East Pakistan, and on
December 3, 1971, India intervened on the side of the Bangladeshis. On December 16, 1971,

Pakistani forces surrendered, and Bangla-Desh ("Country of Bangla") was finally established the
following day. The new country changed its name to Bangladesh on January 11, 1972 and
became a parliamentary democracy under a constitution. Shortly thereafter on March 19
Bangladesh signed a friendship treaty with India.