Alauddin Firuz Shah II

Summary

ʿAlā ad-Dīn Fīrūz Shāh (Bengali: আলাউদ্দীন ফিরোজ শাহ, Persian: علاء الدین فیروز شاه) was the son and successor of Sultan Nasiruddin Nasrat Shah of Bengal. He served as a governor of Chittagong during his father's reign, and was a patron of Bengali literature.[1][2] Firuz Shah ascended the throne in 1533, though it was not unanimously recognised by all the nobles of Bengal. The conflict with the Ahom kingdom continued during his reign and the Bengali army led by Turbak Khan had reached as far as Kaliabor. Within three months as Sultan, Firuz Shah was assassinated by his uncle, who succeeded him as Sultan Ghiyasuddin Mahmud Shah.[3]

Alauddin Firuz Shah
al-Malik al-ʿĀdil ʿAlā ad-Dunyā wa ad-Dīn Abū al-Muẓaffar Fīrūz Shāh (The Just King, Nobility of the World and the Religion, Patriarch of Triumph, King Firuz)
Sultan of Bengal
Reign1533
PredecessorNasrat Shah
SuccessorMahmud Shah III
BornFīrūz bin Naṣrat
Died1533
Sultanate of Bengal
Burial1533
HouseHussain Shahi
FatherNasrat Shah
ReligionSunni Islam
Governor of Chittagong
In office
Until 1533
MonarchNasrat Shah
Preceded byChhuti Khan

Early life and background edit

Firuz was born in the Sultanate of Bengal to an aristocratic Bengali Sunni Muslim family known as the Hussain Shahi dynasty.[4] His father, Nasiruddin Nasrat Shah, was a son of Sultan Alauddin Husain Shah of Bengal and a son-in-law of Sultan Ibrahim Lodi of Delhi. From an early age, Firuz was an admirer of Bengali literature.[5] As a royal prince and governor of Chittagong,[6] Firuz requested a writer known as Dvija Sridhara to compose the Vidya-Sundar love story in Bengali poetry form.[7][8][9] which was completed later during his reign. Sridhara continuously praised Firuz in the poem for his good manners and wisdom.[1]

Reign edit

Sultan Nusrat Shah was assassinated by a eunuch when returning from a visit to the tomb of his father, Alauddin Husain Shah.[10] Following his death, the throne was contested between his son, Firuz, and his brother, Mahmud. Mahmud had served as an ameer during his brother's reign and the 20th-century historian Jadunath Sarkar suggests that Mahmud was the heir apparent due to his early usage of royal insignia. Nevertheless, the nobles of the Sultanate including Mahmud's brother-in-law Makhdum Alam, the Governor of North Bihar, installed Firuz Shah to the throne.[11]

On the first day of Ramadan 939 AH (27 March 1533), a congregational mosque was built in Kalna, Burdwan by Ulugh Masnad Khan, who was Firuz Shah's governor, commander and minister.[12] Within the space of three months, Firuz Shah was assassinated by his uncle, Mahmud, who succeeded him as the Sultan of Bengal.[13][14]

Legacy edit

The Riyaz-us-Salatin, written by Ghulam Husain Salim in 1787, was the first history of Bengal which mentioned Firuz Shah, with his name being absent from the earlier chronicles, such as those written by Firishta and Nizamuddin Ahmad. Though Salim's source is unknown, a century later, Heinrich Blochmann publicised the inscription adjacent to the Kalna Shahi Mosque which commemorated the mosque's construction by Ulugh Masnad Khan. During this time, the mosque was still in use and its guardians were known to have held large bighas of land. Coins from Firuz Shah's reign were also found which are now kept in the British Museum.[15]

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ a b Roy, Atul Chandra (1986). History of Bengal, Turko-Afghan Period. Kalyani Publishers. p. 311.
  2. ^ Ray, Aniruddha (2011). Hussain, Syed Ejaz; Alam, Ishrat (eds.). The Varied Facets of History: Essays in Honour of Aniruddha Ray. Primus Books. p. 80. ISBN 9789380607160.
  3. ^ Ahmed, ABM Shamsuddin (2012). "Ghiyasuddin Mahmud Shah". In Sirajul Islam; Miah, Sajahan; Khanam, Mahfuza; Ahmed, Sabbir (eds.). Banglapedia: the National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh (Online ed.). Dhaka, Bangladesh: Banglapedia Trust, Asiatic Society of Bangladesh. ISBN 984-32-0576-6. OCLC 52727562. OL 30677644M. Retrieved 27 March 2024.
  4. ^ "[H]e identified himself so whole-heartedly that his alien origin was forgotten" (Sarkar 1973:151)
  5. ^ Ali, Muhammad Mohar (1985). History of the Muslims of Bengal. Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. pp. 856–858.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  6. ^ Abdur Rahim, Mohammad (1995). Islam in Bangladesh Through Ages. Islamic Foundation Bangladesh. p. 54. ISBN 9789840690121.
  7. ^ Ali, Syed Ashraf (21 February 2010). "Bangla: The history of a language". The Daily Star.
  8. ^ Alam, Muhammad Khurshid (2006). Urbanization under the Sultans of Bengal during 1203-1538 A.D. (PDF) (Thesis). Aligarh Muslim University. p. 215.
  9. ^ Sekhar, Soumitra (2012). "Vidyasundar". In Sirajul Islam; Miah, Sajahan; Khanam, Mahfuza; Ahmed, Sabbir (eds.). Banglapedia: the National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh (Online ed.). Dhaka, Bangladesh: Banglapedia Trust, Asiatic Society of Bangladesh. ISBN 984-32-0576-6. OCLC 52727562. OL 30677644M. Retrieved 27 March 2024.
  10. ^ Chowdhury, AM (2012). "Nusrat Shah". In Sirajul Islam; Miah, Sajahan; Khanam, Mahfuza; Ahmed, Sabbir (eds.). Banglapedia: the National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh (Online ed.). Dhaka, Bangladesh: Banglapedia Trust, Asiatic Society of Bangladesh. ISBN 984-32-0576-6. OCLC 52727562. OL 30677644M. Retrieved 27 March 2024.
  11. ^ Sarkar (1973), p. 159.
  12. ^ Ahmad Hasan Dani (17 September 2023). "Analysis of the Inscriptions". Asiatic Society Of Pakistan Vol-ii. p. 75.
  13. ^ Salim, Gulam Hussain; tr. from Persian; Abdus Salam (1902). Riyazu-s-Salatin: History of Bengal. Asiatic Society, Baptist Mission Press. p. 137.
  14. ^ Majumdar, R.C., ed. (1960). "Bengal". The Delhi Sultanate. Vol. 6. Mumbai: Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan. p. 221.
  15. ^ Blochmann, Heinrich (1872). "On a new king of Bengal". Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. 41. Asiatic Society of Bengal: 332, 339.

Bibliography edit

  • Sarkar, Jadunath, ed. (1973) [First published 1948]. "VII: The Husain Shāhī Dynasty". The History of Bengal. Vol. II: Muslim Period, 1200–1757. Patna: Academica Asiatica. OCLC 924890.
Preceded by Sultanate of Bengal
Hussain Shahi dynasty

1533
Succeeded by