| Conquest of Bhulua | |||||||||
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| Part ofMughal conquest of Bengal | |||||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||||
 Mughal Empire | Bhulua Kingdom | ||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
| Islam Khan I Shaykh Abdul Wahid Mirza Nuruddin Mirza Isfandiyar Shamsuddin Baghdadi Khwaja Asl Adil Beg Mirza Beg | Raja Ananta Manikya Mirza Yusuf Barlas(defector) | ||||||||
| Strength | |||||||||
| 3,000 infantry 4,000 cavalry 50 elephants | Unknown | ||||||||
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TheConquest of Bhulua (Bengali:ভুলুয়া বিজয়,romanized: Bhulua Bijôy) refers to the 17th-centuryMughal conquest of theBhulua Kingdom, which covered much of the present-dayNoakhali region ofBangladesh.[1] The campaign was led byShaykh Abdul Wahid, under the orders ofIslam Khan I, against Raja Ananta Manikya in 1613.[2][3] The conquest of Bhulua allowed the Mughals to successfully penetrate through southeastern Bengal and conquerChittagong and parts ofArakan.[4]
TheNoakhali region was historically known asBhulua and was ruled by the Bishwambhar Sur dynasty, an independent line ofHindu kings who enjoyed autonomy under theSultanate of Bengal. TheMughal Empire defeated the Sultanate at theBattle of Rajmahal on 12 July 1576, formally establishing theBengal as the easternmost province of the subcontinent-wide empire. However, the collapse of the Sultanate led to the formation of theBaro-Bhuiyans; a loose confederacy of independent chieftains across Bengal who continued to challenge Mughal domination.
During the reign of EmperorAkbar, RajaMan Singh I (1594–1606) was the appointedSubahdar of Bengal and responsible for warding off rebellious chieftains in the region. The Bhulua Kingdom was then under the rule of Raja Lakshmana Manikya. Lakshmana was among the Baro-Bhuiyans of Bengal, and was succeeded by his son, Ananta Manikya.[5][6]
In 1608, EmperorJahangir appointedIslam Khan Chishti as the Subahdar of Bengal, who continued his predecessors' campaigns to subdue the Baro-Bhuiyans and completely annex all of Bengal to the Mughal Empire.
In 1613, Abdul Wahid was appointed as the main commander of theBhulua expedition by theSubahdar ofBengal Islam Khan I. He had command over 50 elephants, 3000matchlockers and 4000 cavalry (including 500 of the Subahdar's own cavalry), in addition to the forces of Mirza Nuruddin, Mirza Isfandiyar, Haji Shamsuddin Baghdadi, Khwaja Asl, Adil Beg and Mirza Beg. The localraja, Ananta Manikya, began to set up defences around Bhulua with theMagh king's assistance, before proceeding forward to theDakatia banks where he built a fort. Abdul Wahid's army reached the fort in a few days, and a battle commenced resulting in a number of deaths on both sides.[7]
Manikya's forces had also planned a surprise attack at night. However, the raja's chief minister, Mirza Yusuf Barlas, surrendered to Abdul Wahid, who rewarded him as amansabdar of 500 soldiers and 300 horses. Manikya did not surrender after losing Barlas, and rather retreated to Bhulua at midnight to strengthen the fort there.[8] News of the retreat reached the Mughals twopahars later, and so they began following the raja's forces. Having no time to defend themselves, Manikya retreated further to seek refuge with the Magh kingMin Razagyi ofArakan but was defeated at the banks of theFeni River. The Mughals seized all of Manikya's elephants, and Abdul Wahid successfully took control of Bhalwa in 1613.[9]
Under SubahdarIslam Khan I, Bhalwa and Jagdia were established as frontier garrisons as the Mughals were aware of its strategic location as a crossroad between Mughal Bengal andChittagong, then under the Arakanese kingdom.[10][11] The Mughals also made Bhulua into a strong naval garrison to deter piracy from the Portuguese and Arakanese which was still causing great havoc along the coast.[12] Bhalwa was integrated into theSarkar ofSonargaon. Members of the Bishwambhar Sur family were allowed to remain aszamindars . The fall of Bhulua also compelledMusa Khan, the main remaining Baro-Bhuiyan ruler, to also surrender to Islam Khan, and the rest of the Baro-Bhuiyans were subdued soon afterwards.[citation needed]
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