| Jalaluddin Muhammad Shah | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sultan Al Nāsir Amir Al Mu'minīn (Helper of the Commander of the Faithful) Ghawth Al-Islām wal Muslimīn (Helper of Islam and Muslims)[1] | |||||
 Arabic silver coin with a lion inscription minted during Jalaluddin Muhammad Shah's reign | |||||
| 7thSultan of Bengal | |||||
| Reign | 1415–1416 | ||||
| Predecessor | Shihabuddin Bayazid Shah | ||||
| Successor | Raja Ganesha | ||||
| Reign | 1418–1433 | ||||
| Predecessor | Raja Ganesha | ||||
| Successor | Shamsuddin Ahmad Shah | ||||
| Born | Bhavaniganj,Bengal Sultanate | ||||
| Died | c. 1433 Pandua,Bengal Sultanate | ||||
| Spouses | Nabakishori Devi | ||||
| Issue | Shamsuddin Ahmad Shah | ||||
| |||||
| House | Ganesha dynasty | ||||
| Father | Raja Ganesha | ||||
| Religion | Islam | ||||
Jalaluddin Muhammad Shah (Bengali:জালালউদ্দীন মুহম্মদ শাহ; born asJadu/যদু[3]) was a 15th-centurySultan of Bengal and an important figure in medieval Bengali history. Born a Hindu to his aristocratic fatherRaja Ganesha, the patriarch of theGanesha dynasty, he assumed the throne of Bengal after a coup which overthrew theIlyas Shahi dynasty. He converted to Islam and ruled theBengal Sultanate for 16 years. As a Muslim king, he pursued relations with theTimurid Empire,Mamluk Egypt andMing China.[4] He also broughtArakan under Bengalisuzerainty and consolidated the kingdom's domestic administrative centres.Bengal grew in wealth and population during his reign. He also combined Bengali and Islamic architecture.
According to Goron and Goenka,Raja Ganesha seized control over Bengal soon after the death ofSultan Bayazid (1412–1414). Facing an imminent threat of invasion at the behest of a powerful Muslim holy man namedNur Qutb Alam, he appealed to the saint to call off his threat. The saint agreed on the condition that Raja Ganesha's son Jadu would convert to Islam and rule in his place. Raja Ganesha agreed and Jadu started rulingBengal asJalal al-Din in 1415 AD.[3] Nur Qutb Alam died in 1416 AD and Raja Ganesha was emboldened to depose his son and accede to the throne himself asDanujamarddana Deva.[5] Jalaluddin was reconverted to Hinduism by theGolden Cow ritual. After the death of his father he once again converted to Islam and started ruling his second phase.[6]
After Raja Ganesha died Jalaluddin assembled the nobles and ministers and said, “I believe in the truth of the religion of Muhammad, and I shall not deviate from this (belief). If you accept me and do not turn against my royal authority, then only I shall sit on this august throne; if not you shall raise my younger brother to the throne and excuse me.”[7]
Jalaluddin maintained a peaceful kingdom during his second phase. His authority stretched to eastern Bengal Moazzamabad (present-daySunamganj) and south-eastern Bengal (present-dayChittagong). He also conquered Fathabad (present-dayFaridpur) and the southern Bengal. During his reignFiruzabad Pandua became a populous and flourishing town. It is recorded in theMing shi that a Chinese explorer,Cheng Ho, visited the city twice in 1421–22 and 1431–33. He later transferred the capital from Pandua toGauda.[4] The city ofGauda[8] began to be re-populated during his reign. Jalaluddin himself constructed a number of buildings andsarais there.[9]
Jalaluddin played a distinguished role in converting the Hindus of Bengal to Islam.Dr. James Wise wrote in theJournal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal (1894) that "the only condition he offered was either the Koran or death. Many Hindus fled to Kamrup and the jungles of Assam, but it is nevertheless possible that more Muslims were added to Islam during these seventeen years (1414–31) than in the next three hundred years."[10] He maintained a good rapport with non-Muslims in his kingdom. According to an interpretation of a Sanskritsloka by D. C. Bhattacharya, Jalaluddin appointed Rajyadhar, aHindu, as the commander of his army.[9] He gained support of Muslim scholars –Ulama and theShaikhs. He reconstructed and repaired the mosques and other religious architectures destroyed by Raja Ganesha.[4]
The 17th century Persian historian,Firishta applauded him by saying:
He upheld the principles of justice and equity and became theNaushirwan of the age.[9]
According to thePadachandrika, a commentary on theAmarakosha in Sanskrit, Brihaspati Mishra, aBrahmin from Kulingram (present-dayBardhaman district), was promoted by Sultan Jalaluddin to the position of theSarvabhaumapandita (court scholar). And Vishvasrai, son of Brihaspati Mishra, was also appointed a minister by the Sultan.[9] He patronized Sankritic culture by publicly showing appreciation for those scholars of classical Brahmanic scholarship. Many Brahmin poets were honored by Jalaluddin.[11]
According to a 19th-century chronicle written byFrancis Buchanan-Hamilton, Jalaluddin compelled many Hindus to convert to Islam, resulting in many Hindus fleeing toKamrup.[12]
He also maintained good diplomatic relations. He was in correspondence with the Timurid rulerShah Rukh ofHerat,Yung Le of China andal-Ashraf Barsbay, theMamluk ruler of Egypt.[4]Ibrahim Sharqi attacked his kingdom but censure from Yung Le and Shah Rukh caused him to withdraw.[13] Jalaluddin helped Meng Soamun Narmeikhla, King ofArakan, to recover his kingdom fromBurma; in return he became the overlord of Arakan.[14] He, at some point, also ruled over parts ofTripura and southernBihar.[15]
Jalaluddin tried to legitimise his rule by publicly displaying his credentials as a devout and correct Muslim. Contemporary Arab sources hold that upon his conversion toIslam, Jalaluddin adopted theHanafi legal tradition. He also rebuilt mosques destroyed by Raja Ganesha.[16]
Between 1428 and 1431, he also supported the construction of two Islamic institutions inMakkah andMadinah, known asBangaliyah Madaris. The Sultan gained permission by establishing close ties with and presentingBarakat ibn Hasan, theSharif of Makkah, with gifts and robes of honour. Jalaluddin also kept good relations with Barsbay, theMamluk sultan.[17] According toAl-Sakhawi'sAl-Daw al-lami` li ahli al-Qarni al-Tasi, Barsbay once gifted theBengali sultan with investiture, a robe of honour and a letter of recognition.[18][19] Jalaluddin had died before his own gifts could be dispatched to Barsbay and this job was left for his son,Shamsuddin Ahmad Shah, to be completed.[20]
In 1427, Jalaluddin described himself in an inscription asAl-sultan al-azam al-muazzamin khalifat Allah 'ali al-makunin Jalal al-Dunya w'al-Din (the most exalted of the great sultans, the caliph of Allah in the universe).
Min Saw Mon, the king of Arakan had fled his kingdom because of an invasion fromPegu and had entered the service of Sultan Jalaluddin, and proved to be a good commander. According to the Arakanese Chronicles, there was a invasion fromDelhi Sultanate and the sultan asked Saw Mon to take command of the army. His first strategy was to confiscate the enemy's dogs while setting up bait which are the spikes filled with meats, as the dogs ate the meats filled with spikes became lesser aggressive and halted further advance of the Delhi Sultanate's canine army. Saw Mon's sultanate army then launched a counterattack against the enemy positions, by setting up traps for the invaders as by luring then with silver coins scattered around the bamboo forests. The enemy soldiers shortly began picking up those coins, and sensing weakness, Mon attacked and routed the invaders. Bengal Sultanate thus successfully ward off the invasion thanks to military strategy of Saw Mon.[citation needed]
After this victory, Saw Mon convinced the sultan to help him regain the Arakanese throne. The sultan agreed. In February/March 1429 (Tabaung 790 ME),[21] Saw Mon aided by troops "largely made up ofAfghan adventurers and Bengali muslims" invaded Arakan.[22] The first attempt at the invasion failed because Saw Mon got into an argument with commander Wali Khan of Bengal, and was imprisoned by the general. Saw Mon escaped, and the sultan agreed to another attempt. The second invasion went well, the Bengali and Afghan troops conquered the whole of Arakan. Saw Mon was proclaimed king atLaunggyet on 18 April 1429 (Thursday, 1st waning of Kason 791 ME) and in gratitude Saw Mon rewarded many Bengali soldiers, many of which returned to Bengal with war prizes. (According to some Arakanese chronicles, such asInzauk Razawin, the second invasion took place in 1430, a year later).[21] Min Saw Mon was restored to the Launggyet throne, andArakan became avassal state of the Bengal Sultanate for atleast a decade.
Several undated issues of his silver coins and a huge commemorative silver coin minted in Pandua in 1421, bear the stylised figure of a lion.[23] One theory says that they were issued to celebrate thearrival of a Chinese ambassador. Another theory says that they marked the withdrawal ofJaunpur's threatening army.[24] Asides from him, the lion-motif coins were also issued byNasiruddin Mahmud Shah I andJalaluddin Fateh Shah.[25] Such type of coins were also issued by thekingdom of Tripura in 1464, thus precluding the possibility that Jalaluddin was following the kingdom's custom. Since the lion is seen as the vehicle of theGoddess asChandi in whose name theSena dynasty rebelled from 1416 to 1418, it is possible he attempted to appeal to the deeply-rooted sentiments of Goddess-worship. In 1427, he had described himself in a description on a mosque asthe most exalted of the great sultans, the caliph of Allah in the universe. Having tested this, in 1430 he took a bolder step by including "Caliph of Allah" (Khalifat al-Allah) as one of his titles on his coins.[23] In 1431 AD he issued a new coin inscribingKalema-tut-shahadat.[4] Thus he reintroduced on his coins the Kalimah, which had disappeared from Bengal Sultanate coins for several centuries.
He died in Rabi 2, 837 AH (1433 AD) and was said to have been buried in theEklakhi Mausoleum at Pandua, although this is disputed.[4][26]
Untill 1430 he issued coins with these two titles
The fact that a dethroned Arakanese king, named Meng-tsaumum, recovered his throne, in 1430 A. D., with the help of the Gaur king (Jalaluddin Muhammad Shah) and recognized his vassalage goes to show the hold of Gaur court on Chittagong about the time.
Jalaluddin Muhammad Shah House ofRaja Ganesha | ||
| Preceded by | Ruler of Bengal 1415–1416 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Sultan of Bengal 1418–1433 | Succeeded by |