Kingdom of Bhulua ভুলুয়া রাজ্য | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1203–1613 | |||||||||||
| Capital | Kalyanpur Bhulua | ||||||||||
| Recognised national languages | Middle Bengali,Sanskrit | ||||||||||
| Religion | Hinduism | ||||||||||
| Government | Monarchy | ||||||||||
| Raja | |||||||||||
• 1203 | Bishwambhar Sur (first) | ||||||||||
• c. 1600 | Ananta Manikya (last ruler underTripura vassalage) | ||||||||||
• 1728 | Kirti Narayan (zamindar) | ||||||||||
| Chief Minister | |||||||||||
• 1600s | Mirza Yusuf Barlas | ||||||||||
| Historical era | Mediaeval period | ||||||||||
• Established | 1203 | ||||||||||
• Disestablished | 1613 | ||||||||||
| |||||||||||
| Today part of | Bangladesh | ||||||||||
Part ofa series on the |
|---|
| History ofBengal |
 |
Ancient Kingdoms |
Colonial Bengal |
Modern period
|
TheKingdom of Bhulua (Bengali:ভুলুয়া রাজ্য,romanized: Bhulua Rajjo) was a medieval kingdom ofBengal and later azamindari, covering the present-dayNoakhali region ofBangladesh. According to local tradition the establishment of the kingdom dates from the thirteenth century, whenBishwambhar Sur, ninth son ofAdi Sur, aKshatriya ofMithila who passed by the area during a pilgrimage. There are several versions of this tale and questions about the accuracy of the date, but most probably the earlyRajas of Bhulua wereKayasthas fromWestern Bengal.The kingdom fell underTripura vassalage in the 15th century, and was reduced to azamindari (fiefdom) after losing to theMughals. Most of the kingdom's land has been eroded by theMeghna River.[1]
The members of the ruling dynasty of Bhulua were members of theKayastha caste and the chiefdom continued to maintain cultural connections with the Mithila region.[2] Local traditions assert theMaithili origin of the family but it is universally admitted that the family was soon absorbed into the largerBangaja Kayastha community of Eastern Bengal.[3]
According to legend, Bishwambhar Sur went on a pilgrimage to theChandranath Temple atop theChandranath Hill ofSitakunda. Returning from Sitakunda, Sur passed through what is now known as the Noakhali region, where he rested. During this rest, Sur had a dream thatVarahi would make him the sovereign of this territory if he worships her. On a cloudy day in 1203 AD, Sur built analtar for Varahi and sacrificed a goat. When the clouds moved away, Sur realised that he had sacrificed the goat to the west, which was not acceptable in Hinduism. As a result, he screamedbhul hua (it was wrong), from which the name Bhulua was said to have come from. However, Sur nevertheless colonised the land and became its ruler. The practice of sacrificing goats westwards became common among the Hindus of Bhulua. TheRajmala statesAmishapara as the first capital of the kingdom, and this backed up by the presence of an ancient temple in the area which contains a stone idol of Varahi. According to local tradition however, it was Kalyanpur that was the first capital of Bhulua.[3]
It is said thatFakhruddin Mubarak Shah, the Sultan ofSonargaon, conquered parts of Bhulua and annexed it to his kingdom.[4] Sriram, the fourth king of Bhulua, adopted the title ofKhan which shows an influence whichIslam and the neighbouringDelhi Sultanate had on the Hindu-ruled kingdom. The village of Srirampur was founded by Raja Sriram Khan and the ruins of his palace can still be found there. His son also kept the title of Khan, though his grandson exchanged the title forRai.[3]
In 1520,Deva Manikya of Tripura conquered Bhulua,[5] although they still maintained some level of autonomy. The seventh king of Bhulua used the title of Manikya, and had a cordial relationship with theMaharajas of Tripura. The Bhulua kings were given the honour of placing theRaj Tika (royal mark) on the foreheads of the Tripura kings during their coronations.[3]
To strengthen the defences of the Bhulua frontier from frequentMagh invasions, King Rajballabh appointed governors across his kingdom. The Elahabad and Dandra parganas were given toSyed Sher Alam, aMuslim general fromBaghdad.[6] The seventh king of Bhulua was Gandharva Manikya, who was succeeded by his son.[1]
Lakshmana Manikya was the eighth and most prominent king of Bhulua, and was considered to have been a member of theBaro-Bhuiyans. He authored twoSanskrit dramas,Vikhyatavijaya (বিখ্যাতবিজয়) andKuvalayashvacarita (কুবলয়াশ্বতচরিত).[7] He was responsible for inviting hundreds ofBrahmins to Bhulua and gifting them land in Chapali, Kilpara, Barahinagar and Srirampur. His court scholarPandit Raghunath, under thepen name of Kavitarkik, authored theKautukaratnakara (কৌতুকরত্নকার) play which includes a brief history of the Bhulua kingdom and its ruling dynasty in its preface. It also mentions the importance of the Bhulua Kingdom in the fields of culture, education and literature.[8] Manikya also went into conflict with Ramchandra, the young ruler ofBakla and Chandradwip, who he used to frequently make fun of. On one occasion, Ramchandra plotted against him by crossing theMeghna River and inviting Manikya to a banquet in which his men captured Manikya to Chandradwip, where they murdered him.[9]
Durlabha Narayan Balaram Manikya was another son of Lakshmana Manikya. His court poet was Abdur Razzaq of Balukia inBedrabad, author ofSayful Mulk o Lal Banu.[10] Between 1578 and 1579, Balaram broke the tradition of attending the coronation of the Maharajas ofTripura as he perceivedAmar Manikya to be an illegitimate ruler.[9] Perceiving this as a declaration of Bhulua's independence, Amar Manikya raided the Bhulua Kingdom with his forces, eventually forcing Balaram to maintain Bhulua as a vassalage of Tripura.[3] During the excavation ofAmar Sagar reservoir inUdaipur, Amar Manikya demanded various local chieftains of Bengal to supply labour for the task and pay him tribute. In response, the Bhulua king sent 1000 labourers.[11][12][13]
During the reign ofMughal emperorJahangir, theSubahdar ofBengalIslam Khan I sent a force to takeover the kingdom, which was now under Ananta Manikya, another son of Lakshmana Manikya. The expedition consisted of the forces of Mirza Nuruddin, Mirza Isfandiyar, Haji Shamsuddin Baghdadi, Khwaja Asl, Adil Beg and Mirza Beg, in addition to 500 members of the Subahdar's cavalry. Khan appointedShaykh Abdul Wahid as the main commander of the entire expedition, which in total was made up 50 elephants, 3000matchlockers and 4000 cavalry. Ananta Manikya set up defences around Bhulua with theMagh Raja's assistance, before proceeding forward to theDakatia banks where he built a fort. The Mughals reached the fort in a few days, and a battle commenced resulting in a number of deaths on both sides. Manikya's forces also planned a surprise attack at night. The chief minister of Bhulua,Mirza Yusuf Barlas, surrendered to the Mughal forces and was rewarded by Abdul Wahid as amansabdar of 500 soldiers and 300 horses. After losing Barlas however, Manikya did not surrender and rather retreated to Bhulua at midnight to strengthen the fort there. News of the retreat reached the Mughals twopahars later, and so they began following Manikya's forces. Having no time to defend themselves, Manikya retreated further to seek refuge with KingMin Razagyi of Arakan but was defeated at the banks of theFeni River. The Mughals seized all of Manikya's elephants, and Abdul Wahid successfully took control of Bhulua.[3] Bhulua was subsequently added the Mughalsarkar ofSonargaon.[4]
The Bishwambhar Sur dynasty were ultimately reduced to feudal landowners under Mughal vassalage. In the early seventeenth century,Yashodhar Manikya of Tripura led a raid against the Bhulua kings, which ultimately resulted in a heavy defeat.[14] In 1661,Dutch sailors shipwrecked at Bhulua were cared for by the rulers of Bhulua. A Mughal document from 1782 mentions Raja Kirti Narayan as the Zamindar of Bhulua and Bijay Narayan as the Zamindar of Kudwah-Bhulua.[9] Six years later, a part of the Bhulua estate was sold to Ganga Govinda Singh, the zamindar of Paikpara. In 1833, the entire estate was sold due toarrears and later purchased byDwarkanath Tagore who eventually sold it to Rani Katyayani of Paikpara.[4] In the twentieth century, John Webster mentioned that there were people in Srirampur that kept the name "Sur", denoting a relation to the erstwhile Bishwambhar Sur dynasty.[3]
Capital:Maijdee | ||
| Upazilas |  | |
| Constituencies | ||
| Attractions and sites | ||
| History | ||
| Inhabited areas | ||
| Rivers and transport | ||
| Educational institutions |
| |
| See also | ||
Capital:Feni | ||
| Upazilas | | |
| Constituencies | ||
| Attractions and sites | ||
| History | ||
| Inhabited areas | ||
| Educational institutions | ||
| Transport | ||
Capital:Lakshmipur | ||
| Upazilas | | |
| Constituencies | ||
| Attractions and sites | ||
| History | ||
| Inhabited areas | ||
| Rivers and transport | ||
| Educational institutions | ||
