| Isa Khan ঈশা খাঁ | |
|---|---|
| Masnad-i-Ala | |
 | |
| Chief of Baro-Bhuyan of Bengal | |
| Reign | 1576 – 29 August 1599 |
| Born | 17 April 1536 Sarail,Bhati region,Bengal Sultanate nowBrahmanbaria district |
| Died | 29 August 1599 (age 63) Baktarpur, Bhati region,Baro-Bhuyan Confederacy |
| Burial | Baktarpur,Kaliganj Upazila, Gazipur,Bangladesh |
| Spouse | Fatema Khatun Sona Bibi |
| Issue | Musa Dawud Mahmud Abdullah Ilyas |
| House | Sarail Fort |
| Father | Sulaiman Khan |
| Mother | Syeda Momena Khatun |
| Religion | Sunni Islam |
Isa Khan (Middle Bengali:ঈশা খাঁ, 17 April 1536 – 29 August 1599) was one of 16th-centuryBaro-Bhuyan chieftains ofBengal.[1] During his reign, he successfully unified the chieftains of Bengal and resisted theMughal invasion of Bengal. It was only after his death that the region fell totally underMughal control. He remains an iconic figure throughoutBangladesh as a symbol of his rebellious spirit and unity.
Isa Khan was born on 17 April 1536 into azamindar family known as theDewans ofSarail in theBhati region of theSultanate of Bengal.[1] There are conflicting accounts regarding his origins. According to one tradition, his grandfather Bhagirat was aBaisRajput fromOudh who came to Bengal in search of fortune. His father Sulaiman Khan, originally named Kalidas Gajdani, converted to Islam and carved out a principality in Bhati.[2][3] Another account suggests Isa Khan was ofAfghan origin.[4][5]Abu'l Fazl, in hisAin-i-Akbari, calls him "Isa Afghan", though in theAkbarnama assigns the Bais Rajput origin.[2][3] Isa Khan's mother,Syeda Momena Khatun, was the daughter ofSultan Mahmud Shah.[6] His maternal aunt was married toKhidr Khan Surak.[7] Isa had one younger brother,Ismail Khan, and one sister, Shahinsha Bibi.[8]
Following the death of Sultan Mahmud Shah, Isa's father declared himself as the legal successor and revolted against theSur Empire. He was later killed in battle.[1]
With the help of Taj Khan, aKarrani ruler during 1564–1566, Isa obtained an estate inSonargaon and Maheswardi Pargana in 1564 as a vassal of theKarrani dynasty of Bengal. He gradually increased his power in the Bhati region by making alliance with otherZamindars and helping fellow Afghan Chieftains.[9] In 1573 he helpedDaud Khan Karrani in his expedition toChittagong againstUdai Manikya, theMaharaja ofTripura.[1][10]
From the inscription on a cannon, it is known that by 1593-1594 Isa Khan was using the titleMasnad-i-Ala. Various theories have been put forward regarding who might have granted him the title.[11] HistorianAbdul Karim believes he assumed the title himself sometime after 1581–1582.[12]
The rule of Karrani dynasty ended when Daud Khan was defeated in theBattle of Rajmahal in 1576. Isa started playing a leading role in the local resistance.[1] In the end he successfully conquered parts ofDhaka,Rangpur,Pabna,Tripura,Mymensingh andBogra.[13][14] In 1577, Isa established Egarasindhur (in present-dayPakundia Upazila,Kishoreganj) as the political and trading centre of his realm. Forming a petty kingdom that remained independent.[15] He declared himself as the ruler of the Bhati region in 1581–82. FromSarail, he shifted his administrative centre to Sonargaon. He built fortresses at Katrabo, Kalagachhia and Khizrpur near Sonargaon.[1][16]
In 1578, Mughal Subahdar of Bengal,Subahdar Khan Jahan led an expedition towards the Bhati region and set camp inBhawal.[1] Isa faced the Mughal force led by Shah Bardi and Muhammad Quli on the Sarail-Juan Shahi border in Kastul on the bank ofMeghna river.[17] According to theRajmala, Isa then quickly retreated to Tripura and sought assistance from the then Maharaja of Tripura,Amar Manikya. With the good grace of the queen Amrabati, the king granted an army of 52,000 men to help Isa face the Mughals.[18]
However, before Isa returned toSarail, two zamindars – Majlis Pratap and Majlis Dilawar already attacked and defeated the Mughal forces under Khan Jahan. Muhammad Quli was captured but Shah Bardi fled to Bhawal camp.[19] Khan Jahan retreated to the city ofTandah where he died on 19 December 1578 after a prolonged illness.[20]
According to descriptions by Rajmala, Khan, who became the Zamindar of Sarail, sent one thousand labourers for Amar Manikya along with other Zamindars of Bengal in response to the request made by Manikya to excavate theAmar Sagar Dighi at around 1580 AD. Besides, as the naval commander of Manikya, Khan fought against the Zamindars ofTaraf andSylhet, Syed Musa and Fateh Khan respectively, in 1581.[1]
In 1583, Mughal GeneralShahbaz Khan destroyed Isa's palace in Baktiarpur.[21] In September 1584,[22] the then-subahdar Shahbaz crossed theGanges near Khizirpur and attackedSonargaon, Katrabo and Egarasindhur[1] and pursued the defeated Pathan forces under Masum Kabuli up to Bikrampur in Dhaka, the cunning Isa then pretended to negotiate for surrender and delayed the attack of the Mughal general for several months. However, in 1584, Isa and Masum Khan Kabuli, deploying musket and gunpowder artilleries, launched a counterattack which finally defeated Shahbaz Khan in the naval and land battles of Egarasindur and Bhawal,[23] and even killing one of the Mughal general,[13] after that Shahbaz Khan retreated to Tandah.[24]
In 1585, he attacked twoKoch rulers, Ram Hazra and Lakshman Hazra, and occupied theirJangalbari Fort (in present-dayKarimganj Upazila, Kishoreganj).[25]
Another source from local tradition was recorded that this happened in 1586 after Man Singh had defeated him in the battle of Egarasindhur. In the same year, Mughal Subahdar Shahbaz Khan again sent his forces against Isa to the south.[26]
With the help of reinforcements by EmperorAkbar, Shahbaz Khan led another military expedition towards Bhati in 1586. Isa attacked him at Bhawal (north of Dhaka) but forces of Shahbaz Khan were well fortified nearBrahmaputra. Isa then chose to give allegiance towards Akbar and prevented an imminent invasion of Bengal by the Mughals.
He even promised the Mughals he would dispatch Ma'sum Khan Kabuli, the renegade to a compulsory Pilgrimage to Mecca, something that was viewed as an act of banishment.
In late 1586,Ralph Fitch, an English traveler and merchant, came to Sonargaon, Bengal's eastern districts and stated,
They be all hereabout Rebels against the King Zebaldin Echebar (Jalaluddin Akbar) for here are so many Rivers and Iands, that they flee from one to another, whereby his Horsemen cannot prevaile against them. The chief King of all these Countries is called Isacan (Isa Khan), and he is chief of all the other Kings, and is a great friend to all Christians.[27]
Later on in 1588, he was involved in conflicts against Chand Rai and Kedar Rai.[1]
Isa continued his campaign against theKoch dynasty. He fought and defeated Raghudev, the king ofKoch Hajo, who ruled fromSankosh River in the west to theBhareli River in the east on the north bank of theBrahmaputra River and rival toKoch Bihar kingdom which gained prominence after the latter's annexation by Mughal empire.[28] Isa successfully captured portions of Raghudev's territory as far asRangamati andGoalpara.[29][failed verification] However, later Isa Khan and Raghudev formed an alliance against the threat of Mughal invasion.
On 17 March 1594,Man Singh was appointed theSubahdar of Bengal byEmperor Akbar.[27] After establishingRajmahal as the capital of Bengal, Man Singh set out on 9 December 1595 to wrest the East Bengal delta from Isa Khan.[29] Isa was emboldened to resist the Mughals after he successfully sought alliance with Raghudev, his former enemy[30] and Kedar Rai, Zamindar of Bhusna in Faridpur.[31] In the clash that took place in August 1597, Isa became engaged in a battle against Mughal naval forces with the assistance of Masum Khan Kabuli, an ex-Mughal defector.[27] At first Isa faced defeat with the Mughals attacking Katrabo, one of Isa'spargana[32] and city. However, on 5 September, Durjan Singh was killed and the Mughal forces were defeated. Both the army and navy of the Mughal-Koch Bihar alliance were either routed or captured.[1]
It is recorded that in this clash, Isa personally fought Man Singh in a duel.[33] However, the duel ended inconclusively when Isa Khan stopped fighting after Man Singh's sword broke. The noble gesture touched Man Singh and both men developed respect for each other which culminated into a friendship. Man Singh's respect for his rival was later made evident; when Isa sought to submit to the Mughal under a guarantee that it was wiser for Mughals not to incite a full invasion, Man Singh accompanied him to the Mughal court.[citation needed]
Due to his submission, Akbar assigned 22 parganas or administrative units under the ruling of Isa.[34]
Khan first married his maternal cousin Fatima Bibi, a daughter of his auntRaushan Akhtar Banu and her husbandSyed Ibrahim Danishmand.[35] Later he married Sarnamoyee, the daughter of Chand Rai of Sripur. After her conversion to Islam, Sarnamoyee took the nameSona Bibi.[36]
Khan's son,Musa Khan, took control of Sonargaon after his death.[37] On 10 July 1610 Musa was dethroned by Mughal GeneralIslam Khan Chisti. After that, the descendants of Isa left Sonargaon and settled in Jangalbari Fort.[26]Masum Khan was the eldest son of Musa Khan. Masum served as the Mughal army General during the Hughly invasion in 1632.[38]His eldest son was Monwar Khan. Monwar acted as the chief of the Bengal Zamindars' flotilla on the conquest of Chittagong in 1666.[39] Monwar, leading naval ships armed with bronze 9,5 inches cannons, recoveredChittagong from the Portuguese.[40] A village calledMonwarbagh, in Bandar Upazila ofNarayanganj District, was named after him.[39] Haybat Khan, another grandson of Musa, establishedHaybatnagar (in present-day Kishoreganj district) and made it the centre of his land-lordship of seven parganas.[26]
James Wise (d. 1886[41]), a civil surgeon in Dhaka for 10 years, published a report on Baro-Bhuyans inJournal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, Volume 43 in 1874. He found information from the account of his meeting with the descendants of Isa in Jangalbari and Haybatnagar. He addressed Isa as theZamindar of Khizirpur. The Haybatnagar family had possessedsanads sent byShah Shuja in 1649 and another one fromShaista Khan in 1667. Subhan Dad Khan had been the head of the family in Jangalbari in 1874. The other descendant of Haybatnagar family, Ilah Nawaz Khan, had died inCalcutta in 1872. Other branches of the family had settled in Jafarabad, Baghalpur, Mymensingh, Harishpur (Tripura), Katrabo (Dhaka), and Barisal. The wealth, property and Zamindari was distributed amongst the descendants which is why they each lived in different parts of the country.[42]
As of 2005, Dewan Amin Dau Khan, the 14th descendant of Isa has been living in Jangalbari Fort in Egarasindur village. The fort seemed to have a circular front and had 40 rooms. The fort was mostly destroyed during an earthquake in 1893.[43]
So called alliance betweenKedar Ray and Isa Khan turned into animosity as Isa Khan abducted Kedar's widow niece Swornomoyee. Rattled by this, Kedar Ray invaded Isha khan's capital, tearing down the Kalagachhia and other forts one after another up until his death in 1599. Frightened by Kedar Ray's attack, Isa soon fled to Medinipur.[44] Kedar Ray continued to occupy the zamindari of Isa Khan.
Khan died there[27] in September 1599.[45] His tomb remains in the village of Baktarpur inKaliganj Upazila,Gazipur District of Bangladesh.[46]
On 12 February 1909, a farmer unearthed seven cannons in Monwarbagh inBandar,Narayanganj.[38] The cannons were partly made of brass. They had labels "Isa Khan" and "1002" (Hijri 1002 year is 1593 CE inGregorian Calendar). These cannons were made from the era ofSher Shah Suri who ruled Bengal before the Bara Bhuiyans while at least three cannons which carved with Isa Khan labels were made during theBaro-Bhuyans independent era.[47]
Bangladesh Navy has named a base,BNS Issa Khan in his honour. The base, BNS Issa Khan, was the first Bangladesh Navy base to receive the national standard in 1974.[48]
On 15 September 1992, Bangladesh issued a commemorative stamp in honour of Isa.[45]
Ajatra, namedIsa Khan, depicting the life of Isa, written by Bhoironnath Gangopadhyay and directed by Mridul Kanti Dey, was staged on the premises ofBangladesh Lok O Karu Shilpa Foundation on 18 October 2012.[49]
DA Tayeb made a movie named Isa Khan.
Isamil and Isa were his sons by this wife
The Queen then asked the king to provide Icha khan with an army ... An army fifty two thousand strong was ordered to accompany Icha khan
After this Khān-i-Jahān returned to Sihhatpur, in the suburbs of Tāndā ... and there he died after a long illness, on 19th December, 1578.
