Baro-Bhuyan
Encyclopedia
The Baro-Bhuyans were warrior chiefs and landlords (zamindars) of medieval Assam
and Bengal
who maintained a loose independent confederacy. In times of aggression by external powers, they generally cooperated in defending and expelling the aggressor. In times of peace, they maintained their respective sovereignty. In the presence of a strong king, they offered their allegiance. Baro denotes the number twelve, but in general there were more than twelve chiefs or landlords, and the word baro meant many.
In Assam, the Baro-Bhuyans occupied the region west of the Kachari kingdom
in the south bank of the Brahmaputra river
, and west of the Sutiya kingdom in the north bank. They were instrumental in defending against aggressors from Bengal, especially in defeating the remnant of Alauddin Husain Shah's administration after 1498. They also resisted the emergence of the Koch dynasty
but failed. Subsequently, they were squeezed between the Kachari kingdom
and the Kamata kingdom
in the south bank and slowly overpowered by the expanding Ahom kingdom
in the north.
In Bengal, the Bhuyans put up strong resistance to the Mughals during the time of Akbar and Jahangir
. During the interregnum between Afghan
rule and the rise of Mughal power in Bengal
, various parts of Bengal passed to the control of several military chiefs, Bhuiyans and zamindars. They jointly resisted Mughal
expansion and ruled their respective territories as independent or semi-independent chiefs. There was no central control, or if there was any, it was nominal.
These landlords did not belong to any particular ethnicity, religion or caste.
in the east and the Kamata kingdom
in the west on the south bank of the Brahmaputra river
. According to biographical literature of the Ekasarana Dharma, the group was formed when due to a treaty sometime in the middle of the 14th century between Dharmanarayana of Gauda and Durlabhnarayan of Kamarupa-Kamata, a group of seven Kayastha and seven Brahmin families were transferred to Langamaguri, a few miles north of present-day Guwahati
. The leader, or shiromani, of this group was Candivara, who had settled in Gauda after his emigration from Kannauj
in present-day Uttar Pradesh
. Candivara and his group did not stay in Lengamaguri for long, and moved soon to Bordowa in present-day Nagaon district. Among the descendants of Candivara was Srimanta Sankardeva
.
This group of Baro-Bhuyans was instrumental in ending the rule of Alauddin Husain Shah of Gauda who had displaced Nilambar the ruler of Kamata in 1498. But very soon the rise of Viswa Singha of the Koch dynasty
in Kamata squeezed them against the Kacharis in the west. They had to relocate to the north bank of the Brahmaputra in the first quarter of the 16th century, to a region west of the Bor Baro-Bhuyan group. The increasing Koch and Ahom conflicts further ate away at their independence and sovereignty.
in 1228. According to legend two brothers, Santanu and Sumanta, had twelve sons each and they formed the original Bor Baro-Bhuyan and Saru Baro-Bhuyan. The Saru Baro-Bhuyans emigrated to the Nagaon district soon after. The Bar Baro-Bhuyans fought with and withstood the mights of the Sutiya as well as the Kachari kingdoms. They soon came into conflict with the Ahoms, and were forced to subjugate themselves. They joined the Ahom king Suhungmung
's expeditions against the Sutiya and the Kachari kingdoms. Pleased with their help, the Baro-Bhuyans were established as tributary feudal landlords in the north bank. One of the leaders of this group of Baro-Bhuyans, Lecham Kalita was entrusted with the administration of the Marangi area after the defeat and withdrawal of the Kacharis from Dimapur. This administrative post later on came to be known as the Morongi-khowa Gohain and was passed on to the Ahom nobility.
The Saru Bhuyans trace the genealogy of Candivara to Kanvajara, the eldest son of Sumanta, but this is not given credence.
One group of scholars says the term Baro-Bhuiyan
mean exactly twelve Bhuiyans or chiefs. They applied the term Baro-Bhuiyans to those who fought for the freedom of their motherland. This view was later modified by another group of scholars to say that only those Bhuiyans who fought against Mughal aggression were known as Baro-Bhuiyans. Even the fighters against the Mughals were many more than twelve, so this group also failed to identify the Baro-Bhuyans.
In recent years, the question of identification of the Baro-Bhuyans has been studied afresh and they have been identified more or less satisfactorily. Modern scholars have found that the Baro-Bhuyans flourished during the chaotic period of Afghan rule and the period of the conquest of Bengal by the Mughal emperors Akbar and Jahangir. So the Baro-Bhuyans received proper treatment from the Mughal historians, Abul Fazl, the author of the Akbarnamah, and Mirza Nathan, the author of the Baharistan-i-Ghaibi
. Both of them used the numerical word ithna-ashara (twelve), to denote the Baro-Bhuyans; it means that the word 'Baro-Bhuiyans' was not a vague term, rather it gives the exact number of the Bhuiyans. They also categorically say that the twelve Bhuiyans (Baro-Bhuiyans) were people of Bhati
and they rose to power in Bhati. But the identification of Bhati is not an easy task.
On the basis of the confusing statements of the European writers, previous scholars also were in confusion about the identification of Bhati. The Baro-Bhuiyans fought against the Mughals in the reigns of emperors Akbar and Jahangir, and they submitted within a few years of Jahangir's accession. So Bhati of the Baro-Bhuyans may be identified with the help of the Mughal histories, mainly the Akbarnama, the Ain-e-Akbari and the Baharistan-i-Ghaibi. In Bengal the word Bhati generally means low land and the entire low-lying area of Bengal is Bhati. It is a riverine country, and most of it remains inundated for more than half of the year; the mighty rivers the Ganges, the Brahmaputra and their numerous branches wash and water the whole of eastern and southern Bengal.
and Bakerganj
. Keeping in view the theatre of warfare between the Baro-Bhuyans and the Mughals, and on the basis of the details of the warfare as given in the Akbarnama and the Baharistan-i-Ghaibi the limits of Bhati, where the Baro-Bhuyans flourished and rose to power, may be determined as the area bounded by Ichamati River
in the west, the Ganges in the south, the kingdom of Tripura
in the east and Alapsingh pargana (in greater Mymensingh
) stretching northeast to Baniachang
(in greater Sylhet
) in the North. So the low-lying area of the greater districts of Dhaka
, Mymensingh
, Tripura and Sylhet, watered and surrounded by the Ganges, the Brahmaputra, and the Meghna and their numerous branches constituted Bhati in the days of Akbar and Jahangir.
and Mirza Nathan, state the number of Bhuyans as twelve, but it should be remembered that the Baro-Bhuyans of the time of Akbar were not the same as those of the time of Jahangir, because some died in the intervening period. For example, Isa Khan
, who fought against Akbar, died in his reign and was succeeded by his son Musa Khan (Bengal Ruler)
, who took up leadership in the reign of Jahangir
. Some pargana
s changed hands in the meantime; for example, Chand Rai and Kedar Rai were zamindars of Vikramapura and Sripur in the reign of Akbar, but in the reign of Jahangir
the family was probably extinct, so that the parganas were found in the hands of Musa Khan (Bengal Ruler)
.
as the leader of the chieftains :
as the leader of the chieftains :
conquered Gaur
, the capital of Sultan Ghiyasuddin Mahmud Shah
and placed the city under his governors, but could not consolidate his power throughout Bengal. There are examples of at least three rebellions against him by the supporters of the supplanted ruling dynasty. In fact, the riverine tract of Bengal was always a headache to the central government. To solve the problem, Sher Shah
divided Bengal into a number of smaller units, because, he thought, the rulers of smaller units would not have the power to rise against the central authority. The decentralisation had its demerits also. If the rulers of smaller units had not the power to rise against the central government, they had also no power to oppose the rebels. That Sher Shah's policy of decentralisation had this bad effect is proved by the several rebellions in eastern Bengal against him. The Afghan historians described this state of affairs by using the term Muluk-ut-tawaif, which means disorder, chaos and disintegration.
The chaotic condition did not end with the foundation of an independent Sur dynasty
under Shamsuddin Muhammad Shah Ghazi and other Afghan ruling dynasties. During this period, Taj Khan Karrani
fled from the court of Adil Shah
(Adali) at Delhi
, came to Bengal and plundered and looted the country at will. He joined his brother Sulaiman who was serving in Bengal and became strong in Bengal politics. Later he accepted service under Ghiasuddin Bahadur of the Sur dynasty and still later laid the foundation of the Karrani dynasty. Even after the fall of Daud Khan Karrani, and occupation of the capital Tandah
by the Mughals, Khwaja Usman and his brothers, having been expelled by Raja Mansingh from Orissa
, came to Bengal.
Traversing through Satgaon and Bhusna they came to Bukainagar (in modern greater Mymensingh district
) and carved out an independent kingdom for themselves. It is evident that after the fall of the independent sultanate (1538 AD) and particularly after the decentralisation of administration by Sher Shah, a chaotic condition and disruptive forces prevailed, particularly in eastern Bengal in the region of Bhati; and during this period of chaos, the Baro-Bhuyans gained strength and rose to power. The Baro-Bhuyans were heirs to the two-hundred-year long independent sultanate of Bengal. They rose to power in this region and put up resistance to the Mughals, until Islam Khan Chisti
made them submit in the reign of Jahangir. Srimanta Sankardeva
, the revered Bhakti leader, was the last Shiromani Bhuyan, or chief Bhuyan in Assam
. The Bhuyans of the north bank were transferred to the south bank by the Ahom king
, which effectively ended their sovereignty.
forced them to submit, the term Baro-Bhuyans survived only in popular tales and ballads. But even today, the tales of bravery and vigour are prevalent in all parts of the world. Bhuyans are identified as epitomes of valour and bravery and would sacrifice one's own life in order to protect his pride.
The Baro Bhuyans no longer prevail and are only an urban legend now, but people from Assam try to maintain the heritage by naming their offspring's names which relate to the Baro Bhuyan characteristics.Few such names are Juddho (War), Aakrosh (Revolt), Kranti (Revolution), Ishwar Shontaan (Son of God), Raun (Warrior) among others.
Assam
Assam , also, rarely, Assam Valley and formerly the Assam Province , is a northeastern state of India and is one of the most culturally and geographically distinct regions of the country...
and Bengal
Bengal
Bengal is a historical and geographical region in the northeast region of the Indian Subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. Today, it is mainly divided between the sovereign land of People's Republic of Bangladesh and the Indian state of West Bengal, although some regions of the previous...
who maintained a loose independent confederacy. In times of aggression by external powers, they generally cooperated in defending and expelling the aggressor. In times of peace, they maintained their respective sovereignty. In the presence of a strong king, they offered their allegiance. Baro denotes the number twelve, but in general there were more than twelve chiefs or landlords, and the word baro meant many.
In Assam, the Baro-Bhuyans occupied the region west of the Kachari kingdom
Kachari Kingdom
The Kachari Kingdom was a powerful kingdom in medieval Assam. The rulers belonged to the Dimasa people, part of the greater Bodo-Kachari ethnic group...
in the south bank of the Brahmaputra river
Brahmaputra River
The Brahmaputra , also called Tsangpo-Brahmaputra, is a trans-boundary river and one of the major rivers of Asia. It is the only Indian river that is attributed the masculine gender and thus referred to as a in Indo-Aryan languages and languages with Indo-Aryan influence...
, and west of the Sutiya kingdom in the north bank. They were instrumental in defending against aggressors from Bengal, especially in defeating the remnant of Alauddin Husain Shah's administration after 1498. They also resisted the emergence of the Koch dynasty
Koch dynasty
The Koch dynasty of Assam and Bengal, named after the Koch tribe, emerged as the dominant ruling house in the Kamata kingdom in 1515 after the fall of the Khen dynasty in 1498...
but failed. Subsequently, they were squeezed between the Kachari kingdom
Kachari Kingdom
The Kachari Kingdom was a powerful kingdom in medieval Assam. The rulers belonged to the Dimasa people, part of the greater Bodo-Kachari ethnic group...
and the Kamata kingdom
Kamata Kingdom
The Kamata kingdom appeared in the western part of the older Kamarupa kingdom in the 13th century, after the fall of the Pala dynasty. The rise of the Kamata kingdom marked the end of the ancient period in the History of Assam and the beginning of the medieval period. The first rulers were the...
in the south bank and slowly overpowered by the expanding Ahom kingdom
Ahom kingdom
The Ahom Kingdom was a medieval kingdom in the Brahmaputra valley in Assam that maintained its sovereignty for nearly 600 years and successfully resisted Mughal expansion in North-East India...
in the north.
In Bengal, the Bhuyans put up strong resistance to the Mughals during the time of Akbar and Jahangir
Jahangir
Jahangir was the ruler of the Mughal Empire from 1605 until his death. The name Jahangir is from Persian جهانگیر,meaning "Conqueror of the World"...
. During the interregnum between Afghan
Pashtun people
Pashtuns or Pathans , also known as ethnic Afghans , are an Eastern Iranic ethnic group with populations primarily between the Hindu Kush mountains in Afghanistan and the Indus River in Pakistan...
rule and the rise of Mughal power in Bengal
Bengal
Bengal is a historical and geographical region in the northeast region of the Indian Subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. Today, it is mainly divided between the sovereign land of People's Republic of Bangladesh and the Indian state of West Bengal, although some regions of the previous...
, various parts of Bengal passed to the control of several military chiefs, Bhuiyans and zamindars. They jointly resisted Mughal
Mughal Empire
The Mughal Empire , or Mogul Empire in traditional English usage, was an imperial power from the Indian Subcontinent. The Mughal emperors were descendants of the Timurids...
expansion and ruled their respective territories as independent or semi-independent chiefs. There was no central control, or if there was any, it was nominal.
These landlords did not belong to any particular ethnicity, religion or caste.
Baro-Bhuyans of Assam
The Baro-Bhuyans of Assam can be divided into two major groups: the southern and the northern groups.The Southern group
The southern group of Baro-Bhuyans had ensconced themselves between the Kachari kingdomKachari Kingdom
The Kachari Kingdom was a powerful kingdom in medieval Assam. The rulers belonged to the Dimasa people, part of the greater Bodo-Kachari ethnic group...
in the east and the Kamata kingdom
Kamata Kingdom
The Kamata kingdom appeared in the western part of the older Kamarupa kingdom in the 13th century, after the fall of the Pala dynasty. The rise of the Kamata kingdom marked the end of the ancient period in the History of Assam and the beginning of the medieval period. The first rulers were the...
in the west on the south bank of the Brahmaputra river
Brahmaputra River
The Brahmaputra , also called Tsangpo-Brahmaputra, is a trans-boundary river and one of the major rivers of Asia. It is the only Indian river that is attributed the masculine gender and thus referred to as a in Indo-Aryan languages and languages with Indo-Aryan influence...
. According to biographical literature of the Ekasarana Dharma, the group was formed when due to a treaty sometime in the middle of the 14th century between Dharmanarayana of Gauda and Durlabhnarayan of Kamarupa-Kamata, a group of seven Kayastha and seven Brahmin families were transferred to Langamaguri, a few miles north of present-day Guwahati
Guwahati
Guwahati, Pragjyotishpura in ancient Assam formerly known as Gauhati is a metropolis,the largest city of Assam in India and ancient urban area in North East India, with a population of 963,429. It is also the largest metropolitan area in north-eastern India...
. The leader, or shiromani, of this group was Candivara, who had settled in Gauda after his emigration from Kannauj
Kannauj
Kannauj , also spelt Kanauj, is a city, administrative headquarters and a municipal board or Nagar Palika Parishad in Kannauj district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. The city's name is traditionally derived from the term Kanyakubja . Kannauj is an ancient city, in earlier times the capital...
in present-day Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh abbreviation U.P. , is a state located in the northern part of India. With a population of over 200 million people, it is India's most populous state, as well as the world's most populous sub-national entity...
. Candivara and his group did not stay in Lengamaguri for long, and moved soon to Bordowa in present-day Nagaon district. Among the descendants of Candivara was Srimanta Sankardeva
Srimanta Sankardeva
Mahapurusha Srimanta Shankardeva , was the greatest Assamese saint-scholar, playwright, social-religious reformer and a colossal figure in the cultural and religious history of Assam, India...
.
This group of Baro-Bhuyans was instrumental in ending the rule of Alauddin Husain Shah of Gauda who had displaced Nilambar the ruler of Kamata in 1498. But very soon the rise of Viswa Singha of the Koch dynasty
Koch dynasty
The Koch dynasty of Assam and Bengal, named after the Koch tribe, emerged as the dominant ruling house in the Kamata kingdom in 1515 after the fall of the Khen dynasty in 1498...
in Kamata squeezed them against the Kacharis in the west. They had to relocate to the north bank of the Brahmaputra in the first quarter of the 16th century, to a region west of the Bor Baro-Bhuyan group. The increasing Koch and Ahom conflicts further ate away at their independence and sovereignty.
The Northern group
The origin of the northern group is shrouded in mystery. The original group is often referred to as the Adi Bhuyan, or the progenitor Bhuyans. The Adi-Bhuyans are said to have been already ensconced in the region west of the Sutiya kingdom when Sukapha established the Ahom kingdomAhom kingdom
The Ahom Kingdom was a medieval kingdom in the Brahmaputra valley in Assam that maintained its sovereignty for nearly 600 years and successfully resisted Mughal expansion in North-East India...
in 1228. According to legend two brothers, Santanu and Sumanta, had twelve sons each and they formed the original Bor Baro-Bhuyan and Saru Baro-Bhuyan. The Saru Baro-Bhuyans emigrated to the Nagaon district soon after. The Bar Baro-Bhuyans fought with and withstood the mights of the Sutiya as well as the Kachari kingdoms. They soon came into conflict with the Ahoms, and were forced to subjugate themselves. They joined the Ahom king Suhungmung
Suhungmung
Suhungmung , was one of the most important Ahom kings, who ruled at the cusp of Assam's medieval history. His reign broke from the early Ahom rule and established a multi-ethnic polity in his kingdom. Under him the Ahom Kingdom expanded greatly for the first time since Sukaphaa, at the cost of...
's expeditions against the Sutiya and the Kachari kingdoms. Pleased with their help, the Baro-Bhuyans were established as tributary feudal landlords in the north bank. One of the leaders of this group of Baro-Bhuyans, Lecham Kalita was entrusted with the administration of the Marangi area after the defeat and withdrawal of the Kacharis from Dimapur. This administrative post later on came to be known as the Morongi-khowa Gohain and was passed on to the Ahom nobility.
The Saru Bhuyans trace the genealogy of Candivara to Kanvajara, the eldest son of Sumanta, but this is not given credence.
Baro-Bhuyans of Bengal
Bhuiyan
Bhuiyan is a Bengali surname of people who are descended from one of the twelve chieftains, who ruled the Sultanate of Bengal ....
mean exactly twelve Bhuiyans or chiefs. They applied the term Baro-Bhuiyans to those who fought for the freedom of their motherland. This view was later modified by another group of scholars to say that only those Bhuiyans who fought against Mughal aggression were known as Baro-Bhuiyans. Even the fighters against the Mughals were many more than twelve, so this group also failed to identify the Baro-Bhuyans.
In recent years, the question of identification of the Baro-Bhuyans has been studied afresh and they have been identified more or less satisfactorily. Modern scholars have found that the Baro-Bhuyans flourished during the chaotic period of Afghan rule and the period of the conquest of Bengal by the Mughal emperors Akbar and Jahangir. So the Baro-Bhuyans received proper treatment from the Mughal historians, Abul Fazl, the author of the Akbarnamah, and Mirza Nathan, the author of the Baharistan-i-Ghaibi
Baharistan-i-Ghaibi
The Baharistan-i-Ghaibi, written by Mirza Nathan, is a 17th century chronicle on the history of Bengal, Cooch Behar, Assam and Bihar under the reign of Mughal emperor Jahangir ....
. Both of them used the numerical word ithna-ashara (twelve), to denote the Baro-Bhuyans; it means that the word 'Baro-Bhuiyans' was not a vague term, rather it gives the exact number of the Bhuiyans. They also categorically say that the twelve Bhuiyans (Baro-Bhuiyans) were people of Bhati
Bhati
Bhati is one of the largest tribes of the Gujjars& Rajput. They claim descent from Krishna as an avatar of Vishnu, and thus identify themselves as a Chandravanshi Kshatriya clan. The Bhati trace their history to the desert principality of Jaisalmer in Rajasthan, in the border villages of Bikaner...
and they rose to power in Bhati. But the identification of Bhati is not an easy task.
On the basis of the confusing statements of the European writers, previous scholars also were in confusion about the identification of Bhati. The Baro-Bhuiyans fought against the Mughals in the reigns of emperors Akbar and Jahangir, and they submitted within a few years of Jahangir's accession. So Bhati of the Baro-Bhuyans may be identified with the help of the Mughal histories, mainly the Akbarnama, the Ain-e-Akbari and the Baharistan-i-Ghaibi. In Bengal the word Bhati generally means low land and the entire low-lying area of Bengal is Bhati. It is a riverine country, and most of it remains inundated for more than half of the year; the mighty rivers the Ganges, the Brahmaputra and their numerous branches wash and water the whole of eastern and southern Bengal.
Area controlled by the chieftains
Modern scholars have, therefore, suggested that different low-lying areas of Bengal should be identified with Bhati. Some say that the whole of the low-lying tract from the Bhagirathi to the Meghna is Bhati, some others include in Bhati Hijli, Jessore, ComillaComilla
Comilla is a city in south-eastern Bangladesh, located along the Dhaka-Chittagong Highway. It is the administrative center of the Comilla District, part of the Chittagong Division. The Eastern Wing of Bangladesh Highway Police is located in Comilla....
and Bakerganj
Bakerganj Upazila
Bakerganj is an Upazila of Barisal District in the Barisal Division, Bangladesh.-Geography:Bakerganj is located at . It has 63177 units of house hold and total area 417.2 km².-Demographics:...
. Keeping in view the theatre of warfare between the Baro-Bhuyans and the Mughals, and on the basis of the details of the warfare as given in the Akbarnama and the Baharistan-i-Ghaibi the limits of Bhati, where the Baro-Bhuyans flourished and rose to power, may be determined as the area bounded by Ichamati River
Ichamati River
Ichamati River , is a trans-boundary river which flows through India and Bangladesh and also forms the boundary between the two countries. The river is facing the problem of siltation leading to thin flow of water in the dry season and floods in the rainy season...
in the west, the Ganges in the south, the kingdom of Tripura
Tripura
Tripura is a state in North-East India, with an area of . It is the third smallest state of India, according to area. Tripura is surrounded by Bangladesh on the north, south, and west. The Indian states of Assam and Mizoram lie to the east. The capital is Agartala and the main languages spoken are...
in the east and Alapsingh pargana (in greater Mymensingh
Mymensingh
Mymensingh , pronounced moy-mon-shing-haw, is a city of Bangladesh situated on the river Brahmaputra. It is the headquarters of the administrative unit Mymensingh District. Mymensingh is the anglicized pronunciation of the original name Momenshahi, referring to a ruler called Momen Shah. The cadet...
) stretching northeast to Baniachang
Baniachang Upazila
Baniachong is an Upazila of Habiganj District in the Division of Sylhet, Bangladesh.-Geography:Baniachong is located at . It has 39816 units of house hold and total area 482.25 km².-Demographics:...
(in greater Sylhet
Sylhet
Sylhet , is a major city in north-eastern Bangladesh. It is the main city of Sylhet Division and Sylhet District, and was granted metropolitan city status in March 2009. Sylhet is located on the banks of the Surma Valley and is surrounded by the Jaintia, Khasi and Tripura hills...
) in the North. So the low-lying area of the greater districts of Dhaka
Dhaka
Dhaka is the capital of Bangladesh and the principal city of Dhaka Division. Dhaka is a megacity and one of the major cities of South Asia. Located on the banks of the Buriganga River, Dhaka, along with its metropolitan area, had a population of over 15 million in 2010, making it the largest city...
, Mymensingh
Mymensingh
Mymensingh , pronounced moy-mon-shing-haw, is a city of Bangladesh situated on the river Brahmaputra. It is the headquarters of the administrative unit Mymensingh District. Mymensingh is the anglicized pronunciation of the original name Momenshahi, referring to a ruler called Momen Shah. The cadet...
, Tripura and Sylhet, watered and surrounded by the Ganges, the Brahmaputra, and the Meghna and their numerous branches constituted Bhati in the days of Akbar and Jahangir.
Two list of the chieftains
Mughal historians, Abul FazlAbu'l-Fazl ibn Mubarak
Shaikh Abu al-Fazl ibn Mubarak also known as Abu'l-Fazl, Abu'l Fadl and Abu'l-Fadl 'Allami was the vizier of the great Mughal emperor Akbar, and author of the Akbarnama, the official history of Akbar's reign in three volumes, and a Persian translation of the Bible...
and Mirza Nathan, state the number of Bhuyans as twelve, but it should be remembered that the Baro-Bhuyans of the time of Akbar were not the same as those of the time of Jahangir, because some died in the intervening period. For example, Isa Khan
Isa Khan
Isa Khan is the most famous of the Baro Bhuiyans of medieval Bengal. He was the ruler of a region named Bhati. Throughout his reign he put resistance against Mughal invasion. It was only after his death, when the region went totally under Mughals.-Early life:It is estimated that he was born in 1529...
, who fought against Akbar, died in his reign and was succeeded by his son Musa Khan (Bengal Ruler)
Musa Khan (Bengal Ruler)
Musa Khan was the leader of Bara-Bhuiyans of the Bhati region. He was the son and successor of Isa Khan.-History:After the death of his father in 1599, Musa Khan took power of Bengal as the chief of the Bara-Bhuiyans...
, who took up leadership in the reign of Jahangir
Jahangir
Jahangir was the ruler of the Mughal Empire from 1605 until his death. The name Jahangir is from Persian جهانگیر,meaning "Conqueror of the World"...
. Some pargana
Pargana
A pargana is a former administrative unit of the Indian subcontinent, used primarily, but not exclusively, by the Muslim kingdoms.Parganas were introduced by the Delhi Sultanate, and the word is of Persian origin. As a revenue unit, a pargana consists of several mouzas, which are the smallest...
s changed hands in the meantime; for example, Chand Rai and Kedar Rai were zamindars of Vikramapura and Sripur in the reign of Akbar, but in the reign of Jahangir
Jahangir
Jahangir was the ruler of the Mughal Empire from 1605 until his death. The name Jahangir is from Persian جهانگیر,meaning "Conqueror of the World"...
the family was probably extinct, so that the parganas were found in the hands of Musa Khan (Bengal Ruler)
Musa Khan (Bengal Ruler)
Musa Khan was the leader of Bara-Bhuiyans of the Bhati region. He was the son and successor of Isa Khan.-History:After the death of his father in 1599, Musa Khan took power of Bengal as the chief of the Bara-Bhuiyans...
.
12 chieftains during the reign of Akbar
Being Isa Khan Masnad-i-AlaIsa Khan
Isa Khan is the most famous of the Baro Bhuiyans of medieval Bengal. He was the ruler of a region named Bhati. Throughout his reign he put resistance against Mughal invasion. It was only after his death, when the region went totally under Mughals.-Early life:It is estimated that he was born in 1529...
as the leader of the chieftains :
- Ibrahim Naral
- Karimdad Musazai
- Majlis Dilwar
- Maharaja Pratap Aditya
- Kedar Rai
- Sher Khan
- Bhadur Ghazi
- Tila Ghazi
- Chand Ghazi
- Sultan Ghazi
- Selim Ghazi
- Qasim Ghazi
12 chieftains during the reign of Jahangir
Being Musa Khan Masnad-i-AlaMusa Khan (Bengal Ruler)
Musa Khan was the leader of Bara-Bhuiyans of the Bhati region. He was the son and successor of Isa Khan.-History:After the death of his father in 1599, Musa Khan took power of Bengal as the chief of the Bara-Bhuiyans...
as the leader of the chieftains :
- Alaul Khan
- Abdullah Khan
- Maxmud of Astrakhan
- Bahadur Ghazi
- Sona Ghazi
- Anwar Ghazi
- Shaikh Pir
- Mirza Mumin
- Madhav Rai
- Binode Rai
- Pahlwan
- Haji Shamsuddin Baghdadi
Rise and Fall
The Baro-Bhuyians gained strength during the chaotic conditions prevailing in eastern Bengal following the disruption of the two-hundred-year old independent sultanate in 1538 AD. Sher ShahSher Shah
Sher Shah may refer to:* Sher Shah Suri , founder of the Suri dynasty* Sher Shah , neighbourhood of Kiamari Town, Karachi, Pakistan* Sher Shah , town in Multan District, Pakistan...
conquered Gaur
Gaur
The gaur , also called Indian bison, is a large bovine native to South Asia and Southeast Asia. The species is listed as vulnerable on the IUCN Red List since 1986 as the population decline in parts of the species' range is likely to be well over 70% over the last three generations...
, the capital of Sultan Ghiyasuddin Mahmud Shah
Ghiyasuddin Mahmud Shah
Ghiyasuddin Mahmud Shah was the last sultan of the Hussain Shahi dynasty, founded by Alauddin Husain Shah in 1494, of Bengal...
and placed the city under his governors, but could not consolidate his power throughout Bengal. There are examples of at least three rebellions against him by the supporters of the supplanted ruling dynasty. In fact, the riverine tract of Bengal was always a headache to the central government. To solve the problem, Sher Shah
Sher Shah Suri
Sher Shah Suri , birth name Farid Khan, also known as Sher Khan , was the founder of the short-lived Sur Empire in northern India, with its capital at Delhi, before its demise in the hands of the resurgent Mughal Empire...
divided Bengal into a number of smaller units, because, he thought, the rulers of smaller units would not have the power to rise against the central authority. The decentralisation had its demerits also. If the rulers of smaller units had not the power to rise against the central government, they had also no power to oppose the rebels. That Sher Shah's policy of decentralisation had this bad effect is proved by the several rebellions in eastern Bengal against him. The Afghan historians described this state of affairs by using the term Muluk-ut-tawaif, which means disorder, chaos and disintegration.
The chaotic condition did not end with the foundation of an independent Sur dynasty
Sur Dynasty
The Suri Empire was established by a Muslim dynasty of Afghan origin who ruled a vast territory in the Indian subcontinent between 1540 to 1557, with Delhi serving as its capital...
under Shamsuddin Muhammad Shah Ghazi and other Afghan ruling dynasties. During this period, Taj Khan Karrani
Taj Khan Karrani
Taj Khan Karrani was the founder of Karrani dynasty. He was a former employee of Sher Shah Suri. He captured a vast region of south-eastern Bihar and west Bengal...
fled from the court of Adil Shah
Adil Shah
Adil or Adel Shah Afshar or Ali Qoli was Shah of Persia from 1747 until 1748.Subsequent to the assassination of Nader Shah in Fathabad , his nephew Ali Qoli declared himself Adil Shah , and shah of Persia...
(Adali) at Delhi
Delhi
Delhi , officially National Capital Territory of Delhi , is the largest metropolis by area and the second-largest by population in India, next to Mumbai. It is the eighth largest metropolis in the world by population with 16,753,265 inhabitants in the Territory at the 2011 Census...
, came to Bengal and plundered and looted the country at will. He joined his brother Sulaiman who was serving in Bengal and became strong in Bengal politics. Later he accepted service under Ghiasuddin Bahadur of the Sur dynasty and still later laid the foundation of the Karrani dynasty. Even after the fall of Daud Khan Karrani, and occupation of the capital Tandah
Tandah
Tandah was a town in the district of Fyzabad , Oude, British India; 3 miles from the Ghogra River; 100 miles S. E. of Lucknow. It was the seat of the largest weaving colony in the province, and manufactured both coarse cloth and fine muslin....
by the Mughals, Khwaja Usman and his brothers, having been expelled by Raja Mansingh from Orissa
Orissa
Orissa , officially Odisha since Nov 2011, is a state of India, located on the east coast of India, by the Bay of Bengal. It is the modern name of the ancient nation of Kalinga, which was invaded by the Maurya Emperor Ashoka in 261 BC. The modern state of Orissa was established on 1 April...
, came to Bengal.
Traversing through Satgaon and Bhusna they came to Bukainagar (in modern greater Mymensingh district
Mymensingh District
Mymensingh is one of the districts of Dhaka division, Bangladesh, and is bordered on the north by Meghalaya state of India and Garo Hills, on the south by Gazipur district, on the east by districts of Netrokona and Kishoreganj, and on the west by districts of Sherpur, Jamalpur and Tangail...
) and carved out an independent kingdom for themselves. It is evident that after the fall of the independent sultanate (1538 AD) and particularly after the decentralisation of administration by Sher Shah, a chaotic condition and disruptive forces prevailed, particularly in eastern Bengal in the region of Bhati; and during this period of chaos, the Baro-Bhuyans gained strength and rose to power. The Baro-Bhuyans were heirs to the two-hundred-year long independent sultanate of Bengal. They rose to power in this region and put up resistance to the Mughals, until Islam Khan Chisti
Islam Khan I
Shaikh Alauddin Chisti was a Subahdar and general of the army of the Mughal empire in Bengal, and the first governor of the city of Dhaka, the capital of modern Bangladesh...
made them submit in the reign of Jahangir. Srimanta Sankardeva
Srimanta Sankardeva
Mahapurusha Srimanta Shankardeva , was the greatest Assamese saint-scholar, playwright, social-religious reformer and a colossal figure in the cultural and religious history of Assam, India...
, the revered Bhakti leader, was the last Shiromani Bhuyan, or chief Bhuyan in Assam
Assam
Assam , also, rarely, Assam Valley and formerly the Assam Province , is a northeastern state of India and is one of the most culturally and geographically distinct regions of the country...
. The Bhuyans of the north bank were transferred to the south bank by the Ahom king
Ahom Dynasty
The Ahom Dynasty ruled the Ahom Kingdom in present-day Assam for nearly 600 years. The dynasty was established by Sukaphaa, a Shan prince of Mong Mao who came to Assam after crossing the Patkai mountains...
, which effectively ended their sovereignty.
Legacy
The Baro-Bhuyans were not the scions of any royal family, they were zamindars or landholders. They were patriots who resisted the Mughal advance for three decades. After 1612 when Islam Khan ChishtiIslam Khan I
Shaikh Alauddin Chisti was a Subahdar and general of the army of the Mughal empire in Bengal, and the first governor of the city of Dhaka, the capital of modern Bangladesh...
forced them to submit, the term Baro-Bhuyans survived only in popular tales and ballads. But even today, the tales of bravery and vigour are prevalent in all parts of the world. Bhuyans are identified as epitomes of valour and bravery and would sacrifice one's own life in order to protect his pride.
The Baro Bhuyans no longer prevail and are only an urban legend now, but people from Assam try to maintain the heritage by naming their offspring's names which relate to the Baro Bhuyan characteristics.Few such names are Juddho (War), Aakrosh (Revolt), Kranti (Revolution), Ishwar Shontaan (Son of God), Raun (Warrior) among others.
External links
- http://web.archive.org/web/20080927205647/http://banglapedia.search.com.bd/HT/B_0287.htmBaro-Bhuyan Article at banglapediaBanglapediaBanglapedia, or the National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh, is the first Bangladeshi encyclopedia. It is available in print, CD-ROM format and online, in both Bangla and English. The print version comprises ten 500-page volumes...
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