Sulaiman Khan Karrani
Encyclopedia
Sulaiman Khan Karrani was a ruler of Bengal
from 1565 to 1572 ascending to the throne in 1565 after the death of his elder brother Taj Khan Karrani
. According to the Riyaz-us-Salatin, he shifted the seat of government from Gaur
to Tanda.
Sulaiman, his brother Taj
and Sulaiman's sons Bayazid
and Daud Khan Karrani ran a short-lived Afghan
vassal state of Akbar in Bengal
that dominated the area while Sulaiman paid homage
to the Mughal emperor
Akbar
. The Afghans defeated by Akbar began to flock under his flag. The Afghans were not technically the rulers of Bengal, the post was primarily nominal.
age during his reign, an act that would have been tantamount to declaring statehood
to the ruling Mughals
. He also honored Akbar as the supreme ruler of Bengal by requiring that mosques read Akbar's name in the Khutbah, the sermon at the Friday congregational prayers in Bengal. Historians cite these acts as keeping the diplomatic peace between Bengal and Mughal Empire during Akbar's lifetime.
. In 1568 Sulaiman Khan sent his son Bayazid Khan Karrani
and the famous general Kala Pahar (who was an Utkal or Oriya
Khandayat
commander who had converted to Islam
) against the last Orissan Gajapati king Mukunda Deva. After a few major battles against the Orissans, and aided by civil war
elsewhere in Orissa, Sulaiman was able to bring the entire area under his rule. Kalapahar sacked the Jagannath temple
and took Puri under control. Sulaiman Karrani appointed Lodi Khan and Qutlu Khan Lohani governors of Orissa
and Puri
respectively.
(later Koch Bihar
under the Mughals) king Vishwa Singha
. Kala Pahar crossed the Brahmaputra River
and advanced as far as Tejpur (modern-day Dinajpur District, Bangladesh). Kala Pahar defeated and captured the Kamata general Shukladhwaja, third son of Bishwa Singha
.
.
living a life observing all religious rituals. He built the Sona mosque
in old Maldah.
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...
from 1565 to 1572 ascending to the throne in 1565 after the death of his elder brother 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...
. According to the Riyaz-us-Salatin, he shifted the seat of government from Gaur
Gaur, West Bengal
Gour, or Gaur , as it is spelt mostly in modern times, or Lakhnauti is a ruined city, in the Malda district of West Bengal, India, on the west bank of the Ganges river, 40 kilometers downstream from Rajmahal.-History:...
to Tanda.
Sulaiman, his brother Taj
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...
and Sulaiman's sons Bayazid
Bayazid Khan Karrani
Bayazid Karrani was the third ruler of the Karrani dynasty of Bengal. He ascended the throne after his father Sulaiman Khan Karrani died in October 1572. After assuming power he broke allegiance with the Mughals and declared independence.-Short Lived Ruling:...
and Daud Khan Karrani ran a short-lived Afghan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
vassal state of Akbar 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...
that dominated the area while Sulaiman paid homage
Homage
Homage is a show or demonstration of respect or dedication to someone or something, sometimes by simple declaration but often by some more oblique reference, artistic or poetic....
to the Mughal emperor
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...
Akbar
Akbar the Great
Akbar , also known as Shahanshah Akbar-e-Azam or Akbar the Great , was the third Mughal Emperor. He was of Timurid descent; the son of Emperor Humayun, and the grandson of the Mughal Emperor Zaheeruddin Muhammad Babur, the ruler who founded the Mughal dynasty in India...
. The Afghans defeated by Akbar began to flock under his flag. The Afghans were not technically the rulers of Bengal, the post was primarily nominal.
Relation with Akbar
Sulaiman Khan Karrani did not establish his own coinCoin
A coin is a piece of hard material that is standardized in weight, is produced in large quantities in order to facilitate trade, and primarily can be used as a legal tender token for commerce in the designated country, region, or territory....
age during his reign, an act that would have been tantamount to declaring statehood
Sovereign state
A sovereign state, or simply, state, is a state with a defined territory on which it exercises internal and external sovereignty, a permanent population, a government, and the capacity to enter into relations with other sovereign states. It is also normally understood to be a state which is neither...
to the ruling Mughals
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...
. He also honored Akbar as the supreme ruler of Bengal by requiring that mosques read Akbar's name in the Khutbah, the sermon at the Friday congregational prayers in Bengal. Historians cite these acts as keeping the diplomatic peace between Bengal and Mughal Empire during Akbar's lifetime.
Conquest of Orissa
Though northern India and parts of southern India were ruled by the Muslim rulers, they had not yet been able to conquer OrissaOrissa
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...
. In 1568 Sulaiman Khan sent his son Bayazid Khan Karrani
Bayazid Khan Karrani
Bayazid Karrani was the third ruler of the Karrani dynasty of Bengal. He ascended the throne after his father Sulaiman Khan Karrani died in October 1572. After assuming power he broke allegiance with the Mughals and declared independence.-Short Lived Ruling:...
and the famous general Kala Pahar (who was an Utkal or Oriya
Oriya people
The Oriya, known classically by various names , are an ethnic group of eastern India and of eastern Indo-Aryan stock...
Khandayat
Khandayat
With pass of time education became prominent part of life and those educated people depicted kshytriyas next to them in literature and books. After Muslim invasion of India Kshyatrias lost their power and dominance and mostly concentrated in cultivation to survive...
commander who had converted to Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
) against the last Orissan Gajapati king Mukunda Deva. After a few major battles against the Orissans, and aided by civil war
Civil war
A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same nation state or republic, or, less commonly, between two countries created from a formerly-united nation state....
elsewhere in Orissa, Sulaiman was able to bring the entire area under his rule. Kalapahar sacked the Jagannath temple
Jagannath Temple
-India:*Jagannath Temple, Puri, Orissa, India*Jagannath Temple, Koraput, Orissa, India*Jagannath Temple, Baripada, Mayurbhanj, Orissa, India*Jagannath Temple, Nayagarh, Orissa, India*Jagannath Temple, Ranchi, Jharkhand, India*Jagannath Temple, Delhi, India...
and took Puri under control. Sulaiman Karrani appointed Lodi Khan and Qutlu Khan Lohani governors of 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...
and Puri
Puri
Puri is district headquarter, a city situated about south of state capital Bhubaneswar, on the eastern coast of the Bay of Bengal in the Indian state of Orissa. It is also known as Jagannath Puri after the Jagannath Temple . It is a holy city of the Hindus as a part of the Char Dham pilgrimages...
respectively.
Conquest of Koch Bihar
Sulaiman Khan Karrani then sent general Kala Pahar against the KamataKamata 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...
(later Koch Bihar
Koch Bihar
Koch Bihar was a small kingdom located south of the Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan, west of the upper Brahmaputra valley Ahom kingdom, and north-east of the Ganges plain and Bengal. It was formed when the Kamata Kingdom under the Koch dynasty split following the death of Nara Narayan in 1586. The...
under the Mughals) king Vishwa Singha
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...
. Kala Pahar crossed 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 advanced as far as Tejpur (modern-day Dinajpur District, Bangladesh). Kala Pahar defeated and captured the Kamata general Shukladhwaja, third son of Bishwa Singha
Biswa Singha of Kamata
Vishwa Singha was the progenitor king of the Koch dynasty of the Kamata kingdom, a successor state of the ancient Kamarupa kingdom. A son of a Mech chieftain and grandson of a Koch hero, he was able to unify different tribal groups against the Baro-Bhuyans of Assam and established a kingdom the...
.
Death and succession
After a tranquil and peaceful ruling for seven years Sulaiman Karrani died in 11 October, 1572, leaving his empire to his son, Bayazid Khan KarraniBayazid Khan Karrani
Bayazid Karrani was the third ruler of the Karrani dynasty of Bengal. He ascended the throne after his father Sulaiman Khan Karrani died in October 1572. After assuming power he broke allegiance with the Mughals and declared independence.-Short Lived Ruling:...
.
Religion
Sulaiman was a pious MuslimMuslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
living a life observing all religious rituals. He built the Sona mosque
Mosque
A mosque is a place of worship for followers of Islam. The word is likely to have entered the English language through French , from Portuguese , from Spanish , and from Berber , ultimately originating in — . The Arabic word masjid literally means a place of prostration...
in old Maldah.
See also
- List of rulers of Bengal
- History of BengalHistory of BengalThe history of Bengal includes modern day Bangladesh and West Bengal, dates back four millennia. To some extent, the Ganges and the Brahmaputra rivers separated it from the mainland of India, though at times, Bengal has played an important role in the history of India.- Etymology :The exact origin...
- History of BangladeshHistory of BangladeshThe history of Bangladesh as a nation state began in 1971, when it seceded from Pakistan. Prior to the creation of Pakistan in 1947, modern-day Bangladesh was part of ancient, classical, medieval and colonial India....
- History of IndiaHistory of IndiaThe history of India begins with evidence of human activity of Homo sapiens as long as 75,000 years ago, or with earlier hominids including Homo erectus from about 500,000 years ago. The Indus Valley Civilization, which spread and flourished in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent from...