Ala-ud-din Husain Shah (1494–1519) was an independent late medieval Sultan of Bengal, who founded the Hussain Shahi dynasty. He became the ruler of Bengal after assassinating the Abyssinian Sultan, Shams-ud-Din Muzaffar Shah, whom he had served under as wazir. After his death in 1519 his son Nusrat Shah succeeded him. Husain Shahs long reign of more than a quarter of a century was a period of peace and prosperity, which was strikingly contrasted to the period, that preceded it. The liberal attitude of Husain Shah towards his Hindu subjects is also an important feature of his reign. Immediately after accession to the throne, Husain Shah ordered his soldiers to desist from pillaging Gaur, his capital city. But when they continued to do so, he executed twelve thousand soldiers and recovered the pillaged articles, which included 13,000 gold plates. Next, he disbanded the paiks (the palace guards), who were the most significant agitators inside the palace. He removed all Habshis from administrative posts and replaced them with Turks, Arabs, Afghans and the local people. Sultan Hussain Shah Sharqi, after being defeated by Bahlol Lodi, retired to Bihar, where his occupation was confined to a small territory. In 1494, he was again defeated by Sultan Sikandar Lodi and fled to Bengal, where he was granted asylum by Sultan Ala-ud-Din Husain Shah.This resulted in an expedition against Bengal in 1495 by Sultan Sikandar Lodi. Husain Shah of Bengal sent an army under his son Daniyal to fight with the Delhi army. The armies of Delhi and Bengal met at Barh near Patna. Sikandar Lodi halted the advance of his army and concluded a treaty of friendship with Ala-ud-din Husain Shah. According to this agreement, the country west of Barh went to Sikandar Lodi while the country east of Barh remained under Husain Shah of Bengal. The final dissolution of the Jaunpur Sultanate resulted in the influx of the Jaunpur soldiery in the Bengal army, which was further strengthened by it. From 1499 to 1502, Husain Shahs general Shah Ismail Ghazi led an expedition to the Kamata kingdom and annexed the territory up to Hajo. They took Nilambara, the king of Kamata as prisoner and pillaged the capital city. This was publicly recorded in an inscription at Malda. According to the Madala Panji, Shah Ismail Ghazi commenced his campaign from the Mandaran fort (in the present-day Hooghly district) in 1508-9 and reached Puri, raiding Jajpur and Katak on the way. The Gajapati ruler of Orissa, Prataparudra was busy in a campaign in the south. On hearing this news, he returned and defeated the invading Bengal army and chased it into the borders of Bengal. He reached the Mandaran fort and besieged it, but failed to take it. Intermittent hostilities between the Bengal and Orissa armies along the border continued throughout the reign of Husain Shah. According to Rajmala, a late royal chronicle of Tripura, Husain Shah despatched his army four times to Tripura, but the Tripura army offered stiff resistance and did not yield any territory. But the Sonargaon inscription of Khawas Khan (1513) is interpreted by a number of modern scholars as an evidence of annexure of at least a part of Tripura by Hussain Shahs army. During Husain Shahs expeditions to Tripura, the ruler of Arakan helped Dhanya Manikya, the ruler of Tripura. He also occupied Chittagong and expelled Husain Shahs officers from there. In 1513, Husain Shah assigned the charge of Arakan expedition to Paragal Khan. Paragal Khan advanced from his base on the Feni River. After Paragals death, his son Chhuti Khan took over the charge of the campaign until Chittagong was wrested from Arakanese control. The hostilities probably ended in 1516.The Portuguese explorer, Vasco da Gama, arrived India by sea in 1498. Consequently a Portuguese mission came to Bengal to establish diplomatic relations towards the end of Husain Shahs reign. The reign of Husain Shah witnessed a remarkable development of Bengali literature. Under the patronage of Paragal Khan, Husain Shahs governor of Chittagong, Kabindra Parameshvar wrote his Pandabbijay, a Bengali adaptation of the Mahabharata. Similarly, under the patronage of Paragals son Chhuti Khan, who succeeded his father as governor of Chittagong, Shrikar Nandi wrote another Bengali adaptation of the Mahabharata. Bijay Gupta wrote his Manasamangal Kāvya also during his reign. An official of Husain Shah, Yashoraj Khan, wrote a number of Vaishnava padas and he also praised his ruler in one of his pada. During Husain Shahs reign a number of significant monuments were constructed. Wali Muhammad built Chota Sona Masjid in Gaur. The reign of Husain Shah is also known for religious tolerance towards his Hindu subjects of Bengal. The celebrated medieval saint, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and his followers preached the Bhakti cult throughout Bengal during his reign.When Husain Shah came to know about Chaitanya Mahaprabhus huge following amongst his subjects, he ordered his qazis not to injure him in any way and allow him to go wherever he liked. Later, two high level Hindu officers in Husain Shahs administration, his Private Secretary, (Dabir-i-Khas) Rupa Goswami and his Intimate Minister (Saghir Malik) Sanatana Goswami became devoted followers of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.
Posted on: Thu, 13 Nov 2014 05:50:09 +0000
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