Mona Rai | |
---|---|
1260-1303 | |
Chief Minister of Gour Kingdom | |
Monarch | Gour Govinda |
Preceded by | Madan Rai |
Succeeded by | Wazir Sikandar Khan Ghazi (under Sultan Shamsuddin Firoz Shah) |
Personal details | |
Born | Manoranjan Rai 13th century |
Died | 14th century Sylhet region |
Cause of death | Killed in action during the Conquest of Sylhet |
Manoranjan Rai,or more commonly known as Mona Rai was the final chief minister of medieval Sylhet's Gour Kingdom. He is most known for being named after the highest hill in Sylhet city. [1]
His office began in 1260 with ascension of Raja Gour Govinda to the throne. Govinda appointed Rai as his chief minister,replacing the previous King Govardhan's former chief minister Madan Rai. The palace which was used by the past ministers of Gour was gifted by Govinda to Mona Rai,and renamed Mona Rai Palace. [2] It was situated in a hillock near the port for ease in tax collection and civil duties. [3] Govinda built a brick tower in Penchagor named Gorduar,which would serve as his palace and central administration. Gorduar,which remains as ruins today,had seven floors;the second floor was also given to Mona Rai. [3]
With the arrival of Shah Jalal and the Conquest of Sylhet in 1303, Mona Rai was appointed by Govinda as one of the commanders. [4] As Rai was based near the port, he decided to stop river transport and ferries making it difficult for the opponents as the only other option was through the hills. [5] Rai was subsequently killed in the final battle of Gour. [6] Govinda was shocked after hearing of this news and fled with his family and the area came under the rule of Wazir Sikandar Khan Ghazi. [7]
হইল সর্বনাশ একি দায়, না দেখি উপায়,
Hoilo shorbonash eki day, na dekhi upay
হেনকালে শুনল রাজা মৈল মনা রায়।
Henkale shunlo Raja moilo Mona Ray
তখন কোমর কাছিয়া রাজা
Tokhon komor kachhiya Raja
খাড়া হইল আগে
Khara hoilo aage
কিন্তু এবার হৈল লেঠা গড়ুল রাজাKintu ebar hoilo letha Gorul Raja
— Chowdhury Ghulam Akbar, [8]
The hillock which housed Mona Rai's palace is known even today as the hill of Mona Rai (Bengali : মনারায়ের টিলা, romanized: Monarayer Tila) in Chowhatta. [9] It is located next to the dargah of Shah Jalal. [10] [11] Bipin Chandra Pal mentions in his book, "Memories Of My Life And Times", mentions that during his childhood he studied in a government school which was a large brick building standing on top of Mona Rai's Tila. [12] This is backed up by Pandita Ramabai's biography which mentions that she was invited to Sylhet District School, on top of Mona Ray Hill, by a reception committee. [13] During the British Raj, a 0.9 mile by-road was used connecting Sylhet with the hill. This road was named Monarai Tillah Approach Road and housed the Executive Officer's Bungalow in 1948. In 1975, it also housed the buildings for the Roads and Highways Division, Buildings Division and District Judges. [3] The ruins of Rai's fort in Tilagarh is also present. [14]
Habiganj, formerly known as Habibganj, is a district in north-eastern Bangladesh, located in the Sylhet Division. It was established as a district in 1984 as a successor to its subdivision status since 1867. It is named after its headquarters, the town of Habiganj.
The Jaintia Kingdom was a kingdom in present-day some parts of Bangladesh's Sylhet Division, India's Meghalaya state and Nagaon, Morigoan district of Assam. It was partitioned into three in 630 AD by Raja Guhak for his three sons, into the Jaintia Kingdom, Gour Kingdom and Laur Kingdom. It was annexed by the British East India Company in 1835. All the Pnar Rajahs of the Jaintiapur Kingdom are from the Syiem Sutnga clan, a Pnar clan of the Khasi tribe which claims descent from Ka Li Dohkha, a divine nymph.
Shah Paran was a 14th-century Sufi saint of the Sylhet region. In 1303, he took part in the final battle of the Conquest of Sylhet led by his maternal uncle Shah Jalal.
Bishwanath is an upazila of Sylhet District in the Division of Sylhet, Bangladesh.
The Conquest of Sylhet predominantly refers to an Islamic conquest of Srihatta led by Sikandar Khan Ghazi, the military general of Sultan Shamsuddin Firoz Shah of the Lakhnauti Sultanate, against the Hindu king Gour Govinda. The conquest was aided by a Muslim saint known as Shah Jalal, who later ordered his disciples to scatter throughout eastern Bengal and propagate the religion of Islam. The Conquest of Sylhet may also include other minor incidents taking place after Govinda's defeat, such as the capture of nearby Taraf.
The Greater Sylhet region predominantly included the Sylhet Division in Bangladesh, and Karimganj district in Assam, India. The history of the Sylhet region begins with the existence of expanded commercial centres in the area that is now Sylhet City. Historically known as Srihatta and Shilhatta, it was ruled by the Buddhist and Hindu kingdoms of Harikela and Kamarupa before passing to the control of the Chandra, Sena and Deva dynasties in the early medieval period. After the fall of these Buddhist and Hindu principalities, the region became home to many more independent petty kingdoms such as Jaintia, Gour, Laur, and later Taraf, Pratapgarh, Jagannathpur, Chandrapur and Ita. After the Conquest of Sylhet in the 14th century, the region was absorbed into Shamsuddin Firoz Shah's independent principality based in Lakhnauti, Western Bengal. It was then successively ruled by the Muslim sultanates of Delhi and the Bengal Sultanate before collapsing into Muslim petty kingdoms, mostly ruled by Afghan chieftains, after the fall of the Karrani dynasty in 1576. Described as Bengal's Wild East, the Mughals struggled in defeating the chieftains of Sylhet. After the defeat of Khwaja Usman, their most formidable opponent, the area finally came under Mughal rule in 1612. Sylhet emerged as the Mughals' most significant imperial outpost in the east and its importance remained as such throughout the seventeenth century. After the Mughals, the British Empire ruled the region for over 180 years until the independence of Pakistan and India. There was a complete list of the different amils who governed Sylhet which was recorded in the office of the Qanungoh of Sylhet. However, most complete copies have been lost or destroyed. Dates from letters and seal traces show evidence that the amils were constantly changed. In 1947, when a referendum was held, Sylhet decided to join the Pakistani province of East Bengal. However, when the Radcliffe Line was drawn up, Karimganj district of Barak Valley was given to India by the commission after being pleaded by Abdul Matlib Mazumdar's delegation. Throughout the history of Sylhet, raids and invasions were also common from neighbouring kingdoms as well as tribes such as the Khasis and Kukis.
Sikandar Khān Ghāzī was the first wazir of Srihat under the Lakhnauti Kingdom ruled by Shamsuddin Firuz Shah. Prior to this, Khan was one of the commanders of the Battles of Gour during the Conquest of Sylhet in 1303. Early Persian manuscripts and inscriptions relating to Shah Jalal name Sikandar Khan Ghazi as well, highlighting his role as a commander in the battles.
Nūr al-Hudā Abū'l-Karāmāt as-Saʿīdī al-Ḥusaynī, better known as Ḥaydar Ghāzī, was the second wazir of Srihat (Sylhet) under the various Sultans of Sonargaon and Lakhnauti. Prior to this, Ghazi took part in the Conquest of Gour in 1303.
Govinda Fenchu, better known by his regnal title Gour Govind and also known by the sobriquet Shomudro Tonoy, was the 21st and final king of medieval Sylhet's Gour Kingdom. He is described as a very conservative Hindu ruler whose reign started in 1260.
Syed Ghāzī Burhān ad-Dīn was a 14th-century Sufi Muslim figure living in Sylhet. He is celebrated in folklore as the first Muslim to live in the Sylhet region.
Gangadhwaj Govardhan was the 20th king of medieval Sylhet's Gour Kingdom.
Madan Rai was the penultimate chief minister of medieval Sylhet's Gour Kingdom. He was described to have been very sharp and "shrewd".
Jaidev Rai was the Governor of Brahmachal under the Twipra Kingdom.
Amar Singh, was the military general for Raja Upananda of Brahmachal, and later its king.
Shaykh Gharib Khan Nistani Afghani, popularly known as Shāh Gabru, was a 14th-century Sufi Muslim figure from the Sylhet region. Gabru's name is associated with the propagation of Islam in Osmani Nagar. In 1303, he joined Shah Jalal in the Conquest of Sylhet.
The Gour kingdom was one of the greater of the many petty kingdoms of the medieval Sylhet region. According to legend, it was founded by Gurak, off-shooting from Kamarupa's Jaintia kingdom in 630. Much of its early history is considered legendary or mythological up until Navagirvana who is mentioned in the Bhatera copper-plate inscriptions. The Kings of Gour are described as patrons of Hindu revivalism in what was previously a predominantly Buddhist and animist populated land.
Taraf, previously known as Tungachal, was a feudal territory of the Sylhet region in Bengal and was under many petty kingdoms in different periods of time. It was part of what is present-day Habiganj District in Bangladesh.
The Shah Jalal Dargah is the shrine and burial place of the 14th century Muslim saint Shah Jalal, located in Sylhet, Bangladesh. The site, known as a dargah, was originally constructed c. 1500, though many additions and alterations were made to its structures over the following centuries. It became a religious centre in the region, respected across multiple ruling administrations and greatly venerated among Bengalis, with local folklore and legends developing around it. The extensive surrounding compound serves several functions and includes four mosques, a religious school and a public cemetery among others. The Dargah is presently the largest and most visited religious site in Bangladesh.
In Hinduism, Hattanath, who is also known as Hatkeshwar or Bateshwar, is the tutelary deity of the city of Sylhet (Śrīhaṭṭa) in present-day Bangladesh. He is a form of Shiva.