Conquest of Chittagong | |||||||||
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Depiction of the Mughal conquest on Chittagong at the University of Chittagong. | |||||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||||
Supported By: | Arakan | ||||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
Shaista Khan Farhad Khan Nawab wali beg khan Mazlis Khan Buzurg Umed Khan Ibn Hussain | Sanda Thudhamma | ||||||||
Strength | |||||||||
9,600 troops [2] 300 warships [2] 40 warships [1] | Estimate; 1,100+ troops 217 warships 378+ small boats | ||||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||||
Light [1] | Several ships sunk 135 ships captured [1] |
Mughal conquest of Chittagong refers to the conquest of Chittagong in 1666. On 27 January 1666 AD, the Arakan Kingdom of Mrauk U was defeated by the Mughal forces under the command of Buzurg Ummed Khan, the son of Mughal Subedar Shaista Khan. [3] [4]
The Kingdom of Mrauk U was established in Chittagong for about a hundred years in the medieval period after overthrowing the Sultans of Bengal. Since this victory, Chittagong has never been outside the administrative and political sphere of Bengal. Chittagong has always been associated with Bengal, as the entry point to Bengal, regardless of who ruled this land: Mughals, British, Pakistan, independent Bangladesh.
The Portuguese helped Arakanese or Mogs in various anarchy situations. The Mogs also had business relations with the Dutch, which was known as the Dutch East India Company (VOC). Historians have described the atrocities of the Portuguese and the Mogs as "Both the Mogs of Arakanese and the Portuguese pirates constantly plundered Bengal (Dhaka to Chittagong region). They pierced the palms of the hands of all the Hindus and Muslims they could capture, inserted thin cane ribbons through the holes, and tied them up. Hung together below the ship's deck. Every morning they threw some uncooked rice to the prisoners from above, as food is thrown to birds. They were sold to Dutch, English and French merchants in the Deccan ports. Sometimes they brought their captives to Tamluk and Balasore to sell them at high prices. Only the Portuguese sold their captives, but the Mogs employed the captives in Arakan in agriculture and other occupations or as domestic servants and concubines". [5] Historians, however, call this Arakanese reign a golden age of commercial prosperity. With the help of the Portuguese and their strong navy, the Arakanese were formidable enough to resist any attempts to overthrow them.
Poet Alaol describes the Arakan (Kingdom of Mrauk U) king's power-symbol fleet in his epic Sikandarnama (published in full in 1673): [6]
অসংখ্যাতনৌকাপাঁতিনানাজাতিনানাভাতি
সুচিত্রবিচিত্রবাহএ।
জরশি-পাট-নেতলাঠিতচামরযূত
সমুদ্রপূর্ণিতনৌকামএ।
In 1657, Aurangzeb defeated his other brothers in a fratricidal war between the four sons of Shah Jahan for the Mughal throne. One of the rival brothers of Aurangzeb (Alamgir) was Shah Shuja. Shah Shuja was Subahdar of Bengal for about 20 years from 1640 to 1660. After the defeat in the fratricidal war, Shah Shuja hoped to sail from Noakhali to Mecca or Istanbul by sea. However, as the rainy season came, it did not happen any more. Meanwhile, Emperor Aurangzeb's forces are constantly looking for Shah Shuja. To escape from Aurangzeb, Shah Shuja sought political asylum in the neighboring state of Arakan with a large amount of treasures (approx 23 tons). [7] In August 1660, the once mighty Bengal Subahdar Shah Shuja settled in Arakan State. But after six months, Shah Shuja was killed by the Arakan King. The daughters of Shah Shuja's family were abused, and the sons were imprisoned. This sad news of the Mughal Prince soon reached the Emperor of Delhi, who was Suja's brother Aurangzeb. The Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb sent two emissaries in succession to the Arakan royal court asking for the return of his brother Shah Shuja's children and treasures. The Arakanese captured and enslaved the first messenger. The second emissary was received by the royal court of Arakan, but all the children had already been killed, and their wealth confiscated, so there was no reply. [8]
To avenge the murder of his brother at the hands of the Arakan King, Aurangzeb sent his uncle and long-time political companion Shaista Khan as Subahdar (governor) of Bengal. Fearing an inevitable conflict with the Mughals the Arakanese started preparing for war. In 1664, they attacked Dhaka, the capital of Bengal, with the help of the Portuguese pirates and destroyed about 160 ships. At the behest of the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb, governor of Bengal Shaista Khan embarked on a war plan to crush the Arakanese. [9]
In the winter of 1665, Subahdar Shaista Khan formed a well-equipped army to fight against the Arakanese. His son, Buzurg Ummed Khan joined this mission of Chittagong recovery as the chief commander. [10]
In November 1665, the Mughals captured Sandwip with the assurance of Dutch diplomatic support and military aid. The naval battle took on another dimension when 40 ships under the command of Portuguese Captain Moore, experienced in Bengal's waterways, joined the Mughal fleet. [5] Meanwhile, 6500 Mughal army led by Shaista Khan's son Buzurg Ummed Khan started advancing towards Chittagong across Feni river. Before the Mughal conquest, Chittagong was called a forest of hills and trees. Historians wrote analogies that the forest was so dense that ants had no way to move. [11] A large number of axes were supplied from Dhaka for the Mughal army, with which they cleared the forest and arrived at the outskirts of Chittagong. Historians call this road built by the Mughals the origin of the present Dhaka-Chittagong Trunk Road. [12]
On January 27, 1666, Chatgochar Killa or Anderkilla, the Arakanese centre of the region, fell after a three-day siege in a two-pronged attack. [13] According to the information recorded in the Alamgirnama, the son of the former Mrauk U King Sirisudhammaraja is believed to have accompanied the Mughal force, and the Mughals intended to place him as king after conquering Arakan. [14] But due to insufficient logistics and the monsoon, they limited their progress to the banks of the Naf river. [15]
Bujurg Umid Khan renamed Chittagong as Islamabad after capturing Anderkilla and built a mosque on top of the fort the following year, which is now known as Anderkilla Jame Masjid. Above the entrance of the mosque, there are two stone blocks inscribed in Persian. The second one translates as 'O Wise! You tell the people of the world that the second Kaaba has been established in this world today. The date of its establishment is 1078 Hijri.'
The Mughals and the Portuguese held sway in the following naval battle. The conquered territory to the western bank of Kashyapnadi (Kaladan river) was placed under direct imperial administration. The name of Chittagong was changed to Islamabad and it became the headquarters of a Mughal faujdar. [10] : 230 Khan also re-asserted Mughal control over Cooch Behar and Kamarupa.
The Arakanese tried hard to recapture this region of Bengal, but they were not successful. Later, the Mughals built buildings, mosques, and temples in Chittagong. [16]
Mirza Shah Shuja was the second son of the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan and Empress Mumtaz Mahal. He was the governor of Bengal and Odisha and had his capital at Dhaka, in present day Bangladesh.
Sandwip is an island located along the southeastern coast of Bangladesh in the Chittagong District. Along with the island of Urir Char, it is part of the Sandwip Upazila.
Mrauk U is a town in northern Rakhine State, Myanmar. It is the capital of Mrauk-U Township, a subregion of the Mrauk-U District.
Mirza Abu Talib, better known as Shaista Khan, was a general and the Subahdar of Mughal Bengal, he was maternal uncle to the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb, he acted as a key figure during his reign, Shaista Khan initially governed the Deccan, where he clashed with the Maratha ruler Shivaji, However, he was most notable for his tenure as the governor of Bengal from 1664 to 1688, Under Shaista Khan's authority, the city of Dhaka and Mughal power in the province attained its greatest heights. His achievements include constructions of notable mosques such as the Sat Gambuj Mosque and masterminding the conquest of Chittagong. Shaista Khan was also responsible for sparking the outbreak of the Anglo-Mughal War with the English East India Company.
Rakhine State occupies the northern coastline of Myanmar up to the border with Bangladesh and corresponds to the historical Kingdom of Arakan. The history of Rakhine is divided into 7 parts - the independent kingdoms of Dhanyawadi, Waithali, Lemro, Mrauk U, Burmese occupation from 1785 to 1826, British rule from 1826 to 1948 and as a part of independent Burma from 1948.
Bangladesh's military history is intertwined with the history of a larger region, including present-day India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan and Myanmar. The country was historically part of Bengal – a major power in South Asia and Southeast Asia.
The Kingdom of Mrauk-U was a kingdom that existed on the Arakan littoral from 1429 to 1785. Based in the capital Mrauk-U, near the eastern coast of the Bay of Bengal, the kingdom ruled over what is now Rakhine State, Myanmar and southern part of Chittagong Division, Bangladesh. Though started out as a protectorate of the Bengal Sultanate from 1429 to 1531, Mrauk-U went on to conquer Chittagong with the help of the Portuguese. It twice fended off the Toungoo Burma's attempts to conquer the kingdom in 1546–1547, and 1580–1581. At its height of power, it briefly controlled the Bay of Bengal coastline from the Sundarbans to the Gulf of Martaban from 1599 to 1603. In 1666, it lost control of Chittagong after a war with the Mughal Empire. Its reign continued until 1785, when it was conquered by the Konbaung dynasty of Burma.
Sanda Thudhamma Raza (Arakanese: စန္ဒသုဓမ္မရာဇာ, was 24th king of the Mrauk U Kingdom. He reigned from 1652 to 1674. He lost the control of Chittagong during his reign.
The Bengal Subah, also referred to as Mughal Bengal, was the largest subdivision of Mughal India encompassing much of the Bengal region, which includes modern-day Bangladesh, the Indian state of West Bengal, and some parts of the present-day Indian states of Bihar, Jharkhand and Odisha between the 16th and 18th centuries. The state was established following the dissolution of the Bengal Sultanate, a major trading nation in the world, when the region was absorbed into the Mughal Empire. Bengal was the wealthiest region in the Indian subcontinent.
Min Bin was a king of Arakan from 1531 to 1554, "whose reign witnessed the country's emergence as a major power". Aided by Portuguese mercenaries and their firearms, his powerful navy and army pushed the boundaries of the kingdom deep into Bengal, where coins bearing his name and styling him sultan were struck, and even interfered in the affairs of mainland Burma.
The city of Chattogram (Chittagong) is traditionally centred around its seaport which has existed since the 4th century BCE. One of the world's oldest ports with a functional natural harbor for centuries, Chittagong appeared on ancient Greek and Roman maps, including on Ptolemy's world map. Chittagong port is the oldest and largest natural seaport and the busiest port of Bay of Bengal. It was located on the southern branch of the Silk Road. The city was home to the ancient independent Buddhist kingdoms of Bengal like Samatata and Harikela. It later fell under of the rule of the Gupta Empire, the Gauda Kingdom, the Pala Empire, the Chandra Dynasty, the Sena Dynasty and the Deva Dynasty of eastern Bengal. Arab Muslims traded with the port from as early as the 9th century. Historian Lama Taranath is of the view that the Buddhist king Gopichandra had his capital at Chittagong in the 10th century. According to Tibetan tradition, this century marked the birth of Tantric Buddhism in the region. The region has been explored by numerous historic travellers, most notably Ibn Battuta of Morocco who visited in the 14th century. During this time, the region was conquered and incorporated into the independent Sonargaon Sultanate by Fakhruddin Mubarak Shah in 1340 AD. Sultan Ghiyasuddin Azam Shah constructed a highway from Chittagong to Chandpur and ordered the construction of many lavish mosques and tombs. After the defeat of the Sultan of Bengal Ghiyasuddin Mahmud Shah in the hands of Sher Shah Suri in 1538, the Arakanese Kingdom of Mrauk U managed to regain Chittagong. From this time onward, until its conquest by the Mughal Empire, the region was under the control of the Portuguese and the Magh pirates for 128 years.
Min Khamaung also known as Hussein Shah; was the king of Arakan from 1612 to 1622.
Chittagong, the second largest city and main port of Bangladesh, was home to a thriving trading post of the Portuguese Empire in the East in the 16th and 17th centuries. The Portuguese first arrived in Chittagong around 1528 and left in 1666 after the Mughal conquest. It was the first European colonial enclave in the historic region of Bengal.
Dhaka Gate also known as Mir Jumla's Gate or Ramna Gate is a monument believed to be built by Mir Jumla II and enlisted as one of the oldest Mughal architectures in Dhaka. This gate is considered as one of the integral parts of the history of Dhaka.
The Bengal Sultanate–Kingdom of Mrauk U War of 1512–1516 was a conflict in the 16th century between the Bengal Sultanate and the Kingdom of Mrauk U.
Arakan is the historical geographical name of Rakhine State, Myanmar. The region was called Arakan for centuries until the Burmese military junta changed its name in 1989. The people of the region were known as Arakanese.
The Anderkilla Shahi Jame Mosque is built on top of a high hill called Ander-Qila. It is said to have been the earliest Mughal building that has been established in the city of Chittagong.
The Greater Noakhali region predominantly includes the districts of Noakhali, Feni and Lakshmipur in Bangladesh, though it has historically also included Bhola, Sandwip and some southern parts of Tripura in India and southern Comilla. The history of the Noakhali region begins with the existence of civilisation in the villages of Shilua and Bhulua. Bhulua became a focal point during the Buddhist and Hindu kingdoms of Pundra, Harikela and Samatata leading it to become the initial name of the region as a whole. The medieval Kingdom of Bhulua enjoyed autonomy under the Twipra Kingdom and Bengal Sultanate before being conquered by the Mughal Empire. At the beginning of the 17th century, Portuguese pirates led by Sebastian Gonzales took control of the ara but were later defeated by Governor Shaista Khan. Affected by floodwaters, the capital of the region was swiftly moved to a new place known as Noakhali, from which the region presently takes its name. By 1756, the British East India Company had dominated and started to establish several factories in the region. The headquarters was once again moved in 1951, to Maijdee, as a result of Noakhali town vanishing due to fluvial erosion.
Dilwar Khan, popularly known as Raja Dilal, was the last independent ruler of Sandwip, an island in present-day Bangladesh. His reputation as a strong and charitable ruler has made him considered to be the Robin Hood of Southeast Bengal, robbing the rich and rewarding the poor. His legacy remains popular today, and is engraved in local folklore and strange legends in Sandwip. He has been considered the most influential Bengali Muslim ruler of the 17th century.
The Conquest of Bhulua refers to the 17th-century Mughal conquest of the Bhulua Kingdom, which covered much of the present-day Noakhali region of Bangladesh. The campaign was led by Shaykh Abdul Wahid, under the orders of Islam Khan I, against Raja Ananta Manikya in 1613. The conquest of Bhulua allowed the Mughals to successfully penetrate through southeastern Bengal and conquer Chittagong and parts of Arakan.