Founder | |
---|---|
Guru Nanak | |
Regions with significant populations | |
Dhaka Chittagong Mymensingh | |
Scriptures | |
Guru Granth Sahib | |
Languages | |
Sant Bhasha (sacred) Punjabi (cultural) Bengali (national) Hindi • Urdu |
Part of a series on |
Sikhism |
---|
Sikhism in Bangladesh has an extensive heritage and history, although Sikhs had always been a minority community in Bengal. Their founder, Guru Nanak visited a number of places in Bengal in the early sixteenth century where he introduced Sikhism to locals and founded numerous establishments. In its early history, the Sikh gurus despatched their followers to propagate Sikh teachings in Bengal and issued hukamnamas to that region. Guru Tegh Bahadur lived in Bengal for two years, and his successor Guru Gobind Singh also visited the region. Sikhism in Bengal continued to exist during the colonial period as Sikhs found employment in the region, but it declined after the partition in 1947. [1] Among the eighteen historical gurdwaras (Sikh places of worship) in Bangladesh, only five are extant. The Gurdwara Nanak Shahi of Dhaka is the principal and largest gurdwara in the country. The Sikh population in the country almost entirely consists of businessmen and government officials from the neighbouring Republic of India. [2]
Sikhism first emerged in Bengal when its founder, Guru Nanak, visited the Bengal Sultanate in 1504 during the reign of Sultan Alauddin Husain Shah. He passed through Kantanagar and Sylhet. Kahn Singh Nabha credits the establishment of Gurdwara Sahib Sylhet to Nanak himself. Mughal courtier Abu'l-Fazl ibn Mubarak also records in his Akbarnama that Nanak had entered Sylhet from Kamrup with his followers. He further narrates a story in which a faqir (Sufi ascetic) called Nur Shah transmorphed Nanak's senior companion Bhai Mardana into a lamb although Nanak was able to undo the spell later on. [2]
Nanak then sailed into Dhaka, where he stopped at the village of Shivpur and also visited Faridpur. He first preached to the potters of Rayer Bazaar, for whom he dug and consecrated a well in Jafarabad village for. Nanak was also said to have constructed a gurdwara in Jafarabad. [3] The ruins of the well in Jafarabad is still visited by Sikhs, who believe that its waters have curative powers. [4] Nanak then left Dhaka as he intended to travel to Calcutta and subsequently the Deccan. He passed through Chittagong, where he established a manji (religious headquarter) in Chawkbazar and made Bhai Jhanda its first masand . Raja Sudhir Sen of Chittagong converted to Sikhism as a result of his converted son, Indra Singh, and became a disciple of Guru Nanak. This manji later became the Chittagong Gurdwara (Joy Nagar Lane, Panchlaish) through the effort of Dewan Mohan Singh, the Bihari-Sikh dewan of the Nawab of Bengal Murshid Quli Khan. The Nawab had also allowed the entire property to be rent-free. The Dewan also established the Gurdwara of English Road in Dhaka which later collapsed. [2] [5]
Baba Gurditta later visited Bengal, where he established a manji in Shujatpur (presently the University of Dhaka campus) which Gurditta traced to be the location in which Nanak resided during his stay in Bengal. During the reign of Mughal emperor Jahangir, Guru Hargobind dispatched Bhai Nattha (Bhai Almast's successor) to Bengal, who dug another well and also laid the foundation stone for the Shujatpur Sikh Sangat, a religious congregation. The sangat commemorated the footsteps of Guru Nanak. [2]
Guru Tegh Bahadur stayed in Dhaka between 1666 and 1668 after visiting Assam. During this time, Bulaki Das was the masand (Sikh minister) of Dhaka. He established the Gurdwara Sangat Tola (14 Sreesh Das Lane) in Bangla Bazar. [4] His wooden sandals are preserved at the Gurdwara Nanak Shahi. [6] He also visited the Gurdwara Sahib Sylhet twice. His successor, Guru Gobind Singh, issued many hukamnamas to the Sylhet temple and also visited Dhaka. The Gurdwara Sahib Sylhet provided war elephants for him too. [3] [7]
By the early 18th century, there were a few Sikhs living in the region of Bengal. [8] One famous Sikh who lived during this time period was Omichand, a local Khatri Sikh banker and landlord who participate in the conspiracy against Nawab Siraj ud-Daulah with the East India Company. [8] [9] The Flemish artist Frans Baltazard Solvyns arrived in Calcutta in 1791 and observed many Sikhs, whom one could differentiate from the rest of the land's inhabitants by their garbs and traditions. [8] He etched depictions of a Khalsa Sikh and a Nanakpanthi, which was published in 1799. [8]
Overtime, the Shujatpur sangat developed into what is now the Gurdwara Nanak Shahi from 1830 onwards. Under the initiative of Mahant Prem Daas, Bhai Nattha's well was reformed in 1833. [2] A large number of Sikhs found employment with the Assam Bengal Railway and a gurdwara was established for them in Pahartali, Chittagong. [10] The Gurdwara Sahib Sylhet was destroyed as result of the 1897 earthquake. The Sangat Sutrashashi at Urdu Road was later destroyed by the Sutra Sadhus. There is also a gurdwara in Banigram, Banshkhali. [11]
In 1945, Sikhs established the Gurdwara Guru Nanak Sahib in Mymensingh which continues to be used by ten local families today. A Bengali Sikh called Here Singh was appointed as its inaugural chief. From 1915 to 1947, Sri Chandrajyoti served as the granthi of Gurdwara Nanak Shahi in Dhaka. After the Independence of Pakistan, most of the Sikh community left for the Dominion of India and the Dhaka gurdwara was looked after by Bhai Swaran Singh. [2] After the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 and Bangladesh Liberation War, Indian Sikh soldiers helped renovate the extant gurdwaras of Bangladesh including the Gurdwara Nanak Shahi. [6]
The Sikh population almost entirely consists of Punjabi businessmen and government officials from the neighbouring Republic of India. There exists a small ancient Balmiki community who retain fluency in the Punjabi language from the time of Guru Nanak. Despite the direct propagation from four of the Sikh gurus, the religion was unable to profoundly influence the Bengali people due to its seemingly Punjabi-centric nature. [2]
The Government of Pakistan requisitioned this part of Jafarabad under Sikh supervision until 1959. A handwritten copy of the Guru Granth Sahib from the time of Guru Arjan was kept at the Gurdwara Sangat Tola and later moved to the Gurdwara Nanak Shahi in 1985. [12] After the independence of Bangladesh, Bhai Kartar Singh and the Bangladesh Gurdwara Management Board seized control of all the gurdwaras in the country including the central Gurdwara Nanak Shahi of Dhaka. [2]
Syed Ismail Hossain Siraji was a Bengali author and poet from Sirajganj in present-day Bangladesh. He is considered to be one of the key authors of period of the Bengali Muslim reawakening; encouraging education and glorifying the Islamic heritage. He also contributed greatly to introducing the Khilafat Movement in Bengal, and provided medical supplies to the Ottoman Empire during the Balkan Wars. Anal-Prabaha, his first poetry book, was banned by the government and he was subsequently imprisoned as the first South Asian poet to allegedly call for independence against the British Raj. The government issued Section 144 against him 82 times in his lifetime.
Mohammad Yakub Ali Chowdhury was a Bengali essayist and journalist. He was noted as one of the few Bengali Muslim literary scholars of his time.
Dhaka (Dacca) is a modern megacity with origins dating to circa the 7th century CE. The history of Dhaka begins with the existence of urbanised settlements that were ruled by the Hindu Gauda Kingdom, Buddhist and Shaivite Pala Empire before passing to the control of the Hindu Sena dynasty in the 10th century CE. After the Sena dynasty, the city was ruled by the Hindu Deva Dynasty.
Hakim Habibur Rahman was an Unani physician, litterateur, journalist, politician and chronicler in early 20th-century Dhaka.
Shamsuddīn Aḥmad Shāh was the last Sultan of Bengal belonging to the House of Ganesha. He was the son and successor of Sultan Jalaluddin Muhammad Shah. After his father's death, he ascended the throne at the age of 14.
Nāsir ad-Dīn Naṣrat Shāh, also known as Nusrat Shah, was the second Sultan of Bengal belonging to the Hussain Shahi dynasty. He continued with his father's expansionist policies but by 1526, had to contend with the Mughal ascendency in the Battle of Ghaghra. Simultaneously, Nasrat Shah's reign also suffered a reverse at the hands of the Ahom kingdom. The reigns of Alauddin Husain Shah and Nasrat Shah are generally regarded as the "golden age" of the Bengal Sultanate.
Ruknuddīn Bārbak Shāh was the son and successor of Sultan Nasiruddin Mahmud Shah. Initially appointed as the governor of Satgaon during the reign of his father, Barbak ascended the throne of the Bengal Sultanate in 1459. He was the first ruler to give prominent roles in the Sultanate's administration to the Abyssinian community. Historian Aniruddha Ray credits Barbak Shah as the pioneer of urbanisation in Bengal.
Jalaluddin Fateh Shah was the last ruler of later Ilyas Shahi dynasty of the Bengal Sultanate reigning from 1481 to 1487. He was the uncle and successor of Sultan Shamsuddin Yusuf Shah.
Sidi Badr, later known by his regnal name Shams ad-Dīn Muẓaffar Shāh, was the Sultan of Bengal from 1491 to 1493. Described by the Indo-Persian historians as a tyrant, his cruelty was said to have alienated the nobles as well as his common subjects.
Musa Khan was the leader of the Bara-Bhuiyans of Bengal following the death of his father, Isa Khan.
Shāhzāda Bārbak, known by his regnal title as Ghiyāsuddīn Bārbak Shāh, was the Sultan of Bengal in 1487 and the founder of the Sultanate's Habshi dynasty. He was a former commander of the palace-guards of Jalaluddin Fateh Shah court.
Malik Andil Habshi, better known by his regnal title Saifuddin Firoze Shah was the second "Habshi" ruler of the Bengal Sultanate's Habshi dynasty. He was a former army commander of the Sultanate's Ilyas Shahi dynasty.
Mohammad Mozammel Huq was a Bengali-language poet, novelist, magistrate and educationist. His writings were said to have been inspired by a "Muslim renaissance".
Nawab Bahadur was a title of honour bestowed during Mughal Empire and later during British Raj to Indian Muslim individuals for faithful service or acts of public welfare.
Masum Khan was a zamindar of Bengal. He was the eldest son and successor of Baro-Bhuiyan leader Musa Khan and the grandson of Isa Khan.
Ashrafuddin Ahmad Chowdhury was a Bengali politician who had served as general secretary of the Congress Party's Bengal branch, member of the East Bengal Legislative Assembly and later as the education minister of Pakistan. He was an advocate of Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy's United Bengal proposal.
Syed Abdul Majid, CIE, also known by his nickname Kaptan Miah, was a politician, lawyer and entrepreneur. He is notable for pioneering the development in the agricultural and tea industry in British India as well as his contributions to both secular and Islamic education in Sylhet.
The Kohinoor was a Bengali language newspaper, first published in July 1898. Initially focusing on miscellaneous topics such as Islamic culture, its third relaunch was a pivot of Hindu-Muslim harmony. The paper targeted both Hindu and Muslim clientele.
Tanda, also known as Tandah and Khwaspur Tandah, was a historic 16th-century city of Bengal in the eastern part of South Asia, and one of the most prominent medieval capitals; serving the Karrani Sultans of Bengal and the early Mughal governors of Bengal.
The Greater Jessore region predominantly includes the districts of Jessore, Jhenaidah, Narail and Magura in Bangladesh, as well as the Bangaon subdivision of India. Nestled close to the Sundarbans, the region experienced human settlement early on. It served as the capital city of the Samatata realm and passed through several Buddhist and Hindu kingdoms such as the Palas and Senas. Jessore was ruled by Khan Jahan Ali of Khalifatabad, under the Muslim Sultanate of Bengal, who is credited with establishing the Qasbah of Murali and urbanising the region through advancements in transportation and civilization. Jessore later came to be ruled by various chieftains such as Pratapaditya and became familiar to contemporary European travellers as Chandecan before being annexed to the Mughal Empire in the seventeenth century. By 1757, the British East India Company had dominated and started to establish themselves in the region. British rule lasted up until 1947, with Jessore coming under the Provisional Government of Bangladesh from 1971 onwards.