Muhammad bin Bakhtiyar Khalji

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Ikhtiyar al-Din Muhammad bin Bakhtiyar Khalji
اختیارالدین محمد بن بختیار خلجی
The end of Buddhist Monks, A.D. 1193.jpg
Muhammad bin Bakhtiyar Khalji and his fellow warrior Subahdar Awlia Khan leading troops in the slaughter of Buddhist monks. Early 20th century illustration. [1]
SuccessorMuhammad Shiran Khalji
BornGarmsir, Helmand, Afghanistan
Died1206
Devkot, South Dinajpur, Bengal
Burial1206
Pirpal Dargah, Narayanpur, Gangarampur, South Dinajpur
ClanKhilji
OccupationMilitary general, ruler

Ikhtiyār al-Dīn Muḥammad Bakhtiyār Khaljī,[2] (Persian: اختیارالدین محمد بختیار خلجی) also known as Bakhtiyar Khalji,[3][4] was a Turko-Afghan[5][6] military general of the Ghurid Empire,[7] who led the Muslim conquests of the eastern Indian regions of Bengal and Bihar and established himself as their ruler.[8][9][10][11] He was the founder of the Khalji dynasty of Bengal, which ruled Bengal for a short period, from 1203 to 1227 CE.

Khalji's invasions of the Indian subcontinent between A.D. 1197 and 1206 led to mass flight and murder of Buddhist monks, and caused grave damage to the traditionally Buddhist institutions of higher learning in Northern India.[12] In Bengal, Khalji's reign was responsible for displacement of Buddhism by Islam.[13][14] His rule is said to have begun the Islamic rule in Bengal, most notably those of Bengal Sultanate and Mughal Bengal.[15]

Bakhtiyar also launched the Tibet campaign, which failed because of the terrain and guerillas. Later, when he retreated to Bengal, he died in 1206. Either due to illness or he was assassinated. He was succeeded by Muhammad Shiran Khalji.

Early life[edit]

Bakhtiyar Khalji was born and raised in Garmsir, Helmand, in present-day southern Afghanistan. He was member of the Khalaj tribe,[16][17][18][19] a tribe of Turkic origin that was going through a process of Pashtunization[20] after being settled in south-eastern Afghanistan for over 200 years, which eventually led to the creation of the Ghilji tribe.[21][22][23][24]

He was head of the Ghurid Empire military force that conquered parts of eastern India at the end of the 12th century and at the beginning of the 13th century.[25]

Rise[edit]

Tradition has it that Khalji's conquest of Bengal at the head of 18 horsemen was foretold.[26] He was of common birth,[27] had long arms extending below his knees,[26] a short physical stature, and an unfavorable countenance. He was first appointed as the Dewan-i-Ard at Ghor. Then he approached India in about the year 1193 and tried to enter in the army of Qutb al-Din Aibak, but was refused rank. Then he went further eastward and took a job under Malik Hizbar al-Din, then in command of a platoon at Badayun in northern India.[27] After a short period he went to Oudh where Malik Husam al-Din, recognised him for his worth.[27] Husam gave him a landed estate in the south-eastern corner of modern Mirzapur district. Khalji soon established himself there and carried out successful raids into weakly-defended regions to the east.[28]

Conquests[edit]

The ruins of Nalanda.
Bengal coinage of Bakhtiyar Khalji (1204-1206 CE). Struck in the name of Mu'izz al-Din Muhammad, dated Samvat 1262 (1204 CE).
Obverse: Horseman with Nagari legend around: samvat 1262 bhadrapada "August, year 1262". Reverse: Nagari legend: srima ha/ mira mahama /da saamah "Lord Emir Mohammed [ibn] Sam".[29][30]
Another type of Bengal coinage of Muhammad Bakhtiyar Khalji as Governor (1204-1206 CE). Obverse: horseman galloping, holding lance with Devanagari legend around (śrimat mahamada samah "Lord Mohammed [ibn] Sam"). Reverse: name and titles of Mu'izz al-Din Muhammad bin Sam in Arabic. Struck AD 1204-1205.[29] This is his earliest coinage in Bengal, using both Sanskrit and Arabic legends.[31]

Khalji's career took a new turn when he subjugated Bihar in 1200.[32] He is said to have destroyed Nalanda University, greatly contributing to the decline of pre-Islamic Indic scholarship.[33][34] Bakhtiyar Khalji's invasions are believed to have severely damaged the Buddhist establishments at Odantapuri, and Vikramashila.[12] Minhaj-i-Siraj's Tabaqat-i Nasiri suggests that Bakhtiyar Khalji destroyed a Buddhist monastery[12] which the author equates in his description with a city he calls "Bihar", from what the soldiers learn is called a vihara.[35] According to American scholar Hartmut Scharfe, the Tibetan sources suggest that this monastery was the one at Vikramashila;[12] historian André Wink believes that this monastery must have been Odantapuri.[35] According to the early 17th century Buddhist scholar Taranatha, the invaders massacred many monks at Odantapuri, and destroyed Vikramashila.[35] These effort earned him political clout in the court at Delhi.

In that same year, Khalji took his forces into Bengal. As he came upon the city of Nabadwip, it is said that he advanced so rapidly that only 18 horsemen from his army could keep up. He conquered Nabadwip from the old emperor Lakshmana Sena in 1203 only with those 18 horsemen and entered the city unchallenged.[36][37] Khalji and his 18 horsemen were so quick that they took the emperor and his military forces by shock and as a result, the defending forces fled from the city.[38][39] Khalji subsequently went on to capture the capital and the principal city of Bengal, Gaur (ancient Lakhnauti),[40] and intruded into much of Bengal.[41]

Muhammad Bakhtiyar’s rule was related by Minhaj al-Siraj, as he visited Bengal about 40 years later:[42]

After Muhammad Bakhtiyar possessed himself of that territory he left the city of Nudiah in desolation, and the place which is (now) Lakhnauti he made the seat of government. He brought the different parts of the territory under his sway, and instituted therein, in every part, the reading of the khutbah, and the coining of money; and, through his praiseworthy endeavours, and those of his Amirs, masjids [mosques], colleges, and monasteries (for Dervishes), were founded in those parts.

— Account of the conquest of Bengal, Minhaj al-Siraj.[42]

Bengal Conquest[edit]

The then King Lakshman Sen of Bengal was staying in Nadia, the capital of Bengal because Nadia was the most protected area from external enemies. It is said that shortly before his arrival in Nadia, a royal scholar warned him that a Turkish army might defeat him. This created fear among Lakshman Sen and strengthened the security of Rajmahal and Teliagarh, the entrances to Nadia. Lakshman Sen was of the opinion that it was not possible for any army to invade Nadia through the remote forests of Jharkhand but Bakhtiyar brought his army with him. During the Nadia campaign, Bakhtiyar advanced so fast through Jharkhand that only 16 soldiers were able to keep up with him. [26] [26] Bakhtiyar entered the palace gate of Raja Lakshman Sen directly and entered the palace, killing the gatekeepers and guards. There was a commotion inside the palace and Lakshman Sen lost his way and took refuge in Bikrampur by boat through the back door of the palace.

Nadia conquered and later marched towards Lakshnavati (Gaur) and established his capital there. This Lakshanavati was later known as Lakhnauti. After the further conquest of Gaur, he established his rights in Barind or North Bengal. In order to establish good governance, he divided the territories into several parts and handed over the governance to one general after another. The names of three generals of Bakhtiyar are found. Among them were Subedar Aulia Khan, ruler of the Bengal region of eastern India, Ali Mardan Khalji of Barshaul and Husamuddin Iwaz Khalji of Gangatari.

One of the 17 pioneers of Ikhtiyar Uddin Muhammad Bakhtiyar Khalji was Subedar Aulia Khan, a close friend of Bakhtiyar from Garmshir, Afghanistan. He was originally appointed by Khalji as the ruler of the Bengal region of eastern India. Subedar Aulia Khan was the ruler of Bengal till his death. Later his descendants ruled the area for generations. Aulia Khan named Bakhtiyarpur area of ​​present Bhawal Gazipur Kaliganj police station in 1206 in memory of her dear friend Bakhtiyar Khalji. Which is now known as Baktarpur area. At that time Aulia Khan established her administrative center at Bakhtiyarpur. He settled in the surrounding Fulhari area (now Fuldi village) as the settlement was beautiful. According to sources, Munshi Muhammad Sarwar Khan (then Rupganj Circle), a Circle Inspector of Police, a descendant of Subedar Aulia Khan, changed the name of Fulhari to Fuldi during the British East India Company.

Death and aftermath[edit]

Ikhtiyar al-Dīn Muḥammad Khalji left the town of Devkot in 1206 to attack Tibet, leaving Ali Mardan Khalji in Ghoraghat Upazila to watch the eastern frontier from his headquarters at Barisal. Khalji's forces suffered a disastrous defeat at the hands of Tibetan guerrilla forces at Chumbi Valley during his Tibetan expedition through an unfamiliar mountainous terrain, which forced him to retreat. Khalji then returned to Devkot with about one hundred surviving soldiers. Upon Ikhtiyar Khalji's return while he was lying ill at Devkot, he was assassinated by Ali Mardan.[43][44]

The Khalji noblemen then appointed Muhammad Shiran Khalji as Bakhtiyar's successor. Loyal troops under Shiran Khalji and Subedar Aulia Khan avenged Ikhtiyar's death, imprisoning Ali Mardan. Eventually Ali Mardan fled to Delhi and provoked the Sultan of Delhi Qutb al-Din Aibak to invade Bengal. Ali Mardan returned with the governor of Oudh, Kayemaz Rumi, and dethroned Shiran. Shiran fled to Dinajpur where he later died.[45] Ghiyas-ud-din Iwaz Khalji became the successor. Ali Mardan escaped and was made Governor of Bengal by Qutb-ud-din Aibak, but was killed in 1212. Ghiyas-ud-din again assumed power and proclaimed his independence.[46]

His rule[edit]

Al Mahmud, a leading Bangladeshi poet, composed a book of poetry titled Bakhtiyarer Ghora (Horses of Bakhtiyar) in the early 1990s.[47] He depicted Khalji as the praiseworthy hero of Muslim conquest of Bengal. During Bakhtiyar Khalji's reign, Islam gained a large number of converts in India.[13] Muhammad Bakhtiyar Khalji had the Khutbah read and coins struck in his own name. Mosques, madrasas, and khanqahs arose in the new abode of Islam through Bakhtiyar's patronage, and his example was imitated by his Amirs.[48][49] His conquest began 500 years of Muslim rule over Bengal which ended with the Battle of Plassey.[citation needed]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

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  9. ^ Mehta, Jaswant Lal (1986) [First published 1979]. Advanced Study in the History of Medieval India. Vol. I (2nd ed.). Sterling Publishers. pp. 81–82. ISBN 978-81-207-0617-0. OCLC 883279992. The Turkish arms penetrated into Bihar and Bengal, through the enterprising efforts of Ikhtiyaruddin Muhammad bin Bakhtiyar Khalji ... he started plundering raids into Bihar and, within four or five years, occupied a large part of it ... Nadia was sacked by the Turks and a few districts of Bengal (Malda, Dinajpur, Murshidabad and Birbhum) were occupied by them ... Bathtiyar Khalji could not retain his hold over Nadia and made Lakhnauti or Gaur as his capital.
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  13. ^ a b Arnold, Sir Thomas Walker (1896). The Preaching of Islam: A History of the Propagation of the Muslim Faith. Archibald Constable and Co. pp. 227–228.
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External links[edit]


Preceded by Khalji dynasty of Bengal
1204–1206 		Succeeded by
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