Bengal Sultanate

2026-05-03T21:53:49Z

67.135.37.170:

{{Short description|1352–1576 kingdom in Bengal}}
{{Other uses|Bengal (disambiguation)}}
{{Use British English|date=January 2019}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2023}}
{{Infobox former country
| conventional_long_name = Bengal Sultanate
| native_name = {{Native name|ben|শাহী বাঙ্গালা}} {{Native name|fas|سلطنت بنگاله}}
| today = [[Bangladesh]] [[India]] [[Myanmar]] [[Nepal]]
| life_span = 1352–1539 1554–1576
| status = [[Sultanate]]{{efn|name=Ganesha|It was briefly turned into a [[Hindu kingdom]] under [[Raja Ganesha]] between 1414 and 1415 and again between 1416 and 1418.}}
| event_start = Unification
| year_start = 1352
| image_flag =
| flag_type =
| event_end = [[Battle of Raj Mahal]]
| date_end = 12 July 1576
| event1 = [[Bengal Sultanate–Delhi Sultanate War|Independence from Delhi]]
| date_event1 = 1353–1359
| event2 = [[Raja Ganesha]]'s rebellion
| date_event2 = 1414
| event3 = [[Bengal Sultanate–Jaunpur Sultanate War|Bengal–Jaunpur War]]
| date_event3 = 1415–1420
| event4 = [[Reconquest of Arakan]]
| date_event4 = 1429–1430
| event5 = [[Bengal-Kamata War]]
| date_event5 = 1498
| event6 = [[Bengal Sultanate–Kingdom of Mrauk U War of 1512–1516|Conquest of Chittagong]]
| date_event6 = 1512–1516
| event7 = [[Turbak's invasion of Assam|Gauda–Ahom War]]
| date_event7 = 1532–1533
| event8 = [[Sur Empire|Suri]] invasion
| date_event8 = 1539
| event9 = Restoration
| date_event9 = 1554
| event10 = [[Mughal invasion of Bengal|Mughal invasion]]
| date_event10 = 1572–1576
| p3 = Delhi Sultanate
| p1 = Mubarak Shahi Dynasty#Mubarak Shahi Dynasty, 14th century {{!}} Mubarak Shahi dynasty
| p2 = Saptagram#Independence from Delhi Sultanate {{!}} Satgaon Sultanate
| p4 = Bhoi dynasty
| p5 = Oiniwar dynasty
| p6 = Eastern Ganga dynasty
| s1 = Bengal Subah
| s2 = Mughal Empire{{!}}of the Mughal Empire
| s3 = Baro-Bhuyan
| flag_caption = Flag of the Bengal Sultanate in the Catalan Atlas
| image_coat =
| image_map = {{Switcher|[[File:Map of Ilyas Shahis–Ganesha.png|upright=1.15|frameless]]|[[Ilyas Shahi dynasty]] and [[House of Ganesha]] {{Circa|1390–1450}}{{sfn|Schwartzberg|1978|p=39}}|[[File:Hussain Shahis of Bengal.png|upright=1.15|frameless]]|[[Hussain Shahi dynasty]] {{Circa|1519}}{{sfn|Schwartzberg|1978|p=40}}|default=2}}
| symbol =
| symbol_type =
| image_map_caption =
| capital = [[Pandua, Malda|Pandua]]{{Efn|Under the [[Ilyas Shahi dynasty]] and [[Raja Ganesha]].{{Sfn|Michell|1984|p=28}}}} {{small|(1352–1390, 1410-1433)}} [[Sonargaon]]{{efn|Sultan [[Ghiyasuddin Azam Shah]] (r. 1390-1410) held his court in Sonargaon.<ref name="Banglapedia-Sonargaon" />}} {{small|(1390–1410)}} [[Gauda (city)|Gaur]]{{Efn|Under Sultan [[Jalaluddin Muhammad Shah]],{{Sfn|Bhattacharya|2020|p=41}} the [[Ilyas Shahi dynasty#Restored dynasty|Restored Ilyas Shahi dynasty]], the [[Habshi dynasty]], and the [[Hussain Shahi dynasty]].{{Sfn|Michell|1984|p=28}}}} {{small|(1433–1565)}} [[Tanda, Bengal|Tanda]]{{Efn|Under the [[Karrani dynasty]].{{Sfn|Michell|1984|p=28}}}} {{small|(1565–1576)}}
| official_languages = [[Bengali language|Bengali]] [[Persian language|Persian]]
| religion = [[Sunni Islam]] (official){{efn|name=Ganesha}} [[Hinduism]] [[Buddhism]]
| government_type = [[Absolute monarchy]]
| leader1 = [[Shamsuddin Ilyas Shah]]
| year_leader1 = 1342–1358 (first)
| leader2 = [[Daud Khan Karrani]]
| year_leader2 = 1572–1576 (last)
| title_leader = [[List of rulers of Bengal#Bengal Sultanate era|Sultan]]
| currency = [[History of the taka|Tanka]]
| legislature =
}}
The '''Bengal Sultanate'''{{Efn|[[History of Bengali language|Middle Bengali]]: শাহী বাঙ্গালা, [[Romanisation of Bengali|romanization]]: ''Śāhī Bāṅgālā'', {{lit|Royal/Imperial Bengal}} [[Classical Persian]]: سلطنت بنگاله, [[Romanization of Persian|romanization]]: ''Salṭanat-e Bangālah'', {{lit|Sultanate of Bengal}}}}<ref>{{cite web | title=History | quote=Shah-i-Bangalah, Shah-i-Bangaliyan and Sultan-i-Bangalah | url=http://en.banglapedia.org/index.php?title=History | website=Banglapedia | access-date=23 September 2017 | url-status=live | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170929104319/http://en.banglapedia.org/index.php?title=History | archive-date=29 September 2017 | df=dmy-all }}</ref> was a [[Post-classical history|late medieval]] [[sultanate]]{{efn|name=Ganesha}} based in the [[Bengal]] region in eastern [[South Asia]] between the 14th and 16th century. It was the dominant power of the [[Ganges-Brahmaputra Delta]], with a network of mint towns spread across the region. The Bengal Sultanate had a circle of [[vassal states]] in the [[Indian subcontinent]] and [[Southeast Asia]], including parts of [[Odisha]] in the southwest,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Orissa – Banglapedia |url=https://en.banglapedia.org/index.php/Orissa |access-date=2025-04-16 |website=en.banglapedia.org}}</ref> parts of [[Bihar]] in the northwest,<ref>[https://munger.nic.in/history-2/ Munger, the part of Bengal Sultanate]</ref> parts of [[Assam]] in the northeast,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Assam History {{!}} Assam State Portal |url=https://assam.gov.in/about-us/394#:~:text=In%201874,%20Assam%20became%20a%20separate%20province%20with%20Shillong%20as%20its%20capital.&text=The%20medieval%20era%20began%20with%20the%20attacks,medieval%20kingdoms%20and%20chieftain-ships%20in%20its%20place. |access-date=2025-04-16 |website=assam.gov.in}}</ref> [[Arakan]] in the southeast,<ref name="Ooi2004">{{cite book |author=[[Keat Gin Ooi]] |title=Southeast Asia: A Historical Encyclopedia, from Angkor Wat to East Timor |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QKgraWbb7yoC&pg=PA171 |year=2004 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |isbn=978-1-57607-770-2 |page=171 |access-date=31 October 2019 |archive-date=22 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231022222946/https://books.google.com/books?id=QKgraWbb7yoC&pg=PA171 |url-status=live }}</ref> and [[Tripura]] in the east.{{Sfn|Eaton|1996|loc=p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=gKhChF3yAOUC&pg=PA64&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false 64]}}

The Bengal Sultanate controlled large parts of eastern South Asia during its five dynastic periods, reaching its peak under [[Jalaluddin Muhammad Shah]]. Its raids and conquests reached [[Kingdom of Nepal|Nepal]] in the north, [[Brahmaputra Valley]] (modern-day [[Assam]]) in the east, and [[Jaunpur Sultanate|Jaunpur]] and [[Varanasi]] in the west. It was reputed as a thriving trading nation. Its decline began with an [[interregnum]] by the [[Sur Empire]], followed by [[Mughal Empire|Mughal]] [[Mughal conquest of Bengal|conquest]] and disintegration into petty kingdoms. The Bengal Sultanate was a Sunni Muslim monarchy<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nyYslywJUE8C&pg=PA139|title=Indo-Islamic society: 14th – 15th centuries|last=Wink|first=André|date=2003|publisher=Brill|isbn=978-9004135611}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|title=Encyclopaedia Aethiopica|last=Uhlig|first=Siegbert|year=2003|page=151}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|title=Encyclopedia of Asian history|last=Embree|first=Ainslie|publisher=[[Asia Society]]|year=1988|page=149}}</ref> with [[Bengalis|Bengali]], [[Turco-Persian tradition|Turco-Persian]], [[Afghan (ethnonym)|Afghan]] and [[Habshi|Abyssinian]] elites.<ref name="auto1">{{cite web|url=https://www.sahapedia.org/gaur-and-pandua-architecture|title=Gaur and Pandua Architecture|website=Sahapedia|access-date=27 September 2019|archive-date=13 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201113111721/https://www.sahapedia.org/gaur-and-pandua-architecture|url-status=live}}</ref> The most prominent dynasties were the [[Ilyas Shahi dynasty|Ilyas Shahi]], [[House of Ganesha]] and [[Hussain Shahi dynasty|Hussain Shahi]]. The kingdom was known for its religious pluralism where non-Muslim communities co-existed peacefully. While [[Persian language|Persian]] was used as the primary official, diplomatic and commercial language, it was under the Sultans that [[Bengali language|Bengali]] first received court recognition as an official language.<ref name=stars/><ref>{{cite book|year=1978|author=Saikia, Mohini Kumar|title=Assam-Muslim Relation and Its Cultural Significance|publisher=Luit Printers|page=20}}</ref> The cities of the Bengal Sultanate are termed as Mint Towns where the historical [[History of the taka|taka]] was [[Mint (facility)|minted]]. These cities were adorned with stately medieval buildings.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.thehindu.com/society/history-and-culture/once-upon-a-fort-gaurs-firoz-minar-is-still-an-imposing-sight/article26407049.ece|title=Once upon a fort: Gaur's Firoz Minar is still an imposing sight|first=Rana|last=Safvi|date=2 March 2019|newspaper=The Hindu|access-date=27 September 2019|archive-date=31 October 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191031230453/https://www.thehindu.com/society/history-and-culture/once-upon-a-fort-gaurs-firoz-minar-is-still-an-imposing-sight/article26407049.ece|url-status=live}}</ref> In 1500, the royal capital of [[Gauda (city)|Gaur]] was the fifth-most populous city in the world.<ref name="ft" /><ref name="scroll" /> Other notable cities included the initial royal capital of [[Pandua, Malda|Pandua]], the economic hub of [[Sonargaon]], the [[Mosque City of Bagerhat]], and the seaport and trading hub of [[Chittagong]]. The Bengal Sultanate was connected to states in Asia, Africa, the Indian Ocean, and Europe through maritime links and overland trade routes. The Bengal Sultanate was a major trading center on the coast of the Bay of Bengal. It attracted immigrants and traders from different parts of the world. Bengali ships and merchants traded across the region, including in Malacca, China, and the Maldives.

Contemporary European and Chinese visitors described the Bengal Sultanate as a prosperous and thriving kingdom. Due to the abundance of goods in Bengal, the region was described as the "richest country to trade with". The Bengal Sultanate left a strong architectural legacy. Buildings from the period show foreign influences merged into a distinct Bengali style.<ref name="auto1"/> The Bengal Sultanate was also the largest and most prestigious authority among the independent medieval Muslim-ruled states in the [[history of Bengal]].<ref name="AndayaAndaya2015">{{cite book|author1=Barbara Watson Andaya|author2=Leonard Y. Andaya|title=A History of Early Modern Southeast Asia, 1400–1830|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0Rh2BgAAQBAJ&pg=PA114|date=2015|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-88992-6|page=114|access-date=29 May 2019|archive-date=22 October 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231022222946/https://books.google.com/books?id=0Rh2BgAAQBAJ&pg=PA114#v=onepage&q&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref>

==History==
===Background (13th and 14th centuries)===
{{See also|Mubarak Shahi Dynasty}}
Bengal was gradually absorbed into the [[Delhi Sultanate]] during the 1200s. It began with [[Muhammad Bakhtiyar Khalji|Bakhtiyar]]'s 1202–1204 conquest of Gauda during the reign of [[Muhammad of Ghor]]. This saw the beginning of the rise of [[Khalaj people|Turko]]-[[Pashtuns|Afghans]] in the Indian subcontinent.<ref>{{Cite book|last=|first=|title=Know Your State West Bengal|publisher=Arihant Experts|year=2019|isbn=|location=|pages=15|quote=Turk-Afghan Rule: Muhammad Bin Bakhtiyar Khilji's invasion to Bengal marked the advent of Turk-Afghan rule in Bengal.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Chandra|first=Satish|title=Medieval India: From Sultanat to the Mughals-Delhi Sultanat (1206–1526)|publisher=|year=2004|isbn=|location=|pages=226|quote=Although the Afghans formed a large group in the army of the Delhi Sultanat, only few Afghan nobles had been accorded important positions. That is why Bakhtiyar Khalji who was part - Afghan had to seek his fortune in Bihar and Bengal.}}</ref> Bakhityar Khalji served as a military general of the [[Ghurid]] ruler Muhammad of Ghor. He formed the [[Khalji dynasty of Bengal]].<ref>{{cite book |title=Turkish History and Culture in India: Identity, Art and Transregional Connections |date= 2020 |publisher=Brill |isbn=978-90-04-43736-4 |page=237 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ml75DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA237 |language=en |access-date=2 August 2023 |archive-date=22 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231022222946/https://books.google.com/books?id=ml75DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA237#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref> After the assassination of Bakhtiar Khalji by his own officer [[Ali Mardan Khalji|Ali Mardan]] in 1206, Bengal was administered by various Maliks belonging to the Khalji tribe (except a brief interregnum by Ali Mardan himself) until Delhi Sultan [[Iltutmish]] sent forces under his son, Nasir-ud-din Mahmud, to bring Bengal under the direct control of the Delhi Sultans.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Minhaj-ud-din|first=Maulana Abu' Umar-i-Usman|title=Tabakat-i-Nasiri translated from Original Persian texts by Maj. H. G. Raverty|publisher=The Asiatic Society|year=1881|location=Kolkata|pages=572–595}}</ref> Iltutmish declared Bengal as a province of Delhi in 1225. The Delhi Sultans attempted to govern Bengal through appointed governors, however, Delhi could not succeed given the considerable overland distance with Bengal. Ambitious governors rebelled and ruled as independent rulers until being suppressed militarily by the Delhi Sultanate. However, there were capable rulers among the rebels, including Yuzbak Shah (1257), [[Tughral Tughan Khan|Tughral Khan]] (1271–1282), and [[Shamsuddin Firoz Shah]] (1301–1322). The latter achieved the [[Conquest of Sylhet]] and established a strong administration in eastern and south-western Bengal. In 1325, the Delhi Sultan Ghiyath al-Din Tughluq reorganized the province into three administrative regions, with [[Sonargaon]] ruling eastern Bengal; [[Gauda (city)|Gauda]] ruling northern Bengal; and [[Satgaon]] ruling southern Bengal. Even this arrangement broke down. By 1338, the three administrative regions had separatist [[Sultan]]s, including [[Fakhruddin Mubarak Shah]] in Sonargaon; [[Alauddin Ali Shah]] in Gauda, and [[Shamsuddin Ilyas Shah]] in Satgaon.<ref name="Kunal Chakrabarti 2013 p. 12">Kunal Chakrabarti; Shubhra Chakrabarti (22 August 2013). Historical Dictionary of the Bengalis. Scarecrow Press. p. 12. {{ISBN|978-0-8108-8024-5}}.</ref> Fakhruddin conquered Chittagong in 1340 and was succeeded by his son [[Ikhtiyaruddin Ghazi Shah]] in 1349. Shamsuddin Ilyas Shah (or just ''Ilyas Shah'') defeated Alauddin Ali Shah and secured control of Gauda. He then defeated Ikhtiyaruddin of Sonargaon. By 1352, Ilyas Shah emerged victorious among the Bengali triad.{{Citation needed|date=January 2024}}

===Early Bengal Sultanate (14th and 15th centuries)===
{{See also|Shamsuddin Ilyas Shah}}[[File:Adina Mosque at Malda district of West Bengal 07.jpg|thumb|right|Ruins of [[Adina Mosque]], the largest mosque in the subcontinent, in [[Pandua, Malda|Pandua]], the first capital of the Bengal Sultanate.]]
[[File:DG 36 - 08 GRAVE YARD OF SULTAN GIAS UDDIN AZAM SHAH 14 CENTURY MUGRA PARA SONARGAON IMG 5650.jpg|thumb|The 14th-century tomb of Sultan Ghiyasuddin Azam Shah in [[Sonargaon]]]]
Ilyas Shah established his capital in [[Pandua, Malda|Pandua]]. He unified the [[Bengal delta|delta]] of Ganges, Brahmaputra and Meghna Rivers into the Sultanate of Bengal. Ilyas Shah waged wars and raids against several city-states and kingdoms in the eastern subcontinent. He conquered eastern Bengal and northern Bihar. He led the first Muslim army into [[Nepal]], raided the [[Kathmandu Valley]], and returned to Bengal with treasures.<ref name=":2">{{cite web | url=https://en.banglapedia.org/index.php?title=Iliyas_Shah | title=Iliyas Shah | website=Banglapedia | access-date=7 October 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241202205855/https://en.banglapedia.org/index.php?title=Iliyas_Shah |archive-date=2 December 2024 | url-status=live }}</ref> He controlled an area stretching from Assam in the east to [[Varanasi]] in the west.<ref name="Kunal Chakrabarti 2013 p. 12"/> In 1353, Ilyas Shah was defeated by Delhi Sultan [[Firuz Shah Tughluq]] in the Siege of Ekdala Fort during the [[Ekdala Wars]]. Bengal agreed to pay a tribute to the Delhi Sultan. Despite losing control of many conquered areas, Ilyas Shah remained in firm control of Bengal.<ref name="Kunal Chakrabarti 2013 p. 12"/>

Ilyas Shah founded the [[Ilyas Shahi dynasty]] which ruled Bengal for fifteen decades. His son and successor [[Sikandar Shah]] defeated Delhi Sultan Firuz Shah Tughluq during the second Siege of Ekdala Fort in 1359. A peace treaty was signed between Delhi and Bengal, with the former recognizing the independence of the latter. Firuz Shah Tughluq gave a golden [[Crown (headgear)|crown]] estimated to be worth 80,000 [[History of the taka|taka]] to Sikandar Shah. The peace treaty ensured Bengal's independence for two centuries.<ref>Nitish K. Sengupta (2011). Land of Two Rivers: A History of Bengal from the Mahabharata to Mujib. Penguin Books India. p. 73. {{ISBN|978-0-14-341678-4}}.</ref>

Sikandar Shah's reign lasted three decades. The [[Adina Mosque]] was built during his reign. The mosque's design was based on the [[Great Mosque of Damascus]], style used during the introduction of Islam in new areas. During this time, much of the agricultural land was controlled by Hindu [[zamindar]]s, which caused tensions with Muslim [[taluqdar]]s.<ref name="Lewis2011">{{cite book|author=David Lewis|title=Bangladesh: Politics, Economy and Civil Society|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5lH40gT7xvYC&pg=PA44|date= 2011|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-1-139-50257-3|pages=44–45}}</ref>

The third Sultan [[Ghiyasuddin Azam Shah]] began expanding Bengal's influence abroad. He began to send embassies to [[Ming China]], which continued as a tradition during the reigns of his successors. Ghiyasuddin also sponsored construction projects in [[Arabia]]. He exchanged letters and poetry with the Persian poet [[Hafez]].<ref>{{cite web | url=https://en.banglapedia.org/index.php?title=Ghiyasuddin_Azam_Shah | title=Ghiyasuddin Azam Shah | website=Banglapedia | access-date=5 April 2018 | archive-date=15 January 2025 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250115000851/https://en.banglapedia.org/index.php?title=Ghiyasuddin_Azam_Shah | url-status=live }}</ref> The Bengal Sultans pledged nominal allegiance to the [[Abbasid Caliphate]] in Cairo. The coins of the Bengal Sultans often bore the name of the contemporary Abbasid Caliph.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://en.banglapedia.org/index.php?title=Coins | title=Coins | website=Banglapedia | access-date=3 September 2019 | archive-date=9 September 2024 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240909191203/https://en.banglapedia.org/index.php?title=Coins | url-status=live }}</ref> Ghiyasuddin Azam Shah held his court in the central Bengali city of Sonargaon, in addition to Pandua. The travel accounts of Chinese envoys state that the Sultan lived in a palace near the [[river port]] of Sonargaon. The river port had shipping links to China, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East. In 1406, Ma Huan found Sonargaon as a large metropolis. Other Chinese envoys provided descriptions of a fortified walled city. Sonargaon was a center of [[Sufi]] education and Persian literature and Azam Shah even invited Hafez to settle there. The institutions founded by [[Abu Tawwama]] during the Delhi Sultanate were maintained by his successors in the Bengal Sultanate, including the Sufi preachers [[Ibrahim Danishmand]], Saiyid Arif Billah, Muhammad Kamel, Saiyid Muhammad Yusuf and others.<ref name="Banglapedia-Sonargaon">{{cite web | url=http://en.banglapedia.org/index.php?title=Sonargaon | title=Sonargaon | website=Banglapedia | access-date=7 June 2019 | archive-date=18 December 2017 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171218050811/http://en.banglapedia.org/index.php?title=Sonargaon | url-status=live }}</ref>

In the 14th century, Islamic kingdoms stretched from [[Muslim Spain]] in the west to the Indian subcontinent in the east. The Islamic kingdoms had [[multiethnic]] elites. Persian and Arabic were used alongside local languages. Persian was used as a diplomatic and commercial language. Arabic was the liturgical language of the clergy. In Bengal, the Bengali language became a court language and was the main vernacular language under Muslim rule.<ref name=stars>{{cite web|url=https://www.thedailystar.net/shout/cover-story/news/evolution-bangla-1705177|title=Evolution of Bangla|date=21 February 2019|website=The Daily Star|access-date=31 December 2019|archive-date=11 September 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200911153955/https://www.thedailystar.net/shout/cover-story/news/evolution-bangla-1705177|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Rise of nativists (15th century)===
[[File:Sixty dome mosque in the evening.jpg|thumb|left|The [[Sixty Dome Mosque]] is a UNESCO World Heritage Site]]
[[File:India in 1525 Joppen.jpg|thumb|upright|The Indian subcontinent in 1525, with Bengal in the east]]
During the early 15th century, the Ilyas Shahi rule was challenged by [[Raja Ganesha]], a powerful Hindu landowner, who managed to place his son (a convert to Islam), [[Jalaluddin Muhammad Shah]], on the throne. Jalaluddin had a relatively short-lived but significant reign, during which he helped an Arakanese king to achieve the [[reconquest of Arakan]]. Jalaluddin established control over [[Faridpur District|Fatehabad]].<ref name="banglapedia.org1"/> Jalaluddin also promoted more native Bengali elements into the architecture and governance of the sultanate. He was initially loyal to the Abbasid Caliph but later declared himself as the Caliph of Allah.{{Sfn|Eaton|1996|p=57}} The Ilyas Shahi dynasty was restored in 1432.

Nine kings ruled Bengal from Pandua over the course of ten decades. They built palaces, forts, bridges, mosques, and mausoleums.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.livehistoryindia.com/cover-story/2018/06/25/pandua-the-lost-capital-of-the-sultanate-of-bengal | title=Pandua: The Lost Capital of the Sultanate of Bengal | access-date=7 October 2019 | archive-date=5 June 2019 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190605200520/https://www.livehistoryindia.com/cover-story/2018/06/25/pandua-the-lost-capital-of-the-sultanate-of-bengal | url-status=dead }}</ref> Chinese envoy [[Ma Huan]] described the city at the time in his travel accounts, which state that "the city walls are very imposing, the bazaars well-arranged, the shops side by side, the pillars in orderly rows, they are full of every kind of goods". Pandua was an export center for cloth and wine. At least six varieties of fine [[muslin]] and four types of wine were found in Pandua. High-quality paper was produced from the bark of Pandua's mulberry trees.<ref>María Dolores Elizalde; Wang Jianlang (2017). ''China's Development from a Global Perspective''. Cambridge Scholars Publishing. pp. 57–70. {{ISBN|978-1-5275-0417-2}}.</ref> Sultan [[Mahmud Shah of Bengal]] shifted the capital from Pandua to Gaur in 1450. One of the probable reasons behind the move was a change in the course of nearby rivers.<ref>Aniruddha Ray (2016). ''Towns and Cities of Medieval India: A Brief Survey''. Taylor & Francis. p. 165. {{ISBN|978-1-351-99731-7}}.</ref>

The reign of Mahmud Shah witnessed greater control over the [[Sundarbans]]. The governor of the Sundarbans, [[Khan Jahan Ali]], built the mint town of [[Mosque City of Bagerhat|Khalifatabad]].<ref>{{cite web | url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/321 | title=Historic Mosque City of Bagerhat | access-date=19 December 2019 | archive-date=3 July 2010 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100703185032/http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/321 | url-status=live }}</ref> In 1459, [[Jessore District|Jessore]] and [[Khulna Division|Khulna]] became part of Bengal Sultanate.<ref>{{Harvard citation no brackets|Bhattacharya|2020|p=41}}</ref> Like many other officials, Khan Jahan had settled in Bengal after [[Timur]]'s sack of Delhi. During the reign of [[Rukunuddin Barbak Shah]], the [[Kingdom of Mrauk U]] conquered Chittagong. The late 1480s saw four usurper Sultans from the [[Abyssinian people|Abyssinian]] mercenary corps. Tensions between different Muslim communities often affected the sultanate.<ref name="Lewis2011"/>

===Regional kingdom (15th and 16th centuries)===
[[Alauddin Hussain Shah]] gained control of Bengal in 1494 when he was prime minister. Alauddin Husain Shah founded the [[Hussain Shahi dynasty]] which was of Bengali Origin. [[Francis Buchanan-Hamilton]]'s writings make mention of a manuscript found in the former Bengali capital [[Hazrat Pandua|Pandua]] which labels Hussain as a native of a village named [[Gobindaganj Upazila|Devnagar]] in Rangpur who seized an opportunity to redeem the throne of Bengal that his grandfather, Sultan Ibrahim, had held seventy years prior.{{citation needed|date=May 2025}} The local traditions of Rangpur verify these claims.{{Sfn|Majumdar|1980|loc=p. [https://archive.org/details/delhisultanate0006rcma/page/215/mode/1up 215]}} [[Nitish Sengupta]] also asserts that Husain's mother was a [[Bengalis|Bengali]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Sengupta |first=Nitish |title=Land of Two Rivers: A History of Bengal from the Mahabharata to Mujib |publisher=Penguin Books India |isbn=9780143416784 |publication-date=2011 |pages=10}}</ref> [[Nitish Sengupta]] also states that [[Alauddin Hussain Shah]] must be given the credit of being the first Bengali ruler of Gaur. It is also possible the dynasty had [[Sayyid]] of [[Arab]]{{Sfn|Eaton|1996|p=63|loc=Ala al-Din Hasan, a Mecan Arab...}}<ref>{{Cite book |last=Markovits |first=Claude |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=r2OKvG5wbaAC&pg=PA38 |title=A History of Modern India, 1480–1950 |date=2004|publisher=Anthem Press |isbn=978-1-84331-152-2 |language=en |page=38 |access-date=2 August 2023 |archive-date=2 August 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230802114425/https://books.google.com.pk/books?id=r2OKvG5wbaAC&pg=PA38&dq=&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&source=gb_mobile_search&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwihouG78b2AAxWLXqQEHajIBks4ChDoAXoECAMQAw |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Jr |first=Everett Jenkins |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xBIkCQAAQBAJ&pg=PA335 |title=The Muslim Diaspora (Volume 1, 570–1500): A Comprehensive Chronology of the Spread of Islam in Asia, Africa, Europe and the Americas |date=2015 |publisher=McFarland |isbn=978-1-4766-0888-4 |language=en |page=335 |access-date=2 August 2023 |archive-date=2 August 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230802114426/https://books.google.com.pk/books?id=xBIkCQAAQBAJ&pg=PA335&dq=&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&source=gb_mobile_search&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiggbf08b2AAxVaQaQEHeZgAzE4FBDoAXoECAQQAw |url-status=live}}</ref> or [[Afghans|Afghan]]<ref>{{Cite book |last=Subrahmanyam |first=Sanjay |title=The Portuguese Empire in Asia, 1500–1700: A Political and Economic History |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |year=2012 |isbn=9781118274026|quote=In their embassy to Bengal, at the time under the control of the Afghan Hussain Shahi dynasty,}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Basistha |first=Dr Nandini |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0l9YEAAAQBAJ |title=Politics Of Separatism |date=2022-01-09 |publisher=K.K. Publications |language=en|page=48|quote=Though he was a valiant fighter in the battlefield, yet, he had to give in to the tricks and military game-plans used by the generals of the army of Alauddin Hussain Shah (c1493—1519), the Afghan ruler of Gaur.}}</ref> origin. He brought end to a period of instability. As Sultan, Hussain Shah ruled until 1519. The dynasty he founded reigned until 1538. Muslims and Hindus jointly served in the royal administration during the Hussain Shahi dynasty. This era is often regarded as the golden age of the Bengal Sultanate, in which Bengali territory included areas of [[Arakan]], [[Odisha|Orissa]], [[Tripura]], and [[Assam]].<ref name="Lewis2011"/> Under the order of Hussain Shah, [[Shah Ismail Ghazi]] commanded the Bengali forces in the [[Conquest of Kamata]], conquering large parts of Assam. After overthrowing the Hindu [[Khen dynasty]], Prince [[Shahzada Danyal|Danyal]] was appointed the governor of the new region. Hussain Shah also restored Bengali sovereignty in Chittagong and northern Arakan after the [[Bengal Sultanate–Kingdom of Mrauk U War of 1512–1516]]. Hussain Shah minted coins with the proclamation "conqueror of Kamrupa, Kamata, Jajnagar and Orissa".<ref>{{cite Banglapedia |article=Kamata-Kamatapura}}</ref> According to historian [[Jadunath Sarkar]], a 1513 inscription from Sonargaon indicates that Hussain Shah annexed a part of the [[Twipra Kingdom]].{{Sfn|Majumdar|1980|p=219, 243}} The [[Pratapgarh Kingdom]] came under Bengali [[suzerainty]].<ref>{{cite wikisource |script-title=bn:শ্রীহট্রের ইতিবৃত্ত: উত্তরাংশ |title=Srihattar Itibritta: Uttarrangsho |wslink=পাতা:শ্রীহট্টের_ইতিবৃত্ত_-_উত্তরাংশ.pdf/৪৮৪ |wslanguage=bn |last=Choudhury |first=Achyut Charan |author-link=Achyut Charan Choudhury |year=1917 |location=Calcutta |publisher=Katha |page=484}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Motahar |first1=Hosne Ara |editor-last1=Ahmed |editor-first1=Sharif Uddin |chapter=Museum Establishment and Heritage Preservation: Sylhet Perspective |title=Sylhet: History and Heritage |year=1999 |publisher=Bangladesh Itihas Samiti |isbn=984-31-0478-1 |pages=714–715}}</ref> Hussain Shah also waged several campaigns against the [[Gajapati rulers]] of Orissa.{{Sfn|Majumdar|1980|p=218}} Hussain Shah extended Bengali territory in the west beyond Bihar, up to [[Saran district|Saran]] in [[Jaunpur Sultanate|Jaunpur]]. The Sultan of Jaunpur took refuge in Bengal after an invasion by the [[Lodi dynasty]] of Delhi. The Delhi Sultan attacked Bengal in pursuit of the Jaunpur Sultan. Unable to make headway, the Delhi Sultan withdrew after concluding a peace treaty with Bengal.<ref>{{Harvard citation|Hasan|2007|ps=“[Husayn Shah pushed] its western frontier past Bihar up to Saran in Jaunpur ... when Sultan Husayn Shah Sharqi of Jaunpur fled to Bengal after being defeated in battle by Sultan Sikandar Lodhi of Delhi, the latter attacked Bengal in pursuit of the Jaunpur ruler. Unable to make any gains, Sikandar Lodhi returned home after concluding a peace treaty with the Bengal sultan.”|pp=16-17}}</ref> Under [[Nasiruddin Nasrat Shah]], the Sultanate pushed into the [[Mithila (region)|Mithila]] region and annexed the ruling [[Oiniwar dynasty]] in 1526 with the ruler of the Oiniwars, Laksminathasimha, being killed in battle.<ref name=Schwartzberg1992>{{cite book |last1=Schwartzberg |first1=Joseph |title=A Historical Atlas of South Asia |date=1992 |publisher=University of Chicago Press |isbn=9780195068696 |page=40 |url=https://dsal.uchicago.edu/reference/schwartzberg/pager.html?object=077 |archive-date=22 February 2024 |access-date=23 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240222200743/https://dsal.uchicago.edu/reference/schwartzberg/pager.html?object=077 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name=":1">{{cite journal |last1=Mishra |first1=Vijaykanta |title=Chronology of the Oiniwara Dynasty of Mithila |journal=Proceedings of the Indian History Congress |year=1953 |volume=16 |pages=200–210 |jstor=44303873}}</ref>

Embassies from [[Portuguese India]] frequented Bengal after the landing of [[Vasco Da Gama]] in the principality of Calicut.<ref name="en.banglapedia.org">{{cite Banglapedia|article=Portuguese, The}}</ref> Individual Portuguese merchants are recorded to have lived in the Bengal Sultanate's capital of Gaur. Portuguese politics played out in Gaur as a reflection of contradictions in contemporary Portugal.<ref name="en.banglapedia.org"/> The Portuguese provided vivid descriptions of Gaur. They compared the affluence of Gaur with [[Lisbon]]. The city included a citadel, a royal palace and [[Durbar (court)|durbar]], mosques, houses for the rich, and bustling bazaars. Portuguese historian Castenhada de Lopez described the houses of Gaur as being one-storeyed with ornamental floor tiles, courtyards, and gardens. Gaur was the centre of regional politics. The Sultan of Bengal gave permission for establishing the [[Portuguese settlement in Chittagong]]. During the period of the [[Iberian Union]], there was no official Portuguese sovereignty over Chittagong. The Portuguese trading post was dominated by [[pirate]]s who allied with the Arakanese against Bengal.
[[File:Babur crossing the river Son.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Babur]] crossing the Son River. The river was the western boundary of the Bengal Sultanate during the Karrani dynasty]]

===Decline (16th century)===
{{Main|Mughal conquest of Bengal}}
The absorption of Bengal into the [[Mughal Empire]] was a gradual process. It began with the defeat of Bengal forces under Sultan [[Nasiruddin Nasrat Shah]] by the first Mughal ruler [[Babur]] at the Battle of Ghaghra. The second Mughal ruler [[Humayun]] occupied the Bengal capital of Gaur during the invasion of [[Sher Shah Suri]] against both the Mughals and Bengal Sultans. Humayun later took refuge in the [[Safavid Empire]] in Persia. Sher Shah Suri succeeded in conquering Bengal, forming the [[Sur Empire]], which was of Afghan origin. During this period, the [[Grand Trunk Road]] was renovated, while the Sur rulers placed successive governors in Bengal.<ref name="Elisseeff1998">{{cite book|author=Vadime Elisseeff|title=The Silk Roads: Highways of Culture and Commerce|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nVVoRKSZxagC&pg=PA161|year=1998|publisher=Berghahn Books|isbn=978-1-57181-221-6|page=161|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180515014103/https://books.google.com/books?id=nVVoRKSZxagC&pg=PA161|archive-date=15 May 2018}}</ref> The third governor [[Muhammad Khan Sur]] declared independence after the death of [[Islam Shah Suri]]. Muhammad Khan ended the interrupting period of Delhi's rule and re-established the Bengal Sultanate under the Muhammad Shahi dynasty, which was also of Afghan origin.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Sarker |first=Sunil Kumar |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=H8GH0MBWfcoC&q=muhammad+khan+sur+independence |title=Himu, the Hindu "Hero" of Medieval India: Against the Background of Afghan-Mughal Conflicts |date=1994 |publisher=Atlantic Publishers & Dist |isbn=978-81-7156-483-5 |language=en|page=46}}</ref>

The [[Afghan (ethnonym)|Afghan]] [[Karrani dynasty]] was the last ruling dynasty of the sultanate. According to the ''[[Riyaz-us-Salatin]]'', Sultan [[Sulaiman Khan Karrani]] shifted the capital from Gaur to [[Tanda, Bengal|Tanda]] in 1565.{{Sfn|Eaton|1996|p=143}} Sulaiman Khan Karrani annexed large parts of Orissa. During his reign, the Bengal Sultanate's territory extended from [[Cooch Behar State|Koch Bihar]] in the north to [[Puri]] in the south and from the [[Son River]] in the west to the [[Brahmaputra River]] in the east. The Mughals became determined to bring an end to the expansionism of the Bengal Sultanate; while eager to absorb the Bengal region for its riches. The [[Battle of Tukaroi]] in Orissa saw Mughal forces led by [[Akbar]] overwhelm the Bengal Sultanate's forces led by the last Sultan [[Daud Khan Karrani]], resulting in the Treaty of [[Cuttack]]. Mughal rule formally began with the [[Battle of Raj Mahal]] when the last reigning Sultan of Bengal was defeated by the forces of Akbar. The Mughal province of [[Bengal Subah]] was created. The eastern deltaic [[Bhati (region)|Bhati]] region remained outside of Mughal control until being absorbed in the early 17th century. The delta was controlled by a confederation of twelve aristocrats of the former sultanate, who became known as the [[Baro Bhuyans]]. Their leader was [[Isa Khan]], a zamindar and a former nobleman of the sultanate through his mother Princess [[Syeda Momena Khatun]]. The confederation was made up of [[petty kingdoms]]. The Mughal government eventually suppressed the remnants of the sultanate in the Bhati area and brought all of Bengal under full Mughal control.{{Citation needed|date=January 2024}}

==Administration==
[[File:Inside Kusumba Mosque (02).jpg|thumb|The Sultan's Throne in [[Kusumba Mosque]]. Many mosques across the sultanate had an in-built throne for the Sultan. The mosques served as royal courts.]]
The Bengal Sultanate was an [[absolute monarchy]], and took influence from [[Persianate society|Persianate]] traditions. Its revenue system was maintained in the [[Bengali language]] throughout the course of its history.<ref name="auto">{{cite encyclopedia|url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/bengal|title=Bengal|encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Iranica|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170930180854/http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/bengal|archive-date=30 September 2017}}</ref> The government employed both Muslims and Hindus, promoting a form of religious pluralism.<ref>{{cite book |author=Lewis |first=David |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5lH40gT7xvYC&pg=PA44 |title=Bangladesh: Politics, Economy and Civil Society |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2011 |isbn=978-1-139-50257-3 |pages=44–45}} "He founded the Bengali Husayn Shahi dynasty, which ruled from 1493 to 1538, and was known to be tolerant to Hindus, employing many on them in his service and promoting a form of religious pluralism"</ref> In addition to the royal family and government body, the Sultan also relied on the support of the ''[[ulama]]'' (Islamic scholars).<ref>{{cite Banglapedia|article=Nur Qutb Alam|author=Karim|first=Abdul|author1-link=Abdul Karim (historian)}}</ref>

The Sultanate was divided into administrative subdivisions such as ''arsa'' and ''iqlim'', which were further divided into ''mahals'', ''[[thana]]s'' and ''[[qasba]]s''.<ref name="dani">{{cite book |author=Dani |first=Ahmad Hasan |author-link=Ahmad Hasan Dani |title=Asiatic Society Of Pakistan Vol II |year=1957 |pages=114–116 |chapter=Analysis of the Inscriptions |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.126929/page/n125}}</ref>

=== Capital city ===
[[File:Silver Coin of Jalaluddin.jpg|thumb|Silver coin of [[Jalaluddin Muhammad Shah|Sultan Jalaluddin Muhammad Shah]] with a lion inscription]]
From 1342 to 1415, the [[Ilyas Shahi dynasty]] ruled Bengal from [[Pandua, Malda|Pandua]], followed by the [[House of Ganesha|House of Raja Ganesh]] in Pandua (1415–1433). During the reign of [[Ghiyasuddin Azam Shah]] ({{Reign|1390|1411}}), [[Sonargaon]] became the capital of the sultanate.<ref name="Banglapedia-Sonargaon" /> The restored Ilyas Shahi dynasty governed from [[Gaur]] (1433–1486), succeeded by the [[Habshi dynasty|Abyssinian Sultans]] (1486–1493) and [[Hussain Shahi dynasty]] (1493–1538) in Gaur. The Afghan Sultans of the House of [[Sher Shah Sur]] (1538–c. 1553) and House of Muhammad Khan (c. 1553–1564) both ruled from Gaur while the [[Karrani dynasty]] (1564–1576) ruled in [[Tanda, Bengal|Tanda]].{{Sfn|Michell|1984|p=28}}
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! Period
! Dynasty
! Capital
|-
| 1342–1415
| [[Ilyas Shahi dynasty]]
| Pandua
|-
| 1415–1433
| [[House of Ganesha]]
| Pandua
|-
| 1433–1486
| [[Ilyas Shahi dynasty#Restored dynasty|Restored Ilyas Shahi dynasty]]
| Gaur
|-
| 1486–1493
| [[Habshi dynasty]]
| Gaur
|-
| 1493–1538
| [[Hussain Shahi dynasty]]
| Gaur
|-
| c. 1553–1564
| [[House of Muhammad Khan]]
| Tanda
|-
| 1564–1576
| [[Karrani dynasty]]
| Tanda
|}
===Mint towns===
Mint towns consisted of royal and provincial capitals where taka coins were minted, thus developing the areas as important economic urban centres within the Sultanate. With the expansion of the empire, the number of mint towns increased gradually. The following is a partial listing of mint towns:<ref name="banglapedia1">{{cite Banglapedia|article=Mint Towns}}</ref>
{{columns-list|colwidth=20em|
# Jannatabad ([[Lakhnauti]])
# Muzzamabad ([[Sonargaon]])
# Ghiyaspur ([[Mymensingh]])
# [[Satgaon]]
# Firuzabad ([[Hazrat Pandua]])
# Shahr-i-Naw (Hazrat Pandua)
# Fathabad ([[Faridpur District|Faridpur]])
# Chatgaon ([[Chittagong]])
# Mahmudabad ([[Jessore (city)|Jessore]] and [[Nadia district|Nadia]])
# Barbakaabad ([[Dinajpur]])
# Muzaffarabad (Pandua)
# Muhammadabad ([[Baro Bazar Union|Baro Bazar]])
#[[Hasnabad|Husaynabad]]
# Chandrabad ([[Murshidabad district]])
# Nusratabad ([[Dinajpur District, Bangladesh|Dinajpur district]])
# [[Khalifatabad]]/Badarpur (Bagerhat district)
# Sharifabad ([[Birbhum district]])
# [[Tanda, Bengal|Khwaspur Tandah]] (Malda district)
# [[Rohtasgarh|Rotaspur]]
}}

== Military ==
[[File:Attributed to Hiranand - Illustration from a Dictionary (unidentified)- Da'ud Receives a Robe of Honor from Mun'im Khan - Google Art Project.jpg|thumb|Sultan Daud Khan Karrani receives a robe of honour from Mughal general Munim Khan]]The Sultans had a well-organised army, including cavalry, artillery, infantry and war elephants; and a navy. Due to the riverine geography and climate, it was not feasible to use cavalry throughout the year in Bengal. The cavalry was probably the weakest component of the Bengal Sultanate's army, as the horses had to be imported from foreign countries. The artillery was an important section. Portuguese historian [[João de Barros]] opined that the military supremacy of Bengal over Arakan and Tripura was due to its efficient artillery. The artillery used cannons and guns of various sizes.<ref name="banglapedia2">{{cite Banglapedia|article=Military}}</ref> The ''paiks'' formed the vital part of the Bengal infantry during this period. There were occasions when the paiks also tackled political situations. The particular battle array of the foot-soldiers who used bows, arrows and guns attracted the attention of Babur.<ref name="banglapedia2" />

[[War elephant]]s played an important part in the Bengal army. Apart from carrying war materials, elephants were also used for the movement of the armed personnel. In riverine Bengal the usefulness of elephants, though very slow, could not be minimised. The navy was of prime necessity in riverine Bengal. In fact, the cavalry could ensure the hold over this country for a period of six months whereas the boats backed by the paiks could command supremacy over the other half of the year. Since the time of Iwaz Khalji, who first organised a naval force in Islamic Bengal, the war boats played an important role in the political affairs of the country. The chief of the admiralty had various responsibilities, including [[Shipbuilding in Bangladesh|shipbuilding]], river transport, to fit out strong boats for transporting war elephants; to recruit seamen; to patrol the rivers and to collect tolls at ghats. The efficiency of the navy eroded during the Hussain Shahi dynasty. The Sultans also built forts, including temporary mud walled forts.<ref name="banglapedia2" />

== Campaigns and conquests ==
[[File:Defeat of the last Bengal Sultan by Akbar.jpg|thumb|Akbar leads his army into battle against Daud Khan Karrani, the last Sultan of Bengal]]

===Bengal–Delhi Wars===
{{Main|Bengal Sultanate–Delhi Sultanate War}}

In 1353, the Sultan of Delhi attacked the newly formed Bengal Sultanate. After the siege of Ekdala Fort, Bengal agreed to pay a tribute to the Sultan of Delhi. In 1359, Delhi again invaded Bengal after the previous peace treaty collapsed and this time the Delhi forces were repulsed leading to Bengali victory. However, negotiations ultimately resulted in a new treaty in which Delhi recognized the independence of Bengal.<ref name="Kunal Chakrabarti 2013 p. 12" /> The Bengal Sultans also received support from South Indian allies. During the 16th century, the Lodi dynasty of Delhi again attacked Bengal in pursuit of the Sultan of Jaunpur. The Lodis eventually agreed to a peace treaty with Bengal.
===Bengal–Jaunpur War===
{{Main|Bengal Sultanate–Jaunpur Sultanate War}}

The Jaunpur Sultanate attacked Bengal during the 15th century. With diplomatic help from Ming China and the [[Timurid Empire|Timurid]] ruler of [[Herat]], Bengal fended off the Jaunpuri invasion.{{Sfn|Eaton|1996|p=53}}<ref>{{Harvard citation|Hasan|2007|p=15|ps=“He also wrote to Sultan Ibrahim Sharqi of the neighbouring kingdom of Jaunpur imploring him to invade Bengal and rid them of Raja Ganesh, but the Raja was able to deal successfully with the invader.”}}</ref> The motivation behind this sudden war was the newly emerged Hindu [[House of Ganesha]] which rose to prominence after [[Raja Ganesha]] rose to power by assassinating the Sultans of the previous dynasty. Qutb al Alam a powerful Muslim holy man was asked by [[Raja Ganesha]] for help due to the imminent threat of invasion soon after Ganesha usurped the throne. Qutb Alam eventually came to the agreement that Raja Ganesha's son, Jadu, would convert to Islam and rule in his place. Raja Ganesha agreed and Jadu started ruling Bengal as [[Jalaluddin Muhammad Shah]] in 1415.

The war began in 1415 and ended in 1420.{{Sfn|Eaton|1996|p=53}} The [[Jaunpur Sultanate|Jaunpaur Sultanate]] challenged the newly emerged Hindu dynasty of [[Raja Ganesha]]. [[Raja Ganesha]] was later removed as a result but his son [[Jalaluddin Muhammad Shah]] converted to Islam and ruled the Sultanate. Parts of the [[Jaunpur Sultanate]] were annexed by Bengal and peace was established between the two states.

The [[Timurid Empire]] and also [[Ming China]] mediated the war. A diplomat in the court of Shahrukh Mirza recorded that the Timurid ruler of Herat intervened during the Bengal-Jaunpur conflict after a request from the Sultan of Bengal. The record speaks of Shahrukh Mirza "directing the ruler of Jaunpur to abstain from attacking the King of Bengal, or to take the consequence upon himself. To which the intimation of the Jaunpur ruler was obedient, and desisted from his attacks upon Bengal".{{Sfn|Eaton|1996|p=53}} Records from Ming China state that the Yongle Emperor also mediated between Jaunpur and Bengal after the Bengali ambassador in his Peking court complained of the conflict.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Tan |first=Chung |title=India and China Twenty Centuries of Civilization Interaction and Vibrations |publisher=Project of History of Indian Science, Philosophy and Culture, Centre for Studies in Civilizations |isbn=9788187586210 |publication-date=2005 |pages=361}}</ref>

=== Bengali–Assamese Wars ===
{{See also|Bengal Sultanate–Kamata Kingdom War|Turbak's invasion of Assam|Muslim Invasions of Assam}}

==== Ilyas Shahi Dynasty ====
[[Shamsuddin Ilyas shah]] led the first military engagement and led a successful campaign against the [[Kamarupa]] kingdom in present-day [[Assam]], being the first Muslim king to capture [[Guwahati]].{{citation needed|date=January 2025}}

The invasion of Assam by [[Sikandar Shah]] (son of Shamsuddin Ilyas Shah) weakened Indranarayan. Though Shah had to retreat from central Assam because of an attack on Bengal by [[Firuz Shah Tughlaq]], Indranarayana was sufficiently damaged that a Bhuyan from [[Darrang]], Arimatta, was able to usurp power.{{efn|Indranarayan's inability to resist the Muslims paved the way for the rise of the Bhuyans. Indeed, one of them, Arimatta or Sasanka became so ambitious that he killed Indranarayan and usurped the throne of Kamata.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Dorji |first=Lham |year=2005 |title=The Historical Anecdotes of Kheng Nobilities |journal=Journal of Bhutan Studies |publisher=Centre for Bhutan Studies |volume=13 |issn=1608-411X |place=Thimpu}}</ref>}}

==== Habshi Conquest of Assam ====
[[Shamsuddin Muzaffar Shah]], the last ruler of the [[Habshi dynasty]] defeated the [[Kamata Kingdom]] of Assam. He developed an army of 40,000 soldiers; recruiting thousands of [[Afghans]] and 5,000 Abyssinians.<ref>{{cite Banglapedia|author=Ibrahim, Muhammad|article=Rule of Afghans}}</ref> In 896 AH (1490–1491 AD), he constructed a [[mosque]] in [[Gangarampur]], adjacent to the [[Dargah]] of Makhdum Mawlana Ata. On 30 December 1492, his governor [[Khurshid Khan]] established a [[Jama Mosque]] near [[Chapai Nawabganj District|Nawabganj]] on the banks of the [[Mahananda River]].<ref name="dani2">{{cite book |author=Ahmad Hasan Dani |author-link=Ahmad Hasan Dani |title=Asiatic Society Of Pakistan Vol-ii |date=20 April 2024 |chapter=Analysis of the Inscriptions |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.126929/page/n51/mode/2up}}</ref> He defeated the [[Kamata Kingdom]] in battle and conquered their territory in the year 898 AH (1492–93 AD) and subsequently issued coins bearing ''Kamata Mardan 898''.<ref>{{cite Banglapedia|article=Coins|author=Muhammad Rezaul Karim}}</ref>
[[File:Rangamati_Mosque.jpg|thumb|The [[Panbari Mosque]] built by Sultan [[Alauddin Husain Shah|Husain Shah]] to after the successful [[Conquest of Kamata]].<ref>{{cite web |author=Rupkamal |date=3 June 2011 |title=A forgotten chapter of history – Panbari mosque |url=http://itsmynortheast.com/2011/06/a-forgotten-chapter-of-history-panbari-mosque/#comment-502 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160404144612/http://itsmynortheast.com/2011/06/a-forgotten-chapter-of-history-panbari-mosque/#comment-502 |archive-date=4 April 2016 |access-date=26 December 2012 |publisher=Its my northeast}}</ref>]]

==== Hussein Shah's conquest ====
{{See also|Bengal Sultanate–Kamata Kingdom War}}
During [[Alauddin Husain Shah|Husain Shah]]'s rule, Bengali control over Assam reached its zenith. Under the military command of [[Shah Ismail Ghazi]], the Bengali army overthrew the [[Kamata Kingdom]]'s Hindu [[Khen dynasty]] in 1498. In 1499, Husain Shah's general [[Shah Ismail Ghazi]] led an expedition to the [[Kamata Kingdom]]. Husain Shah's army imprisoned King Nilambar of Kamata, pillaged the capital city and annexed the territory up to [[Hajo]]. The victory was publicly recorded in an inscription at [[Malda, West Bengal|Malda]].{{Sfn|Majumdar|1980|p=217}}

==== Gauda-Ahom War ====
{{See also|Turbak's invasion of Assam}}
In 1532, a [[Bengali Muslims|Bengali Muslim]] commander named Turbak invaded [[Ahom kingdom|Ahom]] territory with a force comprising 1,000 cavalry, 30 elephants, and numerous guns and cannons. He set up camp near the fort at Singiri.{{sfn|Acharyya|1966|p=95}} Ahom forces, under [[Suklenmung|Suklen]], crossed the [[Brahmaputra River|Brahmaputra]] and attacked the Muslim encampment, despite warnings from astrologers. However, the battle ended in disaster for the Ahoms, who suffered heavy losses, with eight commanders killed. [[Suklenmung|Suklen]] barely escaped with a serious wound. The Muslim forces stopped advancing for the rainy season at Koilabar.{{sfn|Basu|1970|p=25}}{{sfn|Shakespear|2012|p=31–32}}

The [[Ahom kingdom|Ahoms]] retreated to Sala after their initial setbacks,{{sfn|Shakespear|2012|p=31–32}} where they regrouped with reinforcements and appointed Senglung as the new Commander-in-Chief. By March 1533, however, the [[Ahom kingdom|Ahoms]] turned the tide in their favor. In a naval [[Battle of Duimunisila|battle at Duimunisila]], they inflicted significant losses on the Muslim forces, The Muslim commanders, Taju and Sangal, were killed, The invading forces lost 2,500 men, 20 ships, and several large cannons, marking a turning point in the war in favor of the Ahoms.{{sfn|Shakespear|2012|p=31–32}}{{sfn|Basu|1970|p=25}}

During this time, Husain Khan, another [[Muslim]] general, arrived to reinforce Turbak's forces with six elephants, 100 cavalry, and 1,000 infantry troops. Reinforced by Hussain Khan, Turbak took position near the Dikrai River, across from the [[Ahom kingdom|Ahom]] camp. However, the Ahoms were now better prepared and managed to defeat the [[Muslims]] in several engagements. The final confrontation occurred near the [[Bharali river|Bharali River]], where Turbak was killed by a spear, and the Muslims were thrown into disarray. The Ahoms pursued the retreating forces all the way to the [[Karatoya River]], where they achieved a complete victory.{{sfn|Acharyya|1966|p=96}}

=== Campaigns in Arakan ===
{{See also|Restoration of Min Saw Mon|3=Bengal–Mrauk U War (1512–1516)|4=Mrauk U invasion of Chittagong}}

Arakan and the [[Brahmaputra Valley]] was often subjected to Bengali invasions. The restoration of Min Saw Mon was a military campaign led by the Bengal Sultanate to help [[Min Saw Mon]] regain control of his [[Launggyet Dynasty]]. The campaign was successful. Min Saw Mon was restored to the Launggyet throne, and [[Arakan]] became a [[vassal state]] of the Bengal Sultanate. However, conflict later emerged between Arakan and Bengal based on the control of [[Chittagong]]. Arakan asserted its independence as a coastal power. Under [[Alauddin Husain Shah]], Bengali sovereignty was restored in Chittagong and northern Arakan. However, the [[Maghs|Arakanese]] persisted to fight over Chittagong, often allying with [[Portuguese people|Portuguese pirates]].

=== Campaigns in Orissa ===
{{See also|Bengal Sultanate conquest of Orissa}}

==== Eastern-Ganga Dynasty ====
The first conflict between the Bengal Sultanate and the [[Odia people|Odias]] dates back to the time of [[Shamsuddin Ilyas Shah]] where on his conquests subjugated Orissa. He defeated Bhanudeva II of the [[Eastern Ganga dynasty]]. He further sacked [[Jajpur]], [[Cuttack]] and reached as far as the [[Chilika Lake]].

==== Gajapati Empire ====
During the reign of Alauddin Hussain Shah, his commander Shah Ismail Ghazi led his first campaign against the confronting [[Kapilendra Deva]] of the [[Gajapati Empire]] on the south-western frontier. He defeated the Gajapati Empire, recovering [[Gar Mandaran|Mandaran]],<ref>{{Cite web |date=2019-11-05 |title=Gold Tanka of Bengal Sultan Rukn Al-Din Barbak Shah |url=http://www.mintageworld.com/media/detail/10736-gold-tanka-of-bengal-sultan-rukn-Al-din-barbak-shah |access-date=2020-04-01 |website=Mintage World}}</ref> where he constructed a fort.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Chattopadhyay |first=Bankim Chandra |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PobpAgAAQBAJ&q=Shah+Ismail+Ghazi+mandaran&pg=PT73 |title=Durgeshnandini |date=2014-02-25 |publisher=Diamond Pocket Books Pvt Ltd |isbn=978-93-5083-240-0}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Bader Maqams or the shrines of Badr Al-Din-Auliya (Part II) - Kaladan Press Network |url=https://www.kaladanpress.org/index.php/scholar-column-mainmenu-36/arakan/1135-bader-maqams-or-the-shrines-of-badr-al-din-auliya-part-ii.html |access-date=2020-04-01 |website=www.kaladanpress.org |archive-date=15 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210215031725/https://www.kaladanpress.org/index.php/scholar-column-mainmenu-36/arakan/1135-bader-maqams-or-the-shrines-of-badr-al-din-auliya-part-ii.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==== Chalukya and Bhoi dynasty ====
Orissa was also conquered again by [[Sulaiman Khan Karrani]] and Orissa was annexed into the Bengal Sultanate in 1568. The [[Eastern Chalukyas|Chalukya dynasty]] and Mughal Empire forged a close alliance through Akbar and his increasing desire to annex Bengal. Akbar and [[Mukunda Deva]] the ruler of the [[Eastern Chalukyas|Chalukya dynasty]] exchanged many gifts in the hopes of defeating Bengal.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Ranjan |first=Patnaik |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mIzXAAAAMAAJ |title=Religious History of Orissa |publisher=Indian Publishers' Distributors |year=2004 |isbn=978-81-7341-339-1 |pages=271}}</ref> However the [[Bhoi dynasty]] and [[Eastern Chalukyas|Chalukya dynasty]] were defeated leading to Bengali sovereignty over Orissa.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Anwarul |first=Haque |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Co8eAAAAMAAJ |title=Muslim Administration in Orissa, 1568–1751 |publisher=Punthi Pustak |year=1980 |pages=50–58}}</ref>

=== Campaigns in Nepal ===
{{See also|Bengal Invasion of Nepal (1349)}}

[[Shamsuddin Ilyas Shah]] was the first Sultan of the Bengal and unified the three city-states into what is now known as the Bengal Sultanate. He was the first to lead a Muslim army into Nepal.<ref name=":2" /> He began his expedition with the occupation of [[Tirhut]] which he divided into north and south. Ilyas kept the southern part for himself stretching from [[Begusarai district|Begusarai]] to [[Inner Terai Valleys of Nepal|Nepal Terai]] and restored the northern part of Tirhut, north of the [[Budhi Gandaki River]] to the ruler of the [[Oiniwar dynasty]], Raja Kameshwar. Its headquarters was situated in the village of [[Hajipur|Ukkacala]] (later known as [[Hajipur]] in his honor),<ref>''Prajñā-bhāratī''. Vol. 6. K.P. Jayaswal Research Institute. 1992. pp. 175–178.</ref> where Ilyas had constructed a large fort and urbanised the area.<ref>Hussain, Syed Ejaz (2000). ''Numismatic Digest''. Vol. 21–22. Numismatic Society of Bombay. pp. 63–64.</ref> Ilyas then thrust through the [[Terai]] plains with his army, into the [[Kathmandu Valley]] ruled by [[Malla dynasty (Nepal)|Jayaraja Deva]]. His army sacked the temple of [[Swayambhunath]] and looted [[Kathmandu]] city for three days, returning to [[Bengal]] with plentiful spoils.<ref name=":2" />

Later on during the period of the [[Hussain Shahi dynasty]] under [[Nasiruddin Nasrat Shah]], the Sultanate pushed into the [[Mithila (region)|Mithila]] region and annexed the ruling [[Oiniwar dynasty]] in 1526 with the ruler of the Oiniwars, Laksminathasimha, being killed in battle.<ref name="Schwartzberg1992" /><ref name=":1" />

===Sher Shah Suri's invasion===
{{See also|Sur Empire|Battle of Surajgarh}}

Bengal was overwhelmed during the pan-Indian invasion of [[Sher Shah Suri]] and became part of the [[Sur Empire]]. The invasion prompted the Mughal Empire to occupy parts of Bengal. Both the Mughals and Bengal Sultanate were overrun by the Suri forces. Bengal regained its independence after Suri governors rebelled and re-established the sultanate.

===Bengal–Mughal Wars===
{{Main|Mughal conquest of Bengal}}

The first Mughal emperor Babur turned his sights on Bengal after the Battle of Panipat in 1526. At the Battle of Ghaghra in 1529, Bengal reached a peace treaty with Babur. During the invasion of Sher Shah Suri, the second Mughal emperor Humayun occupied [[Gauḍa (city)|Gaur]]. The third Mughal emperor Akbar launched a war against Bengal at the Battle of Tukaroi in 1575. Akbar finally defeated the last Sultan of Bengal at the Battle of Raj Mahal in 1576.

== Vassal states ==
[[Vassal states]] were a number of tributary states and [[protectorate]]s on the periphery of the Bengal Sultanate under the [[suzerainty]] of the Sultan of Bengal. Direct control was not established over these territories for various reasons. Vassal states had Muslim, Hindu and Buddhist rulers.

=== Arakan ===
[[File:Muhghazi.jpg|thumb|Coinage from Arakan during its vassalage to the Bengal Sultanate]]
In the southeast, [[Arakan]] was a prominent vassal of the Bengal Sultanate. In 1430, the Bengal Sultanate restored the Arakanese throne in [[Mrauk U]] after driving out Burmese invaders who came from [[Bagan]]. The [[Kingdom of Mrauk U]] paid tributes to the Sultan of Bengal for a sustained period, with the timeframe ranging between estimates of a century or a few decades.{{Sfn|Eaton|1996|p=64}}<ref name="Ooi2004" /> Arakanese rulers replicated the Sultan's governing techniques, including adopting the title of ''[[Shah]]'' and minting coins in Arabic and Bengali inscriptions. A close cultural and commercial relationship developed across the Bay of Bengal.<ref name="Smithsonian">{{Cite magazine |last=Hammer |first=Joshua |date=December 2019 |title=The Hidden City of Myanmar |url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/hidden-city-myanmar-180973486/ |magazine=Smithsonian |access-date=31 December 2019 |archive-date=19 December 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191219143126/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/hidden-city-myanmar-180973486/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Eventually, Arakan asserted its independence. The Kingdom of Mrauk U became a formidable coastal power.

=== Chandradwip ===
In southern Bengal, the island of [[Chandradwip]] hosted remnants of the pre-Islamic Hindu [[Deva dynasty]]. The kingdom was a vassal state of the Bengal Sultanate until the reign of the [[Hussain Shahi dynasty]], when it was formally annexed by the sultanate.<ref name="Hasan1987">{{cite book |author=Sayed Mahmudul Hasan |title=Muslim Monuments of Bangladesh |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9vdtAAAAMAAJ |year=1987 |publisher=Islamic Foundation Bangladesh |edition=2nd |oclc=21044013 |page=196 |quote=Chandradwip-Bakla was the kingdom of Chandradwip, founded by Danuj Rai. This Hindu Kingdom was annexed by Sultan Alauddin Huasain Shah to his Kingdom in the 15th century A. D. ... Chandrawip-Bakla continued to be a vassal state to Muslim Sultanate until the end of the Husain Shahi rule.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Population Census of Bangladesh, 1974: District census report |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cE7C3wpNgX4C |year=1979 |publisher=Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics, Statistics Division, Ministry of Planning, Government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh |access-date=29 November 2019 |archive-date=7 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230707092905/https://books.google.com/books?id=cE7C3wpNgX4C |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== Pratapgarh ===
In the northeastern [[Barak Valley]], the ruler Bazid of the [[Pratapgarh Kingdom]] declared himself as a Sultan on par with the Sultan of Bengal. This invited the retribution of [[Alauddin Husain Shah]], who dispatched [[Majumdars of Sylhet|Sarwar Khan]] to suppress the newly formed sultanate in Pratapgarh. Bazid was defeated and agreed to pay a tribute to the Sultan of Bengal. He was also made to relinquish his claims over [[Sylhet]], which was under direct Sultanate rule.<ref>{{cite conference |year=1999 |author=Hosne Ara Motahar |editor=Sharif Uddin Ahmed |book-title=Sylhet: History and Heritage |publisher=Bangladesh Itihas Samiti |isbn=978-984-31-0478-6 |page=715 |title=Museum Establishment and Heritage Preservation: Sylhet Perspective}}</ref><ref>{{cite wikisource |script-title=bn:শ্রীহট্রের ইতিবৃত্ত: উত্তরাংশ |title=Srihattar Itibritta: Uttarrangsho |wslink=পাতা:শ্রীহট্টের_ইতিবৃত্ত_-_উত্তরাংশ.pdf/২৮৮ |wslanguage=bn |last=Choudhury |first=Achyut Charan |author-link=Achyut Charan Choudhury |year=1917 |location=Calcutta |publisher=Katha |page=288}}</ref>

=== Tripura ===
In the east, [[Tripura]] was vital to Bengal for the supply of gold, silver and other commodities. Tripura had coarse gold mines and mountain trade networks linked to the Far East. In 1464, the Sultan of Bengal helped [[Ratna Manikya I]] assume the Tripuri throne. Tripura was a prominent vassal of Bengal.{{Sfn|Eaton|1996|p=64}}<ref>{{cite book |author=Rila Mukherjee |title=Pelagic Passageways: The Northern Bay of Bengal Before Colonialism |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7xeqhnYtrKcC&pg=PA34 |year=2011 |publisher=Primus Books |isbn=978-93-80607-20-7 |pages=34– |quote=The ''Sri Rajmala'' indicates that the periodic invasions of Tripura by the Bengal sultans were part of the same strategy [to control the sub-Himalayan routes from the south-eastern delta]. Mines of coarse gold were found in Tripura. |access-date=29 November 2019 |archive-date=7 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230707092412/https://books.google.com/books?id=7xeqhnYtrKcC&pg=PA34 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Harvard citation|Hasan|2007|ps=“[Husayn Shah] reduced the kingdoms of ... Tripura in the east to vassalage.”|p=15}}</ref>

=== Orissa ===
In the southwest, Orissa was prominent in the military history of the Bengal Sultanate. The first Bengali Sultan Shamsuddin Ilyas Shah defeated the rulers of Orissa and extended his realm up to [[Chilika Lake]]. He raided [[Jajpur]] and Cuttack. Ilyas Shah returned to Bengal with plunders from Orissa, including 44 elephants.<ref>{{cite Banglapedia|article=Iliyas Shah}}</ref> During the reign of Alauddin Hussain Shah, Orissa was a vassal state of Bengal.{{Sfn|Eaton|1996|p=64}}<ref>{{Harvard citation|Hasan|2007|p=13|ps=“[Ilyas Shah] extended his domain in every direction by defeating the local Hindu rajas (kings)—in the south to Jajnagar (Orissa).”}}</ref> Northern Orissa was directly ruled by Bengal. During the Karrani dynasty, Orissa was the scene of the Battle of Tukaroi and the Treaty of Cuttack between the Mughals and Bengal Sultanate in 1575.{{citation needed|date=July 2020}}

==Economy==
{{See also|Muslin trade in Bengal|History of the taka}}
[[File:Chinese porcelain and coins of Bengal Sultans in British Museum.jpg|thumb|left|[[Porcelain|Chinese porcelain]] and coins from the Bengal Sultanate in the [[British Museum]]]]
[[File:Maritime links of the Sultanate of Bengal.png|thumb|Maritime links of the Bengal sultanate]]
[[File:Sd2-baggala.JPG|thumb|The [[Baghlah]] was a type of ship widely used by traders in the Indian Ocean, the Arabian Sea, the Bay of Bengal, the Malacca Straits and the South China Sea]]
The economy of the Bengal Sultanate inherited earlier aspects of the Delhi Sultanate, including mint towns, a salaried bureaucracy and the [[jagirdar]] system of land ownership. The production of silver coins inscribed with the name of the Sultan of Bengal was a mark of Bengali sovereignty.<ref name=iranica>{{cite web |website=Encyclopædia Iranica |title=Bengal |url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/bengal |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180103102347/http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/bengal |archive-date=3 January 2018}}</ref> Bengal was more successful in perpetuating purely silver coinage than Delhi and other contemporary Asian and European governments. There were three sources of silver. The first source was the leftover silver reserve of previous kingdoms. The second source was the tribute payments of subordinate kingdoms which were paid in silver bullion. The third source was during military campaigns when Bengali forces sacked neighboring states.<ref>John H Munro (2015). ''Money in the Pre-Industrial World: Bullion, Debasements and Coin Substitutes''. Routledge. p. 176. {{ISBN|978-1-317-32191-0}}.</ref>

The apparent vibrancy of the Bengal economy in the beginning of the 15th century is attributed to the end of tribute payments to Delhi, which ceased after Bengali independence and stopped the outflow of wealth. [[Ma Huan]]'s testimony of a flourishing shipbuilding industry was part of the evidence that Bengal enjoyed significant seaborne trade. The expansion of [[muslin]] production, [[sericulture]] and the emergence of several other crafts were indicated in Ma Huan's list of items exported from Bengal to China. Bengali shipping co-existed with Chinese shipping until the latter withdrew from the Indian Ocean in the mid-15th century. The testimony of European travelers such as [[Ludovico di Varthema]], [[Duarte Barbosa]] and [[Tomé Pires]] attest to the presence of a large number of wealthy Bengali merchants and shipowners in [[Malacca Sultanate|Malacca]].<ref name="Habib2011">{{cite book |author=Irfan Habib |title=Economic History of Medieval India, 1200–1500 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=K8kO4J3mXUAC&pg=PA185 |year=2011 |publisher=Pearson Education India |isbn=978-81-317-2791-1 |page=185 |author-link=Irfan Habib |access-date=29 May 2019 |archive-date=4 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230404212706/https://books.google.com/books?id=K8kO4J3mXUAC&pg=PA185 |url-status=live }}</ref> Historian [[Rila Mukherjee]] wrote that ports in Bengal may have been [[entrepot]]s, importing goods and re-exporting them to China.<ref name="Mukherjee2011">{{cite book |author=Rila Mukherjee |year=2011 |title=Pelagic Passageways: The Northern Bay of Bengal Before Colonialism |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7xeqhnYtrKcC&pg=PA30 |publisher=Primus Books |page=30 |isbn=978-93-80607-20-7 |quote=Some of them [items exported from Bengal to China] were probably re-exports. The Bengal ports possibly functioned as entrepots in Western routes in the trade with China. |access-date=17 May 2016 |archive-date=7 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230707092905/https://books.google.com/books?id=7xeqhnYtrKcC&pg=PA30 |url-status=live }}</ref>

A vigorous riverine shipbuilding tradition existed in Bengal. The shipbuilding tradition is evidenced in the sultanate's naval campaigns in the Ganges delta. The trade between Bengal and the Maldives, based on rice and cowry shells, was probably done on Arab-style [[baghlah]] ships. Chinese accounts point to Bengali ships being prominent in Southeast Asian waters. A vessel from Bengal, probably owned by the Sultan of Bengal, could accommodate three tribute missions- from Bengal, [[Brunei]] and Sumatra- and was evidently the only vessel capable of such a task. Bengali ships were the largest vessels plying in those decades in Southeast Asian waters.<ref name="auto2">{{cite book |editor1=Tapan Raychaudhuri |editor1-link=Tapan Raychaudhuri |editor2=Irfan Habib |editor2-link=Irfan Habib |year=1982 |title=The Cambridge Economic History of India |volume=I |publisher=Cambridge University Press |page=130 |isbn=978-0-521-22692-9}}</ref>

All large business transactions were done in terms of silver taka. Smaller purchases involved [[shell currency]]. One silver coin was worth 10,250 cowry shells. Bengal relied on shiploads of cowry shell imports from the Maldives. Due to the fertile land, there was an abundance of agricultural commodities, including bananas, jackfruits, pomegranate, sugarcane, and honey. Native crops included rice and sesame. Vegetables included ginger, mustard, onions, and garlic among others. There were four types of wines, including coconut, rice, ''tarry'' and ''kajang''. Bengali streets were well provided with eating establishments, drinking houses and bathhouses. At least six varieties of fine muslin cloth existed. Silk fabrics were also abundant. [[Pearling in Bangladesh|Pearls]], rugs and [[ghee]] were other important products. The finest variety of paper was made in Bengal from the bark of [[mulberry]] trees. The high quality of paper was compared with the lightweight white muslin cloth.<ref name="auto3">{{cite book |author1=María Dolores Elizalde |author2=Wang Jianlang |title=China's Development from a Global Perspective |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mjI9DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA61 |date=2017 |publisher=Cambridge Scholars Publishing |isbn=978-1-5275-0417-2 |pages=57–70 |access-date=30 May 2019 |archive-date=22 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231022222947/https://books.google.com/books?id=mjI9DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA61#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref>

Europeans & Ming Chinese referred to Bengal as "the richest country to trade with".<ref>{{cite book |author=J. N. Nanda |year=2005 |title=Bengal: the unique state |publisher=Concept Publishing Company |page=10 |isbn=978-81-8069-149-2 |quote="Bengal [...] was rich in the production and export of grain, salt, fruit, liquors and wines, precious metals and ornaments besides the output of its handlooms in silk and cotton. Europe referred to Bengal as the richest country to trade with."}}</ref> Bengal was the eastern pole of Islamic India. Like the [[Gujarat Sultanate]] in the western coast of India, Bengal in the east was open to the sea and accumulated profits from trade. Merchants from around the world traded in the [[Bay of Bengal]].<ref name="Markovits2004">{{cite book |editor=Claude Markovits |year=2004 |orig-year=1994 as Histoire de L'Inde Moderne |title=A History of Modern India, 1480–1950 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uzOmy2y0Zh4C&pg=PA37 |publisher=Anthem Press |page=37 |isbn=978-1-84331-004-4 |access-date=22 September 2017 |archive-date=22 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231022222947/https://books.google.com/books?id=uzOmy2y0Zh4C&pg=PA37#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref> Cotton textile exports were a unique aspect of the Bengali economy. [[Marco Polo]] noted Bengal's prominence in the textile trade.<ref name=trade>{{cite Banglapedia|author=Chaudhury, Sushil|article=Trade and Commerce}}</ref> In 1569, Venetian explorer Caesar Frederick wrote about how merchants from [[Pegu]] in Burma traded in silver and gold with Bengalis.<ref name=trade/> Overland trade routes such as the Grand Trunk Road connected Bengal to northern India, Central Asia and the Middle East.

==Foreign relations==
The Bengal Sultanate had robust [[foreign relations]]. Records show that the Bengal Sultanate exchanged embassies with states in China, Europe, Africa, Central Asia, South Asia and Southeast Asia. Diplomatic allies helped Bengal to fend off invasions from neighbouring kingdoms. For example, the [[Timurid dynasty|Timurid]] ruler of Herat and the [[Ming]] emperor of China helped bring an end to the [[Bengal Sultanate–Jaunpur Sultanate War]]. Bengal was also active in regional diplomacy. For example, the ship of the Bengali embassy to China also transported the envoys of [[Bruneian Empire|Brunei]] and [[Aceh Sultanate|Aceh]] ([[Sumatra]]) to China.<ref name="auto2"/> Bengal gave consent to envoys from [[Portuguese India]] for setting up Portuguese trading posts in coastal areas.<ref name="en.banglapedia.org"/> Other European visitors included [[Niccolo De Conti]], [[Ludovico di Varthema]] and Caeser Fredrick from the [[Republic of Venice]] and [[Bologna]].<ref>{{cite Banglapedia|article=Conti, Nicolo de}}</ref><ref>{{cite Banglapedia|article=Frederick, Caeser}}</ref>

In the Islamic world, the sultanate pledged allegiance to the contemporary [[Abbasid Caliphate]], which was at the time held by the [[Mamluk Egypt|Mamluk Sultan]] of [[Cairo]]. The Abbasid caliph was still considered to be the symbolic leader of Sunni Islam at the time, despite dwindling territory under direct caliphate rule. For the Bengali Sultans, relations with the caliphate provided legitimacy among the Muslim clergy. For example, the [[religious conversion|converted Sultan]] [[Jalaluddin Muhammad Shah]] received recognition from [[Al-Mu'tadid II]], which strengthened Jalaluddin's legitimacy in the eyes of the clergy.<ref name="banglapedia.org1"/> Many coins minted by the Bengal Sultanate bore the names of both the Bengali Sultans and the Abbasid Caliphs.<ref>{{cite Banglapedia|article=Coins}}</ref>
[[File:Tribute Giraffe with Attendant.jpg|thumb|200px|Chinese manuscript ''Tribute Giraffe with Attendant'', depicting a giraffe presented by Bengali envoys to the Ming court (Philadelphia Museum of Art)]]
During the latter part of his reign, [[Shamsuddin Ilyas Shah]] established amicable diplomatic relations with [[Firuz Shah Tughlaq|Firuz Shah Tughluq]] ({{Reign|1351|88}}). The both courts exchange of gifts, with Ilyas Shah sending elephants to the Delhi court in return for Turkish and Arabian horses.<ref>{{Harvard citation no brackets|Bhattacharya|2020|p=40}}</ref> Sultan [[Ghiyasuddin Azam Shah]] sponsored the construction of [[madrasa]]s (Islamic theological schools) in the pilgrimage cities of [[Makkah]] and [[Madinah]].{{Sfn|Eaton|1996|p=47}} The schools became known as the [[Ghiyasia Madrasa]] and Banjaliah Madrasa. [[Taqi al-Din Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Fasi|Taqi al-Din al-Fasi]], a contemporary Arab scholar, was a teacher at the madrasa in Makkah. The madrasa in Madinah was built at a place called Husn al-Atiq near the [[Prophet's Mosque]].<ref name=bpedia>{{cite Banglapedia|author=Abdul Karim|article=Ghiyasia Madrasa}}</ref> Several other Bengali Sultans also sponsored madrasas in the [[Hejaz]].<ref name="banglapedia.org1"/>

In Africa, Sultan [[Barsbay|Ashraf Barsbay]] of Egypt sent the Bengali Sultan a robe of honour and a letter of recognition.{{Sfn|Eaton|1996|p=57}} There are also records of envoys from the East African city-state of [[Malindi]] being hosted in the Bengali court.<ref name="Sobania2003">{{cite book|author=N. W. Sobania|title=Culture and Customs of Kenya|url=https://archive.org/details/culturecustomsof00soba|url-access=registration|year=2003|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|isbn=978-0-313-31486-5|page=[https://archive.org/details/culturecustomsof00soba/page/14 14]}}</ref> Animals constituted a significant part of tributes in medieval courts.<ref name="MaBrakel2016"/> The East African envoys brought giraffes, which were also noticed by the Chinese envoys in Bengal.<ref name="Sobania2003"/> In Central Asia, there are records of contacts between Sultan Jalaluddin Muhammad Shah and Sultan [[Shahrukh Mirza]] of the Timurid Empire. In Southeast Asia, European accounts refer to the presence of a large number of Bengali merchants in the [[Malacca Sultanate]]. The merchants were wealthy shipowners. It is yet to be ascertained whether these merchants had a significant role in the Sultan's court.<ref name="Habib2011"/> Ship-owning merchants were often royal envoys.<ref>{{cite book|author1=María Dolores Elizalde|author2=Wang Jianlang|title=China's Development from a Global Perspective|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mjI9DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA61|date= 2017|publisher=Cambridge Scholars Publishing|isbn=978-1-5275-0417-2|page=68|access-date=30 May 2019|archive-date=22 October 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231022222947/https://books.google.com/books?id=mjI9DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA61#v=onepage&q&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref> Contacts between Bengal and the Bruneian Empire and the Sumatran Aceh Sultanate are recorded in Chinese accounts.<ref name="auto2"/> Arab traveller and scholar Aḥmad ibn Sulaymān ibn Aḥamd al-Tarūjī (d. 1410), who visited Bengal mentioned the country very prosperous.{{Sfn|Siddiq|2015|p=38}}

Within the subcontinent, Bengal had both tense and peaceful relations with the Delhi Sultanate and the Jaunpur Sultanate. The [[Delhi Sultanate]] initially received tributes from the Bengal Sultanate between 1353 and 1359. Tributes stopped after a war and peace treaty in 1359. Sultan Ghiyasuddin Azam sent envoys to the neighboring [[Jaunpur Sultanate]]. He sent elephants as gifts to Sultan Malik Sarwar Khwajah-i-Jahan.<ref name="banglapedia.org"/> The two sultanates fought a war between 1415 and 1420. The end of the war brought a long period of peace between the neighbouring states. In 1494, the Jaunpuri Sultan Hussain Shah Sharqi was given refuge in Bengal after being defeated by the [[Lodi dynasty]] of Delhi.<ref>{{Harvard citation|Hasan|2007|ps=“[Husayn Shah pushed] its western frontier past Bihar up to Saran in Jaunpur ... when Sultan Husayn Shah Sharqi of Jaunpur fled to Bengal after being defeated in battle by Sultan Sikandar Lodhi of Delhi, the latter attacked Bengal in pursuit of the Jaunpur ruler. Unable to make any gains, Sikandar Lodhi returned home after concluding a peace treaty with the Bengal sultan.”|pp=16-17}}</ref>

On the coastline of the Bay of Bengal, the Bengal Sultanate became influential in the control of Arakan. [[Min Saw Mon]], a deposed Arakanese king, fled to Bengal after a Burmese invasion. With the support of Bengali forces led by a Pashtun general, he regained control of his country during the [[Reconquest of Arakan]]. The restored Arakanese realm became a vassal state of Bengal. A war with Arakan in 1459 led to the defeat of Bengali Sultan [[Rukunuddin Barbak Shah]]. The Arakanese developed an alliance with [[Portuguese Chittagong]] against Bengal. Despite achieving independence from the Sultans of Bengal, the Arakanese kings continued to fashion themselves after the Bengali Sultans by copying clothes, coins, titles and administrative techniques. Bengali Muslim influence on Arakan lasted for 350 years.<ref name="TopichLeitich2013">{{cite book|author1=William J. Topich|author2=Keith A. Leitich|title=The History of Myanmar|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DIuaa5yKv-sC&pg=PA17|date= 2013|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-0-313-35725-1|page=20}}</ref> In the Indian Ocean, the Bengal Sultanate was involved in trading with the Maldives where Bengali rice was exchanged for Maldivian shell currency.

Historians have focused on Bengal's relations with Ming China during the early 15th century. For example, ''Trade and Diplomacy in India-China Relations: A Study of Bengal During the Fifteenth Century'' chronicles the relationship between the Bengal Sultanate and Ming China.<ref>{{Cite journal|url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-the-royal-asiatic-society/article/trade-and-diplomacy-in-indiachina-relations-a-study-of-bengal-during-the-fifteenth-century-by-ray-haraprasad-pp-ix-221-3-maps-new-delhi-radiant-publishers-london-sangam-books-1993-rs-200/BE39CDDE8F973EED2E7AC4BA9A22D6AD|title=Trade and Diplomacy in India-China Relations: A Study of Bengal During the Fifteenth Century. By Haraprasad Ray. pp. ix, 221, 3 maps. New Delhi, Radiant Publishers; London, Sangam Books, 1993. Rs 200.|first=Roderich|last=Ptak|year=1995|journal=Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society|volume=5|issue=2|pages=300–303|via=Cambridge Core|doi=10.1017/S1356186300015637|s2cid=164048218|access-date=27 September 2019|archive-date=1 November 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191101193711/https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-the-royal-asiatic-society/article/trade-and-diplomacy-in-indiachina-relations-a-study-of-bengal-during-the-fifteenth-century-by-ray-haraprasad-pp-ix-221-3-maps-new-delhi-radiant-publishers-london-sangam-books-1993-rs-200/BE39CDDE8F973EED2E7AC4BA9A22D6AD|url-status=live|url-access=subscription}}</ref> This relationship was also noted by Indian independence leader Jawaharlal Nehru in his book ''[[The Discovery of India]]''.<ref name="Nehru1985">{{cite book|author=Jawaharlal Nehru|title=The discovery of India|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9BSjQhakjAAC|year=1985|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-562359-8|page=198|access-date=27 September 2019|archive-date=22 October 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231022223949/https://books.google.com/books?id=9BSjQhakjAAC|url-status=live}}</ref> Political relations between China and the Indian subcontinent became nonexistent after the decline of Buddhism in India.<ref>{{cite book|title=India and China: Interactions through Buddhism and Diplomacy: A Collection of Essays by Professor Prabodh Chandra Bagchi|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hrA1DgAAQBAJ&pg=PA109|date= 2011|publisher=Anthem Press|isbn=978-0-85728-821-9|page=109|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180515014104/https://books.google.com/books?id=hrA1DgAAQBAJ&pg=PA109|archive-date=15 May 2018}}</ref> In the 15th century, the Bengal Sultanate revived the subcontinent's relations with China through regular contacts. Sultan [[Ghiyasuddin Azam Shah]] began sending envoys to the [[Ming dynasty]]. He sent ambassadors in 1405, 1408 and 1409.<ref name="banglapedia.org">{{cite Banglapedia|article=Ghiyasuddin Azam Shah}}</ref> Emperor [[Yongle]] of China responded by sending ambassadors to Bengal between 1405 and 1433, including members of the [[Treasure voyages]] fleet led by [[Admiral Zheng He]].<ref name="sagepub.com">{{cite journal |last1=Church |first1=Sally K. |s2cid=161549135 |year=2016 |title=The Giraffe of Bengal: A Medieval Encounter in Ming China |journal=The Medieval History Journal |volume=7 |pages=1–37 |doi=10.1177/097194580400700101}}</ref> The exchange of embassies included the gift of an East African giraffe by Sultan [[Shihabuddin Bayazid Shah]] to the Chinese emperor in 1414.<ref name="MaBrakel2016">{{cite book|author1=Lin Ma|author2=Jaap van Brakel|title=Fundamentals of Comparative and Intercultural Philosophy|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vPjSCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA135|date=2016|publisher=SUNY Press|isbn=978-1-4384-6017-8|page=135|access-date=5 April 2018|archive-date=22 October 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231022223950/https://books.google.com/books?id=vPjSCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA135#v=onepage&q&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="RielloBiedermann2017">{{cite book|author1=Giorgio Riello|author2=Zoltán Biedermann|author3=Anne Gerritsen|title=Global Gifts: The Material Culture of Diplomacy in Early Modern Eurasia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KJNADwAAQBAJ&pg=PA18|date= 2017|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-1-108-41550-7|page=18|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180515014104/https://books.google.com/books?id=KJNADwAAQBAJ&pg=PA18|archive-date=15 May 2018}}</ref><ref name="sagepub.com"/> China also mediated an end to the Bengal-Jaunpur War after a request from Sultan Jalaluddin Muhammad Shah.<ref name="banglapedia.org1">{{cite Banglapedia|article=Jalaluddin Muhammad Shah}}</ref> Ming China considered Bengal to be "rich and civilized" and one of the strongest countries in the entire chain of contacts between China and Asian states during the 15th century.<ref>{{cite book|author1=María Dolores Elizalde|author2=Wang Jianlang|title=China's Development from a Global Perspective|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mjI9DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA61|date= 2017|publisher=Cambridge Scholars Publishing|isbn=978-1-5275-0417-2|page=70|access-date=30 May 2019|archive-date=22 October 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231022222947/https://books.google.com/books?id=mjI9DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA61#v=onepage&q&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref> Sino-Bengali contacts was the main feature of relations between China and the Indian subcontinent during the 15th century.

==Culture and society==
[[File:Codice Casanatense Bengalis.jpg|thumb|"People of the Kingdom of Bengal", 16th-century Portuguese illustration]]
The [[Bengali language]] was the most spoken language while [[Persian language|Persian]] was an administrative and commercial language. Men wore white [[Shirt|shirts]], [[Cotton Fabric|cotton fabrics]] of various colors, [[Turban|turbans]], [[Sarong|sarongs]], [[Lungi|lungis]], [[Dhoti|dhutis]], [[Leather|leather shoes]], and belts to wrap their robes on the waist. Women wore cotton [[Sari|saris]]. Upper-class women wore gold jewelry. There were various classes of artisans, as well as physicians and fortune tellers. There was a class of musicians who would gather by the houses of the rich during dawn and play music; and they would be rewarded with wine, food and money during breakfast hours. Some men would have performances with a chained tiger. The [[Hindu]] minority did not eat beef. The streets and markets included bathing areas, eating and drinking places, and dessert shops. [[Betel nut]] was offered to guests. The population included royalty, aristocrats, natives and foreigners. Many of the rich built ships and went abroad for trade. Many were agriculturalists. Punishments for breaking the law included expulsion from the kingdom, as well as bamboo flogging.<ref name="auto3"/>

Bengali male clothing is mentioned in a Chinese envoy of 1415 which described men of [[Pandua, Malda|Pandua]] who “wear a white cotton [[turban]] and a long white cotton shirt. On their feet they wear low sheep-skin shoes with [[gold thread]]. The smarter ones think it the correct thing to have designs on them. Everyone of them is engaged in business, the value of which may be ten thousand pieces of gold.”{{Sfn|Eaton|1996|p=99}}

Bengal was rich in textile production and export. [[Marco Polo]] mentioned the commercial importance of Bengali cotton. Maghrebi traveler [[Ibn Battuta]] admired the local fine Muslin during his visit. Between 1415 and 1432 [[Ming dynasty|Chinese diplomats]] wrote of [[muslin]], rugs, [[Veil|veils]] of various colours, [[Gauze|gauzes]], [[turban]] materials, embroidered silks etc. In early 16th Century [[Ludovico di Varthema]] noted “Fifty ships are laden every year in this place with cotton and silk stuffs..... These same stuffs go through all Turkey, through Syria, through Persia, through Arabia Felix, through Ethiopia, and through all India." Contemporary Tome Pires described the export of Bengali textiles to ports in the eastern half of the Indian Ocean.{{Sfn|Eaton|1996|p=97|loc=Economy, Society and Culture}}

Chinese traveler [[Wang Dayuan]] who visited Bengal writes on the Bengali people

{{blockquote|text=These people [the Bengalis] owe all their tranquility and prosperity to themselves, for its source lies in their devotion to agriculture, whereby a land originally covered with jungle has been reclaimed by their unremitting toil in tilling and planting.{{Sfn|Eaton|1996|p=95}} |author=Wang Dayuan (1349)
|source=}}

Bengal received settlers from North India, the Middle East and Central Asia. They included Turks, Afghans, Persians and Arabs.<ref name="Khan2013">{{cite book|author=Muhammad Mojlum Khan|title=The Muslim Heritage of Bengal: The Lives, Thoughts and Achievements of Great Muslim Scholars, Writers and Reformers of Bangladesh and West Bengal|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-2s9BAAAQBAJ&pg=PA5|year=2013|publisher=Kube Publishing Limited|isbn=978-1-84774-062-5|pages=5–|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180515014104/https://books.google.com/books?id=-2s9BAAAQBAJ&pg=PA5|archive-date=15 May 2018}}</ref> An important migrant community were Persians. Many Persians in Bengal were teachers, lawyers, scholars and clerics.<ref>{{cite Banglapedia|article=Iranians, The}}</ref> Mercenaries were widely imported for domestic, military and political service. One particular group of mercenaries were the Abyssinians.<ref name="auto" />

The Hindu and Muslim populations had their own endogamous communities (jāti) with distinctive occupations 16th century poet [[Mukundaram Chakrabarti|Mukundaram]], mentions fifteen Muslim communities inhabiting an idealized Bengali city of his day. The Muslim population engaged in professions like weavers, livestock herders, cake sellers, [[Fishmonger|fishmongers]], loom makers, circumcisers, [[Bow maker|bow makers]], [[Papermaking|papermakers]], wandering holy men, [[Tailor|tailors]], weavers of thick cord, dyers, users of hoes, and [[Butcher|beef sellers]].{{Sfn|Eaton|1996|p=101|loc=Economy, Society and Culture}} Saraikhanas (hotels) with [[Hammam|Turkish baths]] had established for the merchants and travellers.<ref>{{Harvard citation no brackets|Bhattacharya|2020|p=40}}</ref>

==Arts==
===Literature and painting===
[[File:Sharafnama of Nizami, Bengal.jpg|thumb|A sultanate-era Persian manuscript showing [[Alexander the Great|Alexander]] sharing his throne with Queen Nushabah. The scene is based on [[Nizami Ganjavi|Nizami Ganjavi's]] ''[[Iskandarnameh of Nizami|Iskandar Nama]]'' ''(Book of Alexander)''. [[British Library]].]]
Muslim poets were writing in the Bengali language by the 15th century. By the turn of the 16th century, a vernacular literature based on concepts of [[Sufism]] and [[Islamic cosmology]] flourished in the region. Bengali Muslim mystic literature was one of the most original in Islamic India.<ref name="Markovits2004"/>

{{poemquote|And with the three washers [cups of wine], this dispute is going on.
All the parrots [poets] of India have fallen into a sugar shattering situation (become excited)
That this Persian candy [ode], to Bangalah [Bengal] is going on.|Excerpt of a poem jointly written by [[Hafez]] and Sultan [[Ghiyasuddin Azam Shah]] in the 14th century<ref name=abumusa/>}}

With Persian as an [[official language]], Bengal witnessed an influx of [[Persian people|Persian]] scholars, lawyers, teachers and clerics. It was the preferred language of the aristocracy and the [[Sufi]]s. Thousands of Persian books and manuscripts were published in Bengal. The earliest Persian work compiled in Bengal was a translation of Amrtakunda from Sanskrit by Qadi Ruknu'd-Din Abu Hamid Muhammad bin Muhammad al-'Amidi of Samarqand, a famous Hanafi jurist and Sufi. During the reign of Ghiyasuddin Azam Shah, the city of Sonargaon became an important centre of [[Persian literature]], with many publications of prose and poetry. The period is described as the "[[golden age]] of Persian literature in Bengal". Its stature is illustrated by the Sultan's own correspondence with the Persian poet Hafez. When the Sultan invited Hafez to complete an incomplete [[ghazal]] by the ruler, the renowned poet responded by acknowledging the grandeur of the king's court and the literary quality of Bengali-Persian poetry.<ref name=abumusa>{{cite Banglapedia|article=Persian|author=Abu Musa Mohammad Arif Billah}}</ref>

Manuscript paintings depict the fashion and architecture of the Bengal Sultanate. Persian manuscripts with paintings are a key artistic hallmark of the Bengal Sultanate. One of the best-known examples of this heritage is Sultan [[Nasiruddin Nasrat Shah|Nasrat Shah's]] copy of Nizami's ''Iskandar Nama.'' The manuscript was published sometime during Nasrat Shah's reign, lasting from 1519 to 1538. It includes epic poetry by [[Nizami Ganjavi]] about the conquests of [[Alexander the Great]].<ref name="Grabar1989">{{cite book|author=Oleg Grabar|title=Muqarnas: An Annual on Islamic Art and Architecture|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=O0NCAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA58|year=1989|publisher=Brill Archive|isbn=978-90-04-09050-7|pages=58–72|author-link=Oleg Grabar|access-date=7 April 2018|archive-date=22 October 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231022223953/https://books.google.com/books?id=O0NCAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA58#v=onepage&q&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite encyclopedia|url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/eskandar-nama|title=ESKANDAR-NĀMA|encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Iranica|access-date=31 December 2019|archive-date=19 May 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230519181117/https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/eskandar-nama|url-status=live}}</ref>

In the 15th century, the court scholar [[Nur Qutb Alam]] pioneered [[Bengali Muslim]] poetry by establishing the [[Dobhashi]] tradition, which saw poems written half in Persian and half in colloquial Bengali. The invocation tradition saw Islamic figures replacing the invocation of Hindu gods and goddesses in Bengali texts. The literary romantic tradition saw poems by [[Shah Muhammad Sagir]] on [[Yusuf and Zulaikha]], as well as works of Bahram Khan and Sabirid Khan. The ''Dobhashi'' culture featured the use of [[Arabic]] and Persian words in Bengali texts to illustrate Muslim stories. [[Epic poetry]] included ''Nabibangsha'' by [[Syed Sultan]], ''Janganama'' by [[Abdul Hakim (poet)|Abdul Hakim]] and ''Rasul Bijay'' by Shah Barid. Sufi literature flourished with a dominant theme of [[cosmology]]. Bengali Muslim writers produced translations of numerous Arabic and Persian works, including the [[Thousand and One Nights]] and the [[Shahnameh]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://blogs.edgehill.ac.uk/sacs/files/2012/07/Document-6-Billah-A.-M.-M.-A-The-Development-of-Bengali-Literature-during-Muslim-Rule.pdf |title=The development of Bengali literature during Muslim rule |access-date=22 September 2017 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170809050525/https://blogs.edgehill.ac.uk/sacs/files/2012/07/Document-6-Billah-A.-M.-M.-A-The-Development-of-Bengali-Literature-during-Muslim-Rule.pdf |archive-date=9 August 2017 }}</ref><ref>{{cite Banglapedia|article=Sufi Literature}}</ref>

Hindu poets from the period included [[Maladhar Basu]], [[Bipradas Pipilai]] and [[Vijay Gupta (poet)|Vijay Gupta]].

===Architecture===
{{See also|Bengali architecture|Architecture of Bangladesh|Islamic architecture}}
A majority of the Bengal Sultanate's mint towns and surviving structures are found in Bangladesh. These structures have been studied in the book ''Sultans and Mosques: The Early Muslim Architecture of Bangladesh'' by Perween Hasan.{{Sfn|Hasan|2007}}<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.thedailystar.net/news-detail-36880|title=Royalty, aesthetics and the story of mosques|date=17 May 2008|website=The Daily Star|access-date=18 September 2020|archive-date=5 January 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220105030930/https://www.thedailystar.net/news-detail-36880|url-status=live}}</ref> The Indian state of West Bengal is home to two of the sultanate's former capitals [[Gauḍa (city)|Gaur]] and [[Pandua, Hooghly|Pandua]], as well as several notable structures including a watchtower, fortified walls and mausoleum. The oldest mosque in the Indian state of Assam dates from the Bengal Sultanate. A 15th-century sultanate-era mosque lies in ruins and covered with vegetation in Myanmar's Rakhine State.<ref name="Smithsonian" />

====Urban architecture====
{{multiple image
| perrow = 2
| total_width = 365
| image1 = "DAKHIL DARWAZA, GOUR".jpg
| image2 = Baisgazi Wall 03.jpg
| image3 = Firoz Minar.JPG
| image4 = Gumti Gateway (Gaur).jpg
| footer = Urban architecture of Bengal Sultanate. Clockwise from upper left: [[Dakhil Darwaza]], Baisgazi Wall was a city wall, [[Gumti Darwaza]] eastern gate of citadel of Lakhnauti, the [[Firoz Minar]]
}}

Cities in the Bengal Sultanate had stately medieval architecture, particularly in the royal capitals of Gaur and Pandua. In 1500, the royal capital of Gaur had the fifth-largest urban population in the world after [[Beijing]], [[Vijayanagara]], [[Cairo]] and Canton. It had a population of 200,000 (at the time, the global population is estimated to have ranged between 400 and 500 million).<ref name="ft">{{Citation|title=Bar chart race: the most populous cities through time|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMs5xapBewM| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211117/pMs5xapBewM| archive-date=17 November 2021 | url-status=live|work=Financial Times| date=20 March 2019 |access-date=31 December 2019}}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref name="scroll">{{cite web|url=https://scroll.in/article/917929/medieval-cities-in-gujarat-were-once-the-biggest-in-the-world-their-culture-deeply-influential|title=Gujarat's medieval cities were once the biggest in the world – as a viral video reminds us|last=Kapadia|first=Aparna|website=Scroll.in|date=30 March 2019 |access-date=31 December 2019|archive-date=8 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201108003030/https://scroll.in/article/917929/medieval-cities-in-gujarat-were-once-the-biggest-in-the-world-their-culture-deeply-influential|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>Data from History Database of the Global Environment. K. Klein Goldewijk, A. Beusen and P. Janssen, "HYDE 3.1: Long-term dynamic modeling of global population and built-up area in a spatially explicit way", from table on p. 2, Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency (MNP), Bilthoven, The Netherlands.</ref><ref>Data from United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division.
1950–2100 estimates (only medium variants shown): (a) World Population Prospects: The 2008 Revision.
Estimates prior to 1950: (b) "The World at Six Billion", 1999.
Estimates from 1950 to 2100: (c) "Population of the entire world, yearly, 1950–2100", 2013. Archived 19 November 2016, at the Wayback Machine
2014: (d) http://esa.un.org/unpd/wup/Highlights/WUP2014-Highlights.pdf {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141102043800/http://esa.un.org/unpd/wup/Highlights/WUP2014-Highlights.pdf |date=2 November 2014 }} "2014 World Urbanization Prospects", 2014.
2015: (e) http://esa.un.org/unpd/wpp/Publications/Files/Key_Findings_WPP_2015.pdf {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140320035709/http://esa.un.org/unpd/wpp/unpp/panel_population.htm |date=20 March 2014 }} "2015 World Urbanization Prospects", 2015.</ref> The Portuguese historian Castenhada de Lopez described houses in Gaur as being one-storeyed with ornamental floor tiles, courtyards and gardens. The city had a citadel, [[Durbar (court)|durbar]], watchtowers, canals, bridges, large gateways, and a city wall.<ref>{{cite Banglapedia |article=Gaur, City}}</ref> The royal palace was divided into three compartments. The first compartment was the royal court. The second was the living quarter of the Sultan. The third was the harem. A high wall enclosed the palace. A moat surrounded the palace on three sides and was connected to the Ganges. The city of Pandua developed from a small hamlet into a military garrison. It included imperial mosques and mausolea. Urban architecture in the Bengal Sultanate was based on Arab, Bengali, Persian, Indo-Turkish, and Byzantine influences. A glimpse of houses in the Bengal Sultanate can be seen in the ''Iskandar Nama'' (Book of Alexander) published by Sultan Nasrat Shah.<ref name="Grabar1989" /> There were significant indigenous developments. The [[Bengal roofs]] began appearing in concrete forms during the 15th century. These roofs were later widely replicated in the Mughal Empire and the Rajput kingdoms of the northwestern Indian subcontinent.
====Mosque architecture====
{{Category see also|Bengal Sultanate mosques}}
{| class="wikitable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="float: right; margin-left:1em;"
|+Construction of Dated Mosques in Bengal from 1200–1800{{Sfn|Eaton|1996|p=67}}
|- style="text-align:left;"
! Date
! style="text-align:center;" | Ordinary
! Congregational
! Total
|-
| style="text-align:left;" | 1200-1250
| 2
| 0
| 2
|-
| style="text-align:left;" | 1250–1300
| 3
| 1
| 4
|-
| style="text-align:left; background:#FFFACD;" | 1300–1350
| style="background:#FFFACD;" | 2
| style="background:#FFFACD;" | 0
| style="background:#FFFACD;" | 2
|-
| style="text-align:left; background:#FFFACD;" | 1350–1400
| style="background:#FFFACD;" | 4
| style="background:#FFFACD;" | 1
| style="background:#FFFACD;" | 5
|-
| style="text-align:left; background:#FFFACD;" | 1400–1450
| style="background:#FFFACD;" | 5
| style="background:#FFFACD;" | 0
| style="background:#FFFACD;" | 5
|-
| style="text-align:left; background:#FFFACD;" | 1450–1500
| style="background:#FFFACD;" | 52
| style="background:#FFFACD;" | 9
| style="background:#FFFACD;" | 61
|-
| style="text-align:left; background:#FFFACD;" | 1500–1550
| style="background:#FFFACD;" | 28
| style="background:#FFFACD;" | 28
| style="background:#FFFACD;" | 56
|-
| style="text-align:left; background:#FFFACD;" | 1550–1600
| style="background:#FFFACD;" | 15
| style="background:#FFFACD;" | 2
| style="background:#FFFACD;" | 17
|-
| style="text-align:left;" | 1600–1650
| 7
| 0
| 7
|-
| style="text-align:left;" | 1650–1700
| 17
| 0
| 17
|-
| style="text-align:left;" | 1700–1750
| 8
| 0
| 8
|-
| style="text-align:left;" | 1750–1800
| 4
| 0
| 4
|-
| style="text-align:left;" | '''Total'''
| 147
| 41
| 188
|}
According to Perween Hasan, the mosques of the Bengal Sultanate have several common features, including pointed arches, multiple [[mihrab]]s, engaged corner towers, and [[terracotta]] and stone decoration.<ref name="Grabar1989" /> In particular, the art of the mihrab is meticulous and unique to Bengal's mosque architecture.<ref name="thedailystar.net">{{cite news |url=https://www.thedailystar.net/in-focus/news/badshah-ka-takth-and-the-gem-bengal-kusumba-mosque-1840753 |title=Badshah-ka Takth and the gem of Bengal, Kusumba Mosque |date=16 December 2019 |work=The Daily Star |access-date=31 December 2019 |archive-date=19 December 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191219145658/https://www.thedailystar.net/in-focus/news/badshah-ka-takth-and-the-gem-bengal-kusumba-mosque-1840753 |url-status=live}}</ref> Mosques were either rectangular and multi-domed or square and single-domed. The large number of mosques built during the Bengal Sultanate indicates the rapidity with which the local population converted to Islam. The period between 1450 and 1550 was an intensive mosque building era.{{Efn|Out of 127 mosques constructed between 1200-1800, 92 were built during 1450-1550, almost three-quarters of total.{{Sfn|Michell|1984|p=28}}}} These mosques dotted the countryside, ranged from small to medium sizes and were used for daily devotion. [[Ponds]] were often located beside a mosque. Arabic inscriptions in the mosques often include the name of the patron or builder. The most commonly cited verse from the Quran in inscriptions was Surah 72 ([[Al-Jinn]]).<ref name="Grabar1989" /> The buildings were made of brick or stone. The brick mosque with terracotta decoration represented a grand structure in the Bengal Sultanate. They were often the gift of a wealthy patron and the fruit of extraordinary effort, which would not be found in every Muslim neighborhood.<ref name="Grabar1989" /> {{multiple image
| perrow = 2
| total_width = 365
| image1 = Adina Mosque, Malda, West Bengal 02.jpg
| image2 = গোয়ালদি মসজিদ 3.jpg
| image3 = Choto Shona Mosque Rajshahi.jpg
| image4 = Sixty Dome Mosque,Bagerhat.jpg
| footer = Bengal Sultanate era mosque architecture. Clockwise from upper left: Arches in [[Adina Mosque]], [[Goaldi Mosque]] in [[Sonargaon]], [[Sixty Dome Mosque]], pointed arches and a Bengal roof in [[Choto Sona Mosque]].
}}

Mosques were built across the length and breadth of the Bengal Sultanate. The highest concentration of mosques from the Bengal Sultanate can be found in the [[North Bengal]] regions of Bangladesh and Indian West Bengal. A [[Mosque City of Bagerhat|mosque city]] developed near the southwestern Bengali Sundarbans forest as a result of the patronization of Governor Khan Jahan Ali. In 1985, UNESCO designated the city as a [[World Heritage Site]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/321/ |title=Historic Mosque City of Bagerhat |website=UNESCO World Heritage Centre |access-date=31 December 2019 |archive-date=6 December 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191206133932/http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/321 |url-status=live}}</ref> In central areas, the [[Pathrail Mosque]] in Faridpur is one of the best-preserved sultanate-era structures. In the northeast, the [[Shankarpasha Shahi Masjid]] in [[Sylhet Division|Sylhet]] is a well-preserved structure of the Bengal Sultanate. In the northeastern Indian state of [[Assam]], the [[Panbari Mosque]] was built during the reign of Sultan Alauddin Hussain Shah. Other mosques can be found in coastal areas of West Bengal and parts of [[Bihar]], such as the [[Sayed Jamaluddin Mosque]]. In the southeast, the Santikan Mosque (built in the 1430s) stands in ruins in Rakhine State (formerly Arakan) of [[Myanmar]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2015/06/150625-myanmar-burma-rohingya-refugees-archaeology-world/ |title=Lost Myanmar Empire Is Stage for Modern Violence |date=26 June 2015 |website=National Geographic News |access-date=31 December 2019 |archive-date=11 December 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191211080917/https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2015/06/150625-myanmar-burma-rohingya-refugees-archaeology-world/ |url-status=dead}}</ref>

Imperial mosques had an in-built throne for the Sultan. These thrones are termed as ''Badshah-e-Takht'' (King's Throne). The Sultans sat on the elevated throne and addressed his subjects below. The Sultans also administered justice and managed government affairs while sitting on these thrones. Mosques served as royal courts.<ref name="thedailystar.net"/> Mosques across the Bengal Sultanate had these thrones. The Sultans traveled from one town to another and hosted royal court activities in mosques with a Badshah-e-Takht. The Badshah-e-Takht in [[Kusumba Mosque]] is heavily decorated with a small intrinsically designed mihrab. The Adina Mosque has one of the largest royal galleries in the subcontinent.<ref name="thedailystar.net"/>
====Tomb architecture====
{{multiple image
| perrow = 2
| total_width = 365
| image1 = Eklakhi Mausoleum at Pandua in Malda district 02.jpg
| image2 = The Tomb of Fateh Khan.jpg
| image3 = Chapai ChotoSonaMashjidShomadhi MG 5051.jpg
| image4 = বাঘা মসজিদের সম্মুখভাগের মাজার (৩).jpg
| footer = Tomb architecture of Bengal Sultanate. Clockwise from upper left: [[Eklakhi Mausoleum]], [[Qadam Rasul Mosque#Tomb of Fateh Khan|Tomb of Fateh Khan]], [[Bagha Mosque]] cemetery, [[Choto Sona Mosque]] cemetery.
}}

Mausoleums of the Bengal Sultanate are an important architectural hallmark. Initially, [[sarcophagus|sarcophagi]] were erected based on Iranian models, such as the [[Tomb of Cyrus]]. Sarcophagi would include mihrabs and arches resembling the architecture in Adina Mosque. For example, the tomb of Sultan Ghiyasuddin Azam Shah in Sonargaon has features similar to the architecture of [[Adina Mosque]] built by his father Sultan Sikandar Shah. An indigenous Islamic mausolea style developed with the [[Eklakhi Mausoleum]], which is the royal tomb chamber of Sultan Jalaluddin Muhammad Shah. Other mausolea, such as the [[Qadam Rasul Mosque#Tomb of Fateh Khan|Tomb of Fateh]] Khan in Gaur, featured Bengali ''do-chala'' roof.<ref>{{cite Banglapedia|article=Tomb Architecture}}</ref>

====Legacy====
The architecture of the Bengal Sultanate has influenced [[modern architecture]] in Bangladesh. The sultanate era inspired the [[Baitur Rauf Mosque]], which won the [[Aga Khan Award for Architecture]] in 2016.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.thenationalnews.com/arts-culture/architect-marina-tabassum-on-her-aga-khan-award-winning-design-for-the-bait-ur-rouf-mosque-in-dhaka-1.160592 |title=Architect Marina Tabassum on her Aga Khan Award-winning design for the Bait Ur Rouf mosque in Dhaka |work=The National |date=6 October 2016 |access-date=18 September 2020 |archive-date=29 December 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191229061654/https://www.thenational.ae/arts-culture/architect-marina-tabassum-on-her-aga-khan-award-winning-design-for-the-bait-ur-rouf-mosque-in-dhaka-1.160592 |url-status=live}}</ref>

==List of dynasties==
;Ilyas Shahi dynasty (1342–1414)
{{Main|Ilyas Shahi dynasty}}

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! style="width:180px;"| Name
! style="width:80px;"| Reign
! style="width:400px;"| Notes
|-
| [[Shamsuddin Ilyas Shah]]
| 1342–1358
| Became the first sole ruler of whole [[Bengal]] comprising [[Sonargaon]], [[Satgaon]] and [[Gauḍa (city)|Lakhnauti]].
|-
| [[Sikandar Shah]]
| 1358–1390
| Assassinated by his son and successor, [[Ghiyasuddin Azam Shah]]
|-
| [[Ghiyasuddin Azam Shah]]
| 1390–1411
|
|-
| [[Saifuddin Hamza Shah]]
| 1411–1413
|
|-
| Nasiruddin Muhammad Shah bin Hamza Shah
| 1413
| His coins were minted from Muazzamabad. Noman Nasir theorizes, based on numismatic evidence, that he was a son of Hamza Shah.<ref>Nasir, Noman. “Nasir Al-Din Muhammad - A New Sultan of Bengal.” Journal of the Oriental Numismatic Society, 2010</ref> Assassinated by either his half-brother or his father's slave [[Shihabuddin Bayazid Shah]] on the orders of the landlord of [[Dinajpur]], [[Raja Ganesha]]
|-
| [[Shihabuddin Bayazid Shah]]
| 1413–1414
|Assassinated by [[Raja Ganesha]]
|-
| [[Alauddin Firuz Shah I]]
| 1414
| Son of Shihabuddin Bayazid Shah. Assassinated by Raja Ganesha
|}
In 2009 a coin of a ruler named Nasiruddin Ibrahim Shah was found in Bangladesh, which was struck in 818 AH (around 1416 CE). It is possible he was a claimant to the throne. An undated coin of another ruler called Siraj-al Din Sikandar Shah was found in southwestern Bengal in 2014. MD. Sharif Islam theorizes that this Siraj-al Din is the same Siraj-al Din mentioned by Riyaz As Salatin, who was a judge serving under Ghiyasuddin Azam Shah.<ref>Nasir N, Islam MS (2014) Siraj al-Din ‘Sikandar’ (?) Shah – a new ruler of the Bengal Sultanate. J Orient Numismat Soc 220:39–40</ref>
;House of Raja Ganesha (1414–1435)
{{Main|Ganesha dynasty}}

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! style="width:180px;"| Name
! style="width:80px;"| Reign
! style="width:400px;"| Notes
|-
| [[Raja Ganesha]]
| 1414–1415
|
|-
| [[Jalaluddin Muhammad Shah]]
| 1415–1416
| Son of Raja Ganesha and converted into Islam
|-
| [[Raja Ganesha]]
| 1416–1418
| Second Phase
|-
| [[Jalaluddin Muhammad Shah]]
| 1418–1433
| Second Phase
|-
| [[Shamsuddin Ahmad Shah]]
| 1433–1435
|
|}
Two ephemeral rulers: Qutbuddin Azam Shah and Ghiyasuddin Nusrat Shah ruled Eastern Bengal for a brief period and struck coins in AH 837 (1434 CE). Siraj-al Din Sikandar Shah is only known from his undated coins, it is possible he ruled in this time period. It is not known if any of them were related to Shamsuddin Ahmad Shah or the Ilyas Shahis.<ref>Nasir N, Islam MS (2014) Siraj al-Din ‘Sikandar’ (?) Shah – a new ruler of the Bengal Sultanate. J Orient Numismat Soc 220:39–40</ref>

;Restored Ilyas Shahi dynasty (1435–1487)
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! style="width:180px;"| Name
! style="width:80px;"| Reign
! style="width:400px;"| Notes
|-
| [[Mahmud Shah (Sultan of Bengal)|Nasiruddin Mahmud Shah I]]
|1435–1459
|
|-
| [[Rukunuddin Barbak Shah]]
| 1459–1474
|
|-
| [[Shamsuddin Yusuf Shah]]
| 1474–1481
|
|-
| [[Sikandar Shah II]]
| 1481
|
|-
| [[Jalaluddin Fateh Shah]]
| 1481–1487
|
|}

;Habshi rule (1487–1494)
{{Main|Habshi dynasty}}

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! style="width:180px;"| Name
! style="width:80px;"| Reign
! style="width:400px;"| Notes
|-
| [[Shahzada Barbak]]
| 1487
|
|-
| [[Saifuddin Firuz Shah]]
| 1487–1489
|
|-
| [[Mahmud Shah II of Bengal|Mahmud Shah II]]
| 1489–1490
|
|-
| [[Shamsuddin Muzaffar Shah]]
| 1490–1494
|
|}

;Hussain Shahi dynasty (1494–1538)
{{Main|Hussain Shahi dynasty}}

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! style="width:180px;"| Name
! style="width:80px;"| Reign
! style="width:400px;"| Notes
|-
| [[Alauddin Hussain Shah]]
| 1494–1518
|
|-
| [[Nasiruddin Nasrat Shah]]
| 1518–1533
|
|-
| [[Alauddin Firuz Shah II]]
| 1533
|
|-
| [[Ghiyasuddin Mahmud Shah]]
| 1533–1538
|
|}

;Governors under Suri rule (1539–1554)
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! style="width:180px;"| Name
! style="width:80px;"| Reign
! style="width:400px;"| Notes
|-
| [[Khidr Khan Surak|Khidr Khan]]
| 1539–1541
|Declared independence in 1541 and was replaced
|-
| [[Qazi Fazilat]]
| 1541–1545
|
|-
| [[Muhammad Khan Sur]]
| 1545–1554
|Declared independence upon the death of [[Islam Shah Suri]]
|}

;Muhammad Shahi dynasty (1554–1564)
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! style="width:180px;"| Name
! style="width:80px;"| Reign
! style="width:400px;"| Notes
|-
| [[Muhammad Khan Sur]]
| 1554–1555
| Declared independence and styled himself as ''Shamsuddin Muhammad Shah''
|-
| [[Ghiyasuddin Bahadur Shah II]]
| 1555–1561
|
|-
| [[Ghiyasuddin Jalal Shah]]
| 1561–1563
|
|-
| [[Ghiyasuddin Bahadur Shah III]]
| 1563–1564
|
|}

;Karrani dynasty (1564–1576)
{{Main|Karrani dynasty}}

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! style="width:180px;"| Name
! style="width:80px;"| Reign
! style="width:400px;"| Notes
|-
| [[Taj Khan Karrani]]
| 1564–1566
|
|-
| [[Sulaiman Khan Karrani]]
| 1566–1572
|
|-
| [[Bayazid Khan Karrani]]
| 1572
|
|-
| [[Daud Khan Karrani]]
| 1572–1576
|Last independent Sultan of Bengal Sultanate
|}

==Family trees==
{{History of Bangladesh}}
{{Bengal Sultanate}}

===Ilyas Shahi Dynasty (1342–1414)===
{{Chart top|width=60%|collapsed=yes|Ilyas Shahi Dynasty}}
{{Tree chart/start|align=center|style=font-size:90%}}
{{Tree chart|border=1| | | | A01 | | | |A01='''[[Shamsuddin Ilyas Shah|Ilyas Shah]]''' ?–1358 '''Sultan of Bengal''' R.1342–1358 |boxstyle_ A01=border-color:#FFD700}}
{{Tree chart|border=1| | | | |!| | | | |}}
{{Tree chart|border=1| | | | A01 | | | |A01='''[[Sikandar Shah|Sikandar Shah I]]''' ?–1390 '''Sultan of Bengal''' R.1358–1390 |boxstyle_ A01=border-color:#FFD700}}
{{Tree chart|border=1| | | | |!| | | | |}}
{{Tree chart|border=1| | | | A01 | | | |A01='''[[Ghiyasuddin Azam Shah|Azam Shah]]''' ?–1411 '''Sultan of Bengal''' R.1390–1411 |boxstyle_ A01=border-color:#FFD700}}
{{Tree chart|border=1| | | | |!| | | | |}}
{{Tree chart|border=1| | | | A01 | | | |A01='''[[Saifuddin Hamza Shah|Hamza Shah]]''' ?–1412 '''Sultan of Bengal''' R.1411–1412 |boxstyle_ A01=border-color:#FFD700}}
{{Tree chart|border=1| | |,|-|^|-|.| | |}}
{{Tree chart|border=1| | A01 | | A02 | |A01='''[[Muhammad Shah (Ilyas dynasty)|Muhammad Shah I]]''' ?–1413 '''Sultan of Bengal''' R.1412–1413 |A02='''[[Shihabuddin Bayazid Shah|Bayazid Shah]]''' ?–1414 '''Sultan of Bengal''' R.1413–1414 |boxstyle_ A01=border-color:#FFD700 |boxstyle_ A02=border-color:#FFD700}}
{{Tree chart|border=1| | | | | | |!| | |}}
{{Tree chart|border=1| | | | | | A01 | |A01='''[[Alauddin Firuz Shah I|Firuz Shah II]]''' ?–1414 '''Sultan of Bengal''' R.1414 |boxstyle_ A01=border-color:#FFD700}}
{{Tree chart/end}}
{{Chart bottom}}

===Ganesha Dynasty (1414–1436)===
{{Chart top|width=60%|collapsed=yes|Ganesha Dynasty}}
{{Tree chart/start|align=center|style=font-size:90%}}
{{Tree chart|border=1| | A01 | |A01='''[[Raja Ganesha|Ganesha]]''' ?–1418 '''Raja of Bengal''' R.1414–1415, 1416–1418 |boxstyle_ A01=border-color:#FFD700}}
{{Tree chart|border=1| | |!| | |}}
{{Tree chart|border=1| | A01 | |A01='''[[Jalaluddin Muhammad Shah|Muhammad Shah II]]''' ?–1433 '''Sultan of Bengal''' R.1415–1416, 1418–1433 |boxstyle_ A01=border-color:#FFD700}}
{{Tree chart|border=1| | |!| | |}}
{{Tree chart|border=1| | A01 | |A01='''[[Shamsuddin Ahmad Shah|Ahmad Shah]]''' 1419–1436 '''Sultan of Bengal''' R.1433–1436 |boxstyle_ A01=border-color:#FFD700}}
{{Tree chart/end}}
{{Chart bottom}}

===Restored Ilyas Shahi Dynasty (1436–1487)===
{{Chart top|width=60%|collapsed=yes|Restored Ilyas Shahi Dynasty}}
{{Tree chart/start|align=center|style=font-size:90%}}
{{Tree chart|border=1| | | | | | A01 | | | | | |A01='''[[Mahmud Shah of Bengal|Mahmud Shah I]]''' ?–1459 '''Sultan of Bengal''' R.1436–1459 |boxstyle_ A01=border-color:#FFD700}}
{{Tree chart|border=1| | |,|-|-|-|+|-|-|-|.| | |}}
{{Tree chart|border=1| | A01 | | A02 | | A03 | |A01='''[[Ruknuddin Barbak Shah|Barbak Shah I]]''' ?–1474 '''Sultan of Bengal''' R.1459–1474 |A02='''[[Nuruddin Sikandar Shah|Sikandar Shah II]]''' ?–1481 '''Sultan of Bengal''' R.1481 |A03='''[[Jalaluddin Fateh Shah|Fateh Shah]]''' ?–1487 '''Sultan of Bengal''' R.1481–1487 |boxstyle_ A01=border-color:#FFD700 |boxstyle_ A02=border-color:#FFD700 |boxstyle_ A03=border-color:#FFD700}}
{{Tree chart|border=1| | |!| | | | | | | | | | |}}
{{Tree chart|border=1| | A01 | | | | | | | | | |A01='''[[Shamsuddin Yusuf Shah|Yusuf Shah]]''' ?–1481 '''Sultan of Bengal''' R.1474–1481 |boxstyle_ A01=border-color:#FFD700}}
{{Tree chart/end}}
{{Chart bottom}}

===Habshi Rule (1487–1494)===
{{Chart top|width=60%|collapsed=yes|Habshi Rulers}}
{{Tree chart/start|align=center|style=font-size:90%}}
{{Tree chart|border=1| | A01 | | A02 | | A03 | | A04 | |A01='''[[Shahzada Barbak|Barbak Shah II]]''' ?–1487 '''Sultan of Bengal''' R.1487 |A02='''[[Saifuddin Firuz Shah|Firuz Shah III]]''' ?–1489 '''Sultan of Bengal''' R.1487–1489 |A03='''[[Mahmud Shah II]]''' ?–1490 '''Sultan of Bengal''' R.1489–1490 |A04='''[[Shamsuddin Muzaffar Shah|Muzaffar Shah]]''' ?–1494 '''Sultan of Bengal''' R.1490–1494 |boxstyle_ A01=border-color:#FFD700 |boxstyle_ A02=border-color:#FFD700 |boxstyle_ A03=border-color:#FFD700 |boxstyle_ A04=border-color:#FFD700}}
{{Tree chart/end}}
{{Chart bottom}}

===Hussain Shahi Dynasty (1494–1538)===
{{Chart top|width=60%|collapsed=yes|Hussain Shahi Dynasty}}
{{Tree chart/start|align=center|style=font-size:90%}}
{{Tree chart|border=1| | | | | | A01 | | | | | |A01='''[[Alauddin Husain Shah|Hussain Shah]]''' ?–1519 '''Sultan of Bengal''' R.1494–1519 |boxstyle_ A01=border-color:#FFD700}}
{{Tree chart|border=1| | |,|-|-|-|+|-|-|-|.| | |}}
{{Tree chart|border=1| | A01 | | A02 | | A03 | |A01='''[[Danyal (Hussain Shahi dynasty)|Daniyal]]''' ?–1515 |A02='''[[Nasiruddin Nasrat Shah|Nasrat Shah]]''' ?–1533 '''Sultan of Bengal''' R.1519–1533 |A03='''[[Ghiyasuddin Mahmud Shah|Mahmud Shah III]]''' ?–1538 '''Sultan of Bengal''' R.1533–1538 |boxstyle_ A01=border-color:#FFD700 |boxstyle_ A02=border-color:#FFD700 |boxstyle_ A03=border-color:#FFD700}}
{{Tree chart|border=1| | | | | | |!| | | | | | |}}
{{Tree chart|border=1| | | | | | A01 | | | | | |A01='''[[Alauddin Firuz Shah II|Firuz Shah IV]]''' ?–1533 '''Sultan of Bengal''' R.1533 |boxstyle_ A01=border-color:#FFD700}}
{{Tree chart/end}}
{{Chart bottom}}

===Muhammad Shahi Dynasty (1554–1564)===
{{Chart top|width=60%|collapsed=yes|Muhammad Shahi Dynasty}}
{{Tree chart/start|align=center|style=font-size:90%}}
{{Tree chart|border=1| | | | A01 | | | |A01='''[[Muhammad Khan Sur|Muhammad Shah III]]''' ?–1555 '''Sultan of Bengal''' R.1554–1555 |boxstyle_ A01=border-color:#FFD700}}
{{Tree chart|border=1| | |,|-|^|-|.| | |}}
{{Tree chart|border=1| | A01 | | A02 | |A01='''[[Ghiyasuddin Bahadur Shah II|Bahadur Shah II]]''' ?–1561 '''Sultan of Bengal''' R.1555–1561 |A02='''[[Ghiyasuddin Jalal Shah|Jalal Shah]]''' ?–1563 '''Sultan of Bengal''' R.1561–1563 |boxstyle_ A01=border-color:#FFD700 |boxstyle_ A02=border-color:#FFD700}}
{{Tree chart|border=1| | |!| | | | | | |}}
{{Tree chart|border=1| | A01 | | | | | |A01='''[[Ghiyasuddin Bahadur Shah III|Bahadur Shah III]]''' ?–1564 '''Sultan of Bengal''' R.1563–1564 |boxstyle_ A01=border-color:#FFD700}}
{{Tree chart/end}}
{{Chart bottom}}

===Karrani Dynasty (1564–1576)===
{{Chart top|width=60%|collapsed=yes|Karrani Dynasty}}
{{Tree chart/start|align=center|style=font-size:90%}}
{{Tree chart|border=1| | | | A01 | | | |A01=Unnamed}}
{{Tree chart|border=1| | |,|-|^|-|.| | |}}
{{Tree chart|border=1| | A01 | | A02 | |A01='''[[Taj Khan Karrani|Taj Khan]]''' ?–1565 '''Sultan of Bengal''' R.1564–1565 |A02='''[[Sulaiman Khan Karrani|Sulaiman Khan]]''' ?–1572 '''Sultan of Bengal''' R.1565–1572 |boxstyle_ A01=border-color:#FFD700 |boxstyle_ A02=border-color:#FFD700}}
{{Tree chart|border=1| | |,|-|-|-|(| | |}}
{{Tree chart|border=1| | A01 | | A02 | |A01='''[[Bayazid Khan Karrani|Bayazid Khan]]''' ?–1572 '''Sultan of Bengal''' R.1572 |A02='''[[Daud Khan Karrani|Daud Khan]]''' ?–1576 '''Sultan of Bengal''' R.1572–1576 |boxstyle_ A01=border-color:#FFD700 |boxstyle_ A02=border-color:#FFD700}}
{{Tree chart/end}}
{{Chart bottom}}

==See also==
* [[Bengal Subah]]
* [[List of rulers of Bengal]]
* [[List of medieval great powers]]
* [[Madrasa Al-Bangaliyyah]]

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{reflist|colwidth=30em}}

==Bibliography==
{{refbegin}}
* {{Cite book |last=Schwartzberg |first=Joseph E. |url=https://dsal.uchicago.edu/reference/schwartzberg/pager.html?object=185 |title=A Historical atlas of South Asia |date=1978 |publisher=University of Chicago Press |isbn=0226742210 |location=Chicago}}
* {{cite book |last1=Eaton |first1=Richard Maxwell |author-link=Richard M. Eaton |title=The Rise of Islam and the Bengal Frontier, 1204-1760 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gKhChF3yAOUC&pg=PA64 |year=1996 |publisher=[[University of California Press]] |isbn=978-0-520-20507-9 |access-date=31 October 2019 |archive-date=22 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231022222946/https://books.google.com/books?id=gKhChF3yAOUC&pg=PA64#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live}}
* {{cite book |editor1-last=Majumdar |editor1-first=R. C. |editor1-link=R. C. Majumdar |title=The Delhi Sultanate |url=https://archive.org/details/delhisultanate0006rcma/page/219/mode/1up |year=1980 |orig-year=1960 |series=The History and Culture of the Indian People |volume=VI |edition=3rd |publisher=Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan |location=Bombay |oclc=664485}}
* {{cite book |last=Hasan |first=Perween |author-link=Perween Hasan |title=Sultans and Mosques: The Early Muslim Architecture of Bangladesh |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Uunyz4qFZwEC |year=2007 |publisher=Bloomsbury Academic |isbn=978-1-84511-381-0}}
* {{Cite book |last=Shakespear |first=Leslie |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dA5E8UJ7TpkC |title=History of Upper Assam, Upper Burmah and North-Eastern Frontier |date=2012-04-26 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-108-04607-7 |language=en}}
* {{Cite book |last=Basu |first=Nirmal Kumar |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=C8UBAAAAMAAJ |title=Assam in the Ahom Age, 1228-1826: Being Politico-economic and Socio-cultural Studies |date=1970 |publisher=Sanskrit Pustak Bhandar |language=en}}
* {{Cite book |last=Acharyya |first=Nagendra Nath |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Z7cKAQAAIAAJ |title=The History of Medieval Assam, from the Thirteenth to the Seventeenth Century: A Critical and Comprehensive History of Assam During the First Four Centuries of Ahom Rule, Based on Original Assamese Sources, Available Both in India and England |date=1966 |publisher=Dutta Baruah |language=en}}
* {{Cite book |last= |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iiNUAAAAMAAJ |title=The Islamic Heritage of Bengal |publisher=UNESCO |year=1984 |isbn=978-92-3-102174-9 |editor-last=Michell |editor-first=George |location=France |language=en}}
* {{Cite book |last=Siddiq |first=Mohammad Yusuf |author-link=Mohammad Yusuf Siddiq |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4wQBCwAAQBAJ |title=Epigraphy and Islamic Culture: Inscriptions of the Early Muslim Rulers of Bengal (1205-1494) |publisher=Routledge |year=2015 |isbn=978-1-317-58745-3 |language=en}}
* {{Cite book |last=Bhattacharya |first=Sabyasachi |url=https://books.google.com/books/about/A_Comprehensive_History_of_Modern_Bengal.html?id=Z3GxzQEACAAJ&source=kp_book_description&redir_esc=y |title=A Comprehensive History of Modern Bengal, 1700-1950 |date=2020 |publisher=Asiatic Society |isbn=978-93-89901-95-5 |language=en}}
{{refend}}

==Further reading==
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{{commons category|Bengal Sultanate}}
* {{cite book |last=Yegar |first=Moshe |year=2002 |title=Between Integration and Secession: The Muslim Communities of the Southern Philippines, Southern Thailand, and Western Burma/Myanmar |location=Lanham, Maryland |publisher=Lexington Books |pages=23–24 |isbn=978-0-7391-0356-2}}
* Hussain, Syed Ejaz (2003). The Bengal Sultanate: Politics, Economy and Coins, A.D. 1205–1576. Manohar. {{ISBN|978-81-7304-482-3}}.
* ''The Grammar of Sultanate Mosque in Bengal Architecture'', Nujaba Binte Kabir (2012)

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[[Category:Bengal Sultanate| ]]
[[Category:Former sultanates]]
[[Category:Bay of Bengal]]
[[Category:States and territories established in the 14th century]]
[[Category:States and territories disestablished in the 1570s]]
[[Category:Former empires]]

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Bengal Sultanate