The Karrani dynasty ( ps, کرلاڼي, Karlāṇī, bn, কররাণী, Korrāṇī) was founded in 1564 by Taj Khan Karrani, an ethnic

Pashtun Pashtuns (, , ; ps, پښتانه, ), also known as Pakhtuns or Pathans, are an Iranian ethnic group who are native to the geographic region of Pashtunistan in the present-day countries of Afghanistan and Pakistan. They were historically r ...

from the

Karlani Karlāṇī ( ps, کرلاڼي) is a Pashtun tribal confederacy. They primarily inhabit the FATA region of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan and certain parts of eastern Afghanistan. In the 16th century the Karlani founded the Karrani dyn ...

tribe, hailing from

Bangash The Bangash, Bungish or Bangakh ( ps, بنګښ) are a tribe of Pashtuns, inhabiting their traditional homeland, historically known as Bangash district, which stretches from Kohat to Tall and Spīn Ghar in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. They als ...

district. It was the last dynasty to rule the

Sultanate of Bengal The Sultanate of Bengal ( Middle Bengali: শাহী বাঙ্গালা ''Shahī Baṅgala'', Classical Persian: ''Saltanat-e-Bangālah'') was an empire based in Bengal for much of the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries. It was the domina ...

Founding

Taj Khan was formerly an employee of the Sur Emperor

Sher Shah Suri Sher Shah Suri ( ps, شیرشاه سوری) (1472, or 1486 – 22 May 1545), born Farīd Khān ( ps, فرید خان) , was the founder of the Sur Empire in India, with its capital in Sasaram in modern-day Bihar. He standardized the silver coin ...

. From 1562 to 1564, Taj Khan captured south-eastern

Bihar Bihar (; ) is a state in eastern India. It is the 2nd largest state by population in 2019, 12th largest by area of , and 14th largest by GDP in 2021. Bihar borders Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern part of West ...

and

west Bengal West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the fou ...

, and with his assassination of the last Muhammed Shahi ruler, he seized all of

Bengal Bengal ( ; bn, বাংলা/বঙ্গ, translit=Bānglā/Bôngô, ) is a geopolitical, cultural and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal, predom ...

. The capital was at

Gaur The gaur (''Bos gaurus''; ), also known as the Indian bison, is a bovine native to South Asia and Southeast Asia, and has been listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List since 1986. The global population was estimated at a maximum of 21,000 m ...

. Taj Khan was followed by

Sulaiman Khan Karrani Sulaiman Khan Karrani ( bn, সুলায়মান খান কররানী, fa, ; reigned: 1565–1572) was a Sultan of Bengal. He ascended to the throne after the death of his brother Taj Khan Karrani. According to the ''Riyaz-us-Sala ...

, who shifted the seat of government from Gaur to Tanda (also in Malda) in 1565. In 1568, Sulaiman Khan annexed

Orissa Odisha (English: , ), formerly Orissa ( the official name until 2011), is an Indian state located in Eastern India. It is the 8th largest state by area, and the 11th largest by population. The state has the third largest population of S ...

to the Karrani sultanate permanently. Nominally he accepted sovereignty of the Mughal Emperor

Akbar Abu'l-Fath Jalal-ud-din Muhammad Akbar (25 October 1542 – 27 October 1605), popularly known as Akbar the Great ( fa, ), and also as Akbar I (), was the third Mughal emperor, who reigned from 1556 to 1605. Akbar succeeded his father, Hum ...

, and his prime minister Lodi Khan placated the Mughals with gifts and banqueting. Sulaiman Khan's authority extended from Koch Bihar to

Puri Puri () is a coastal city and a municipality in the state of Odisha in eastern India. It is the district headquarters of Puri district and is situated on the Bay of Bengal, south of the state capital of Bhubaneswar. It is also known as '' ...

, and from

Son River Son River ( hi, सोन नदी, also spelt Sone River) is a perennial river located in central India. It originates near Amarkantak Hill in Gaurela-Pendra-Marwahi district of Chhattisgarh and finally merges with the Ganges River near Pa ...

Brahmaputra River The Brahmaputra is a trans-boundary river which flows through Tibet, northeast India, and Bangladesh. It is also known as the Yarlung Tsangpo in Tibetan, the Siang/Dihang River in Arunachali, Luit in Assamese, and Jamuna River in Bangla. I ...

Mughal invasion

On 25 September 1574, the Mughal general

Munim Khan Munʿim Khān ( fa, ) was a Mughal general under both emperors Humayun and Akbar. He was titled ''Khān-i-Khānān'' ('Khan of Khans') when Emperor Akbar appointed him as Prime Minister of the Mughal Empire in 1560. In 1564, he became the Su ...

captured the Karrani capital Tanda. The

Battle of Tukaroi The Battle of Tukaroi, also known as the Battle of Bajhaura or the Battle of Mughulmari, was fought between the Mughal Empire and the Bengal Sultanate on 3 March 1575 near the village of Tukaroi in present-day Balasore District of Odisha. It r ...

fought on 3 March 1575 forced Daud Khan Karrani, the last Karrani ruler, to withdraw to Orissa. The battle led to the Treaty of Katak in which Daud ceded the whole of Bengal and Bihar, retaining only Orissa. The treaty eventually failed after the death of Munim Khan who died at the age of 50 in October 1575. Daud Khan took the opportunity and invaded Bengal, declaring independence from Akbar. The Mughal onslaught against the Karrani sultanate ended with the

Battle of Rajmahal The Battle of Rajmahal ( bn, রাজমহলের জঙ্গ) was a battle that took place between the Mughal Empire and the Karrani Dynasty that ruled the Sultanate of Bengal in the 16th century. The battle resulted in a decisive victory f ...

on 12 July 1576, led by the Mughal general

Khan Jahan I Hussain Quli Beg ( fa, ) was a Mughal military vassall ( mansabdar) with the rank of 5000 soldiers. He was later entitled as Khān-i-Jahān ( fa, ; Khan of the World) by Emperor Akbar. Early life Beg was the son of Wali Beg Zul-Qadr and the ...

. Daud Khan was executed. However, the Pashtuns and the local landlords known as

Baro Bhuyans The Baro-Bhuyans (or ''Baro-Bhuyan Raj''; also ''Baro-Bhuians'' and Baro-Bhuiyans) refers to the confederacies of soldier-landowners in Assam and Bengal in the late Middle Ages and the early modern period. The confederacies consisted of loose ...

led by

Isa Khan Isa Khan (c. 1529 – September 1599) was a Muslim Rajput zamindar who was one of the Baro Bhuiyans (twelve landlords) and a Zamindar of Khizirpur in 16th-century Bengal. Throughout his reign he resisted the Mughal empire invasion. It was o ...

continued to resist the Mughal invasion. Later in 1612 during the reign of Jahangir, Bengal was decisively consolidated as a Mughal province.

List of rulers

} , align="center", 1564–1565 , - , align="center", '' Sultan Sulayman Khan Karrani''

bn, সুলতান সুলেমান খাঁন কররাণী , align="center", 1565–1572 , - , align="center", '' Sultan Bayazid Khan Karrani''

bn, সুলতান বায়েজ়ীদ খাঁন কররাণী , align="center", 1572 , - , align="center", '' Sultan Dawud Khan Karrani''

bn, সুলতান দাঊদ খাঁন কররাণী , align="center", 1572–1576 , -

References

{{Karrani dynasty Pashtun dynasties

Founding

Mughal invasion

List of rulers

See also

References