Malik Andil Habshi ( bn, মালিক আন্দিল হাবশী), better known by his

regnal title A regnal title is the title held by a monarch while in office. Monarchs can have various titles, including king or queen, prince or princess (Sovereign Prince of Monaco), emperor or empress (Emperor of Japan, Emperor of India), or even duke or gran ...

Saifuddin Firuz Shah ( bn, সাইফউদ্দীন ফিরুজ শাহ, fa, ) was the second "Habshi" ruler of the

Bengal Sultanate 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 dominan ...

's Habshi dynasty. He was a former army commander of the Sultanate's

Ilyas Shahi dynasty The Ilyas Shahi dynasty ( bn, ইলিয়াস শাহী খান্দান, fa, الیاس شاهی خاندان) was the first independent dynasty to set the foundations of the late medieval Sunni Muslim Sultanate of Bengal. Hailing ...

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Biography

Andil was the army commander of the

and took power after killing the rebel Sultan, Barbak Shah II, in 1487. After claiming the throne, he styled himself as ''Saifuddin Firuz Shah''. It is said that Andil was an eunuch. He is often considered as the real founder of the Habshi rule in Bengal as the previous Shahzada Barbak only ruled for a few months. This is reinforced in an inscription found in Garh Jaripa in Sreebardi, Sherpur, where he was ordering the construction of someone's tomb and referred to himself as Sultan al-Ahad (the first Sultan). The four corners of the person's tomb each bore the names of the

Rashidun , image = تخطيط كلمة الخلفاء الراشدون.png , caption = Calligraphic representation of Rashidun Caliphs , birth_place = Mecca, Hejaz, Arabia present-day Saudi Arabia , known_for = Companions of t ...

caliphs and the inscription sent blessings upon the

Islamic prophet Prophets in Islam ( ar, الأنبياء في الإسلام, translit=al-ʾAnbiyāʾ fī al-ʾIslām) are individuals in Islam who are believed to spread God in Islam, God's message on Earth and to serve as models of ideal human behaviour. So ...

Muhammad Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 Common Era, CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Muhammad in Islam, Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet Divine inspiration, di ...

, his daughter

Fatimah Fāṭima bint Muḥammad ( ar, فَاطِمَة ٱبْنَت مُحَمَّد}, 605/15–632 CE), commonly known as Fāṭima al-Zahrāʾ (), was the daughter of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and his wife Khadija. Fatima's husband was Ali, th ...

and her two sons Hasan and

Husayn Hussein, Hussain, Hossein, Hossain, Huseyn, Husayn, Husein or Husain (; ar, حُسَيْن ), coming from the triconsonantal root Ḥ-S-i-N ( ar, ح س ی ن, link=no), is an Arabic name which is the diminutive of Hassan, meaning "good", " ...

. This inscription can now be found in the

Indian Museum, Kolkata The Indian Museum in Central Kolkata, West Bengal, India, also referred to as the Imperial Museum at Calcutta in colonial-era texts, is the ninth oldest museum in the world, the oldest and largest museum in India as well as in Asia. It has rare ...

. Firuz Shah minted coins during his reign and mentions the historical town of Mahmudabad. He is described as a patron of architecture and calligraphy in Bengal. He ordered Majlis Sa'd to build a mosque in

Maldah Malda district, also spelt Maldah or Maldaha (, , often ), is a district in West Bengal, India. It lies 347 km (215 miles) north of Kolkata, the capital of West Bengal. Mango, jute and silk are the most notable products of this district. ...

. On 18 January 1489, he ordered Mukhlis Khan to the construction of a ten-domed mosque in Goamatli,

. In the same year, he also ordered Ulugh Ali Zafar Khan to construct a mosque in Kalna. It is also considered that the Bokainagar and Tajpur forts were established by Majlis Khan Humayun during his expedition to

Kamarupa Kamarupa (; also called Pragjyotisha or Pragjyotisha-Kamarupa), an early state during the Classical period on the Indian subcontinent, was (along with Davaka) the first historical kingdom of Assam. Though Kamarupa prevailed from 350 to 11 ...

, under the orders of Firuz Shah. He also built the Katra mosque in Maldah and the inscription contains authentic

Tughra A tughra ( ota, طغرا, ṭuġrā) is a calligraphic monogram, seal or signature of a sultan that was affixed to all official documents and correspondence. Inspired by the tamgha, it was also carved on his seal and stamped on the coins minted du ...

calligraphy. His most famous architecture is the

Firuz Minar Firoz Minar (also known as Firuz Minar) (''English'': Tower of Firoz/Firuz) is a five-storeyed tower situated at Gaur, West Bengal, India. It was built by Sultan Saifuddin Firuz Shah of the Habshi dynasty between 1485 and 1489. It was built in th ...

. Named after himself, it is a large five-storeyed tower situated in Gauda. The construction started in 1485 before his reign, but was completed in 1489 to commemorates his victories in the battlefield. According to tradition, he threw the chief architect from the topmost storey as he was not satisfied with the tower's height and wanted it to be taller.

Death

His rule lasted two years until his death in 1489 where he was succeeded by his adopted son,

Mahmud Shah II Mahmud Shah II (reigned: 1489–1490) was an infant Sultan of Bengal with Habsh Khan as his regent. Both of them were killed in 1490 CE by Shamsuddin Muzaffar Shah. See also *List of rulers of Bengal *History of Bengal *History of India ...

. Most historians consider that he died of natural causes while some such as

Ghulam Husain Salim Ğulām Husayn "Salīm" Zaydpūrī was a historian who migrated to Bengal and was employed there as a postmaster to the English East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded ...

and

Jadunath Sarkar Sir Jadunath Sarkar (10 December 1870 – 19 May 1958) was a prominent Indian historian and a specialist on the Mughal dynasty. Academic career Sarkar was born in Karachmaria village in Natore, Bengal to Rajkumar Sarkar, the local Zamindar ...

say that he was also killed by one of the Abyssinian palace-guards.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Firuz, Saifuddin Sultans of Bengal 1489 deaths Year of birth unknown 15th-century Indian monarchs Habshis of Bengal