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Shamsuddin Firuz Shah ( fa, شمس الدين فيروز شاه, bn, শামসুদ্দীন ফিরুজ শাহ, ''Shams Ad-Dīn Firūz Shāh'') (reigned: 1301–1322) was the independent ruler of the Lakhnauti Kingdom. He ascended the throne with the title of ''Al-Sultan Al-Azam Shams Al-Duniya wa Al-Din Abu Al-Muzaffar Firuz Shah Al-Sultan'' and invoked the name of the ''Abbaside Caliph Mustasim Billah'' in his coins.


Origin

His origin and identity is uncertain. He was once thought, based on the writings of
Ibn Battuta Abu Abdullah Muhammad ibn Battutah (, ; 24 February 13041368/1369),; fully: ; Arabic: commonly known as Ibn Battuta, was a Berbers, Berber Maghrebi people, Maghrebi scholar and explorer who travelled extensively in the lands of Afro-Eurasia, ...
, to be the son of
Bughra Khan Nasiruddin Bughra Khan ( bn, নাসিরউদ্দিন বুগরা খান, fa, ناصر الدین بغرا خان) was the Governor (1281–1287) and later an independent Sultan (1287–1291) of Bengal. He was the son of G ...
and the grandson of Sultan Ghiyasuddin Balban. This belief was challenged in the 1940s by scholars who showed Ibn Batuta to be unreliable regarding this part of the history of Bengal. They furthermore observed, on a close examination of his coins, that Firuz called himself only "Sultan", not "Sultan bin Sultan" or "Sultan bin Sultan bin Sultan" as would have been customary if he were a descendant of Balbani. KR Qanungo postulated that Firuz was one of the two Firuzes left by Sultan Ghiyasuddin Balban to assist his son Bughra Khan, who was appointed to the governorship of Lakhnauti. Historian Abdul Karim, writing in 1958, endorsed that view and concluded based on original and contemporary authorities that Firuz came from Delhi and was appointed secretary to Bughra Khan. Md. Akhtaruzzaman concurs that Firuz was "most probably one of the principal bureaucrats in Bughra Khan's administration." Of the two Firuzes who were advisors of Bughra Khan, Firuz Iitigin, the ruler of
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 Be ...
, was more competent. Probably Firuz Iitigin, one of the two Firuzes, after the death of Rukunuddin Kaikaus or displacing him forcibly, came to the throne of Lakhnauti in 1301 CE with the title of Sultan Shamsuddin Firuz Shah. On his accession to the throne, Sultan Shamsuddin Firuz Shah entrusted the governorship of Bihar to Tajuddin Hatim Khan, one of his sons.


Expansion of kingdom

Having consolidated his position, Firuz Shah turned his attention towards the expansion of his kingdom. The Muslim principality of Lakhnauti was limited to Bihar, north and northwest Bengal and up to Lakhnur in southwest Bengal. Rukunuddin Kaikaus had already started the conquest of the eastern part of Bengal, and the task was completed during the time of Firuz Shah. It is said that Kaikaus issued coins for the first time from the Kharaj of Bang. But during the time of Firuz Shah the
Sonargaon Sonargaon ( bn, সোনারগাঁও; pronounced as ''Show-naar-gaa''; lit. ''Golden Hamlet'') is a historic city in central Bangladesh. It corresponds to the Sonargaon Upazila of Narayanganj District in Dhaka Division. Sonargaon is one ...
area (southeast Bengal) was included in the Muslim Kingdom. He built a mint at Sonargaon from where a large number of coins were issued. Similarly, the conquest of
Satgaon Saptagram (Bengali: সপ্তগ্রাম; colloquially called ''Satgaon'') was a major port, the chief city and sometimes capital of southern Bengal, in ancient and medieval times, the location presently being in the Hooghly district in t ...
, begun during the time of Kaikaus under his general Zafar Khan, was completed during the time of Firuz Shah. From an inscription of Firuz, it is learnt that one Zafar Khan built a madrasa called ''Dar-ul-Khairat'' in 1313 CE. Very little is known about his conquest of
Mymensingh Mymensingh ( bn, ময়মনসিংহ) is the capital of Mymensingh Division, Bangladesh. Located on the bank of Brahmaputra River, about north of the national capital Dhaka, it is a major financial center and educational hub of north ...
. It is only known that his son Ghiyasuddin Bahadur issued coins from Ghiyaspur mint, identified with a village having the same name, about 24 km from Mymensingh. During the reign of Firuz Shah, his nephew
Sikandar Khan Ghazi Sikandar Khān Ghāzī ( fa, , bn, সিকান্দার খান গাজী) was the first wazir of Srihat under the Lakhnauti Kingdom ruled by Shamsuddin Firuz Shah. Prior to this, Khan was one of the commanders of the Battles of ...
led a fruitful expedition against Matuk, a Hindu Raja of the Sundarban area. A coin of Sultan Firuz has been discovered in a village in the extreme south of
Satkhira District Satkhira ( bn, সাতক্ষীরা জেলা, pron: ''Satkhira'') is a district in southwestern Bangladesh and is part of Khulna Division. It lies along the border with West Bengal, India. It is on the bank of the Arpangachhia River. ...
. The most important event of the reign of Firuz Shah was the
Conquest of Sylhet The Conquest of Sylhet ( bn, শ্রীহট্টের বিজয়, Srīhôtter Bijôy, Conquest of Srihatta) predominantly refers to an Islamic conquest of Srihatta (present-day Sylhet, Bangladesh) led by Sikandar Khan Ghazi, the milit ...
. According to an inscription Firuz Shah conquered Sylhet in 1303 CE. The names of the Sufi-saint
Shah Jalal Jalāl Mujarrad Kunyāʾī (), popularly known as Shah Jalal, was a celebrated Sufi figure of Bengal. His name is often associated with the Conquest of Sylhet and the spread of Islam into the region, part of a long history of interactions bet ...
and the commander
Syed Nasiruddin Syed Shah Nasiruddin ( bn, শাহ সৈয়দ নাসিরুদ্দীন, ar, شاه سيد ناصر الدين) was a Sufi saint and military leader associated with the spread of Islam in Bengal in the 14th century. As the commande ...
are associated in connection with the conquest of Sylhet. Firuz Shah held Bihar firmly against the Khaljis. Two inscriptions of his reign, discovered in Bihar, prove this. Thus during his time, Lakhnauti extended from at least the rivers Son and Ghogra in the west to Sylhet in the east and from
Dinajpur Dinajpur ( bn, দিনাজপুর ) is a city and the District headquarters of Dinajpur district situated in Rangpur Division, Bangladesh. It was founded in 1786. It is located 413 km north-west of Dhaka in Bangladesh. It is bounde ...
- Rangpur in the north to Hughli and the
Sundarban Sundarbans (pronounced ) is a mangrove area in the delta formed by the confluence of the Padma, Brahmaputra and Meghna Rivers in the Bay of Bengal. It spans the area from the Baleswar River in Bangladesh's division of Khulna to the Hooghly Ri ...
s in the south.


Sharing power

Firuz had six grown-up sons - Shihabuddin Bughda, Jalaluddin Mahmud, Ghiyasuddin Bahadur, Nasiruddin Ibrahim, Hatim Khan and Kutlu Khan. Of these six, Tajuddin Hatim Khan was the governor of Bihar. It is evident from numismatic evidence that during the lifetime of Firuz Shah, his sons Jalaluddin Mahmud, Shihabuddin Bughda and Ghiyasuddin Bahadur issued coins in their own names from the Lakhnauti mint. Ghiyasuddin Bahadur also issued coins from the mints of
Sonargaon Sonargaon ( bn, সোনারগাঁও; pronounced as ''Show-naar-gaa''; lit. ''Golden Hamlet'') is a historic city in central Bangladesh. It corresponds to the Sonargaon Upazila of Narayanganj District in Dhaka Division. Sonargaon is one ...
and Ghiyaspur. A group of scholars, on the basis of these coins, have argued that the sons of Firuz Shah rose in rebellion against their father and alternately ruled Lakhnauti. But the minting of coins by the sons of Firuz Shah was not the result of their rebellion, rather it was the result of their sharing of power with their father. In fact, Firuz Shah ascended the throne of Lakhnauti at quite an advanced age when he was the father of six grown-up sons who helped him in the affairs of the kingdom. Being satisfied with the co-operation of his sons, Firuz Shah allowed his sons to run the administration of some portions of his kingdom independently and to exercise royal authority as in the minting of coins. Had the sons revolted against their father, chaos and confusion would have prevailed and expansion of the kingdom would not have been possible.


Death

Firuz Shah died in 1322 CE while staying at
Khulna Khulna ( bn, খুলনা, ) is the third-largest city in Bangladesh, after Dhaka and Chittagong. It is the administrative centre of Khulna District and Khulna Division. Khulna's economy is the third-largest in Bangladesh, contributing $53 b ...
.


See also

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List of rulers of Bengal This is a list of rulers of Bengal. For much of its history, Bengal was split up into several independent kingdoms, completely unifying only several times. In ancient times, Bengal consisted of the kingdoms of Pundra, Suhma, Vanga, Samatata a ...
*
History of Bengal The history of Bengal is intertwined with the history of the broader Indian subcontinent and the surrounding regions of South Asia and Southeast Asia. It includes modern-day Bangladesh and the Indian states of West Bengal and Assam's Karimganj ...
*
History of Bangladesh Civilisational history of Bangladesh previously known as East Bengal, dates back over four millennia, to the Chalcolithic. The country's early documented history featured successions of Hindu and Buddhist kingdoms and empires, vying for region ...
*
History of India According to consensus in modern genetics, anatomically modern humans first arrived on the Indian subcontinent from Africa between 73,000 and 55,000 years ago. Quote: "Y-Chromosome and Mt-DNA data support the colonization of South Asia by m ...


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Firuz Shah, Shamsuddin Year of birth missing 1322 deaths Sultans of Bengal