Syed Yaˈqūb ( bn, সৈয়দ ইয়াকুব, ar, ) was a 14th-century Sufi Muslim figure in the

Sylhet region The 1947 Sylhet referendum was held in the Sylhet District of the Assam Province of British India to decide whether the district would remain in Undivided Assam and therefore within the post-independence Dominion of India, or leave Assam for E ...

. In 1303, he took part in the final battle of 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 ...

led by

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 ...

Life

Yaqub Shah was born in

Yemen Yemen (; ar, ٱلْيَمَن, al-Yaman), officially the Republic of Yemen,, ) is a country in Western Asia. It is situated on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, and borders Saudi Arabia to the Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, north and ...

in the 13th century. After meeting with

, he decided to accompany him in his expedition across the

Indian subcontinent The Indian subcontinent is a list of the physiographic regions of the world, physiographical region in United Nations geoscheme for Asia#Southern Asia, Southern Asia. It is situated on the Indian Plate, projecting southwards into the Indian O ...

to propagate the religion of

Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...

. In 1303, he took part in the final battle of the

under Shah Jalal's leadership against Raja

Gour Govinda Govinda Fenchu ( bn, গোবিন্দ ফেঞ্চু), better known by his regnal title Gour Gobind ( bn, গৌড় গোবিন্দ) and also known by the sobriquet Shomudro Tonoy ( bn, সমুদ্র তনয়), was the ...

. Following the victory, Shah Jalal ordered his companions to disperse across Eastern

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 ...

and surrounding areas. Yaqub migrated to modern-day Horipur in 1341 where he set up a

khanqah A khanqah ( fa, خانقاه) or khangah ( fa, خانگاه; also transliterated as ''khankah'', ''khaneqa'', ''khanegah'' or ''khaneqah''; also Arabized ''hanegah'', ''hanikah'', ''hanekah'', ''khankan''), also known as a ribat (), is a buildin ...

in the middle of the forest. There are a number of legends associated with the saint. Locals claim that the area was previously inhabited by a blind beast which brought terror to the local people and their cows. The beast was defeated by Yaqub, and this is said to be the reason why Horipur's alternative name is "''Kanamara''" (meaning "blind-killing" in

Sylheti Sylheti may refer to: * Sylhetis, an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group in the Sylhet division and South Assam * Sylheti language, a language of the Sylheti region * Sylheti Nagri Sylheti Nagri or Sylheti Nagari ( syl, , ISO: , ), known in cla ...

). The people rejoiced at the killing of the beast, and cowherds started to finally farm cows in the area without any fear.

Death and legacy

It is unclear how and what year he died, but he is buried in a

Maqam MAQAM is a US-based production company specializing in Arabic and Middle Eastern media. The company was established by a small group of Arabic music and culture lovers, later becoming a division of 3B Media Inc. "MAQAM" is an Arabic word meaning a ...

on top of a hill, which is commonly referred to as ''Kochu Katar Maqam''. There are seven graves next to his tomb which are said to be where the cow herders who accompanied the saint are buried. It is a popular local tourist site. At dawn, some people visit as a group of monkeys from the nearby trees can be found at the site.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yaqub, Syed 14th-century Yemeni people Yemeni Sufi saints Indian people of Yemeni descent People from Barlekha Upazila 14th-century Indian Muslims Bengali Sufi saints