Tanda (, ), also known as Tandah and Khwaspur Tandah, was a historic 16th-century city of

Bengal Bengal ( ) is a Historical geography, historical geographical, ethnolinguistic and cultural term referring to a region in the Eastern South Asia, eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. The region of Benga ...

in the eastern part of

South Asia South Asia is the southern Subregion#Asia, subregion of Asia that is defined in both geographical and Ethnicity, ethnic-Culture, cultural terms. South Asia, with a population of 2.04 billion, contains a quarter (25%) of the world's populatio ...

, and one of the most prominent medieval capitals; serving the Karrani

Sultans of Bengal The Bengal Sultanate ( Middle Bengali: , Classical Persian: ) was a late medieval sultanate based in the Bengal region in the eastern South Asia between the 14th and 16th century. It was the dominant power of the Ganges-Brahmaputra Delta, ...

and the early Mughal

governors A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

Location

Almost completely opposite to the city of

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

, Tanda is located east of Teliagarhi by approximately 19.31km, 1.60km away from Lakshipur and southeast of

Malda, West Bengal Malda, also known as English Bazar, is a city in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is the sixth largest city (urban agglomeration) in West Bengal. It is the headquarters of the Malda district as well as of the Malda division of West Bengal. ...

by roughly 24.14km. It lay on the western banks of the

Ganges River The Ganges ( ; in India: Ganga, ; in Bangladesh: Padma, ). "The Ganges Basin, known in India as the Ganga and in Bangladesh as the Padma, is an international which goes through India, Bangladesh, Nepal and China." is a trans-boundary rive ...

where the river historically used to split into two.

History

During the reign of

Mughal emperor The emperors of the Mughal Empire, who were all members of the Timurid dynasty (House of Babur), ruled the empire from its inception on 21 April 1526 to its dissolution on 21 September 1857. They were supreme monarchs of the Mughal Empire in ...

Humayun Nasir al-Din Muhammad (6 March 1508 – 27 January 1556), commonly known by his regnal name Humayun (), was the second Mughal emperor, who ruled over territory in what is now Eastern Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Northern India, and Pakistan from ...

struck silver coins in Tanda in the late 1530s. According to

numismatics Numismatics is the study or collection of currency, including coins, tokens, paper money, medals, and related objects. Specialists, known as numismatists, are often characterized as students or collectors of coins, but the discipline also inclu ...

, Tanda achieved mint town status in 1544 when the region was under the

Sur Empire The Sur Empire was an empire ruled by the Afghan (ethnonym), Afghan-origin Sur dynasty in North India, northern India for nearly 16 or 18 years, between 1538/1540 and 1556, with Sasaram (in modern-day Bihar) serving as its capital. It was fou ...

ruled by

Sher Shah Suri Sher Shah Suri (born Farid al-Din Khan; 1472 or 1486 – 22 May 1545), also known by his title Sultan Adil (), was the ruler of Bihar from 1530 to 1540, and Sultan of Hindustan from 1540 until his death in 1545. He defeated the Mughal Empire, ...

. During the reign of the

Sultan of Bengal The Bengal Sultanate (Middle Bengali: , Classical Persian: ) was a Post-classical history, late medieval sultanate based in the Bengal region in the eastern South Asia between the 14th and 16th century. It was the dominant power of the Ganges- ...

Sulaiman Khan Karrani, the capital of Bengal was switched from

to Tanda. From then on, it continued as the capital of Bengal's

Karrani dynasty The Karrani dynasty (, ) was founded in 1564 by Taj Khan Karrani, an ethnic Afghan from the Karlani tribe, hailing from Bangash district. It was the last dynasty to rule the Sultanate of Bengal, before the region became a Subah of the Mugha ...

. Tanda continued to host a prominent

mint Mint or The Mint may refer to: Plants * Lamiaceae, the mint family ** ''Mentha'', the genus of plants commonly known as "mint" Coins and collectibles * Mint (facility), a facility for manufacturing coins * Mint condition, a state of like-new ...

up until 1576. The rise of Mughal dominion in the region was led by the

Bengal Subah The Bengal Subah (Bengali language, Bengali: সুবাহ বাংলা, ), also referred to as Mughal Bengal and Bengal State (after 1717), was one of the puppet states and the largest subah, subdivision of The Mughal India, Mughal Emp ...

's first Mughal

governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

Munim Khan. Defeating the

Bengal Sultanate The Bengal Sultanate (Middle Bengali: , Classical Persian: ) was a Post-classical history, late medieval sultanate based in the Bengal region in the eastern South Asia between the 14th and 16th century. It was the dominant power of the Ganges- ...

at the Battle of Tukaroi in 1575, the capital was switched back to Gaur. An epidemic plague in Gaur swiftly led to the death of Munim and many Mughal troops, allowing Sultan Daud Khan Karrani to regain control and reestablish Tanda as the capital. Karrani was defeated the following year at the Battle of Rajmahal by the following Mughal general, Khan Jahan I, who kept Tanda as the capital due to fear of plague in Gaur. Tanda was made a part of the Sarkar Udambar (commonly known as Sarkar Tanda) which included Rajmahal,

Murshidabad Murshidabad (), is a town in the Indian States and territories of India, state of West Bengal. This town is the headquarters of Lalbag subdivision of Murshidabad district. It is located on the eastern bank of the Hooghly river, Bhagirathi Riv ...

and North Birbhum. In 1586, a gentleman merchant from

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

by the name of

Ralph Fitch Ralph Fitch (1550 – 1611) was a gentleman, a merchant of London and one of the earliest British travellers and merchants to visit Mesopotamia, the Persian Gulf, Indian Ocean, South Asia, and Southeast Asia including the court of Mughal e ...

visited the city, describing it as prosperous whilst at the same time decaying due to the Ganges' course changing. Tanda remained the capital of Bengal up until the governorship of

Man Singh I Mirza Raja Man Singh I (21 December 1550 – 6 July 1614) was the 24th Raja, Kachawaha Rajput ruler of the Kingdom of Amber from 1589 to 1614. He also served as the foremost imperial Subahdar of Bihar Subah from 1587 to 1594, then for Ben ...

in the 1590s, who abandoned the city for Rajmahal. According to Baharistan-i-Ghaibi of Mirza Nathan (later known as Shitab Khan), Tanda was noted for its stock of goods. Mirza Nathan's officer, Madari, purchased a shipload of

lead Lead () is a chemical element; it has Chemical symbol, symbol Pb (from Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a Heavy metal (elements), heavy metal that is density, denser than most common materials. Lead is Mohs scale, soft and Ductility, malleabl ...

gunpowder Gunpowder, also commonly known as black powder to distinguish it from modern smokeless powder, is the earliest known chemical explosive. It consists of a mixture of sulfur, charcoal (which is mostly carbon), and potassium nitrate, potassium ni ...

and bows and arrows. There was a notable dargah (shrine) located in the village of Malatipur in Tanda. This contained the tomb of Mir Syed Ahmad al-Husayni, who was a notable Muslim ascetic who lived in Malatipur and would receive hundreds of visitors. After his death, Ahmad was succeeded by his Sahib-i-Sajjada Mir Syed Nizam ad-Din as the chief Sufi of the town. During the reign of Emperor

Jahangir Nur-ud-din Muhammad Salim (31 August 1569 – 28 October 1627), known by his imperial name Jahangir (; ), was List of emperors of the Mughal Empire, Emperor of Hindustan from 1605 until his death in 1627, and the fourth Mughal emperors, Mughal ...

, it was common for Mughal officers to visit the shrine and commemorate

urs Urs (from ''‘Urs'') or Urus (literal meaning wedding), is the death anniversary of a Sufi saint, usually held at the saint's dargah (shrine or tomb). In most Sufi orders such as Naqshbandiyyah, Suhrawardiyya, Chishtiyya, Qadiriyya, etc. ...

there, as done by Shitab Khan — a disciple of Fariduddin Ganjshakar. In April 1660, Prince Shah Shuja and his family briefly took shelter in Tanda whilst hiding from Mir Jumla II. By 1826, Tanda had been destroyed by floods, thus disappearing into the river. Presently, Tanda is a heap of dusts.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tanda Bengal Sultanate Archaeological sites in India Former populated places in India Buildings and structures in India Cities and towns in West Bengal Former capital cities in India Ruins in India Capitals of Bengal