Dilly Meah
Born in Akbar-kutir, commonly known as Master-bari of west Tilak also spelt Tilok the neighbouring village Shaharpara where the noble family originated from the early fourteenth century. There, are the shrines of my ancestors commonly known as Hazrat Shah Kamal (RA) (Radi Allahu Ta'ala Anhu) Sahib (Royal Highness) predecessor of twelve Sufi saints of Sylhet Division. The successor of the Naqshbandi the spiritual world of Sufism (the way to God Allāh (Subḥānahu wa ta'ala) and the family including his beloved wife and three sons' shrines are all located in Shaharpara. The tomb of Hazrat Pir Kallu Shah (RA) is in Azimabad, Patna, (also known by its ancient name Pataliputra), Bihar province, in India.
The ancestry can be traced back to four millenniums: the clan of the Quraysh tribe of Arabs the children of Abraham. In Islamic traditions, Hazrat Ibrahim Khalilullah (Sallallahu Alayhi Wa Sallam) is considered a prophet of Islam, an ancestor of Hazrat Muhammad, (peace be upon him) through Hazrat Ismail (peace be upon him) Ishmael the firstborn son of Hazrat Abraham (A.S) from the second wife and also the ancestor of Quraysh clan.
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Private rd linked Akbar-kutir to the main rd |
Hazrat Hajar (Hagar) Hagar Muslim called Hazrat Bibi Hajra (may Allah be pleased with her) the mother of Ismail (Ishmael), to commemorate the blessing of the Zamzam well which God Allah (Subḥānahu wa ta'āla) gave to Hagar and Ishmael Zamzam well. Hazrat Hagar (Radi Allahu Anha) named him Ismail, meaning "God (Allah) has heard". According to Muslim belief, she was the daughter of the king of Egypt who gifted her to Hazrat Ibrahim (Sallallahu Alayhi Wa Sallam's) wife Sarah, Although not mentioned by the name in the Qur'an, she is referenced and alluded to via the story of her husband. She eventually settled in the Desert of Paran, seen as the Hejaz in the Islamic view, with her son Hazrat Ismā'īl (Ishmael) (Sallallahu Alayhi Wa Sallam). Hazrat Hagar (Radi Allahu Anha) is honoured as an especially important matriarch of monotheism, as it was through Hazrat Ishmael (Sallallahu Alayhi Wa Sallam) that Hazrat Muhammad (Sallallahu Alayhi Wa Sallam) would come. According to the Book of Genesis, she was an Egyptian slave, a handmaid of Sarah (then known as Sarai), whom Sarah gave to her own husband Abram (later renamed Abraham) to bear him a child. Hazrat Abraham (Sallallahu Alayhi Wa Sallam's) firstborn son, through Hazrat Hagar (Radi Allahu Anha), Hazrat Ishmael (Sallallahu Alayhi Wa Sallam's) became the progenitor of the Ishmaelites, generally taken to be the Arabs. Various commentators have connected her to the Hagrites (son of Agar), perhaps claiming her as their eponymous ancestor. Hazrat Hagar (Radi Allahu Anha) is alluded to, although not named, in the Quran, and Islam also acknowledges her as Hazrat Abraham (Sallallahu Alayhi Wa Sallam's second wife. Muslims run between the Safa and Marwah hills retracing Hazrat Hagar (Radi Allahu Anha’s) steps in her search for water, during the rites of Hajj.[30] thus where are the family legacy links like most of the Awliyas or Auliyas (Sufi saints) biological inheritance. The clan of the Quraysh tribe were a powerful merchant tribe that controlled Makkah and its Kaaba the Tribes of Arabia: Sylhet, Chittagong, Malda, Pandua, Bengal, Gujarat, West Bengal, East Bengal, Bangladesh, Delhi, Ajmer, Bihar, Rajasthan, Sindh, Sindhi, Punjab, Konya, India, Lahore, Peshawar, Pakistan, Multan, Afghanistan, Burma, Indonesia, Eastern Bengal, Malaysia, Singapore, China, Turkey, Asia or rest of the world and also the noble family legacy can be stretches to backup the Muslim era as well as being supporting the Muslim governance's of the Sultan (king) Hazrat Shah Jalal who invaded Sylhet part of Assam in India. Muslim invasions of India.
In 1345, Ibn Battuta journeyed especially through Chittagong and Kamrup to visit the saint. Hazrat Shaikh Jalal (RA) told him that he had seen the last ‘Abbasid Caliph, al-Musta’sim Bi’llah (640 A.H./1242 A.D-656 A.H./1258 A.D). Ibn Battuta completed his book in December 1357 A.D. The Shaikh was reported to have died in 748 A.H./1347 A.D., therefore, he would have been born in 598 A.H./1201 A.D. and it is possible he could have visited the Calip al-Musta’sim. During his visit to the Shah, Ibn Battuta found him indulging in very austere forms of self-denial. He would fast for ten days at a time and be as thin as a stick. His fellow dervishes consumed the gifts given to him by devotees, while the Shah lived only on milk from his cow. The Khanqah itself was situated near a cave. Ibn Battuta was highly impressed with Hazrat Shah Jalal (RA)’s intuitive and miraculous powers for which, the author writes, he was known from the Eastern Islamic world to China.
When Ibn Battuta departed from Sudkawan (Chittagong) for the mountains of Kamaru (Kamarupa), which lie thence at a distance of one month’s journey. The Kamaru mountains are a vast expanse ranging from China to Tibet (Tabbat), and the musk-producing gazelles are found there. The inhabitants of these mountains resemble the Turks and possess a great capacity for strenuous work.
One slave from amongst them is worth several times as much as a slave from another stock. They are noted for their devotion to and practice of magic and witchcraft. My object in going to these mountains was to meet a saint living there, Hazrat Shaikh Jalal al-Din (RA) of Sylhet. The account of the Hazrat Shaikh Jalal al-Din (RA) (1197-1347.
This Shaikh is among the greatest saints and most remarkable men, responsible for famous miracles and wonderful achievements. He was an aged man. He told me he had even set eyes on — God’s mercy on him — the Caliph al-Musta ‘sim Billah the ‘Abbasid in Baghdad and was there in the city when he was killed in 1258.
Later on, his companions told me he had died at the age of a hundred and fifty and that he had fasted for about forty years, breaking the fast only after ten continuous days. He had a cow and used to break his fast with its milk. He used to stand up all night performing prayers. He was thin, tall and had little hair on his cheeks. He converted the people of those mountains to Islam, and that is why he stayed among them. One of his miracles.
One of his companions told me that one day before his death he summoned them, commended the fear of God to them, and said: ‘Tomorrow I shall leave you if God wills. My successor for you will be God, than whom there is no other god.’ The next day God took him when he prayed the noon prayer, during the last prostration. Beside the cave where they lived, they found a grave dug with a shroud and aromatics for embalming. They enshrouded him, prayed over him, and buried him there, may God have mercy on him.
Another miracle of his. When I was on my way to visit this Shaikh four of his companions met me two days’ journey from the place where he lived. They told me that the Shaikh had said to the faqirs who were with him: ‘The traveller from the Maghrib has come to you.
Go and receive him.’ They had set out accordingly by his order. He had no knowledge whatever of me; this had been revealed to him. I went with them to the Shaikh and came to his hospice outside the cave. There is no cultivated land there. The people of the country, Muslims and infidels alike come to the hospice with presents and gifts, and the faqirs and visitors feed on them.
The Shaikh has only a cow with whose milk he breaks his fast after ten days, as we have already explained. When I entered his presence he rose, embraced me, and asked about my country and my travels, about which I informed him. He said to me: ‘You are the traveller of the Arabs.’ One of his companions who was present said: ‘And of the non-Arabs, my master.’ He said: ‘And of the non-Arabs. Treat him with respect.’ They took me to the hospice and gave me hospitality for three days.
Marvellous anecdotes including miracles by him. The day he received me I saw he was wearing a goat-hair mantle, which I admired. I said to myself: ‘I wish the Shaikh would give it to me.’ When I went to take leave of him, he rose, went to the side of the cave, took off the farajiya (a religious garment made of fine goat's hair), and put it on me with a skullcap from his head. He put on a patched garment.
The faqirs told me that the Shaikh did not usually wear that farajiya and had put it on only on the occasion of my arrival. He had said to them: ‘The Maghribi will want this farajiya, an infidel Sultan will take it from him and give it to our brother Burhan al-Din of Sagharj, to whom it belongs and for whom it was intended.’ When the faqirs told me that I said: ‘I have received the saint’s benediction in that he has clothed me with this garment.
I shall not enter the presence of any Sultan, infidel or Muslim, wearing it.’ I left Shaikh and it happened to be that a long time after I entered the country of China and reached the city of Khansa. I was separated from my companions because of the great crowd. I was wearing the mantle. While I was in a certain street the Wazir appeared with a huge cortege.
He noticed me, summoned me to him, took me by the hand, asked me about my arrival, and did not part from me till we reached the house of the Sultan. I wanted to leave him, but he prevented me and presented me to the Sultan.
He asked me about the Muslim Sultans. While I was replying he looked at the farajiya and admired it. The Wazir (vizier) said to me: ‘Take it off.’ I could not refuse. The Sultan took it and ordered me to be given ten robes of honour, a fully caparisoned horse and a sum of money.
I was displeased about this, but then I recalled that the Shaikh had said that an infidel Sultan would take it and I was much amazed. Next year I went into the residence of the king of China in Khan Baliq [Beijing] and sought the hospice of the Shaikh Burhan al-Din of Sagharj. I found him reading and wearing an identical farajiya.
I was astonished at this and fingered it in my hand. He said to me: ‘Why are you fingering it? Do you recognize it?’ I said: ‘Yes. It is the one which the Sultan of Khansa took from me.’ He said: ‘My brother Jalal al-Din made this for me, and he wrote to me saying “The farajiya will come to you by the hand of so-and-so.” Then he offered me a letter.
I read it and was amazed at how exactly correct the Shaikh had been. I told Hazrat Burhan al-Din (RA) the first part of the story. He said: ‘My brother Jalal al-Din was greater than all that. He had power over all that exists, but he has gone to the mercy of God.
I have been told, he said, ‘that he prayed the dawn prayer every day in Mecca and made the pilgrimage every year, for he was absent on the two days of ‘Arafa and the Feast and no one knew where he had gone.’
While Hazrat Shah Jalal (RA) was in the city of Sylhet, he noticed that one particular mount of earth-the one where his shrine is now located-possessed a soil of the same smell, taste,
and colour as that given him by his own Shaykh. So, he settled there.
He then assigned the administration of Sylhet's towns and Parganas [revenue circles] to his 360 companions, keeping his closest associates - the Prince of Yemen Hazrat Sheikh Ali (RA), Hazrat Haji Yusuf (RA) whose descendants are guiding the shrine, and Hazrat Haji Khalil (RA), and his most advanced disciples - near his hospice in Choukidhiki. From here, he preached Islam and became a celebrated Muslim figure in Bengal.
During this period Islam in Bengal had become an overwhelmingly agrarian phenomenon, with most Muslims farming the earth as rice cultivators. Not surprisingly, the text views Shah Jalal through the lens of agrarian piety.
The reason the shaykh chooses to settle in Sylhet is not that he is looking for infidels to slay or convert, but because Sylhet's soil is right: its smell, taste, and colour exactly match the clump of soil that his spiritual teacher, as well as the maternal uncle Hazrat Syed Ahmad Kabir Yasawi (RA), had given him before he, Shah Jalal, departed for India.
Even today Muslim cultivators in north-central Bangladesh relate the story of Hazrat Shah Jalal
(RA) and his clump of soil as the explanation for how their ancestors became Muslims. The
entire region fell to Hazrat Shah Jalal (RA) who apportioned the land among his followers. He
and his disciples traveled and settled as far as Mymensingh and Dhaka to spread the teachings
of Islam.
Hazrat Shah Paran (RA) preached in Sylhet he was a maternal nephew of Hazrat Shah jalal
(RA), Hazrat Shah Malek Yemeni (RA) in Dhaka, Hazrat Syed Ahmad Kolla Shahid (RA) in
Comilla, Hazrat Syed Nasiruddin (RA) in the region of Pargana Taraf, Hazrat Haji Daria (RA)
and Hazrat Shaikh Ali Yemeni (RA).
An expedition to Chittagong was led by Hazrat Khwaja Burhanuddin Qattan (RA) and Hazrat
Shah Badruddin (RA). An expedition to Sunamganj was led by Hazrat Shah Kamal Qattani
(RA), whose shrine is located in Shaharpara, Sunamganj.
According to Farsi malfuzat i.e. a Persian booklet ‘Fawaid- ul-Fuad’ Hazrat Shah Jalal
(RA) (1197-1347) having been disciple of Hazrat Shihabuddin (RA), he met Hazrat Sheikh
Khwaja Gharib Nawaz Syed Moin-al-Din Hasan Chishti (RA) in Baghdad and also got
together Hazrat Sheikh Farid-al-Din Attar (RA) in Nishapur as per description of
‘Tawarikh-e-Firishta’.
He proclaimed the laudatory oneness of Almighty Allah. In his motherland Yemen, the people had been charmed and enchanted by the qualitative deportment of Hazrat Shah Jalal (RA). On the other hand, the emperor of Yemen became malicious seeing this.
The emperor of Yemen started disbelieving Hazrat Shah Jalal (RA) and made a plot to examine the supernatural power (Kamaliat) of Hazrat, fetching him a glass of liquid poison but due to deception of fate, the emperor drank a good glass of juice in spite of this the emperor slipped into death by the acquit action of the poison.
With the blessings of the Almighty, Hazrat Shah Jalal (RA) drank the contents of the glass fully mixed with poison and he did a recitation of the endless powerful name “Bismillah”. The subsequent emperor of Yemen Shahjada (Prince) Ali at the demise of his father seeing the miracle event of Hazrat Shah Jalal (RA), Shahjada decided not to take over the throne and desired to be accompanied by Hazrat Shah Jalal (RA).
The Jubraj (prince) was advised to remain in Yemen and carry out the responsibilities of the emperor. Then Hazrat Shah Jalal started to leave Yemen and came to Baghdad and again inclined valediction of blessings from Hazrat Bahauddin Suhrawardi. Hazrat Shah Jalal (RA) travelled to most of the Islamic cultural countries elapsing some days in each country, thence made a tour to Samarkand, Multan, Afghanistan then came back to Delhi.
Just then Shahjada Ali of Yemen met Hazrat Shah Jalal (RA) in Delhi relinquishing the throne and met Hazrat Syed Muhammad Nizamuddin Auliya (RA), and in this respect, a historic event is as follows: During the stay of Hazrat Shah Jalal in Delhi a pursuivant of Khwaja Nizamuddin Auliya (RA) reported to him that a saint (Dervish) from Arab country has come who used to keep his face under veil constantly and not desires to see the appearance of women, as well as a juvenile young boy, remain with the dervish always.
Hazrat Khwaja Nizamuddin Auliya (RA) became curious and sent one of his followers to bring the dervish to him. Being conceived the matter Hazrat Shah Jalal (RA) sent a small pot with the burning coal wrapped white cotton in the pot to Khawaja Nizamuddin Auliya.
Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya (RA) Just opened the tin-pot and found that even not a single fibre of cotton has burned into ashes! Eventually, Hazrat Khawaja Nizamuddin (RA) himself came forward to meet Hazrat Shah Jalal (RA) pondering over the sagacious Karamat breaking the general and natural law of creation.
Hazrat Khwaja Mahbub-e-Ilahi Syed Muhammad Nizamuddin Auliya (RA) for this reason, he gave Hazrat Shah Jalal (RA) two pairs of black pigeons in token of love and reverence, the most species of which are still found in Sylhet and Cachar districts and is called Jalali pigeon. In Sylhet, this collyrium (Shurma) colour pigeons seen in thousands and lacs are known as Jalali Kabuto.
Here, Hazrat Shah Mustafa (RA) and his son, Hazrat Syed Ismail (RA), met Hazrat Shah Jalal (RA) and decided to accompany him in his expedition following the murder of the last Abbassid caliph Al-Musta'sim Billah in 1258. In 1303, Hazrat Shah Mustafa (RA) and Hazrat Syed Ismail (RA) took part in the third battle of the Conquest of Sylhet under the leadership of Hazrat Shah Jalal (RA).
Between1204 and1338, when Bengal was ruled by governors of the Delhi Sultanate, the Muslims' power base was located at Lakhnauti, in the delta's northwestern corner, with eastern Bengal remaining a political and social frontier zone.
It was in this fluid frontier environment that Hazrat Shah Jalal (RA) (d.1347) entered, exactly
a century after the initial Turkish conquest of northwestern Bengal.
One among dozens of early Muslim pioneers in Bengal, Hazrat Shah Jalal (RA) is today widely revered as a saint, and his career is commonly understood, If only subconsciously, as a kind of metaphor for the Islamization of Bengal.
He was born in Turkistan during the turbulent thirteenth century when Mongol armies raised havoc in the area and are said to have been a spiritual disciple of the great Central Asian Shaikh Saiyid Ahmad Yasavi.
Apparently, Hazrat Shah Jalal (RA) was driven by the Mongol invasions to Baghdad and from there he went to Multan and Uch. At Uch, it is possible that he was formally initiated into the Suhrawardiyya order as is suggested by local legends.
His maternal uncle, Hazrat Syed Ahmad Kabir Suhrawardi (RA), gave him training in the Suhrawardi school of mystical knowledge, which was transmitted to him by the following chain of authority: from [the school's founder] Hazrat Shaykh Shihab al-Din Suhrawardi (RA) to Hazrat Shaykh Makhdum Baha al-Din (RA), to Hazrat Abu'l-fazl Sadr al-Din (RA), to Hazrat Shaykh Abu'l-fatah Rukn al-Din, to Jalal al-Din Bukhari (RA), to Hazrat Saiyid Ahmad Kabir Suhrawardi (RA), to Hazrat Shah Jalal (RA).
This shaikh, we are told, sent Hazrat Shah Jalal (RA) to India with a party of 700 warrior-disciples (ghazi) on a militant evangelizing mission. After reaching India, he and a band of 313 companions continued on to the city of Sylhet on the extreme eastern edge of Bengal.
There, according to local traditions, Hazrat Shah Jalal (RA) and his companions assisted Muslim commanders in the military conquest of Sylhet and the defeat of its Hindu Raja, an event which we know from inscriptional evidence that occurred in 1303-04.
Sylhet appears to have been conquered by a small band of Mohammedans in the reign of Bengal king Shamsuddin Firuz Shah (1303 A.D). Saint Hazrat Shah Jalal (RA) entrusted Sikandar Gazi with the job of the administration of Srihatta.
[After defeating the ruler of the area] all the region fell into the hands of the conquerors of the spiritual and the material worlds. Shaikh [Jalal] Mujarrad, making a portion for everybody, made it their allowance and permitted them to get married.”
Hazrat Sikandar Khan Ghazi (RA) and his commander-in-chief Hazrat Syed Nasir Uddin Sipah Salar (RA) were astonished by the spiritual acts of Hazrat Shah Jalal (RA). They declared the oath of allegiance to Hazrat Shah Jalal (RA) and became disciples of Hazrat Shah Jalal (RA).
After the victory, Hazrat Shah Jalal (RA) made an announcement and said: “Hazrat Shah Sikander Khan Ghazi (RA) or Hazrat Sikandar Khan Ghazi (RA), is the Prime Minister of this kingdom and serving under a monarch of Sultan Shamsuddin Firoz Shah”. The Kingdom of Srihatta was then renamed Jalalabad (settlement of Shah Jalal) under the Lakhnauti Sultanate.
Sikander ruled for a number of years under Shamsuddin Firoz Shah until his death when he drowned while riding a boat. He was succeeded by Hazrat Haydar Ghazi (RA) and appointed by Hazrat Shah Jalal (RA) himself. The soil matched with adequate colour and smell of where Hazrat Shah Jalal (RA) was buried (shrine). Hazrat Sultan Shah Sikandar Khan Ghazi (RA) was the first Muslim ruler of Greater Sylhet.
An administrative unit of Sylhet was accomplished at the hand of Hazrat Sultan Shah Sikandar Khan Ghazi (RA). Information regarding the life of Shah Sikander is very meagre. according to local traditions, he drowned in the Surma River while crossing it by boat. Hence his grave is not found. But he is even today,, remembered by the local people, especially by the fishermen.
They believe that Shah Sikander is still living under the water and distributing fish to the fishermen. A section of the people of Badarpur claimed to be his descendants. A mosque erected by Shah Sikander at the village Gorekafan in Badarpur can still be seen. Some people say that his tomb is situated at Saftamgram. He was undoubtedly a follower of Shah Jalal Mujarrad and his close association with the saint greatly helped his missionary activities.
Sylhet, the Capital of the Surma Valley formerly in Assam, is now in Bangladesh. A man named Burhanud-Din settled there and made a vow that he would sacrifice a cow if a son was born to him. A son was born and in pursuance of his vow, a cow that was sacrificed to celebrate the birth of his newborn baby without realising it could offend the Hindu Kingdom which adores the cow as their mother. Which incurred the displeasure of Raja Gor Govind, who sent for Burhanud-Din's family and took them to the task. He killed their son Gulzar Alam in front of his parents, the baby's head was cut off from the body and by his order, Syed Ghazi Burhanud ad-Din's right arm was chopped off. He managed to survive and went on across the border to the lower Bengal Sultanate of where he addressed his issue with Sultan Shamsuddin Firoz Shah. Accordingly, he sent contingents of his army to Sylhet under the command of his maternal nephew Sikander Khan Ghazi. At about the same time a renowned saint, Hazrat Shah Jalal ‘Mujarred’ of Yemen (Arabia) (RA), was on his way towards Sylhet at the instance of his spiritual guide at Mecca.
He met the army of Sikandar Shah returning, having been defeated by Raja Gaur Govind twice or even by some historians, thrice. By this time Hazrat Shah Jalal (RA's) followers had increased in number from 313 to 360. The number of companions said to have accompanied Hazarat Shah Jalal (RA) to Bengal, 313, corresponds precisely to the number of companions who are thought to have accompanied the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) at the Battle of Badr in A.D. 624, the first major battle in Prophet Muhammad ṣallā -llāhu ʿalayhī wa-ʾālihī wa-sallam’s career and a crucial event in launching Islam as a world religion.
He persuaded Sikandar Shah to make another attempt on Sylhet. "I have come to destroy the villain to establish Islam, so you Sylhet-victory may come with me if you want to do." A fresh battle ensued and Gaur Govind was defeated, and Sylhet fell to the combined army. Hazrat Shah Jalal entered Sylhet and settled there with all his followers. The first act of Mujahid was to hoist the green flag of Islam with the Crescent and Star on it on the Hindu Commander-in-Cheif's castle on the hill.
Many respectable Muslims of Sylhet are descendants of Hazrat Shah Jalal's 360 followers, who settled all over the districts of Assam and Bengal. The graveyard of the saint, Hazrat Shah Jalal, is looked upon as a holy place of pilgrimage which is visited every day by hundreds of people both Muslims and non-Muslims.
Sylhet was also known as the Silhat Sil (stone) hat (marketplace) Silhattait was an independent Kingdom of Srihatta Rajya in the 12th century. Khanda Kamarupa ("portion of Kamarupa", i.e. Sylhet) was divided into three parts amongst the three brothers Ladduka, Gudaaka and Jayantaka who were children of Gunhaka also spelt Guhak and the divided kingdoms were known after their names as Lauda (Laur) Gauda (Gaur) and the Jayantia (Jaintia) respectively. These three parts together made up "Khanda Kamrupa" i.e. what is now Sylhet.
It was partitioned into three in 630 AD by Raja Guhak for his three sons, into the Jaintia Kingdom, Gour Kingdom and the Laur Kingdom. According to Hindu mythology, the hero Arjuna travelled to the Jaintia to regain his horse held captive by a princess, a story mentioned in a Purana or Hindu epic known as the Mahabharata. The region is also home to two of the fifty-one body parts of Sati, a form of Durga, that fell on Earth according to accepted legends. Shri Shail and Jayanti are where the neck and left palm of Sati fell and are Shakti Peethas.
One theory says that the word "Jaintia" is derived from the shrine of Jayanti Devi or Jainteswari, an incarnation of the Hindu goddess Durga. Another theory says that the name is derived via Pnar (the language of the rulers) from Sutnga, a settlement in the modern-day Jaintia Hills of Meghalaya. The Pnars (also called Jaintia by outsiders) and War, speak Mon-Khmer languages that are related to Khasi.
The Jaintia Kingdom extended from the east of the Shillong Plateau of present-day Meghalaya in northeast India, into the plains to the south, and north of the Barak River valley in Assam, India. The capital, Jaintiapur, now ruined, was located on the plains at the foot of the Jaintia Hills; it appears there may have been a summer capital at Nartiang in the Jaintia Hills, but little remains of it now apart from a Durga temple and a nearby site with many megalithic structures. Much of what is today the Sylhet region of Bangladesh and India was at one time under the jurisdiction of the Jaintia king.
When Guhak ascended the Jaintia throne in 600 AD and married a princess from Kamarupa, just like his father Hatak. Guhak had three sons; Jayantak, Gurak and Ladduk, and two daughters; Sheela and Chatala. It is said that his eldest daughter, Sheela, was once bathing in a lake south of the Kangsa-Nisudhana hill (which became the hillock of the Civil Surgeon's Bungalow during British rule) and she was kidnapped.
After being rescued by Guhak, Sheela started to become more religious and live a secluded life. Chatala indulged herself in an unlawful relationship with one of the palace servants, leading to her being disowned and dumped on a distant island in the middle of a 2000 square mile lake to the south of the kingdom. After Sheela's death at a young age, Guhak gave up his kingdom to also lead a more ascetic life.
This port area around the lake, which was the largest centre in the Jaintia Kingdom for trade, was named Sheela haat (or Sheela's marketplace) in her honour. Sources such as the Hattanath Tales mention that Sheelachatal was named after both daughters of the region. This is one of many theories of how Sylhet got its name. Xuanzang of China mentions that he visited Sheelachatal in the 630s in his book, the Great Tang Records on the Western Regions.
There are many theories behind the naming of the Gour kingdom. Some say that the name originated from the kingdom's founder; Gurak, the son of Raja Guhak just as Jaintia was named after Jayantak and Laur after Ladduk. Other theories are that it was named following the 1170 partition of the kingdom into two. The north was renamed Gour (also transliterated as Gauda in Sanskrit) as in imitation of the great Hindu Gauda Kingdom which ruled Bengal from 590AD to 626AD.
In 640, the Raja of Tripura Dharma Fa planned a ceremony and invited five Brahmans from Etawah, Mithila and Kannauj. Keshab Misra, a Brahman from Kannauj, migrated to Laur where he established a Hindu kingdom. In the late thirteenth century, Laur faced a number of attacks from the neighbouring kingdom of Gour ruled by the Hindu king Gour Govinda. A later Raja of Laur, Ramnath (descendant of Keshab Misra), had three sons with only one remaining in central Laur.
Ramnath's second son, Durbar Singh became a Muslim and changed his name to Durbar Khan.
Khan migrated to Jagannathpur to build his own palace. He later seized his youngest brother, Gobind Singh's, territory in Baniachong. After the death of Laur Raja Durbar Khan, his younger brother Gobind Singh took over his land. Durbar Khan's sons then informed the Nawab of Bengal of this incident. Gobind was summoned to Delhi for a short time where he also accepted Islam.
He changed his name to Habib Khan. As a reward, he regained Laur in 1566 but as a feudal ruler. Laur lost its independence and became a mahal/mahallah of the Sylhet Sarkar in the Bengal Subah of the Mughal Empire. Habib's grandson was Majlis Alam Khan, the father of Anwar Khan.
A later zamindar of Laur, Abid Reza left Laur to establish Baniachong in the early eighteenth century, which would become the largest village in the world.
Many followed Reza to Baniachong after Laur was burnt by the Khasi in 1744. The Nawab of Bengal Alivardi Khan is said to have granted 48 large boats to the Baniachong zamindars. A short while after, Reza built a fort in Laur which remains in ruins today. His son, Umed Reza, excavated much of Baniachong during his zamindari. Both Rezas were feudal under the Amils or Faujdars of Sylhet.
In the late medieval period of India, it was ruled by a chieftain Gour Gobinda under the Gaur Kingdom and predominately inhabited by the tribal people of Mongoloid origin. Govinda or Gobinda himself was from a Tribe called ‘Tepra’ of Tripura, the state of India in Southeast Asia. Later in 1947, Sylhet became a part of East Pakistan as a result of a referendum and then consequently Bangladesh in 1971 and also left behind three districts namely Cachar, Karimganj and Hailakandi with Assam the State of India. Bangladesh Liberation War.
After the conquest of Sylhet a decade later, Hazrat Shah Kamal Quhafa (RA) in his quest to meet Hazrat Shah Jalal (RA) and reunite with his father, Hazrat Khwaja Burhanuddin Ketan (RA) who was a commander and a companion of Hazrat Shah Jalal (RA). In 1312, they reached Sylhet and spent some time as a murid of Hazrat Shah Jalal (RA) in Dargah Mahalla.
In June 1315, Hazrat Shah Jalal (RA) then ordered Hazrat Shah Kamal Quhafa (RA) and his 12 dervishes to travel to north-western Taraf and propagate the religion there. The 13 men, as well as Hazrat Shah Kamal's wife, then set off from Sheikh Ghat along the Surma River in three small bajras known as pangshi (or panshi). The area in which they resided was originally a cluster of islands in a body of water called Ratnang. It came to be known as Shaharpara (the neighbourhood of Shahs), on the banks of the Ratna river.
According to the instruction of the spiritual monarch Hazrat Shah_Jalal (Radi Allahu Ta'ala Anhu) his journey ended up in the periphery of west Tilak (the tilak-mark of Kings) by the riverbank of Ratna nodi or the archipelago of Jagannathpur Upazila, Sunamganj District, Sylhet, Bangladesh, since its land became Shahar Para Shaharpara Shah (King) ar (belonging) par or parr (riverbank) Shah (King) ar (belongs) para (Neighbourhood),
Shah (King) ar (belongs) parr (riverbank) or Shafahar (Shah's embankment) or Shah's residence or even Shah's inhabitants or Shah's footstep, Shah's neighbourhood ''SHAHARPARA'' (Royal Neighbourhoods) approximately three acres of high-rise land the colour of the soil is a different colour than the surrounding earth where the dirt matched with the adequate colour given by his maternal as well as being a paternal uncle the Sultan Hazrat Shah Jalal (RA) which concluded his final destination and then he founded a Mosque, madrasah, Eidgah, Saathduaree or Saathduari (seven doors) for Meditation and a Khanqah (where people from all walks of life and faiths were feeds, Sufi Hospice also performed Sufi forms of dhikr, meditation and celebration of the divine)
Sunanganj district was underwater in ancient times; It was part of a vast sea by the name of Ratnag, which was an abbreviation of Ratnakar (common noun for sea in Bengali: Ratnakar expanded from cliffs of Meghalaya on the west to the coast of Tripura in the east, both Meghalaya and Tripura were inhabited by Kirata people of Mongaloid race.
People from Meghalaya travelled to Tripura and vice versa by seagoing vessels. Seabed began to rise by the end of the twelfth century CE due to alluvial silting over the centuries. It was northeast of the district that first began to elevate in the form of atolls and then most parts of the district arose from underneath the sea.
The seas around constitute a natural frontier of the country. From time immemorial, the inhabitants of India have used the sea for transport and communication, for trade and food. Therefore, as a result of these activities, quite a few interesting characteristics of the sea became known to our ancestors.
In the days of the Vedas and the Puranas (ancient scriptures), mainly the Matsya and the Vishnu Puranas, and in Kautilya’s Arthasastra, many of their impressions have been clearly recorded. Similarly, on some of the pillars of Ashoka, several descriptions of the sea and its features are found.
In the Jataka-mala (1st century AD), several maritime codes have been mentioned. The ancient Puranic story of ‘sagar-manthan’, which refers to the churning of the ocean to bring out its wealth, including the Goddess of wealth, Lakshmi, is a remarkable interpretation of modern technology for obtaining polymetallic nodules and other minerals from a depth of 5 to 6 kilometres, which virtually churns the ocean and agitates the sea bottom.
In other ancient scriptures, the sea has been named Ratnakar - a place where gems and jewels are found. Sylhet was renowned for its stones, ivory and elephants which were regularly supplied to Delhi. The ancient name of the city was Silhatta. As a city, Sylhet was known to the rest of the sub-continent during the ancient period, as the reference of this city was found in the ancient 'Nath' sacred Tantric text, the Shakti Sangama Tantra, as 'Silhatta'.
Sylhet is said to be the capital city of three kingdoms: the ancient kingdoms of Harikela, Srihatta and Gaur. Sylhet was also the port city; it served the mighty Kamarupa Kingdom. The market attracted traders from all around the world (especially from the Arabian peninsula) and the Persians came to buy food because commodities were cheaper as the markets were flooded with goods, so the prices were low.
(Picture of Shaharpara Shah Kamal high school and the National Martyr Memorial in Kunabone (corner paddy field) Raj-ails road or Shah Kamal Road or Mukam Road off Shaharpara main road, links to Syedpur-Shaharpara-Union office, the national historical heritage sites of Dhaka, Dhaka Division, Chittagong, Chittagong Division, Khulna, Khulna Division, Rajshahi, Rajshahi Division, Rangpur, Rangpur Division, Barisal, Barisal Division, Greater Sylhet, Sylhet Division, Faridpur, Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia, in Shaharpara, Jagannathpur, Sunamganj, Sylhet, Bangladesh).
Mukam-bari or Maqam meaning is the home of a Sufi saint (Auliya) the khanqah where Hazrat Shah Kamal Quhafa (RA) spends the rest of his life preaching Abrahamic faiths of monotheism "God is One" performed dhikr or Zikr, [ðɪkr, ʔæðˈkɑːr]), is an Islamic devotional act, typically involving the recitation—mostly silently—of the Names of God, (Allah) meditation, the celebration of divine and where he had finally rested.
He was buried in the Dargah (shrines) beside his Arabian wife and behind him is his most beloved younger son Sultan Shah Jamal-ud-Din Qureshi. Outside the Dargah Sharif just immediately west of the Dargah where is the shrine of his elder son Sultan Shah Jalal-ud-Din Qureshi and east of his Eidgah. Before his death in the late fourteenth century.
He had separated some lands for the Khadim family as a gift for their service. They are from the Khadmorbari of Shaharpara. The meaning of the name Khadim is one who served Hazrat Shah Kamal Qahtan with a great bond of love and devotion.
On the sites, there is a prayer stone of Hazrat Shah Kamal (RA) which is still preserved with his hands and footprints which are now cemented. On the site of the prayer stone, there is a stone called the mother stone aka Black 'Milk' Stone which is used to give birth to a stone and also it can feed it milk. The people brought the milk when their cattle first started milking and then poured it on the top of the stone.
These stones were different in colour and shape from normal stones. Sometimes the children put stones beside these stones which don’t match the colour or grow where these stones grow daily. There are seven stones, and each of them is different in size i.e. from size 1 to 7. When a stone grows to a size bigger than the seventh stone it will levitate and hover in the air at night and then give birth to a new stone.
One night around the 1980s, the mother stone disappeared from its place. Later on, it was found in the Mukam Mosque pond. When the pond needed to be redressed, the water was drained out and then the mother stone was found and brought back to its actual place and has since been cemented on the ground of the mother stone.
A jali wall was erected which surrounds the mother stone. The following day, the eastern wall was found with a hole above the ground, which was roughly the size of the mother stone, but now the stone has stopped giving birth and now it remains as a single stone. Later it was heard the mother stone was pushed into the Masjid pond by someone who paid the consequence before his death; vomiting blood.
Within the precinct of the Dargah of Hazrat Shah Kamal Quhafa (RA), there is a water tank wherein the occasion of marriage or a mass gathering for a funerary performance, which is called Shini. The meaning of Shini is the ceremony celebrating the deceased which is provided with food to the congregations and making Dua (terminology in Islam for asking God for the mercy of the death) for the deceased soul.
Simply ask the Imam of the Dargah Mosque or yourself, you could write into the banana leaf for the food catering supplies, the numbers of plates and drinking cups you need for the event and then submit it in the tank. At the time of the requirement, those golden plates and drinking cups were floating in the tank by the Ghat (a series of steps leading down to a body of water).
On one occasion one of the maids hid one of the plates in the cow dung manure. When they returned the food catering supplies back to the tank it was not submerged in the water and it was floating around the tank. The maid was so frightened that she had acknowledged that she had hidden one plate in the cow manure.
When the plate was returned to the tank a whole lot of the supplies submerged into the water for the last time and never returned again. The golden supplies of food catering utensils were only for the descendants of Hazrat Shah Kamal Quhafa (RA). This is the oral story told by the elder of the family and it has been told from generation to generation.
(seasonal flooding picture of Ratna nodi which transformed the mighty majestic landscape into the water World where each house looks like an island, crossing view of Eastside riverbank and Kunabone (corner paddy field) periphery of west Tilak behind Danis-mansion of Sharong Bari
also spelt Serang's Bari or Sarang-bari (marine's Home or House of Serangs) where the Nawab Ali Amjad Khan sent his messenger with an elephant to invite Muhammad Danis aka Danis Sharong also spelt Danis Sarang or Danis Serang (Captain of a Ship in Bengali and in English is a foreman (boatswain) who also recruits crew, the lascar (seaman) for British merchant ship as well as in charge of paying their salary and also the leader of the lascar who supervised seamen of the deck department). A skilled and experienced petty officer sometimes referred to as the third or fourth mate, he was responsible for boats, sail, rigging, anchors, and cables. Serang requested a special visit to Prithimpassa Nawab-bari at the end of the nineteenth century, which he refused. Westside riverbank front of School-bari via Nagarkana. Mirpur Shah Kamal Islamia Madrasah or Jamia Rahmania Hazrat Shah Kamal (RA) Madrasah of Shaharpara nowadays remains as a canal, the national historical heritage sites of Nabiganj, Kamalganj, Habiganj, Jamalganj, Kanaighat, Kishoreganj, Narayanganj, Sirajganj, Netrokona, Baniyachong, Mymensingh, Narayanganj, Bagerhat, Pabna, Cachar, Silchar, Korean, Japan, Croatian, Algeria).
The reasons for the special invitation to Danis Shahrong were, that once in Kolkata, Ali Amjad wore casual clothes and with the bodyguards went to a saree shop to buy a Sari. The shopkeeper showed him some cheap saris which he didn't like so instead he pointed out an expensive shelf full of saris which he wanted the shopkeeper to show him.
The shopkeeper said, “You can’t afford these saris, they are very expensive.” Ali Amjad repeated to the shopkeeper to show the sari's from the expensive shelf. When the shopkeeper looked at Ali Amjad’s dress, he replied, “This is not for you, it’s too expensive for you to buy.” Ali Amjad was humiliated by his clothes and the shopkeeper said to leave the shop immediately.
There were people watching as Ali Amjad went to the next shop and asked the shopkeeper if there were any powerful Sylheti people living in the area. The shopkeeper said, “I can only think of one person whose name is Danis Shahrong, he can help you in this situation.” Ali Amjad then went to Danis Shahrong and said I am from Sylhet and then explained the situation to him.
Danis Shahrong couldn't recognise him as a rich man so he asked him, “Do you have enough money?” In answer to this question, Ali Amjad asked his bodyguards to show Danis Shahrong the money so they (the bodyguards) showed him two sacks of money. Ali Amjad asked if that was enough money.
Danis Shahrong said it was enough money to buy the shop and the shopkeeper! Ali Amjad replied saying, “That was what I wanted.” When they returned to the shop, the shopkeeper saw Danis Shahrong and became scared. The manager greeted Danis Shahrong and Ali Amjad. This time Danis Shahrong asked about the price of the shop as well as the shopkeeper.
The manager replied saying, “We only sell goods, not the shop or its salesman.” Danis Shahrong said to put all the saris in the middle of the road. So they emptied the shop and put all the saris there. Then Danis Sarang poured petrol on these goods and lit a fire onto the saris, pointed to Ali Amjad and said, “He is the Nawab Ali Amjad Khan of Longla, Prithimpassa Estate, Kulaura, Moulvibazar, Sylhet, Eastern Bengal.”
Hazrat Shah Kamal Quhafahl or Qahafan, Quhafa, Quhafani, Qattan, Qattani, Qahtani, Qahtan, Qahtani, Qahtanii, Qahtan derives from its founder Adnan ancestor of the Adnanite as well as ''Arab'' descent from Adnan to Prophet Muhammad who established the Rashidun Caliphate. Hazrat Shah Kamal Qahtan was a progeny of Adnan commonly known as Hazrat Shah Kamal descendant of Hazrat Khwaja Shah Burhan-Ud-Din Quhafa, (RA) (Radi Allahu Ta'ala Anhu) commonly known as Hazrat Khwaja Burhanuddin Qahtan or Qattal Shah who was an offspring of Hazrat Abu Bakr (RA) (Radhiyallaho Anho) was born in Mecca some time in 573 CE, to a rich family in the Banu Taym[18] clan of the Quraysh tribe.
Abu Bakr's father's name was Uthman Abu Quhafa (nicknamed Abu Quhafa) and his mother was Salma Umm-ul-Khair (nicknamed Umm-ul-Khair).
The lineage of Hazrat Abu Bakr Siddiq joined that of Hazrat Muhammad in the eighth degree in their common ancestor Murrah ibn Ka'b.
The lineage of Hazrat Abu Bakr (RA) was: Abu Bakr; the son of 'Uthman Abu Quhafa ibn 'Amir; the son of Amir ibn 'Amr; the son of 'Amr ibn Ka'b; the son of Ka'b ibn Sa'd; the son of Sa'd ibn Taym; the son of Taym ibn Murrah; the son of Murrah ibn Ka'b.
The lineage of Hazrat Muhammad (S.A.W) was: Muhammad; the son of Abd Allah ibn Abd al-Muttalib; the son of Abdul Muttalib; the son of Hashim ibn 'Abd Manaf; the son of Abd Manaf ibn Qusai; the son of Qusai ibn Kilab; the son of Kilab ibn Murrah; the son of Murrah ibn Ka'b.[18]
Abu Bakr was a thin man with white skin.[19] Tabari relates (Suyuti also relates the same through Ibn Sa'd al-Baghdadi's report) from Aisha her description of Hazrat Abu Bakr Siddiq:
The First Tomb in Islam
(Early Illustration)
a. Prophet’s mihrab
b. Aisha b. Abu Bakr’s RA residence
c. Hafsa b. Umar’s RA residence
d. Zainab b. Jahsh’s RA residence (not pictured)
e. Zainab b. Kuzayma’s RA) residence (not pictured)
f. Fatima’s RA residence (not pictured)
g. Baab-Uthman b. Affan RA
h. Ahlul Suffa Residence
i. Juwayriya’s RA residence (not pictured)
j. Rumla’s RA residence (not pictured)
k. Saffiya’s RA residence (not pictured)
l. Baab-ul-Rahma
m. Abu Bakr’s RA residence
n. Sa’d b. Abi Waqaas RA residence (not pictured)
o. al-Abbas b. Abdul Muttalib RA (Prophet’s SAWS uncle) residence
p. Jafar b. Abi Sadiq RA residence
Source: The Madinah Research & Study Centre, Al Madinah Al Munawara
The Blessed Grave of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) is "INSIDE" room of the house of Ayesha (ra)
The Second Tomb in Islam
The grave of Sayyidna Abu Bakr (RA) is in a room of the house of Ayesha (ra) buried next to the Prophet (Peace be upon him)
The Third Tomb in Islam
The grave of Sayyidna Umar Ibnul Khattab (ra) is in a room of the house of Ayesha (ra) buried next to the Prophet (Peace be upon him) and Abu Bakr (ra)
So it was a practice of Sahaba to bury the Prophet (PBUH) and Caliphs not openly but inside a Room or in other words a "CONSTRUCTED SHRINE"
Nowadays the offspring of Hazrat Abu Bakr Siddiq (RA) can be found in the four corners of the World. Hazrat Khwaja Burhan-ud-Din Qahtan Quhafa (RA), was a great commander as well as the greatest companion and Brother-in-law who shared a haplotype of the Messianic Sufi Saint of Bangladesh Hazrat Shah Jalal (RA) administrator of Jalalabad (spiritual town Sylhet) (king of Greater Sylhet) and he was descended from Adnan. Arab invasion.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sylhet
The family genealogy of Hazrat Shah Kamal (RA) later included many ancestors of Shahji Gushti's family genealogy book who were members of our ancestral family, as the family elder said that the original family tree book was lost or damaged due to natural causes which came from the father of Hazrat Shah Kamal (RA). Some believe that the family history book containing the genealogy of the entire family from the late Middle Ages was stolen by a concubine from our ancestral family.
Because they were not given the same respect as other family members. So, they left the village with the genealogy of Hazrat Shah Kamal (RA) and never came back. Fortunately, another surviving genealogical tree of Hazrat Shah Kamal (RA) was in the possession of Maulvi Abdul Heleem, a descendant of Hazrat Shah Kamal (RA).
Later, my grandfather's younger brother Mohammad Jahir Master compiled a family genealogy from his memory and from the recollections of the elders of the family through the generations. What I have presented is from my father's research files. In ancient times people fondly remembered the names of their ancestors and told their names to the next generation through stories. The story of Shah Shukur Uddin was extraordinary compared to other stories of the family. To the best of my understanding i.e., knowledge, the family genealogy provided by my family has been fully updated to the present day.
For example, the interval of three generations of ancestors is counted as one hundred years. In genealogy, there is a rule for classifying a generation as twenty-five years or a generation as thirty years. This is strictly a conceptual thing. With one system, there are three generations per century; With the other, there are four generations per century.
There must be an interval of at least 27 or 28 patriarchal generations in 794 years. But I only have 24 fathers, and if I include myself and my son Mohammad Al-Hamim Hussein Kamaly, along with my older brother's grandson Mohammad Farhad Kamaly, that will still make 27 males, theoretically we are in the perfect paternity gap. A very long interbirth paternity interval may be associated with the birth of a son, the first birth of a daughter the last birth of a son in a family, or second or third or more marriages and the late birth of a son from the last marriage.
If a son was born late in the last marriage, that could make the paternity interval longer than usual. It sometimes depends on life expectancy, or on the country you live in, whether you married late or have more daughters before a son or a son being the youngest in a family can change the paternity interval, so it's hypothetically correct.
My elder stepbrother is Mohammad Abul Hussain Kamaly (born 8:30 PM Sunday 1 November 1924 in Rasulpur – died on Monday 21 September 2015 in London aged 91) and was buried in Garden of Peace Muslim Cemetery). He married on 7 March 1959 and had three sons and three daughters. His first child, born in 1960, Mohammad Shafi Uddin Kamaly is about 64 years old in 2024 and Shafi's younger son Mohammad Farhad Hussain Kamaly is 22 years old in 2024 who is his last child after five daughters. His second son’s name is Tunu Miah Kamaly aka Shahi Uddin Kamaly he has no son yet.
My elder stepbrother's younger son Titu Miah Kamaly's younger daughter will be ten years old in 2024 and his eldest daughter is 17. 1924 to 2024 equals 100 years and my elder brother's younger son is the youngest in the family. This means that my ancestors in earlier lineages had a longer average paternity-son interval and lived much longer than the national life expectancy.
This allows me to count seven fathers in 200 years, and if I count the years from 1230 to 2024, that's about 794 years. That would give me about twenty-seven to twenty-eight fathers which is fairly accurate. Sometimes this happens when they marry late, or have a daughter before a son, which I explained earlier, and I think it happened with my family i.e., a long paternity gap can affect my family lineage.
My stepmother and my mother were cousins, and they were descendants of Shah Amir-ud-Din who was the elder son of Shah Shukur-ud-Din and elder brother of Shah Moniur-ud-Din who was one of my ancestors. After the death of my stepmother, my father remarried my mother on 17 July 1945. I was born on 8 March 1965 when my father was about 63 and I was the youngest of my siblings. After my four sisters were born, my elder brother Mohammad Mothahir Hussain Kamaly was born and had two daughters. My nearest elder brother Mohammad Arbab Hussain Kamaly had a son after two daughters. My dad was born after the birth of his sister.
I had four older stepbrothers and an older sister, a younger brother, one of whom died before I was born. The elder brother Mohammad Abul Hussain Kamaly was born in 1924 and died in 2015 leaving three sons and three daughters. The elder sister Musammad Rabia Khatun (Shaista) (born 14 April 1926 Rasulpur – died 2008 aged 82 Narainpur Paschim Bari Shaharpara), had four children, two sons and two daughters, of whom the eldest daughter and eldest son died.
The second brother Mohammad Noorul Hussain Kamaly (born in Rasulpur, died in London on 4 November 1931-2009 aged 78 and was buried in the family graveyard at Masterbari, West Tilak). He was married three times, his first wife being in London. He was the father of three sons and five daughters. He spent most of his life in London and had his first daughter with an English wife around 1959. My brother Noorul Hossain Kamaly's elder son Khosru Hossain Kamaly was born in 1966 and has only son who will be 10 years old in 2024. The age difference between him and his grandfather is about 83 years.
The third brother Badrul Hussain Kamaly (born 1 January 1934-2010 in Rasulpur and died at the age of 76 at Masterbari in Paschim Tilak and was buried in the family graveyard), left four sons and six daughters, and many of his children with his first wife died when they were toddlers. After the death of his first wife, he married twice more. He married a second time and divorced her after the birth of a son named Anu Kamaly. He married for the third time and had five daughters with her. His first wife died at home and was buried in the family cemetery. His divorcee died at her parents' house. He was the father of four sons and six daughters.
Mohammad Faizul Hussain Kamaly was born on 24 November 1936 in Rasulpur Schoolbari at 5 am on Tuesday and died of chickenpox or smallpox in Rasulpur on 5 September 1957 at 3:15 pm at the age of about 22 and was buried in the family graveyard at Schoolbari. He was a bachelor and, when he died, many older people in the village still remembered him for his strength. He was fond of music and played the gramophone, once the pin of his record player broke, he used a lemon tree thorn.
Although he didn't have enough time in his life to move with the family to our new home in West Tilak, he still helped Dad bring some materials from the School Bari to build the Tilak Master Bari. I heard the story from my elder sister Shaista and Dilara's husbands who are also my cousins as well as the brothers-in-law. He was so strong that he could run with both of them under his armpits, even though my respected eldest sister's husband was older than him and another brother-in-law was his contemporary.
Musammad Ajibunahar Kamaly was born 14 April 1946-1946 in Rasulpur. Where she was buried is not mentioned in the genealogy, but I believe she was buried in School Bari Cemetery in Rasulpur.
Musammad Mahir Angiz Begum Kamaly (Minara) was born on 30 Jan 1948 in Rasulpur, Schoolbari and died on 23 Jul 2012 on Monday at 11:30 pm in Docklands, London aged 64 of ovarian cancer, buried in the Garden of Peace. She died in the holy month of Ramadan and the funeral “Janazah” was held at Brick Lane Jamme Masjid after Zuhr prayer the next day and after the 4th day of Ramadan.
She got married to Mohammad Manuhar Miah, son of Mohammad Auwatir of Katia Aloitali village, Jagannatpur, Sunamganj in 1965. I was loved by all my dear sisters as I was the youngest among the family members and all my sisters were my favourites. I must mention that my sister Minara has a place in my heart, and I cannot put anyone else there. After a few months of marriage, she became a widow, and I was a few months old then.
Her husband died in a plane engine fire over Cairo of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), Egypt in 1965 and after that plane crash, she came to live with us and stayed there for the rest of her life. She looked after me and gave me her whole life with a love that I cannot forget in my lifetime. She devoted her life to the love of her husband and did not think of remarrying. She wanted to see her beloved younger sister, a cancer patient who had come to London in 1985, and never returned to Bangladesh.
She made several appearances at the British High Commission in Dhaka, Bangladesh for visas to visit her sister in London but was always refused by the British Consulate. Finally, she got her visa after the death of her beloved younger sister whom she wanted to see live. She came to London with a broken heart and visited her beloved sister’s grave at 540 Romford Road, Manor Park, London, E7 8AF, Woodgrange Park Cemetery Limited.
My broken-hearted sister lived in London with her beloved young sister's children and eventually died at their home in Docklands, London. Because she had no children, she loved me and her beloved younger sister’s children as her own. Abthahee Kamaly was the youngest of her beloved younger sister's children and out of love he learned Sylheti-Bangla from her as she could not speak English, so Abthahee could speak to her in her own language.
She went through depression for many years. She suffered from cancer and was diagnosed after an operation at St. Bartholomew's Hospital in London. As her beloved younger sister had ovarian cancer, she suffered from the same cancer and died in 2012 during the month of Ramadan at the same time as the Olympics in London. She was under treatment step by step like her beloved younger sister and felt all the pains and sufferings of her beloved younger sister during her treatment.
Bina Begum Kamaly was born on Saturday at 11:30 in Rasulpur 9 February 1952-1952. Where she is buried is not mentioned in the genealogy book, but I assume she was buried in the Schoolbari graveyard. Infant mortality was common in Bengal and later in Bangladesh, so my family could not be an exception. My family has had many child deaths in the past as I have spoken about the infantile deaths of my two elder sisters, as well as my elder brother Noorul Hussain Kamaly's family and my brother Badrul Hussain Kamaly's first wife. There was also an infant death in the family of my elder sister Musammad Mahir Afjun Kamaly.
Musammad Mahir Afjun Kamaly (good name Dilara and her passport name was Dilwara Begum Kamaly) was born 13 February 1953-21 July 2001 in Rasulpur and died at home in London aged 48 and was buried at Woodgrange Park Cemetery, 540 Romford Road, London E7 8AF. She had three daughters and two sons, living in London, the youngest daughter in Sheffield and the eldest daughter in Mansfield. All the children got married except the youngest son.
Mohammad Mothahir Hussain Kamaly was (born 2 March 1957 in Rasulpur). He was the last child of my dad who was born in Rasulpur Mouza School Bari. He lives in New York with his wife and two daughters. His older daughter is married and works in a pharmacy in New York and the younger daughter is still at university in New York.
Mohammad Arbab Hussain Kamaly (born in West Tilak Masterbari in 1961) married in 1993 and is the father of three children, including two daughters and a son. They all live in Docklands, London. His only son Isa Ahmed Kamaly who was born in 2002, his grandfather's age difference of 100 years.
Out of my eleven paternal nephews, four sons were born, the eldest being 22 years old, the second being 10, the third being 8 and the fourth being 6 years in 2024. Of course, two of the nephews are not married yet and I hope I will have grandchildren in the future. The second brother had three wives and all the wives had children. The third brother was married three times and had children by all wives.
My only son Mohammed Al-Hamim Hussein Kamaly was born on 6th April 2006 whereas my father was born on 30th September 1902 and the age difference between my father’s birth and my son’s birth is about 104 years. I am only referring to the patrilineality line of descent of the family, not the matrilineality line of descent. I assume that some of my ancestors had daughters much earlier than sons and married late, or twice or more times which prolonged the long paternity generation gap of sons in the family.
So, I believe that this is probably why the number of fathers in the family is less than the paternity interval and this may be a rough estimate. My paternal family tree which I have provided below is entirely based on the historical writings of my ancestors and their manuscript preservation. A few fathers have dates of birth based on conjecture and historical sources. Therefore, I cannot provide an adequate timeline of my paternal ancestors and their parentage based on assumptions.
Again, according to the descendants of Hazrat Shah Kamaluddin (RA), the mother of Hazrat Shah Kamal (RA) was the elder sister of Hazrat Shah Jalal (RA) and she must have been born in 1230 AD, or later. Because, Hazrat Shah Jalal (RA) met Hazrat Khwaja Moinuddin Hasan Chishti (RA), who according to historical sources died in 1236 AD. Hazrat Khwaja Burhanuddin Ketan (RA) was a contemporary or elder of Hazrat Shah Jalal (RA).
Bismillah Hir Rahman-nir-Raheem
In the name of Allah (SWT), the most Gracious, the most Merciful
In the name of Allah (Subhanahu wa Ta'ala), the most Compassionate, the most Forgiving,
I am starting to write our family genealogy book. The family tree book was written in a Bengali manuscript which I translated into English. Ya Rabbul-al-Amin, "O Lord of the Worlds" Creator and Sustainer of all creation, forgive my beloved parents and all my ancestors in the Hereafter for all their sins and grant my mother, father and all my ancestors a place in Your Paradise. Irepent to my Lord “To Allah (swt)” for my sins. My family birth and death details in this book were first written in a small notebook by my respected late grandfather’s younger brother- the late Mohammad Jahir alias Zaheer Ali (Master) and later my father copied his notebook.
In the late 19th century, the dates of birth and death of members of this family were recorded in the genetic bloodline book as a branch family of Hazrat Shah Kamal (RA) which split into many families. These branches are known as clans "branches of families" by various names such as Baglar Gushti, Mullar Gushti, Shahjir Gushti, Sadardi Gushti, Sheikhbadi Gushti, Sheikh Farid Gushti, and Khadim Gushti in Shaharpara and outside of Shaharpara Qureshi Gushti in Patli and Mufti Gushti in Sylhet Dargah Mahalla. There are many other cadet branches of the family.
After my grandfather’s death, my late father Akbar Ali (Master) copied his notebook exactly the same on a new writing pad and called it "Heredity in Bloodline" which was a masterpiece. Later he recorded the names of subsequent family members in his new book which was copied by my elder brother Mohammad Arbab Hussain Kamaly. Because the book starts again my brother comes up with a new idea and includes the family members in the new book by writing down the marriage dates. But this little writing pad ran out of pages and needed a new writing pad, so my elder brother started this new writing pad. Since a new beginning had to be made, it started with our ancestor Hazrat Shah Kamal (RA) who was a Sufi saint of the fourteenth century and his father Hazrat Shah Burhan Uddin (RA). The shrine of Hazrat Shah Kamal (RA) still stands in Shaharpara as a testimony to how the people of this land embraced Islam and the tombs of his children. Neither my grandfather nor father had their names in the manuscripts, the names of Hazrat Shah Kamal (RA) and his sons are known today because of their tombs which are still there in Shaharpara, but their grandchildren are not. Therefore, after a lot of trouble, on May 16, 1995, my elder brother Arbab Hussain Kamaly recorded from the preservation of our cousin Shah Zillur Rahman Kamali, a descendant of Hazrat Shah Kamal (RA). The book of the blood lineage of Hazrat Shah Kamal Quhafah (RA), a descendant of Hazrat Abu Bakr (Radi Allahu Anhu), the first Caliph of Islam. This book will be our legacy and the history of our legendary family tradition and
heritage for future generations. I hope the rightful successor will write this book with compassion and preserve it with the utmost care as it contains the biological history of the hereditary lineage of this family. Note: the separate book is mentioned as the Kristi ‘genealogy’ book, but it would actually be better to refer to it as the "Kulji" genealogy.
It could also be called a Kristi Bahi "genealogical book of hereditary bloodlines" that ends with the book wishing for immortality or an infinity of its kind through this family. May Allah (subhanahu wa ta'ala) be kind to this noble orthodox Muslim family of Shaharpara and continue the legacy of Hazrat Shah Kamal Quhafah (RA) with unceasing dignity. All praise is due to Allah (subhana wa ta'ala), the Most Merciful, the Most Forgiving. May Allah (subhanahu wa ta'ala) grant peace and blessings to this family of Shaharpara.
This branch of the great family tree book of Hazrat Shah Kamal (RA) was first recorded by my grandfather's younger brother Mohammad Jahir Ali Master, the youngest of my paternal grandfathers and then by my father. So, after a long and thorough painstaking, amount of time spent on this genealogy book, revered Shah Zillur Rahman Kamaly, who helped my brother Arbab Hussain Kamaly with the family genealogy on 16 May 1995-AD, Bengali calendar of 1402, collected and wrote in this book. I hope this book will be treasured by the next generation and that my favourite book is rightfully passed down through the family. Hopefully, this book's legendary family tradition and legacy will continue through posterity.
Mohammad Arbab Hossain Kamaly, who is my next nearest elder brother, continued to write book updates even after my father died and my father ran out of writing pads. My brother Arbab Hussain Kamaly started writing the family genealogy of Hazrat Shah Kamal (RA) in this new writing pad book. I started writing my work from his copied writing pad as a reference book which is a very valuable contribution to my project. I hope my mistake will be taken lightly and can be corrected by your comments.
These names were not recorded in our family history until the three sons of my ancestor Hazrat Shah Kamal (RA) "According to Nachab Nama, Shah Anwar Uddin was actually fourteen men, not Shah Nizam Uddin" but he was the father of Baglar Gushti, Shahjir Gushti and Mullar Gushti means the common father of these three clans. Chauddho Purusha “fourteen men” means ancestor in Bengali. Elder cousin Manihara Nizami, Shah Mohammad Qari Al-Hajj Zillur Rahman Kamali gave my brother Al-Hajj Mohammad Arbab Hussain Kamaly complete help in collecting these names which were preserved in his ancestral treasury and later inherited by one of his grandfathers- the Reverend Maulvi Abdul Heleem, a religious figure. There were six brothers and among his brothers, he was chosen to acquire the genealogical tree of Hazrat Shah Kamal (RA).
He was a contemporary of my paternal grandfather’s younger brother Mohammad Jahir (Master) who died in 1931 and a neighbour of the aforementioned School Bari in Rasulpur Mouza and they were close friends. He belonged to the Shahjir Gushti (Shah dynasty) descended from Hazrat Shah Kamal (RA). This book on the genealogical bloodline of Hazrat Shah Kamal (RA) was inherited by him from his ancestor and remained in the family treasury for centuries. Al-Hajj Qari Zillur Rahman Kamali gave my elder brother Al-Hajj Mohammad Arbab Hussain Kamaly the ancestral name of our ancestors from the stemma book of Hazrat Shah Kamal (RA). He inherited the book from his uncle Afrooz Miah, who was Maulvi Abdul Haleem's paternal nephew and son-in-law.
Reverend Maulvi Abdul Heleem translated the book Nachbnama (Krishti) from Arabic into Persian. Later Shah Zillur Rahman Kamali translated it from Persian to Bengali in 1993 as mentioned in the writings of my brother. The genealogical script was also translated into Urdu manuscripts, Zillur Rahman said, around 1975 by a professional outside the family. Zillur Rahman also told me in a WhatsApp call that the Urdu manuscript of the genealogy was translated into Bengali manuscript by Syed Lulu Miah, former principal of Syedpur Alia Madrasa, Syedpur Kazi Bari, Jagannathpur, Sunamganj. He said he adopted or incorporated some of the research and instructions of my father Akbar Ali Master.
I would like to express my sincere thanks from the bottom of my heart to our cousin Shah Zillur Rahman Kamali for his precious document which he shared with my elder brother and my heart also feels gratitude to his ancestors, who are also my ancestors, for preserving this priceless document. May Allah (subhanahu wa ta'ala) reward them with His grace on the Day of Resurrection and be merciful to them on the Day of Judgment. Without this document of great significance, my project would not have been completed and the history of Shaharpara could not have been published.
(1) Hazrat Shah Burhan Uddin (RA) also pronounced as Hazrat Shah Burhan-ud-Din or ad-Din (RA) according to the descendants of Hazrat Shah Kamal Uddin (RA), aka Hazrat Khwaja Shah Burhanuddin Ketan (RA) alias Hazrat Shah Burhanuddin Ketan (RA) commonly known as Hazrat Shah Burhanuddin (RA) in Chittagong was known as Shah Kat’tal, Qat’tal Shah and Qazi Kadal Khan (estimated his birth around 1230 AD). He was an eminent Sufi saint and Ketan was his title. He received this title when he became a famous Sufi saint. He has two Mazar, one at Katalganj, Chittagong and another at Faringajuri or Faringi Bazaar also spelt Firingi Bazar.
(2) Hazrat Shah Kamal (RA) according to the Nachab Nama, aka Hazrat Shah Kamal Uddin (RA) also pronounced as Hazrat Kamal-ud-Din or ad-Din (RA), aka Hazrat Shah Kamal Quhafah (RA) according to historians, commonly known as Hazrat Shah Kamal (RA) (1291 to1385 died at the age of about 91).
(3) Shah Jamal Uddin also pronounced as Shah Jamal-ud-Din or ad-Din (Maiza Mia or Mayazla Miyah), was the second son of Hazrat Shah Kamal (RA), according to the Nachab Nama. Historians popularly mentioned Shah Muazzamuddin Qureshi as the second son of Hazrat Shah Kamal (RA) instead of Shah Jamal Uddin who was the second son of Hazrat Shah Kamal (RA). But all historians refer to him as the second son of Hazrat Shah Kamal (RA) which is conclusively correct. In fact, Shah Muazzamuddin Qureshi was the youngest son of Hazrat Shah Kamal (RA) according to the Nachab Nama of Hazrat Shah Kamal Quhafah (RA).
(4) Shah Jahangir Uddin also pronounced as Shah Jahangir-ud-Din or ad-Din according to the Nachab Nama.
(5) Shah Sulaiman Uddin also pronounced as Shah Sulaiman-ud-Din or ad-Din according to the Nachab Nama.
(6) Shah Zamin Uddin also pronounced as Shah Zamin-ud-Din or ad-Din according to the Nachab Nama.
(7) Shah Razzak Uddin also pronounced as Shah Razzak-ud-Din or ad-Din according to the Nachab Nama.
(8) Shah Zaman Uddin also pronounced as Shah Zaman-ud-Din or ad-Din according to the Nachab Nama.
(9) Shah Jabir Uddin also pronounced as Shah Zabir-ud-Din or ad-Din according to the Nachab Nama.
(10) Shah Amir Uddin also pronounced as Shah Amir-ud-Din or ad-Din according to the Nachab Nama.
(11) Shah Anwar Uddin also pronounced Shah Anwar-ud-Din or ad-Din ad-Din according to the Nachab Nama.
(12) Shah Shafi Uddin also pronounced Shah Shafi-ud-Din or ad-Din ad-Din according to the Nachab Nama.
(13) Shah Shulaiman Uddin also pronounced Shah Shulaiman-ud-Din or ad-Din ad-Din according to the Nachab Nama.
(14) Shah Irfan Uddin also pronounced Shah Irfan-ud-Din or ad-Din according to the Nachab Nama.
(15) Shah Sofir Uddin also pronounced Shah Sofir-ud-Din or ad-Din according to the Nachab Nama.
(16) Shah Noor Uddin also pronounced Shah Nur-ud-Din or ad-Din according to the Nachab Nama.
(17) Shah Nijam Uddin also spelt Shah Nazim Uddin also pronounced Shah Nizamud-Din or ad-Din according to the Nachab Nama.
(18) Shah Jorif Uddin also pronounced Zarif-ud-Din or ad-Din according to the Nachab Nama.
(19) Shah Shukur Uddin also pronounced Shah Shukur-ud-Din or ad-Din according to the Nacahb Nama. According to family lore, he was born about 1780. He was a child or pre-teen at the time of the award of Permanent Settlement (or the Zamindari or Taluqdari system) by Lord Cornwallis in 1793. This "Permanent Settlement" provided the British with an Indian landed class interested in supporting British authority. The Talukqdars were aristocrats of Medieval and British India who always owned large tracts of land hereditary and were responsible for tax collection. The team Talukdar is often considered a single noble tribe and clan, although it may convey somewhat diverse meanings in different parts of the Indian subcontinent. They belong to the aristocracy who formed the ruling class during the Delhi Sultanate, Bengal Sultanate, Mughal Empire and British Raj. The Talukqdars played helpful roles in the progression of Indian architecture and the Indian economy during the reign of Emperor Shah Jahan and Aurangzeb, particularly in Bengal Subah, the most economically developed province in South Asia. (20) Shah Moniur Uddin also pronounced Moniur-ud-Din or ad-Din according to the Nachab Nama.
(21) Shah Fazil according to the Nachab Nama.
(22) Shah Hajir Mohammad according to the Nachab Nama.
(23) Shah Mohammad Ashim according to the Nachab Nama. According to written sources, he died in 1944 AD. I have heard from my respected elder brother Abul Hussain Kamaly who slept with my grandfather in childhood that he lived to a very old age and was very old at his death. My grandfather was almost a hundred years old at the time of his death. My grandfather was born between1850 and 1860 according to my brother's estimate. My brother Abul Hussain Kamaly was born on 1 November 1924 and died on 21 September 2015 at the age of about 91 years. He was my father's first child, and I was my father's last child.
(24) Mohammad Akbar Ali according to the Nachab Nama (master) aka Shah Muhammad Akbar Ali Qureshi (Kamaly) (30 September 1902 to 17 September 1985 died at the age of 83).
(25) Muazzam Hussain according to the Nachab Nama aka Mohammed Muazzam Hussein Kamaly aka Dilai Meah commonly known as Dilly Meah (on 8 March 1965).
(26) Mohammed Al-Hamim Hussein Kamaly (Hamim) (on 6 April 2006).
Accordingly, the study of the Nachab Nama "Genealogy" (Nachab Nama is an Arabic word meaning lineage) of the Hazrat Shah Kamal Uddin (RA): Shah Zorif Uddin’s father's name was Shah Nijam Uddin, who had three sons namely Shah Zorif Uddin the elder Shah Sharif Uddin the second and Shah Arif Uddin the younger who was childless. Shah Nijam Uddin was my eighth father, and he was the progenitor of Bagla Gushti, Shahji Gushti and Mullah Gushti.
Shah Zorif Uddin had a son named Shah Shukur Uddin who later became the founder of Bagla Gushti. Shah Sharif Uddin had two sons, namely the elder Shah Musi Mahmoud aka Shah Musa Uddin, who was the founder of Shahji Gushti, and the younger Shah Muzaffar Khan aka Shah Muzaffar Uddin, the founder of Mullah Gushti. According to the above family genealogy, Shah Zorif Uddin was the founder of Baglar Gushti and Shah Nijam Uddin was the typical father of three clans of the descendants of Shah Jamal Uddin, the second son of Hazrat Shah Kamal Uddin (RA).
According to the descendants of Hazrat Shah Kamal Uddin (RA), Shahji's house was the house of Shah Jamal Uddin, and his residence was in the middle of Shahji's estate. According to historical sources: To the south of his residence was the Muazzamabad state treasury and to the north of the estate was a house where his advisers, lawyers, judges, and chief justice lived. The clan names Baglar's Gushti, Shahjir's Gushti, and Mullar's Gushti are all derived from their house names.
The historic Shahji Bari 'Shah Bari' was originally the home of Hazrat Shah Kamal (RA) who lived with his Arab wife. He had three children, two sons and a daughter, by his Arab wife. later the estate was succeeded by two sons from his Arab wife. After the death of his childless eldest son, Jalaluddin Qureshi, the property was inherited by the youngest son, Shah Jamaluddin Qureshi, and continued as the residence of his descendants at the centre of the Shah's estate for centuries.
To the south of his residence was the treasury of the Muazzamabad state and to the north a house where the advisors, lawyers, judges, and chief justice of the Muazzamabad state lived, according to the historian. Shahji's Gushti, Mullar's Gushti and Bagla's Gushti are the hereditary heirs of the above feudal estates. Although Mullar Gushti bought some land to the north of the estate later from Saddardi Gushti and adjacent to their original property. The front of their house faces west, and another cousin's house faces east.
After the death of Shah Zorif Uddin, father of Shah Shukur Uddin, before 1793, the Shah's estate was divided into two parts. The southern portion went to Shah Shukur Uddin and the other northern portion to Shah Musi Mahmud alias Musa Uddin and his younger brother Shah Muzaffar Khan alias Muzaffar Uddin. Later their portion was divided between the descendants of the two brothers, the southern portion being the descendants of Muzaffar Khan and the northern portion being the descendants of Musi Mahmud.
According to oral transmission of members of the genus: To the Immediate east, literally in front of Baglar Bari and Shahjir Bari a Dighi ‘reservoir’ excavated by Hazrat Shah Kamal (RA). The foundations of Baglar Bari, Shahjir Bari, and Mullar Bari were originally built with soil from this reservoir. At that time, it was the largest water tank in the area, later the tank fell into decay. Two ponds are separated from this Dighi, one for Bagla’s house and the other for Shahji’s house. The government has now built a road in the middle of the remaining part of the reservoir. After breaking the banks of Dighi, this Dighi had a floating market called Boro Bazaar which was the largest commodity exchange market in the area. There was a barter system where goods were exchanged, big merchants and boats brought their goods and sold them.
According to the descendants of Hazrat Shah Kamal (RA) of Shaharpara: Jalaluddin Qureshi the eldest son of Hazrat Shah Kamal (RA), has no lineage. However, the other two sons have descendants. The descendants of Shah Jamaluddin Qureshi, the second son of Hazrat Shah Kamal (RA) in Shaharpara are known as the Six Clans of Shaharpara: We have heard from elders about Shah Shukur Uddin as the founder of Baglar Gushti, but in fact, Shah Zorif Uddin, father of Shah Shukur Uddin, was the founder of Bagla Gushti according to the family lineage, Shahjir Gushti the founder Shah Musi Mahmud aka Musa Uddin, Mullah Gushti the founder Muzaffar Khan aka Muzaffar Uddin, Sadardi the founder Sadar Uddin, Sheikhbadi the founder Baha Uddin, Sheikh Farid the founder Farid Uddin.
This clan of Shah Jamaluddin Qureshi consists of six gotras “clans” of Shaharpara known as their clans. The Shah Jamaluddin Qureshi’s clan can be traced back to the permanent settlement of Shaharpara Taluk during the reign of Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess of Cornwallis. Shaharpara had a small population or a handful of people for less than five centuries (478 years from 1315 to 1793).
The descendants of Shah Jamaluddin Qureshi, the second son of Hazrat Shah Kamal Quhafah (RA) are only six families numbering around 40 to 50 people. Shah Shukuruddin's family had only two members at the time of the Permanent Settlement. My overall impression is that there are more than 1,000 descendants of Shah Jamaluddin Qureshi, the second son of Hazrat Shah Kamal Quhafah (RA) in Shaharpara for 231 years from 1793 to 2024.
It was the duty of the descendants of Hazrat Shah Kamal (RA) to speak boldly about Islam and call people to accept the faith proclaimed by Muhammad (PBUH). Therefore, the legendary orthodox Muslim family of Shaharpara, without strong evidence, I assume that the descendants of Shah Jamaluddin Qureshi, the second son of Hazrat Shah Kamal (RA), went on evangelization to this region or to many places in Greater Sylhet and Assam.
Probably further away or perhaps across the border and then never returned to their homeland. They may have been in contact with the family in Shaharpara initially for a generation or two and then lost contact due to a generational gap. I think Shaharpara people are known for cousin or clan marriages and most of the marriages are between relatives due to the desire to have a big family. Within two centuries the family now numbered over 1000 members.
Another interesting fact about the only Dargah Mosque and Eidgah ground that has served the people of Shaharpara for more than six centuries. The historical ancient Mosque was built by Hazrat Shah Kamal (RA) and later rebuilt during the reign of the Mughal Empire. After 1993, it was demolished, and a new two-storied Mosque was built, and more space was added to the ground of the new Mosque. The old Mosque was single-storied, and the Mosque wall was approximately one metre wide.
The second Mosque at Shaharpara was built in the 20th century at Mirpur Mauza along with the madrasa of Hazrat Shah Kamal Quhafah (RA). Now in Greater Shaharpara, there are two Mosques in west Tilak, one in Lalar Chowk, one in Manihara, two in Nurainpur or Narainpur and one in Muftir Chowk making a total of nine mosques. May Allah (subhanahu wa ta'ala) shower His Divine Mercy and bestow His Grace upon the abode of Shaharpara, Ameen.
In 1781, a devastating flood hit the region, wiping out crops and killing a third of Sylhet's population. The Great Bengal Famine of 1770 was a famine that struck Bengal and Bihar between 1769 and 1770 affected about 30 million people and killed about 10 million. It happened during the period of dual rule in Bengal. Historians have criticized Clive's management of Bengal with the East India Company (EIC), particularly regarding responsibility for contributing to the Great Bengal Famine of 1770. The Company had military power and the right to collect and use the revenue of Bengal. This arrangement was known as the Dual Government.
The 1897 Assam earthquake occurred on 12 June 1897 in Assam, British India at 11:06 Coordinated Universal Time or UTC and had an estimated magnitude of 8.2–8.3. Sylhet is earthquake-prone and the Sylhet region has experienced many earthquakes in India since the pre-Sultanic era or the British rule from the Bengal Sultanate. Since the extensive earthquake damage from the Sultanate period to the British Raj was not adequately recorded. Therefore, I assume that there has been a lot of structural damage to the mosque as well as to the houses in Shaharpara and its surroundings.
Shah Muazzamuddin Qureshi, the youngest son of Hazrat Shah Kamal (RA), has the pedigree of Khadim Gushti alias Khadmor Gushti ‘clan’ and was a descendant of Shah Muazzamuddin Qureshi and the Khadmor Bari is the home of Shah Muazzamuddin Qureshi’s descendants. Shah Muazzamuddin Qureshi was born in the northern house of the Dargah (the authentic Khadmor's house) and later his family moved to the present Khadmor's house to the south of the Dargah.
Khadims (the servants in charge of the tomb) of that sublime monastery. Shah Muazzamuddin Qureshi’s mother was a local Hindu woman who converted to Islam under Hazrat Shah Kamal (RA) and later married this woman which was his second marriage as he needed someone to look after him due to his old age. Hazrat Shah Kamal (r.h.) (1291-1385) came to Shaharpara in June 1315 at the age of 24 with 12 disciples and his Arab wife. Probably his eldest son Shah Jalaluddin Qureshi who was known as Jalaluddin II was born in Sylhet. Because Hazrat Shah Kamal (RA) stayed with Hazrat Shah Jalal (RA) in Sylhet for two years from 1313 to 1315 June and Hazrat Shah Jalal (RA) named him.
The area they lived in was basically a cluster of islands in the waters called Ratnang. It came to be known as Shaharpara Footstep of Hazrat Shah Kamal (RA) or (Royal Neighbourhood) on the banks of Ratna River (River Ratna is a remnant of the erstwhile Ratna Sea). He lived a long life till the age of 94 years and had a son named Shah Muazzamuddin Qureshiby his native wife. From about 1355 to 2023 Muazzamuddin Qureshi's orthodox tribe had a population of about 60 to 65 people.
If I calculate, the descendants of Shah Jamaluddin Qureshi, the second son of Hazrat Shah Kamal (RA), had an average of eight family members out of six families, though two members belonged to the Shukur family. In Shaharpara from 1315 to 1793 the average number of eight members in six families was forty-eight. It is said that Baha Uddin and Sheikh Farid Uddin were brothers, and their cousin was Sadr Uddin. Currently, the Khadim or Khadmor Gushti consists of about 70 to 80 people from approximately 1355 to 2024 and has never been divided into sub-clans.
Kendriya Muslim Sahitya Sangsad (Sylhet Central Muslim Literary Society) is a literary organisation located in
Sylhet,
Bangladesh. It is one of the oldest organisations of its kind in the Indian sub-continent and the oldest in Bangladesh. It was founded on 16 September 1936 by
Muhammad Nurul Haque. It has the largest non-government collection of books, magazines, inscriptions etc. Some of them date back to the 13th century AD. The former presidents of the organisation include many writers, critics and poets from Sylhet such as
Syed Mujtaba Ali,
Dewan Mohammad Azraf and
Dilwar Khan.
According to the information provided by the inhabitants of Shaharpari and Patli, the descendants of Hazrat Shah Kamal (RA): Sylhet-Collection Central Muslim Literature Sangsad Al-Islam, Shah Jalal Sango Baisishtha-Ashone 1364 Bangla, Muharram 1377 Hijri, July-December 1957-AD. July 1957 information distributors: Shah Mohammad Akbar Ali Qureshi (Kamaly), Shah Abdur Rouf Qureshi (Kamali), Shah Atiqul Haque Kamaly, Abdus Samad Qureshi (Kamaly), Misbah Uddin Qureshi (Kamaly), Waris Uddin Qureshi (Kamali), from Shaharpara and from Patli Abdul Majid Qureshi (Kamaly) commonly known as Shah Abdul Majid Qureshi good name Moina Meah some historians record his name as Syed Abdul Majid Qureshi.
The only beloved daughter of Hazrat Shah Kamal-ud-Din (RA) was married in the city of Sylhet. The Mufti family of Sylhet claims descent from Hazrat Shah Kamal Uddin (RA). Descendants of Hazrat Shah Kamal Uddin (RA) also lived in Kurikiar. Residents of Shaharpara and Patli said: Who are the descendants of Hazrat Shah Kamaluddin (RA). They also said that Hazrat Shah Kamal Uddin (RA) was the sister's son of Hazrat Shah Jalal (RA) and they had a close relationship with a maternal uncle and maternal nephew. Hazrat Khwaja Burhanuddin Ketan (RA) father of Hazrat Shah Kamal Uddin (RA) was the brother-in-law of Hazrat Shah Jalal (RA) and his companion.
Hazrat Khwaja Burhanuddin Ketan (RA) was with Hazrat Shah Jalal (RA) at the beginning of his journey to Sylhet and was his Commander. Hazrat Shah Jalal Mujarrad (RA) conquered Sylhet in 1384 AD and Hazrat Shah Burhanuddin (RA) was his commander. Hazrat Fakir Shah Kamaluddin (RA) came to Sylhet in 1385 AD in search of his father Hazrat Shah Burhanuddin (RA). Historical sources referred: Hazrat Shah Jalal Yemeni (RA) conquered Sylhet in 1303 AD and Hazrat Shah Kamal (RA) came to Sylhet in 1313 AD with his Arab wife and nine disciples and then moved to Shaharpara in 1315 AD.
When Hazrat Shah Jalal Yemeni (RA) set out from Konya for the purpose of spreading Islam. He was accompanied by nine disciples, among whom Hazrat Shah Burhanuddin (RA), the father of Hazrat Shah Kamal Uddin (RA), deserves to be mentioned. Hazrat Shah Burhan Uddin (RA's) Rawaza “shrine” is located at Faringa Jura or Faringaura in Sylhet. There are more references in history: He has another shrine in Katalganj of Chittagong. Hazrat Shah Kamal Quhafah was a descendant of the first Caliph of Islam, Amir-ul-momineen, Hazrat Abu Bakr Al-Siddiq (Radi Allahu Anhu).
Hazrat Pir Shah Kamal (RA) was born in the Arabian Peninsula of Yemen. He was a descendant of Hazrat Abu Bakr (RA), the leader of the Quraish dynasty, Amirul Mu'minin Caliph. Another side of history is mentioned: He was born in Makkah, but historians on both sides mention that he was a descendant of Hazrat Abu Bakr (RA).
Hazrat Shah Kamal Quhafah (RA) came to Sylhet and took discipleship of Hazrat Shah Jalal (RA) later came to Shaharpara with his Arab wife and nine followers according to whom Satduari (seven doors) or Noduari (nine doors) was built in Dargah. The name Shaharpara derives from his first name Shah and the neighbourhood “para” from the footprints of Hazrat Shah Kamal Quhafah (RA). Although many believe that Shaharpara originated from Shah's residence (royal court or royal neighbourhood). It was then situated on the banks of the Ratna River, not far from Sylhet.
After he reached a place called Shahar Para in the Sunamganj subdivision and established it as the main centre of Tawhid propagation (Tawhid campaign). Tawhid is the religion's central and single most important concept, upon which a Muslim's entire religious adherence rests. Tawhid is the indivisible oneness concept of monotheism in Islam. Tawhid constitutes the foremost article of the Muslim profession of submission.
The first part of the shahada (the Islamic declaration of faith) is the declaration of belief in the oneness of Allah (SWT) “God”. To attribute divinity to anything or anyone else, is shirk – an unpardonable sin according to the Qur'an, unless repented afterwards. Muslims believe that the entirety of the Islamic teaching rests on the principle of Tawhid.
On the orders of Hazrat Shah Jalal (RA), Hazrat Shah Kamal (RA) along with his
nine disciples and his wife went to Shaharpara to preach Islam. The location was chosen as the area around Shaharpara was predominantly non-Muslim. Shaharpara was selected as the central place for the propagation of Islam in the Sunamganj subdivision.
Sunamganj and Habiganj became majority Muslims due to Hazrat Fakir Shah Kamaluddin (RA) and his descendants. Descendants of Hazrat Shah Kamal (RA) were the first to engage in religious education and propagation. After the four or five generations of Hazrat Shah Kamal Quhafah (RA), the descendants stopped preaching Islam when it became a business.
Pir and Murid: The path of Sufism starts when a student takes an oath of allegiance with a teacher called Bai'at or Bay'ah (Arabic word meaning "transaction") where he swears allegiance at the hands of his Pir and repents of all his previous sins. After that, the student is called a Murid (an Arabic word meaning committed one). From here, his batin (esoteric) journey starts.
The Central Muslim Sahitya Sangsad noted that the family of Hazrat Shah Kamal Uddin (RA) does not show family statuses like other descendants of Auliya families or Sufi saintly families and does not try to maintain their own tribal authenticity. They have no family pride; they do all kinds of work to earn a living and respect all kinds of work. They do not show any prejudice against people of different backgrounds.
Three sons of Hazrat Shah Kamal (RA) lived with him, and they lived in Shaharpara for the rest of their lives. All of them died in this village and their tombs are in Shaharpara. Shah Jalaluddin aka Boro Miyah, Shah Muazzamuddin aka Mayazla Miyah, Shah Jamaluddin aka Chhoto Miyah. His elder son Shah Jalaluddin was childless. Descendants of his second son Shah Muazzamuddin currently live in Shaharpara, Kurikiar and Patli “Qureshi Bari”. The descendants of Shah Jamaluddin, the youngest son of Hazrat Shah Kamal (RA), live around the Dargah of Hazrat Shah Kamal (RA) and their main house is Khadim Bari or Khadmor Bari. Their clan’s name is Khadim Gushti or Khadmor Gushti.
According to Nachab Nama (Nachab Nama is an Arabic word meaning lineage), of Hazrat Shah Kamal Uddin (RA), his eldest son Shah Jalal Uddin who was known as Baro Miyah was childless. The second son Shah Jamal Uddin who was known as Maiza Mia or Mayazla Miyah and his descendants are currently living in Shaharpara, Kurikiar and Patli Quraishi Bari or known as Qureshis of Patli. Descendants of the youngest son Shah Muazzam Uddin known as Chhoto Miyah live around the Dargah of Hazrat Shah Kamal (RA) and their main house is called Khadim Bari or Khadmor Bari. Their clan’s name is Khadim Gushti or Khadmor Gushti.
The Urs Mubarak (annual festival commemorating the death anniversary of a Sufi saint, usually held at the saint’s dargah (shrine or mausoleum)) of Hazrat Shah Kamal (RA) was used to attract people from all walks of life and from all surrounding districts. Urs falls on 11 Falgun of the Bengali calendar and the Gregorian equivalent of 24 February every year and lasts for three days. Urs Mubarak was organised with Fateha Khani (Fateha Khani for the deceased in the name Allah (SWT), the most Beneficent, the most Merciful) Quran recitation, Dhikr, Hamd-O-Naat, Islamic speeches, and prayers. Currently, Urs Mubarak has been stopped due to inappropriate behaviours in dance and song performances. The descendants of Hazrat Shah Kamaluddin (RA) were known as Qureshi and Kamaly.
Nine companions of Hazrat Shah Kamal stayed in Shaharpara for some time. Under the direction of Hazrat Shah Kamaluddin (RA), his disciples went to different places in Sylhet to spread Islam and all succeeded in the goal of monotheism in Islam. After completing the mission, they were ordered to marry local women and live with their families in the status of landlords. All the disciples of Hazrat Shah Jalal (RA) were given land to perpetuate Deen ‘religion’ education in East Bengal especially Greater Sylhet and parts of Assam.
This is why they sacrificed their lives for Da'wah ‘invitation’ and Tawhid (campaign). All their shrines are still located in the villages where they lived which glorify the Islam that came to Sylhet and are still remembered by the locals. Some of their Urs Mubarak are still celebrated and villages are named after them. Their families are still respected for their good deeds, and they never give priority to the superstitious beliefs held by the local people. Religious education is given priority in those areas where many religious institutions are located side by side.
The seven doors (Satduari) or the nine doors (Noduari) are variations of the
medieval prayer on which the disciples of Hazrat Shah Kamal Uddin (RA) meditated for eternal salvation. Satduari 'Seven Doors' or Noduari 'Nine Doors' commonly known as Satduwari is a medieval religious abode originally for sitting prayers and lying down for dhikr where Hazrat Shah Kamal (RA) meditated with his disciples for the eternal refuge of Allah (Subhanahu wa ta’ala). Dhikr, (Arabic: "to remind oneself" or "to mention") also spelt zikr, is a ritual prayer or litany practised by Muslim mystics (Sufis) with the goal of glorifying God and attaining spiritual perfection.
The north and south-facing medieval historical prayer places were built during the time of Hazrat Shah Kamal (RA). Historic medieval prayer spaces high enough for a person to sit and sleep resemble a tomb. When a Muslim dies, the feet are in the south and the head is in the north, towards the Kaaba in Mecca, the grave position is with the head north and the feet in the south, and the head is slightly turned to the right, facing west towards the Kaaba, which is called Uttarserana.
Hazrat Shah Kamal Uddin (RA) had a mother stone in the northeast corner of his shrine which gave birth and when the big stone grew to a certain size, it went into the Dighi (reservoir). Which is said to have belonged to Hazrat Shah Kamal (RA) since it was placed there. These stones grow larger every day as they change in size. In fact, the mother-stone stopped giving birth in the 80s after someone pushed it into the Maqam Pond and later, the person vomited blood occasionally and died. His name was Mosaddar Ali alias Mosaddar Molla, he grew up in the house of Mufti Chawk “Shahjirbari” and was a student of Asab Miah Hafiz Sahib.
Currently, five doors remain, and the rest have gone underground due to natural calamities. One side of the story: Some people with the idea of being pious or dervishes meditated on these thoughts and went underground with them. Another side of the story: Meditating people were saints and by the power of their meditation they went invisible or underground with those doors.
His original home was Patkura and later the family moved to Noagaon in Shaharpara. When Hafiz Sahib (who had memorized the entire Qur'an) moved with his family to their new home in West Tilak, south of the football field, he went with them. This black birthstone had seven permanent children, ranging in size from one to seven, and the baby stones were brighter in colour than their mother. Sometimes local children place similar stones near the seven permanent children (vamsa “lineage”).
But the colour of this stone was different from the colour of the birthstone clan. When the big one grows to a fixed size, it disappears at night and then a new one appears at the same time. This thing happens many times a year and has been for centuries. No one in the village witnessed the phenomenon of the invisible stone or its disappearance, nor the specific shape and size of this stone entity being found anywhere in the village.
One day in the 80's the birth-bearing stone was no longer in place and her seven child stones disappeared. Sometimes in the 80s when the water is re-drained to renovate the Maqam Pond, the exact mother stone was found and placed in its original place, but the heirloom stone was not found. After that event, the mother stone was placed as before, its earthen base was concreted, and a mesh wall of more than a foot of concrete was built around the mother stone. The next night, the mother-stone of roughly the same size followed the eastern direction towards Maqam Pond and broke the jali wall above the ground.
Maybe those rocks were levitated and then moved. After the incident of pushing the mother stone into the Maqam Pond, the mother stone stopped spawning. The mother stone used to drink milk, when the farmer's cow gave birth to her first calf, the first milk was fed to the mother stone before the farmer. The birthstone phenomenon was exceptional and miraculously gave birth to stone babies every month of the year for centuries and now it has stopped giving birth permanently.
Just to the northeast of the mother stone was a stone of Hazrat Shah Kamal (RA) on which Azaan was given. His disciples also gave the call to prayer and also on which was used for the praying rug by Hazrat Shah Kamal (RA). It is also heard from the older generation that when Hazrat Shah Kamal (RA) used to preach Islam during the flood season, he would take the stone with him and use the stone as a prayer mat while praying in the boat. There were footprints and handprints on the stone. Now almost four decades ago it was cemented in the same manner as the tomb. This stone was used for this purpose for about seven centuries, which is facing west towards the Holy Kaaba.
According to the descendants of Hazrat Shah Kamal (RA) of Shaharpara and Patli, compiled by Sylhet Central Muslim Literary Society in 1957: They also said that Hazrat Shah Jalal (RA) was the uncle of Hazrat Shah Kamal Uddin (RA) through his sister. For example, if Hazrat Shah Jalal (RA) was born in the early 1230s and his elder sister just before him. Hazrat Shah Kamal Quhafah (RA) was born in 1291 AD. His mother was the elder sister of Hazrat Shah Jalal (RA) who at the age of sixty gave birth to a child who was Hazrat Shah Kamal Uddin (RA) and had a daughter who was an elder to Hazrat Shah Kamal Uddin (RA).
They said Hazrat Shah Kamal Uddin (RA) was the maternal uncle of Hazrat Syed Shah Shamsuddin (RA) of Syedpur and Hazrat Syed Shah Tajuddin (RA) of Tajpur. But they did not mention the names of their brothers Hazrat Syed Shah Baharuddin (RA) and Hazrat Syed Shah Ruknuddin (RA) who were disciples of Hazrat Shah Kamal Uddin (RA) who came with him to Shaharpara. Their father was Hazrat Syed Alauddin (RA) who according to the descendants of Hazrat Shah Kamal (RA) was the companion and son-in-law of Hazrat Shah Jalal (RA) through his elder sister's elder daughter.
Hazrat Shah Jalal (RA)'s mother died when he was three months old, and his father died when he was five years old. He was brought up by his maternal uncle Hazrat Syed Ahmad Kabir (RA), the son of Hazrat Jalaluddin Surkh-Posh Bukhari (RA). According to historical sources and historians: Hazrat Shah Jalal (RA) was born in 1271 and had an elder sister who may have been the mother of Hazrat Shah Kamal Uddin (RA). The claim of the descendants of Hazrat Shah Kamal Uddin (RA).
According to other historical sources: Hazrat Shah Jalal (RA) met Hazrat Khwaja Gharib Nawaz Syed Moinuddin Hasan Chishti (RA) who died in 1236 AD. In fact, if Hazrat Shah Jalal (RA) met Hazrat Khwaja Syed Moinuddin Hasan Chishti (RA), it should have been in his childhood. His mother was the daughter of Hazrat Jalaluddin Surkh-Posh Bukhari (RA) who was born in 1190 and died in 1295 AD, a renowned Sufi saint of the subcontinent.
List of nine disciples of Hazrat Shah Kamal Uddin (RA): 1 Hazrat Shah Shamsuddin (RA) (Syedpur), 2
Hazrat Shah Tajuddin (RA) (Tajpur)
, 3 Hazrat Shah Bahauddin (RA) (Daudpur), 4 Hazrat Shah Jalaluddin (RA) (Qusipur or Quskipur), 5 Hazrat Shah Ruknuddin (RA) (Kadamhata), 6 Hazrat Shah Ziauddin (RA) (Bhadeshwar), 7 Hazrat Kala Manik (RA) (Manihara), 8 Hazrat Shah Kallu (RA) (Chandbharang), 9 Hazrat Shah Shamsuddin (RA) (Aatghar).
Other sources of historians mentioned that the names and numbers of the twelve followers of Hazrat Shah Kamal Quhafah (RA) are as follows: 1 Hazrat Pir Kallu Shah (RA) (Pirergaon) 2 Hazrat Shah Chand (RA) (Chandbharang), 3 Hazrat Dawar Bakhsh Khatib (RA) (Dawarshahi or Dawarai), 4 Hazrat Syed Zia Uddin (RA) (Mukan Bazaar also spelt Maqam Bazar), 5 Hazrat Shahamsuddin Bihari (RA) (Aatghar), 6 Hazrat Shah Faizullah (RA) Feizi or Fesi), 7 Hazrat Shah Jalaluddin (RA) (Qusipur or Quskipur), 8 Hazrat Shah Tajuddin (RA) (Tajpur) 9 Hazrat Syed Baharuddin (RA) (South Bhadeshwar Kura River near Maqambazar), 10 Hazrat Shah Ruknuddin (RA) (Kadamhata), 11 Hazrat Syed Shamsuddin (RA) (Syedpur) and 12 Hazrat Shah Manik (RA) (Manihara).
(Picture of the Sultan (King) Hazrat Shah Jalal shrine & mosque entrance after Friday Prayers, the national prehistory heritage sites of India, Persia, Arabs, Arabia, Saudi, Iran, Turkey, Northern Sudan, Ethiopia, Afghanistan, Lebanon, Iraq, Qatar, Jordan, Palestine, Djibouti, Egypt, United Arab Emirates, Somali, Arab, Arabian, Multan, Yemen, Turkish, Bangladesh, Manipur, Mongolia, Pakistan, Islamabad, Mehrgarh, Sindhi, Lahore, Kabul, Peshawar, Delhi, Karachi, Kashmir, Cachar, Russia, Odisha, Syria, Africa, Morocco, Maharashtra, China, Singapore, Calcutta, Hyderabad. Sindh, Brunei, Asia, Istanbul, Hadramawt, Islamic hero, Kachari, Medina in Dargah Mahallah Sylhet).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shah_Jalal
Hazrat Khwaja Shah Burhanuddin Qahtan (RA), led an expedition to Chittagong accompanied by Hazrat Shah Badruddin (RA) (Rahmatullahi Alaihi), under the instruction and leadership of the spiritual monarch Hazrat Makhdum Shah Jalal ad-Din al-Mujarrad (bachelor) bin Mahmoud al-Yemeni (rah) (Radi Allahu Ta'ala Anhu) (born king remains lifelong bachelor).
He was the son of a Muslim cleric, Hazrat Muhammad bin Ibrahim Qureshi (rah) (Radi Allahu Ta'ala Anhu), or Hazrat Shaykh Mahmoud bin Mohammed Ibrahim (RA), a member of the Quraish clan of Yemen, And his mother’s name was Fatima Saida (Saiyida also spelt Syeda) Haseena who was a descendant of the great Imam Hazrat Imam Hussain (RA) (Radi Allahu Anhu). His maternal uncle, Hazrat Saiyid Ahmad Kabir Suhrawardi (RA), nourished him on the milk of cattle.
Between the latter part of 1300 CE and 1765 CE, the present-day Sunamganj also spelt Sunamonj district was a part of Iqlim-e-Muazzamabad, i.e. the state of Muazzamabad in Eastern Bengal, which was an independent state until 1620 and, thereafter, it was conquered by the mighty Mughal of Delhi.
The last Sultan of Muazzamabad was Hamid Qureshi Khan, who was a descendant of Hazrat Shah Kamal Quhafah (RA) and he was widely known by his appellation of Shamsher Khan. After the fall of Jalalabad (present-day Sylhet), Shamsher Khan accepted the post of Nawab-cum-Fauzadar and remained so until his death at the Battle of Giria on 29 April 1740 along with Sarfaraz Khan, Nawab of Bengal.
The mint (processing money) at Muazzamabad minting started in 1358 and after some time it was also closed. At the beginning of the sixteenth century, Sultan Alauddin Husain Shah started this mint again and the last coin from this mint came out in 1532 during the rule of Alauddin Firuz Shah II successor and the son of Sultan Nasiruddin Nasrat Shah.
From the coins of this mint various words like Al Balad, Hazrat, Iqlim, etc., have been found from which it may be presumed that this town at one time was the provincial capital. It was under an administrator who was called Wazir or Sar-i Laskar. From the archaeological pieces of evidence, it is clear that Iqlim Muazzamabad contained the entire southwest of Sonargaon that extended to a portion of Tripura and Sylhet.
The last ruler of Muazzamabad, Abdul Hamid Qureshi or Hamid Khan Qureshi who was a descendant of Shah Kamal Quhafah, accepted the post of faujdar after Shukurullah. In August 1698, he earned the title of Shamsher Khan after assisting the Nawab of Bengal, Murshid Quli Khan, in defeating Rahim Khan Afghan in Chandrakona.
Shamsher Khan had 6 naibs; Shuja ad-Din (previous faujdar), Basharat Khan, Syed Rafiullah Hasni of Rafinagar, Muhammad Hasan and Mir Ilyas Khan. Shamsher was killed in 1740 in the Battle of Giria alongside the Nawab of Bengal, Sarfaraz Khan.
The subahdar had maintained a strong local government administered by a long chain of officers from the lowest grampradhan (village chief) and panchayat of the village to the faujdar of the district supported by an intermediate class of administrators called zamindar, taluqdar, thanadar, kazi, qanungo, amin, etc.
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(Shrines of Hazrat Shah Kamal Qahtan (RA) (Radi Allahu Ta'ala Anhu) the Dervish and the Wali of Allah (SWT), besides is his Arabian wife and behind him is his most beloved younger son Sultan Hazrat Shah Jamal-ud-Din Qureshi (RA) (Rahmatullahi Alaihi), commonly known as Choto Miyāh Sahib, the national historical heritage sites of Bangladesh, Sunamganj, Jagannathpur, Sudan, Balaganj, Malaysia, Osmani Nagar, Tahirpur, Bishwanath, MaulviBazar, Sreemangal, Jharkhand, Kashmir, Punjab, Yemen, Somalia, Malaysia, Cambodia, Golapganj, Birmingham, Burma, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Jakarta, Egyptians, Jamaica, Nigeria, Rome, Africa, Italy, Kachari kingdom, in Shaharpara proper from the 14th century CE).
In accordance with the Parganas system introduced by Murshid Quli Khan in 1722, Anwar khan claimed tenure of 28 Parganas of Muazzamabad, but his claim was rejected after an investigation by the revenue office, as these parganas belong to the posterity of Shah Muazzam Uddin Qureshi, who assumed the name of Muazzam Khan when he ascended the throne of Muazzamabad.
Hence, these 28 Parganas: Banshikunda (Vamshikunda), Ranadigha, Shelvarsh, Sukhaid, Bétaal, Palash, Laxmanshree, Chamtala, Pagla (Paragala), Dohaliya, Bazu Jatua, Sinchapaid, Shafahar (Shaharpara), Sik Sonaita (Sonaita), Atuajan (Atuajahan), Aagaon, Kuwazpur, Joar Baniachung, Kasba Baniachung, Jalsuka, Bithangal, Joanshahi, Mudaikaid (Mudaikaid), Kuresha, Jantari (Yantri), Haveli Sonaita, Satar Sati and Paikuda, were allotted to new landholders that created numerous zamindars and taluqdars in former Muazzamabad (districts of Sunamganj and Habiganj).
The history of the battle between Anwar Khan and his brother Hussain Khan (Bara Bhuiyans of Baniachong) with the Mughal army in the first decade of the seventeen century is found in the Baharistan-i-Ghaibi by Mirza Nathan. The author of the Baharistan is 'Ala'u-Din Isfahan! alias Mirza Nathan, a contemporary Mughal general, who took a leading part in all the campaigns in Bengal and Assam during the reign of Jahangir and also in the rebellion of Shah Jahan during his temporary occupation of Bengal. The author adopted the name takhallus or the pseudonym of Ghaybi (invisible) and hence the work is named Baharistan-i-Ghaybi. He is also known as Shitab Khan, a title conferred upon him by the emperor Jahangir in recognition of his splendid services rendered in North-Eastern India for the expedition of the Mughal Empire. His father's name was Malik Ali also known as Ihtimam Khan was a commander of 250 horses during the reign of Akbar. Baharistan-i-Ghaybi is a history of the Mughal wars in Assam, Cooch Behar, Bengal, Bihar and Orissa during the reigns of Jahangir and Shah Jahan.
Zamindars of Baniachung were renowned for their generosity, but the last zamindar was more than generous; he was well known for his gullibility and his aged but adept and calculating servants such as dewans and chaudharies swindled him left, right and centre. By the time of retirement, dewans and chauddharies working for Banyachung Zamindar ended up holding more lands than the Zamindar himself.
(Picture of Shah Kamal mosque (place of worship) where the Soil matched then he built the first Khanqah, mosque & Eidgah in the early 14th century CE, in Shaharpara proper the national prehistorical heritage sites of Sufism, Sufi, saints, Islam, Odisha, India, Persia, Australia. Al Madinah, Arab, Bangladesh, Russians, Moscow, Australia, Philippines, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, Tripura, Agartala, Bihar, Patna, Chunarughat in Shaharpara proper).
This was achieved through a severance scheme conjured up by a shrewd dewan; this scheme made the zamindar honour-bound to grant land (taluque) to his servants on retirement and there were two categories of taluqdar: (i) Khaisa and (ii) Mujrahi, aka Mujrai. The first category of taluque, i.e. Khalisa, was reserved for the male servants and the second category of taluque, i.e. Mujrai, was reserved for zamindar's courtesans. This scheme ruined the zamindary of Baniyachung within a very short span of time and created numerous Khalisadar and Mujraidar in the region, who nowadays style themselves as Chowdhury in the Sylhet region.
(An imagining of Hazrat Abu Bakr Siddiq (RA) stopping the Meccan Mob, in a Turkish miniature from the 16th century CE).
Muazzamabad sees mint towns (medieval)
Rare silver tanka of Sikandar Shah 1 (1353-1389 AD), coin of Muazzamabad
Through Hazrat Abdur Rahman ibn Abi Bakr, who was the eldest son of Hazrat Abu Bakr (RA) (may Allah be pleased with him). Lineage and Title of Abu Bakr's full name were 'Abd Allah ibn 'Uthman ibn Aamir ibn Amr ibn Ka'ab ibn Sa'ad ibn Taym (from whom the at-Taymi al-Quraishi) ibn Murrah ibn Ka'ab ibn Lu'ai ibn Ghalib ibn Fihr al-Quraishi.[6] In Arabic, the name 'Abd Allah' means "servant of Allah". One of his early titles, preceding his conversion to Islam, was atiqe, "the saved one". Muhammad later reaffirmed this title when he said that Abu Bakr is the 'atiqe' (the one saved from hellfire by God).[7] He was called 'Al-Siddiq' (the truthful')[2] by Muhammad after he believed him in the event of Isra and Mi'raj when other people didn't, and Ali confirmed that title several times.[8]
He was mentioned in the Quran as the "second of the two who lay in the cave" in reference to the event of hijra, with Muhammad where they hid in the cave in Jabal Thawr from the Meccan search party that was sent after them, thus being one of few who was given the direct reference to in the Quran.[9]
Another aspect of history mentioned by historians: The posterity of Hazrat Shah Kamal Qahtan (RA) (Radi Allahu Ta'ala Anhu), has mainly extended to five legendary families or tribes of Jagannathpur, Sunamganj, Sylhet, Bangladesh and Shaharpara has three families one of which is known as Mullah family commonly known as Mullah Goshty descended from Sultan Shah Jalal-ud-Din Qureshi who was chief justice of Muazzamabad. Mullah means theologian or cleric and Mullahbadi was the home of scholars of the State of Muazzamabad. Shahjir Goshti descended from Sultan Shah Muazzam-ud-Din Qureshi. ''Shah'' means King and ji is a postfix indicating respect; therefore, Shah + ji = Shahji and Shahjibadi was the home of the reigning king (Sultan) of Muazzamabad. Baglar family commonly known as Bogla Goshti or Baglar Goshti descended from Sultan Shah Jamal-ud-Din Qureshi who was commander-in-chief and also was a chief chancellor. ''Baglar'' means wealth jewel or treasure or financial centre of Muazzamabad. (Picture of Mirpur Shah Kamal Islamia Madrasah or Jamia Rahmania Hazrat Shah Kamal (RA) Madrasah of Shaharpara the national historical heritage sites of Derai, Chhatak, Jharkhand, Assam, Guwahati, Dispur, Silchar, Karimganj, Tripura, Pandua, Mumbai, Jharkhand, Agra, Ajmiriganj, Cachar, Azimabad, Kabul, Rajasthan, Maharashtra in Shaharpara). Baglarbadi (the Indians used to pronounce their "d's" as "r's" however when the word began with "D" they pronounced it whereas the Bengalis pronounce it as "bari") was the home of the treasury of Muazzamabad. The Qureshi family in Patli was established by Hazrat Mawlānā Shah Shams-ud-Din Qureshi (RA) (Rahmatullahi Alaihi) or Hazrat Maulana Shah Shams Uddin Qureshi offspring of Hazrat Shah Jalal-ud-Din Qureshi (RA) they are commonly known as Qureshis of Patli and Hazrat Mawlānā Shah Zia-ud-Din Qureshi mufti (RA) (Rahmatullahi Alaihi), or Hazrat Maulana Shah Zia Uddin mufti who established the Mufti family in Dargah Mahallah they are commonly known as Mufti of Sylhet they are the pedigree of Sultan Shah Jalal-ud-Din Qureshi.
(The original Mausoleum was destroyed by the historical flood and earthquake of 1897 CE, by the Sultan of aqli-e-mua'zzam abad or Iqlim-i-Muazzamabad (largest state), which also damaged the ancient establishment of Shaharpara. Muslim meaning of grave or graveyard is the everlasting home address. The shrine of Sultan Hazrat Shah Moazzam-ud-Din Qureshi (RA) (Rahmatullahi Alaihi), on the bank of Bhuiyair-barir Kal or Khal. Bhuiya (lord of the soil or land-lords) ir (belongs) Barir (home) Kal or Khal (canal), Bhuiyair-barir Kal, from the end of the 14th century CE. The Bhuyarbari was the revenue collection office of the State of Muazzamabad. Muftirchawk or Muftir Chowk was an estate where muftis (lawyers) of Muazzamabad residents and then after the fall of Muazzamabad it was given to Mufti Da'eem Uddin Qureshi also spelt Mufti Dayeem Uddin Qureshi of Mullahgoshti whose elder son, Maulana Shah Zia-ud-Din Qureshi or Maulana Zia Uddin Qureshi of Dargah Mahalla, was a philanthropist, who founded the very first school in Sylhet. Later Shahzirgoshti bought the estate of Muftir Chawk and now some of their clan members are lives there. Mufti (interpreter of Muslim law) r (belongs) Chawk (Isle) ''mufti) means Jurist and Muftir Chawk was the home of lawyers of the Muazzamabad, on the bank of Bhuiyair-barir Khal (presently the geography change and the canal transformed into a road approximately after seven hundred years later at the beginning of twenty-first-century links to Raj-ails road also called Shah Kamal Road or Mukam Road or Dargah Sharif Road off Syedpur Shaharpara union National Road). The administrator of (Iqlim-e-muazzamabad) of Sunamganj Sylhet, the national historical heritage sites of ancient Jagannathpur, ancient Sylhet, ancient Sunamganj, ancient Assam, ancient Tripura, ancient India, ancient Arabs, ancient Persia, ancient Afghans, Afghanistan, Indian subcontinent in Shaharpara Muftir)
In an eclectic thought, the clan members formed very distinguished families known as Kamalies of Shaharpara, Qureshi of Pati and Mufti of Sylhet. Qureshi. Quraishi. Khwaja. Shah. Siddiqui. mufti and Kamaly or Kamali are their Surnames variably used by the descendants of Hazrat Shah Kamal Qahtan (RA) ancestor of Shaharpara.
Kamaly also spelt Kamali is the most recent title in the early twentieth century which was made for bringing the posterity of Hazrat Shah Kamal (RA) Sahib under one title after the death of Danis Sarang or Danis Serang at Sarang-bari also spelt Serang-bari or Sharong-bari on forty Days Shinni. Approximately around 1916 AD, Akbar Ali (master) was born 1902-1985-and was a student from School-bari- proposed the title Kamaly (or Kamali). In Shaharpara no one uses any titles, but they do use the clan names for their acquaintance. Atiqur Rahman Kamaly, the son of Jahir Ali's master, was one of the first Kamaly title users from 'School Bari'. He worked for the Government of East Pakistan office and later for the Government of Bangladesh office and graduated from Dhaka University. before 1916, no one in Shaharpara used any tiles like Kamaly. Instead, they were recognised by their clan names.
(Picture of Shah Kamal Eidgah (place for Eid Prayer) from the early 14th century CE, the national historical heritage sites of Shaharpara, Bhadeswar, Noakhali, Jessore, Comilla, Jordan, Istanbul, Bahrain, Mecca, Medina, Saudi Arabia, Arab, Ajmer, Bombay, Islamabad, in Shaharpara proper).
The reigning Sultan of "Muazzamabad" Hazrat Shah Muazzam-ud-Din Qureshi's residential home "Shahjirbari" was the home of the king where the noble family originated from the early fourteenth century. Shahzirbari which is the residential home of "Shahjirgosti" is derived which is also from the clan name.
The northern part of "Shahjirbari" is called "Mullahbari" and was the home of many theologians, clerics, jurists and scholars of the "Muazzamabad" state from which is the residential home "Mullahgosti" the name is derived which is also the clan name. The Eastern side of Mullah-bari is a Minza-bari minza (mint) bari (home) which was the home of mint: a place where the money minted was coined, the mint city of Muazzamabad which is located in Kamalshahi, the capital of Muazzamabad.
The southern area "Baglarbari" was the financial centre of the "Muazzamabad" state. East of Baglarbari there was a Boro (big) Bazaar and on the opposite of Boro Bazaar, there was Bhuiyar-bari which was the revenue collection office of Muazzamabad. The first parts (seven fathers is equal to one part of a family) of the noble family moved to the residence in the early fourteenth century "Boglabari" and the name is derived from its residential home "Baglargosti" being the clan of treasury home of "Muazzamabad".
The history of Shaharpara is similar to the clan of the Quraysh tribe the tribes of Arabia. The second parting and separation of the noble family were approximately between the late fifteenth to the early sixteenth centuries. The family was now divided. Later the noble family extended from "Shahjirbari" to "Mufftir Chawk" (isle of lawyers of Muazzamabad) in Shaharpara between the late fifteenth to sixteenth centuries. From "Mullahgosty" part of the family moved to Sylhet they are known as Muftis of Sylhet. The Mullahgosti extended to the Qureshi family of Patli in the late eighteenth century.
Once more the noble Baglar family split into three more parts; one part of the family moved to the west of "Boglabari" (two) in the early eighteenth century which is the Land of Mirpur Mouza. The second part of the family moved to Mirpur Mouza of Shaharpara Pargana. Mirpur mouza is derived from its founder Mir Khan minister of Muazzamabad state.
Commander-in-chief Paragal Khan son of Sufi & commander Shahrasti or Shah Rasti Khan or Rasti Shah Khan or Rasti Khan also was the Administrator of Chittagong (Majlish-i-Ala) during the reign of Ruknuddin barbak shah (1459-1474). Paragal Khan from jagirdar bari (home) A jagir (Devanagari : जागीर, Persian : جاگیر, ja- meaning "place", -gir meaning "keeping, holding") A jagir was technically a feudal life estate, as the grant lawfully reverted to the monarch upon the feudal superior's death. However, in practice, jagirs became hereditary by primogeniture.
The recipient of the jagir (termed a jagirdar) was the de facto ruler of the territory and was able to earn income from tax revenues and had magisterial authority. The jagirdar would typically reside in the capital to serve as a Minister, typically appearing twice a day before the monarch. Jaghire (or Jagheer): An assignment of the government share of the produce of a portion of land to an individual, generally for military services.
Baglar Bari is my ancestral house built in the early fourteenth century to the south of the Jagirdar Bari to the southwest of Mirpur Mauza. Feudal lord Paragal Khan also spelt Poragol Khan abducted a princess with his wind's speed horse (poboner ghura) from "Lau'rh" or "Laur Kingdom". Once the Baniachang town was the capital of the ancient Lour Kingdom. Laur (Loud or Lour) or Lau'rh kingdom in the Sunamganj, subdivision of Shrihatta district in Eastern Bengal, to marriage.
(Picture caption of a mass grave of Paragal Khan included his eighteen sons, immediately west of Hazrat Shah Kamal Mosque, photographs were taken from the angle of the southwest corner side of the grave and the northern side is Saatduaree (seven doors) or Nayduaree (nine doors) for meditation nowadays five doors left and two or four doors sank into the ground and northern side Dargah Sharif of Hazrat Shah Kamal (RA) Sahib in Shaharpara. Saathduari or Nayduari were built in the late medieval period by Hazrat Shah Kamal (RA) Sahib beside the Khangah (Sufi Hospice).
Folklore of Paragal Khan married a Ragkoshni (cannibalism of Devil woman) in the greater area of Shaharpara in Silhat of Assam province in India.
The ruler of north-eastern Bengal Muazzamabad (present-day Sunamganj) and south-eastern Bengal (present-day Chittagong). Paragal Khan at the end of the fifteenth century went deer hunting in the jungle of Langla in Silhat (present-day Sylhet Division). He started the journey from his homeland “Shaharpara” Sunamganj Subdivision of Sylhet which was from 1874 to1947 under the constitutions of Assam province in India.
The journey was done by the royal boat and accompanied by many rowers as well as his bodyguards with many of his best archers. When they arrived in the jungle of Langla the ruler of Eastern Bengal (Paragal Khan) was wandering, around the jungle for deer when he saw a beautiful mature young woman. She looked almost naked just covering the front part of her body with long hair. She was sitting down under tree shades and crying tears of sadness.
He was shocked to see a woman in that manner so he quickly gave his headdress or turban or Pagri (an eighteen-foot-long cloth wrapped around the head of a man) to cover her private parts of the body morally. She said "Thank you for the moral support. I have been wandering around to escape from this accursed jungle since my childhood.” Then Paragal Khan asked her“Why are you here in the first place?” She said “I don’t know, all I knew was I came to the picnic with my parent when I was a little girl and got lost which separated me from my family.
Since then, I have been out of contact with mankind and got lost from the civilised society of the human world.” Paragal Khan said, “Would you go if someone asked you to take you to his home?” She replied “I have been waiting for somebody just like you and wishing for a very long time for that Day to come. As if someone rescues me back to the humanised world.” Paragal Khan commanded his people to start the journey back home to Shaharpara. Instead of deer hunting, he hunted a very pretty young woman. Paragal Khan introduces the gorgeous young woman to his mum and explains the situation.
The mother was astonished by her beauty of charms as well as the sadness of her sorrow so she proudly pronounces her daughter and decided to make her daughter-in-law. By the conclusion of his mother, he was overwhelmed and happily got married to the beautiful princess of the Langla jungle. Now the greater area of Shaharpara loses its livestock Day by Day: Goats, Sheep, Cows, Buffalos, Horses and elephants are also missing. Behind their back garden where they throw the garbage and extra food, every day was also a clean place, the west side of the home.
In the monsoon (a rainy season) the mother-in-law asks her sweet gorgeous daughter-in-law to wash clean and pile up the betel leaves and also she said: “asks the servant to bring the banana leaves to wrap the betel leaves (paan).” Just as she was turning her back she saw in the blink of an eye, the extended hand of the daughter-in-law going through the window (janala) to fetch the banana leaf within a few seconds. After the glimpse, she didn't look back or say anything to the daughter-in-law but she mentioned that to Paragal Khan. The following night Paragal Khan pretended he was sleeping like any other night. Around midnight she woke up and started checking on him to find out if he was sleeping or not.
Then she took the bodna or lota (water pot for anal cleansing) pretending she was going to the loo and opened the main back door. He secretly starts following her, she looks back and around to see if anyone is watching her from behind or from a far distance. Once she leaves the verandah to the back courtyard, she starts growing taller and taller. Once she’s away from the back courtyard outside of the west home border going away to the field. The beauty became a devil woman and almost as tall as a mature Palm tree. He quietly watched the act of the devil from his home border.
The hungry terrifying evil woman began to hunt in the middle of the animals’ grazing field by the periphery of their west-side home. The devil found a water buffalo which she tortured and ate alive including the bones within a few minutes and after that went to search for more animals. After he watched the event in horror, he quickly came back home and pretended to be the way he had been sleeping before. When the devil's stomach was full of food then she transformed into a normal woman and returned home with the bodna (water pot for anal cleansing) and went to sleep very quickly.
Paragal Khan couldn't go to sleep, he kept thinking of what happened, so she was the one who caused the missing animals from the greater area of Shaharpara. But she’s also pregnant, what will happen to the unborn baby? How could he solve this matter and save the family from cannibalism? In the morning finally, he came up with the idea to solve the problem he created himself. She woke up in the morning and saw Paragal Khan wasn't in the room he was having breakfast by the Ghat (series of steps linked to deeper water) by the front pond east side of his home but he had a sad expression on his face.
When she gave a beautiful smile to her loving husband and said: “Why are you looking sad?” Nearby the pond has Mir Kha Dighi or Mir Khan Dighi (Mir Kha pond) where the canal connects to Ratna Nodi (Ratna River) the bank was full of seasonal floodwater over the flowing. The rowing boats are extremely busy everywhere with their daily routine carrying passengers and goods. The newer marriage relations are going to each other homes with the gift of seasonal fruits and forms of sweets. At one stage Paragal Khan showed his wife the celestial emotion of visiting in-laws' homes and mentioned the tradition of getting the gift of seasonal fruits from the in-law's house. She said thus not a problem but we still can go to the place where you found me under a tree shade.
Paragal Khan became happy and said let’s not waste time anymore and do the preparation for tomorrow’s journey. Paragal Khan was very happy: singing, dancing and partying all the way till nightfall. Never let her go to sleep and kept her awake throughout the night. This time the paragal khan took his best royal racing boat and got double the crew for rowing and extra archers. The journey started in the early morning. Paragal Khan was very happy to tell some jokes to his loving wife so that it kept her amused until they reached the destination. She was very tired of partying, it had been one night for which she didn't sleep and also she had been pregnant for some months.
When he took her to the same place where he found her, she was very excited and happy so they sat down together under the shade of the tree. She straight away went to sleep on his thigh then he slowly lifted her head and took off his headdress and softly put it under her head. She had a very comfortable sleep which he took advantage of. As quickly as possible he went to the boat. Then he ordered his men to start rowing the boat as fast as they could. Minutes later she woke up and saw Paragal Khan was not there and the boat had gone far away.
She extended her magical hand but, could not reach the boat for a few inches. The devil got very angry and upsettingly said to Paragal Khan "You are very lucky to escape from me this time I could not finish you, but take your half baby” which she delivered herself and threw near their boat. They couldn't bring half of the baby because the boat was full of speed and couldn't stop instantly. But they all survived the huge mouth of the Ragkoshni (devil-woman) of the Langla jungle.
There is an ancient Bengali song composed between 1515 to 1519 by the late medieval poet Kavindra Parameshwar Das based on the history of Sultan Alauddin Husain Shah and his general Paragal Khan which was the golden age of Hussain Shah.
According to the chronicle of Tripura, Rajmala, Hussain Shah's four successive invasions did not succeed fully in their objectives. The first was a complete failure. The second conquered Comilla and proceeded inside Tripura, but the invading army was destroyed while crossing the Gomati River through a stratagem by the Tippera general, Rai Chai Chan, who had dammed the river upstream, therefore blocking the flow of water to the lower reaches.
When the invaders, deceived by the dry riverbed, tried to cross it on foot, he had the dyke cut, and the invaders were washed away with their horses and weapons by the onrush of the floodwaters. That there might have been some success is hinted at in the description of one Khwas Khan in Hussain Shah’s Sonargaon inscription (1513) as Sar-i-Lashkar (commander of Forces) in Tripura, Rajmala also refers to a number of instances when the Tripura forces applied witcraft to the discomfiture of the invaders.
The third expedition also met with failure. The final expedition ended in a victory against the Tripura forces led by King Dhanya Manikya at the Kali fort, but this was also a limited success. Hussain Shah retained control over the approach to Chittagong but did not succeed in his overall objective of conquering Tripura, despite some words in the Sonargaon inscription suggesting some sort of annexation of the Tripura area. As the Kingdom of Arakan had helped the King of Tripura in the closing phases of the war, the war with Tripura inevitably led to a war with Arakan.
Initially, Arakan forces had come and occupied Chittagong. In the year 1513 the Bengal army, led by Paragal Khan, advanced along the Feni River and tried to dislodge the Arakan forces. But this proved to be a long-drawn campaign that continued even after Paragal, under the leadership of his son Chhutti Khan. Chhutti captured Chittagong and could drive out the Arakanese only around 1516. According to Barrows, a contemporary Portuguese writer, Arakan became the vassal Kingdom of Bengal, although this could only have been for a very brief period.
Hussain Shah's reign, a glorious epoch in Bengal's history, came to an end shortly after the reconquest of Chittagong around 1519. He had not only restored peace in the Kingdom after years of lawlessness but also consolidated the traditional frontiers of Bengal and even extended them in several directions. His reign was marked by almost continuous fighting with the neighbouring Kingdoms in all directions, but most of these wars were fought beyond the frontiers of Bengal. Therefore, the conditions inside the Kingdom were generally peaceful.
Husain Shah is also a memorable figure in history because he treated his Muslim and Hindu subjects alike and, like Akbar, tried to create a national monarchy to which all sections of the population showed loyalty. Many Hindus like Roop and Sanatan, who became Chaitanya's disciples, were appointed to high offices in the government, including the post of wazir. That the Hindus also gave him complete loyalty is illustrated by a Vaishnava poet’s description of Hussain Shah as an incarnation of Lord Krishna.
Some historians have tried to underplay the secular character of Hussain Shah’s administration by dwelling on his destruction Orissa, but this was essentially the habit of all medieval generals while attacking another land, and there was no personal involvement of Hussain Shah himself. It was during his reign that the great saint Chaitanya preached Vaishnavism, which created an intense movement of bhakti in Bengal and drew followers from many sources into it, some of them Muslims.
This was also the first great age of Bengali literature and the fact that so many poets and scholars produced important works in Bengali during the reign of Husain Shah and his son, Nusrat Shah, would clearly indicate that the state patronised such activities and created conditional where such creative activities could flourish. In some instances, a few qazis objected to samkirtan (public chanting) and the procession of idols by Hindus is of lesser consequence than the fact that the government officials, in general, did not put a restriction on these activities at Nabadwip and other towns and that some Muslim officials even patronised and participated in samkirtans.
Above all, the literature in Bengali had many adulatory references to Husain Shah. All aspects of his rule taken together, this was a great golden age for Bengal, the first such age after Bengal as such had emerged in history, shorn of the earlier name ‘Gaur’, and with a distinct cultural and racial identity and a common language for Bengalee people. The following verse from Parameshwar's Mahabharata is a self-evident testimony to contemporary Hindu attitudes to Hussain Shah:
Nripati Hussain Shah hai mahamati
Pancham Gaurete jar parama sukhyati
Ashtra shastre supandit mahima apar
Tar hok senapati Hasanta Laskar
Suvarna basan paila ashwa bayugati
Lashkari bishaya pai aibanta chalia
Chatigrame chali gela harashita haiya
Putra pautre rajya kare Khan mahamati
puran shunante niti harashita mati
(King Hussain Shah is of a noble mind.
His great fame spreads All over Gaur.
Well-versed in weaponry, his achievements are infinite.
He is the incarnation of Krishna in the Kali era.
King Hussain is the lord of Gaur.
His commander Hasant Lashkar Paragal Khan has a great mind.
He was gifted a golden dress and his horse was of wind's speed.
Lashkar having recovered his possession moved on and arrived at Chittagong in a cheerful mood. The great Khan ruled the kingdom with sons and grandsons listening gladly to the Puranas).
The lyricist Kavindra Parameshwar wrote an abridged version of the Mahabharata. He is not the original author, but his version contains 18 chapters of the original Mahabharata. The reason he made his version shorter was because of that he was instructed by his patron (Paragal Khan) to shorten it so that it was able to be read within a day. The version of the epic was written from the time period 1515-1519.
Paragal Khan was a faithful and successful commander. Husain Shah appointed him ruler of Chittagong after he had recovered it from the Maghs. Paragal Khan was known for his kindness to people and animals. He dug many reservoirs in Jagannathpur and Shaharpara for water purification. He also dug a reservoir called Kawadighi so that crows and other animals could drink the water by eating the rotting carcasses. Mirpur Mauza had a designated area where dead animals were dumped, and this specific area was on the eastern bank of the Kawadighi. Paragal Khan was fond of crows, so he named the reservoir “Kawadighi” after the crow.
The most beautiful virtue of Sujood is being close to Allah (SWT). And one of the best deaths in Islam is when you die while performing Sajda. Do you know how many prophets died in Sujood out of 124,000 prophets of Allah (SWT)? Unfortunately, there is not much information available that explains the deaths of prophets. We don’t even fully know about the death of the 25 prophets mentioned in the Holy Quran. However, several sources mention the following two prophets of Allah (SWT) who died in Sujood, are Prophet Ibrahim (AS) and Prophet Dawud (AS).
Then moved from Baglarbari to Mirpur east of Khanbari or Khabari or Kharbari which is located southern bank of Mirkha Dhigi (where the clan of Paragal Khan lived). Which was the inheritance home on the maternal side "Khanbari" Mirpur Mouza of Shaharpara Pargana in the early nineteenth century where situated Post Office of Shaharpara. Some members of the second part of the family from the inherited home moved to "Kholabari" or "Postofficebari" or "Dakbari" which was bought from Kala Miah or Somai or Somoi Sarang. All my brothers and cousins used to call him Kala Sasa (because his complexion was black) from "Baglarbari" stepbrother of Khalil Sarang aka Kolilul Hoque (in Bengali captain and in English is a foreman 'boatswain') and Jalil Sarang aka Muktar Sarang. They were sons of Mohammed Batir aka Batir Sarang from "Schoolbari" and then the family moved to Kubajpur and Algram in Jagannathpur, under the Pargana of Kuwazpur which is the Pargana of Kuwaz Khan or Khawas Khan the Minister or the ruler of Muazzamabad State from Shaharpara.
The location of "Postofficebari" or "Kholabari" is the west riverbank of Ratna Nodi just west of "Sharongbari" and north of "Schoolbari" between the home of "Shahjirgosty" in the early twentieth century. The home was extended by the addition of approximately two acres of land newly created from the paddy field of Mirpur Mouza just west of their original home at the beginning of the twenty-first century. During the mid-twentieth century another member of the family from the inherited home moved to "Shodarbari" of Mirpur Mouza who was a postmaster.
The third part of the family, Muhammad Danis who was commonly known as Danish Sarang his maternal side from Patli and his first marriage was arranged in the "Shahjirgosty" with Momina Khanum
also commonly known as Maharani who used firearms and his second marriage was with a Kolikatian woman. Maharani was also a judge of a village court (Shalish) in the absence of Danis Sarang. School-bari had the last Cachari Ghor (village courthouse) of Shaharpara. Who moved the first part of the family to "Sharongbari" this was a new home built from the west Tilak Paddy field called Kunabone of Shaharpara approximately seven acres of land area where the first part of the family. Keyasot Sarang (the leader of the crew) and Konu Miah Sarang (the leader of the crew in the merchant ship) lived. The brothers extended family lived in the main Baglar Bari and about one hundred meters west of Baglabari where another Baglar Bari also called Baglar Bari Two. Baglar Bari Three was located on the west riverbank of Ratna Nodi in the Mirpur Mouza in the greater Shaharpara they moved at the end of the twentieth century from Baglar Bari Two.
Since the early twentieth century, Muckter Ali Sarang, one of the men of School Bari has had an extended family in Calcutta (Paschim Bangla 'West Bengal'). An additional house-ground was built on about two acres of land in the southern part of School Bari just west of Shaharpara Bazar from the Paddy fields of Rasulpur Mouza. For the Kolkata family, it was the immediate aftermath of the Bangladesh War of Independence.
They never came back from Calcutta to live in that house-ground. Once after the war, Akhtar Hussain (Muckter Ali Sarang's second son) came to see us and to know if we had survived the Bangladesh Liberation War. Muckter Ali aka Abdul Jolil was a Sarang who had three children from his Kolkatian wife namely: Gulzar Hussain aka Koyrul Hussain the elder son, Akhtar Hussain the younger son, and the daughter Guljan Bibi. He had two sons from his first marriage, named Md Alta Hussain Kamaly the elder and Md Alhuq Hussain Kamaly the younger. Muckter Ali Sarang survived World War II while carrying food on a ship bound for Great Britain.
Mohammad Akbar Ali Master also spelt Akbor Ali, born in 1902-1985, was a prominent primary school teacher who started teaching at his family-funded primary school in Shaharpara Rasulpur Mouza on the grounds of School Bari. He started teaching when he was sixteen after he finished class X 'ten' in Tripura Kailashahar High School, where he had walked 2 days to get there after his vacation.
He had to walk for two days to get there. Between the two days, he had to stay at someone's house at night if the owner of the house generously allowed him to stay for a night. One of the nights, he had to stay at someone’s storage house where straws were kept for animal food. Usually, these sorts of barn houses are without doors and at night wild animals live there such as cats, foxes, snakes, and dogs these are hazardous places for humans to spend a night, and where he had to stay by himself alone for the sake of his school.
Once for an adventure with his younger cousin brother Khalil Sarang, he went to see Sylhet town, where he stayed in a hotel in Sylhet in which he slept on hay straws (sack straw) instead of a mattress built on top of the soil, underneath the pati or shital pati, a kind of mat originated in Bangladesh, duvet (raajai) and bedsheet (Palpatine) which was the most expensive bedding at that time. Other people slept on the ground with the hay in the same room.
He would also encounter monkey attacks while going to school so he used sand to scare them away. He would wait for other people to come so they could all gather together and cross the road which was hazardous because of the monkeys, which was in the district of the Indian state of Assam. He retired at the age of sixty-five after 48 years of teaching.
The Shaharpara Government Primary School. It was first established by the educator Jahir Ali Master of School Bari in 1918 with the assistance of learned elders of Shahapara village and financed and admin with aid from his family, he set up this institution within the grounds of School-bari to meet the very much needed primary educational needs of the residents of Shahapara village and immediate geographic belt.
At the time of its foundation, this schoolbari (name of the house) was the first academic establishment endowed by a Muslim in this area. it served to make primary education accessible to all in this community and helped to significantly elevate their academic standards and achievements within this region. Jahir Ali Master went to Calcutta and passed his entrance examination (matriculation examination) he was the first entrance achiever in the area.
Shah Hajir Mohammad had three sons and died when his youngest son was in secondary school. The eldest was named Shah Mohammad Ashim and was also a Sarang, the second son was called Shah Mohammed Batir who was a Sarang too, and Shah Mohammad Jahir aka Jahir Ali was the youngest son who was a teacher and was commonly known as Jahir Ali master. During his time, there were no colleges in Sylhet except Dhaka College and Calcutta, as there was a family home in Calcutta where he could comfortably study and enjoy the city life that he wanted.
But his uncle Danis Sarang, who was the leader of the family, advised him not to do further studies and said why do you want to do more studies; you don't need any more education. There is no one as educated as you in our area, you are the most educated person in society. The reason I am telling you this is so that you don't have to get a job in the future. Because we have enough land in the village, which will be sufficed for the future if we live modestly. His uncle bought him a gun and asked him to go to the village to hunt birds and become the leader of the village.
He put his uncle in his father's place and followed his uncle's advice like his father. He became the leader of the village through the establishment of primary institutions presided over the gram Salish (village court or gram adalat) and conducted meetings. He was respected for establishing justice in all spheres of life of village people through politicisation and earned family fame and respect. As there was no college in Sylhet at that time, he was one of the higher education achievers. He was the founder of Shaharpara Government Primary School along with his brothers Mohammad Ashim and Mohammad Batir who provided the funds. The last Chachari Ghor "Village Court House" of Shaharpara was in the School Bari.
My grandfather Mohammad Ashim was one of the founders of the School Bari (School Bari is the name of the house) along with his brothers and he was one of the founders of the Shaharpara Government Primary School established within the grounds of School Bari in 1918-AD in Shaharpara Rasulpur Mouza. The Rasulpur Mauza belonged to the descendants of the School Bari family and there was only one house in the Rasulpur Mauza called Shaharpara’s School Bari. The family moved from "Schoolbari" to "Akbar-kutir" commonly known as Master-bari of west Tilak Mouza in the mid-twentieth
century and bought about four acres of land, from a few families and some from auctions. These are the movements of three parts of the legendary, mighty and noble family of "Baglarbari" also known by the name "Baglagoshti" the clan from the treasury home of "Muazzamabad. The state was established by Sultan Hazrat Shah Muazzam-ud-Din Qureshi (RA) seven hundred years ago. we are now celebrating the seven hundredth anniversary of "Baglabari". Shahjirbari family expansion list as below:
West Tilak, mouza of Tilak under the pargana of Shaharpara.
Mirpur mouza & Rasulpur mouza of Shaharpara Pargana
Abu Khali Narayanpur also spelt Narain or Nurainpur Mullahgosty of Shaharpara pargana
Part of the family has remained in Kolkata since the early twentieth century
Raj-ails road also called Shah Kamal Road or Mukam Road home to Horof Miah West Tilak of Shaharpara pargana at the end of the twentieth century
West Tilak east side of Tilak Mosque home at the end of the twentieth-century of Shaharpara pargana
East of Chawk Tilak Mosque home of Shaharpara Pargana beginning of the twenty-first century
The twelve Sufi disciples of Hazrat Shah Kamal Qahtan are as follows:
(6). Hazrat Shah Faiz Ullah (RA) (Rahmatullahi Alaihi), Fesi in Jagannathpur Upazila. Historians are silent on his descendant
(7). Hazrat Shah Jalaluddin (RA) (Rahmatullahi Alaihi), Kuskipur in Osmani Nagar upazillah. Whose descendants are known as Shah family of Kuskipur.
(8). Hazrat Syed Shah Tajuddin (RA) (Rahmatullahi Alaihi), Orompur in Osmani Nagar Upazila. Place of death in Gauharpur, Aurangapur Pargana, resting place lama Tajpur. Whose descendants are known as the Sayyid family of Orompur.
Hazrat Syed Shah Taj-ud-Din, Hazrat Syed Shah Baha-ud-Din, Hazrat Syed Shah Rukn-ud-Din and Hazrat Syed Shams-ud-Din were brothers and posterity of Hazrat Syed Ala-uddin or Hazrat Sayyid Ala-Ud-Din (RA) and maternal nephews of Hazrat Shah Kamal Quhafani. Their father came to Sylhet with the Sultan Hazrat Shah Jalal, but they came with Hazrat Shah Kamal Quhafa from Baghdad Persia.
(9). Hazrat Syed Shah Baha-ud-Din (RA) (Rahmatullahi Alaihi), Bhadeshwar in Golapganj Upazila, historians are silent of his descendant.
(10). Hazrat Syed Shah Ruknuddin (RA) (Rahmatullahi Alaihi), Kadamhata in Maulvi Bazar. Syed Shah Nur was a renowned poet descendant of Hazrat Syed Shah Ruknuddin (RA) and their family known as the Sayyid family of Kadamhati, Sampasi, Akamura, Kamachak and Bijli.
Syed Shah Nur (also spelt Syed Shah Noor) was born in 1730 and died in 1854. He was best known as a pious poet and saint. He wrote many spiritual songs and books in the Sylheti Nagri language. He was a Sylheti mystic poet and writer. Syed Shahnur was given the highest place in the mystic literature of Sylhet. Besides that, Shahnur was supposed to be the predecessor of the most celebrated Bengali poet Fakir Lalon Shah the mystic music composer.
Historians and researchers wrote that Shahnur got married twice. First married to Hamida Khatun in Kadamhata, Rajnagar, Moulvibazar. Later he settled in Charal Para of Syedpur village in Jagannathpur, Sunamganj, Sylhet and married Shamina Banu. Shahnur had two sons named Syed Manjur Ali and Syed Tabarak Ali. Syed Shahnoor performed extraordinary events that were not explicable by natural or scientific theory, and it is purely in the celestial form of divinity.
It is said that he rode on a wooden boat or canoe which moved without the rowers and instead of water it moved on the dryland within the vicinity of Syedpur and Shaharpara. He said to his fans who wanted to cross the dry paddy field racing on the boat to get on.
Some curious juvenile boys came on the board and within his handclap signal, the boat went on racing through the drylands in the middle of a plough-cultivated paddy field land (hafatirbone) between the ground of Syedpur and Shaharpara. The act was performed towards the end of the medieval era, before the invention of engines, defying the laws of physics. The story is still widely circulated in the Sylhet region today.
A comprehensive analysis reveals that Syed Shahnur had a deep connection with the village of Syedpur. In spite of this, the mention of a spiritual relationship of Syed Shahnoor with Charal Para of Syedpur was being spread by the people of this region. A miraculous story about Syed Shahnoor that took place in this village Mosque, even today people talk about it.
The story is as follows: During his stay in Syedpur, on a Friday, under pressure from the villagers, Syed Shahnur had to go to the Mosque to pray. According to Islamic custom, the worshipers start the prayers in a row behind the Imam. Syed Shahnoor is also praying in a row like other worshipers.
Shortly after, Syed Shahnoor finished his prayers and left the Mosque before the others including the Imam with four prostrations on all four sides in the north-south-east-west directions. Which was a criminal act against the law of Islam.
At the end of the prayers, the worshipers of the Mosque gathered by the Matabbar (Chief, respectable, influential, important, headman, leader) people of the village and expressed their intention to punish Syed Shahnoor for committing such anti-Islamic acts. When the villagers called Syed Shahnoor and asked for his comment on such an act, Syed Shahnoor said that the Imam of the Mosque lost his umbrella when he returned to the village from the city.
He was suffering from anxiety while performing sajdah in the prayers. What is the use of the prayers that are performed with the thought of worldly matters without the meditation of Allah (SWT)? Calling the Imam of Matabbar, knowing the matter, he realised that Syed Shahnoor was spiritually strong. Secret matters were also revealed to him.
Shams-ud-Din Sahib was the younger of all the brothers; some historian indicates that he was in his teen when he came to Sylhet and thus his name was not included when the history of Hazrat Shah Jalal (RA) and his companions were initially penned.
Nevertheless, Hazrat Shah Kamal Qattani (RA) loved his youngest nephew Syed Shamsuddin Sahib and was not sent away like others. Syed Shamsuddin Sahib lived with his uncle, Hazrat Shah Kamal Qattani (RA), in Shaharpara till Syed Shams-ud-Din Sahib reached maturity. His marriage was arranged with a daughter of Hazrat Shah Dawood Qureshi (RA) Dawoodpur in Renga,
Sylhet and Syed Shams-ud-Din Sahib lived in Shaharpara for some years during his marriage and then sojourned in Dawoodpur with his in-law's family. Eventually, Hazrat Syed Shams-ud-Din (RA) returned to Shaharpara and he was instructed to settle with his family in a village west of Shaharpara called Krishnapur this village was later named Syedpur, which is Jagannathpur Upazila, Sunamganj District of Sylhet Division.
The Land division between Hazrat Shah Kamal Qahtan (RA) Sahib and his maternal nephew Hazrat Syed Shams-Ud-Din (RA) Sahib in the fourteenth century was agreed upon after fajr prayer and after a recitation of one-third of the Qur'an. Shamsuddin Sahib, after Fajr prayer according to the verbal agreement, started to walk from Syedpur from the west towards the east and Shah Kamal Sahib walked from the east to the west where the two would meet on the border.
After the fajr prayer, Shah Kamal Sahib recited one-third of the Qur'an and then began his walk towards the West according to the agreement made by both parties. When Shah Kamal Sahib left his Mukam or Maqam (Dargah Sharif) he crossed the Shahzir-bari and came to the Paddy field where he saw Syed Shams-Ud-Din Sahib in front of him. Hazrat Shah Kamal Sahib asked him, “Didn’t you recite the Qur'an?”
In response to that Syed Shams-ud-Din Sahib said, “I did like you taught me that if a person recites the Surat al-Ikhlas (Sura112) which was equal to a third of the Qur'an. Hazrat Shah Kamal (RA) Sahib accepted and said to Hazrat Syed Shams-Ud-Din (RA), “One day my posterity will buy the land from your descendants.” Today the progeny of Hazrat Shah Kamal Qahtan (RA) Sahib bought the land from the offspring of Hazrat Syed Shams-Ud-Din (RA) Sahib up to Syedpur Borodara.
In the year 1984 Hazrat Maulana Abdul Lotif Sheikh Sahib (RA) better known as (Fultulir Sheikh Sahib) was beaten up by the people of Syedpur because of Waladaaleen and Walajaaleen (daaleen & jaaleen). Then the people of Vobair Bazar blocked their way to Sylhet. After that, the people of Syedpur requested the people of Shaharpara, as relatives, to give them the way to Sylhet because they didn't have an alternative way to go to Sylhet.
So then, the people of Shaharpara actively worked with them to build the road and give them the way to Sylhet. Again, the people of Syedpur took advantage of the people of Shaharpara and took the name of the Road from Goala Bazar to Vobair Bazar Syedpur Road because their people worked in the administration area. Previously they took the Union name as Syedpur then the people of Shaharpara complained, so they included Shaharpara and called it Syedpur-Shaharpara Union.
Shaharpara is the Pargana and is historically known throughout the whole of Eastern Bengal
where many historical people lived. Therefore, history demands that Syedpur Road should be changed to Shaharpara Road and extend from Goala Bazar to Pagla Sunamganj main road Paragola Pargana of Paragal Khan (Pagla) which is derived from Paragal Khan who lived in Shaharpara and was the ruler of Eastern Bengal.
(Picture of Syedpur Hazrat Syed Shamsuddin Mosque (place of worship) the national prehistoric heritage sites of Bangladeshis, Persian, Arabian, Odisha, Indian, Turkish, Islamabad, Netherlands, France, United Arab Emirates, Iran, Baghdad, Egypt, Iraq, Iranians, Abu Dhabi, Kabul. Afghanistan, Russia, Thailand, Vietnam, America, United States, Canada, Germany, Sweden, Cairo).
The above villages’ names are consequently received by these saint’s settlements and they swore an oath of allegiance to Hazrat Shah Kamal Quhafa Qahtan (RA).
And also, they were instructed to propagate Islam as well as mankind-ship throughout the region of Muazzamabad Eastern Bengal (Sunamganj District) and some parts of Jalalabad (presently Sylhet) from where most of the populaces were converted to Islam within a few decades from 1303 CE, by the hands of Hazrat Shah Jalal (R.A) and his companions. As the successors accomplished their missions, they were permitted to marry local women and raise their own families with the status of landlords.
The history of Shaharpara reveals that the Greater Sylhet was conquered by Hazrat Shah Jalal (RA) in 1303 CE, with the aid of his 360 Awliyas or auliyas whose ethnicity is linked to the Clan of the Quraysh tribe of Arabs. The district was at one time divided into at least three pretty kingdoms: Gaur or Gor or Sylhet proper or Srihatta Rajya, Laur and Jaintia. The conquers lands of Gour or Gor kingdom or Srihatta Rajya, Jaintia kingdom and Laur kingdom or Lour kingdom or La'urh kingdom or Loud kingdom or Lauar kingdom were divided among Hazrat Shah Jalal (RA) Sahib and Hazrat Shah Kamal Qahafan or Qahtan (RA) Sahib companions for the establishment of the great religion of Islam as well as mankind-ship throughout the region and welfare.
Forest clearing and the growth of Islam in Bengal
To explain the growth of Bengal's large Muslim population, especially in the eastern delta where the density of Muslims is highest, one of these is geographic in nature. In the early thirteenth century, at the dawn of Muslim rule in the delta, a Brahmanic social order, organized into hierarchically arranged castes and presided over by Brahmins, was already entrenched in largely agrarian west Bengal.
In 1349 a Chinese merchant, Wang Ta-Yuan, who had spent several decades visiting overseas localities for the purpose of trade, described the densely populated and agrarian western delta of Bengal, where he found a flourishing textile industry, intensive farming, regular taxation, and the circulation of silver currency. He also alluded to the process of forest clearing and land reclamation, evidently referring to activities already undertaken in western Bengal by Hindu pioneers.
In Bengal's sparsely populated and thickly forested eastern tracts, by contrast, Brahmanic religious and social institutions had by that time barely begun to appear. Gradually, however, a slow but steady eastward shift of the region’s major river systems caused agrarian civilization, and with it, the delta’s demographic epi-centre, to migrate from west to east. As this happened, the great forests of the central and eastern delta were cut and the land prepared for regular civilization, while local inhabitants were transformed from shifting (swidden, or Jhum) cultivators to settled wet-rice farmers.
Although most Mangal-Kāvya honour deities, the present text, the Sekasubho-daya, focuses on a historical figure, Shaykh Jalal ad-Din Tabrizi (d. 1244/45). Composed in Sanskrit mixed with early Middle Bengali, and recorded in Bengali script, the text as we have it dates to the second half of the sixteenth century. However, oral traditions concerning its hero appear to have crystallized within a century or so of his lifetime, since the work draws on popular legends datable to the fourteenth or fifteenth century.
Jalal al-Din Tabrizi's known biographical facts are spare. Around 1228 he left his native Tabriz in Iran after Baghdad, where he studied Sufism with Shaykh Shihab al-Din Suhrawardi. Sometime after 1235, when his master died, he journeyed to Delhi; the capital of the newly established and rapidly expanding Delhi Sultanate. Not feeling welcome there, the Shaykh continued on to Lakhnauti, in the sultanate’s easternmost province of Bengal. There he remained until his death in 1244/45.
Mainly because the Shaykh reached Bengal at a critical juncture in the delta’s political and cultural history, folk memory considerably elaborated on his life and career. In 1204, not long before his arrival, armies of the Delhi Sultanate had invaded eastern India and overthrown and overthrown Lakshmana Sena, ruler of Bengal under its last Hindu dynasty, the Sena's. After driving the king into the remote swamps of the eastern delta, the conquerors annexed western Bengal to the Delhi Sultanate, establishing their provincial base in Lakhnauti, the former capital of the deposed raja.
Seeking to explain the region’s abrupt political upheaval, subsequent generations of Bengalis appear to have seized upon an evolving memory of Jalal al-Din Tabrizi, whose career coincided approximately in place and time with that upheaval. Although the Shaykh reached the delta several decades after the Turkish conquest, the narrative has him arriving while Lakshmana Sena was still reigning. Even though the conquering Turks had forcibly imposed their rule on Bengal, the narrative makes no mention of the conquest.
Through a process of “creative remembering,” then, Jalal al-Din's career as reworked in the Sekasubhodaya eases the transition from an older to a newer political order. Recalling that the written version we have dates to the later sixteenth century, it also serves to connect the delta’s Hindu past with a Muslim “present.” The text does this not only by narrating the story of how the Shaykh built Bengal’s first mosque, symbolizing the establishment of Islam in the delta but also by drawing attention to Lakshmana Sena's assistance in the project. For it is the raja who transfers to Jalal ad-Din uncultivated forest land to which the Shaykh recruits labourers, and on which he establishes new settlements.
The narrative thus encapsulates complex socio-religious processes that had already begun by the late sixteenth century, when the text achieved its written form. The text depicts a state handing over forest lands to a charismatic Muslim pioneer, who in turn organizes and finances local labour in order to found agrarian settlements and establish markets, thereby bringing formerly forested areas into productive use. Crucially, the whole revolves around a single institution- a mosque. In this way, the story of Jalal al-Din Tabrizi served as a mirror onto which Bengalis of later generations back-projected socio-religious processes that were occurring in their own day.
EXCERPTS FROM HALAYUDHA MISRA, SEKASUBHODAYA (CA. 1550-1600)
On the bank of the Ganga [Ganges River] Lakshmana, the high-souled ornament of a great king, a ruler of the earth...a conqueror whose greatness is proclaimed in inscriptions, was looking toward the river. The ruler saw [a man] coming into his view from the western quarter and asked him, “Who are you? Wherefrom are you?”...
Then the king thought within himself. Bowing low his head to the [river] goddess after muttering "Ganga, Ganga," the king saw him in the west, [walking] over water.
He, wearing black clothes, stalwart, engaged in putting on a turban and looking about, was approaching the king quicker and quicker... the king said, “I have indeed seen a wondrous act: a man rising up from the stream and walking on water. His person appears shining with the glow of penance.”...
The Shaykh, his face smiling, raised his hand, slowly came up and spoke to the king, “A scion of the house of the Senas! As has been said by you to us, you, famous on earth [by the name] Lakshmana, are sung as the king by men...But you claim [to be] ruler of the earth.”
At this time there appears a heron holding a gaci fish in its beak. The Shaykh pointed it out to the king and said: “Listen, O king. You indeed claim to be the ruler of the earth. Ask the heron: let it give up the fish.” Then the king replied: “The heron is a bird indeed and has no human sense. How can it give up the fish by our order? If you have power, speak. Let it give up by your order.”
Then the Shaykh said: “see, O king, my power.” At a look from the Shaykh the heron dropped the fish and flew away. Then the king became thoughtful. He appealed mentally to his tutelary deity Durga: “Supreme lady, save me. The Shaykh has come before me as if assuming the form of my fate. I am afraid I shall not survive this day.”
Then the minister spoke to the king, “You have done wrongly, O king, as you are walking in this fellow’s company. He wears a black garment and he looks like a Mussalman.”
Then the king said to the minister, “What rubbish are you talking, you fool, not knowing the secret of the master. Wearing the robes of a dervish, Indra has come here in person.”
To the king who was looking for a suitable place, the Shaykh said, “I shall put on a disguise and move about. Wherever I would find a good spot I shall raise a house of God.” The Shaykh came to Pandu city and sat down on the front terrace of the cowherd’s home.
Then Shaykh said, “Within this area, I will build a house of God.” Now after a few days, the king heard and came there.
Then the Shaykh requested the king, “Listen, king, in the midst [of the ocean] there is the house of the Pirs; above it stands the sanctuary of the Supreme Being.
“Three cupped-handfuls [of water] are offered in his name. In the east the hill is called the Sunrise Mount; the sun rises from there at the dawning of the morn. A Kirata [a mountain or forest dweller] will know and pay respect to my adobe. The fourth cupped-handful is offered in his name.
“In the north are the Himalayas, the adobe of the gods. There I shall go. When I arrived there they would honour me. The fifth cupped-handful is offered in their name.
“My parents are offsprings of poor people; they suffered a great deal on my score. Let them be freshened by water from me. The sixth cupped-handful is offered in their name.
“The people of the world know my name. Some call me good, some heap insults on me. The seventh cupped-handful is offered in their name.
“Who being a king would do honour to me and would give food in my name to a person coming for the first time, in his name is offered the eighth cupped-handful.
“Who would stay in my village, and if in spite of suffering, he does no harm but pays respect
afterwards, in his name, the ninth cupped-handful is offered.
“Many men would, out of their own accord, bow down at my adobe. Some (of them) desire for money and children, and the boon of recovery. I will save them. The tenth cupped-handful is offered in their name.”
Saying this, he dug a pond and worshipped it with flowers and sandal-paste setting a pillar in it. Everyone heard a spontaneous shout of cheers...
Then on the other day, the king called all the masons together. When they were assembled, the Shaykh said to them, “O masons, you all work together and build a house of God, famous in the world as Masjid.” The masons replied to the Shaykh, “O great one, we have never seen or heard what a Masjid is. How can we build it?”
Then the king ordered the collection of materials. Then the artisans spoke, “How shall we get our wages? You are a Beggar.” Then the Shaykh smiled and said to the artisans, “Take a Bakul leaf and by my order write...” Into it he placed his gracious hand and told the artisans, you go to the marketplace and opening the bundle, give it to a merchant. You will get your respective wages.”
Then the king said to the Shaykh, “As the first thing I offer this forest land to you. For the rest, what pleases you to command, do you command. This forest is granted to you.” So Shaykh himself first started the name of the place as Devatala. Then he invited people from the country and had them settle in that land.
Thus a few days passed as the house of God was being built. When the building of the house of God was completed, the Shaykh told the king, “King, I wish to make a daily charity of fifty coins from the house of God to [persons], whether kings or beggars. And you give it to me as borrowers.” Then the king replied, “I will give it daily at your command.”
The Shaykh knew all the land and territory. Devatala was established as the chief [of the Shaykh's] villages. He then made [the village of] Nandauva, after that Asamanahatta, and in the northern region, villages worth six thousand, (namely) Lahu-cari, Bahaba, Rajadina...
Where there is the city of Ramavati renowned in the world, beyond that Purvahatta (eastern market), Uttarahatta (northern market), and Madaihatta (central market). He acquired all of them and had them surveyed. Documents were made for [a revenue of] twenty thousand [coins.]
The Shaykh divided the money and distributed a [permanent gift] that would never be discontinued to all indebted persons and to travellers. To all these, the Shaykh made his charity, including the very low-born bearers. No one should be found very much needy; doles should be obtained daily; there should be no need to hoard money, and the daily bread should be available [to all].
The Hero then bought and distributed among them
Heavy knives, axes, battle-axes and pikes.
From the north came the Das (people),
One hundred of them advanced.
They were struck with wonder on seeing the Hero,
Who distributed betel nut to each of them.
From the south came the harvesters,
Five hundred of them are under one organizer.
From the west came Zafar mian,
Together with twenty-two thousand men.
Sulaimi beads in their hands,
They chanted the names of their pir (spiritual guide) and the prophet.
Having cleared the forest,
They established markets.
Hundreds and hundreds of foreigners
Ate and entered the forest.
Hearing the sound of the axe,
Tigers became apprehensive and ran away, roaring.
Hagiographies, the recorded lives of saints, comprise another source of the history of Islam in Bengal. Like the mangala-Kāvyas examined above, these are also socially constructed texts. Though purporting to describe another person’s life story, they often reflect the culture, social class, and worldview of the communities that produce them. As a result, hagiographies of one and the same saint can vary enormously, depending on the context of their composition. A case in point is the career of Bengal's most renowned saint, Shah Jalal Mujarras (d. 1346) of Sylhet, a town on the far eastern edge of the Bengal delta.
The earlier notice of Shah Jalal was made by the famous Moroccan traveller Ibn Battuta (d.1377), who met the Shaykh in 1345 in his mountain cave near Sylhet."Rihla" where Ibn battuta narrated Hazrat Shah Jalal (RA's) mission in Barak Valley: "He was one of the greatest of Saint's and most unique man. He performed famous miracles as well as great and memorable deeds. He was a man far advanced in years. He informed me (May God have mercy on him!) that he had been the Abbasid Caliph Musta'asim-Billah, at Bagdad and that he was in the city at the time of the Caliph's assassination (AD 1258 which should be the around1256/1257 AD by proper calculation from original Hijri era).
Subsequently, his disciples informed me that the Shaykh died at the age of 150; that he had been observing the fast for about forty years and was not in the habit of breaking it until after the lapse of ten consecutive days. He would remain standing pray all night. He was a lean, tall man, with sunken cheeks. Through his efforts, many of the mountaineers became converts to Islamism. The Moroccan described Shah Jalal as a man of hoary age, locally renowned for his miraculous powers. A 1512-1513 inscription describes him simply as a revered ascetic. The earliest hagiographical record of Shah Jalal appeared a century later in a collection of notices on Indian Sufis, the Gulzar-I Abrar, compiled in 1613 by Muhammad Ghauthi.
By this time Mughal imperialists had consolidated their control over most of north India, including Bengal, while a sizeable Muslim peasant society had already begun to appear in the eastern delta. Endeavouring to account for these new realities, Indo-Persian hagiographers of this period often conflated military conquest with religious conversion. They accomplished this by back-projecting onto the lives of earlier holy men the persona of the warrior-saint, a fearsome ascetic who with one hand defeats infidel warriors and with the other “brings Islam” to the general population. Accordingly, the Gulzar-I Abrar portrays Hazrat Shah Jalal (RA) as a central Asian Sufi who, burning with the desire to wage the lesser jihad” against infidels, persuades his teacher to send him to India.
Reaching Sylhet, Hazrat Shah Jalal (RA) and his several hundred warrior-companions (ghazis) engage and defeat an army of one hundred thousand soldiers commanded by the local Raja, Gur Govind, who is killed in battle. Hazrat Shah Jalal (RA) then distributes the raja's land to his followers to govern. In contrast to this militant portrayal of Hazrat Shah Jalal (RA), we may consider the hagiography that appears below, the Suhail-I Yaman, which was compiled at a much later date, in 1859. Its compiler, Maulvi Muhammad Nasir al-Din Haidar, wrote that his work was based on two earlier manuscripts, both now lost: the Rauzat al-Salihin, said to have been compiled in the reign of Aurangzeb (1658-1707), and the Risala-yi mu’in al-Din Khadim, composed between 1716 and 1727.
The Suhail-I Yaman may thus be understood as a composite reconstruction
based on traditions stretching across several hundred years, from the mid-seventeenth to the mid-nineteenth centuries. During this period Islam in Bengal had become overwhelmingly agrarian piety. The reason the Shaykh chooses to settle in Sylhet is not that he is looking for infidels to slay or convert, but because Sylhet's soil is right: its smell, taste, and colour exactly match the clump of soil that his spiritual teacher had given him before Hazrat Shah Jalal (RA) departed for India. Even today Muslim cultivators in north-central Bangladesh relate the story of Hazrat Shah Jalal (RA) and his clump of soil as the explanation for how their ancestors became Muslims.
The Suhail-I Yamani differs from earlier accounts of Hazarat Shah Jalal (RA) in still other ways. Reflecting the cultural orientation of the Mughals, whose founders had migrated to India from Central Asia, the 1613 Gulzar-I Abrar identifies Hazrat Shah Jalal (RA) as having come to Bengal from Turkestan. It further identifies the Shaykh's spiritual guide as Ahmad Yesevi (d. 1166), the founder of the central Asian Sufi
tradition. The Suhail-I Yaman, by contrast, reflected a later moment in the history of South Asian Islam, by which time Muslims had begun to place emphasis on their spiritual roots in the Middle East, rather than their genealogical roots in central Asia.
Hence in this text Shah Jalal's origins are no longer held to be held in Turkestan but rather in Yemen; the work’s title, Suhail-I Yaman, means “the Canopus (star) of Yemen.”
And finally, the Hindu raja of Sylhet, Gur Govind, is not crushed by Hazrat Shah Jalal (RA) as he was in the earlier, 1613, hagiography, rather, he assisted the newcomer in building the region’s first mosque, which thereby involving himself in establishing Islam in Bengal. In this respect, his role resembles that of Lakshman Sen in the Sekasubhodaya: because a former raja assisted in building the first mosque, a prior Hindu cultural world is constructed as connected to a subsequent Muslim world, and not annihilated by that world.
EXCERPTS FROM MAULVI MUHAMMAD NASIR AL-DIN HAIDAR, SUHAIL-I YAMAN
He was born in Yemen, the son of Shaykh Mahmud bin Muhammad Ibrahim, a member of the Quraish clan of Yemen. His mother was a Saiyida Hasina Fatima.... His maternal uncle, Hazrat Syed Ahmad Kabir Suhrawardi (RA), nourished him on the milk of cattle.
When the boy attained maturity, his uncle gave him training in the Suhrawardi school of mystical knowledge, which was transmitted to him by the following chain of authority: from [the school’s founder] Hazrat Shaykh Shihab al-Din Suhrawardi (RA) to Hazrat Shaykh Makhdum Baha al-Din (RA), to Hazrat Abu’l-fazl Sadr al-Din (RA), to Hazrat Shaykh Abu’l-fatah Rukn al-Din (RA), to Hazrat Jalal al-Din Bukhari (RA), to Hazrat Saiyid Ahmad Kabir Suhrawardi (RA), to Hazrat Shah Jalal (RA).
Being very pleased with Jalal's spiritual growth, his uncle said to him Jalal, you have attained the utmost; your heart and mine have become one. But I do not wish to keep you imprisoned." Then taking a clump of soil that he had earlier picked up from the ground underneath his own spiritual retreat, he placed that clump in the hand of his disciple, saying, "Now you must go to India, and when you find soil with the same colour, smell, and taste as this soil, you should stop and settle in that land, after driving out the Infidels."
In short, that "soil of [the prophet] khizr" travelled, as that holy man [Hazrat Shah Jalal (RA)] travelled east with the intention of liberating Sylhet from the hands of its oppressors. Finding no boat when he reached the banks of the Brahmaputra River, he spread out his prayer carpet so that he and the other fighters (muhajidin) might cross it.
[When he reached Sylhet] he shouted out its reigning monarch, "Oh Gur Govind how is your health?" when Gur Govind heard the Shaykh's soothing voice, he jumped out of his sandals and lowered his head to the ground in a gesture of servitude. Then he said, "I have handed over the rule of this kingdom to Sikander.
What further service is there I might do for you?"Hazrat Shah Jalal (RA) replied, "If you can, get enough stone and brick for building a pleasing mosque."Gur Govind went to the mountains and within the supervision of his chief minister found the requisite stones and bricks, which he sent to Shah Jalal. From these materials, the Shaykh then built a mosque having one hundred and twenty domes.
While [Hazrat Shah Jalal (RA)] was in the city [of Sylhet], he noticed that one particular mount of earth-the one where his shrine is now located-possessed a soil of the same smell, taste, and colour as that given him by his own Shaykh. So he settled there...He then assigned the administration of Sylhet's town and Parganas [revenue circles] to his 360 companions, keeping his closest associates-the prince of Yemen, Hazrat Sheikh Ali (RA) near Shah Jalal's shrine.
The King of Yemen to whom the spiritual status of Hazrat Shah Jalal (RA) became known invited him and tried to test his spiritual status by offering him a glass of Sherbat with poison mixed in it. Hazrat Shah Jalal (RA) immediately detected the test that the King was putting him through intuition.
Hazrat Shah Jalal (RA) drank the glass containing poison Sherbat with the words: "Good Or Bad Every Thing Is Ordained For Everybody. One Gets What One Think Of." Nothing happened to Hazrat Shah Jalal (RA), but the King died.
The crown prince instead of becoming King preferred to become a dervish and discarded the crown, giving preference to becoming a simple ordinary man of God. Near Shah Jalal's Dargah, Hazrat Sheikh Ali (RA) the prince of Yemen Hazrat Haji Yusuf (RA) near Hazrat Haji Daria (RA) near Hazrat Haji Khalil (RA) and his most advanced disciples-near his hospice.
Ploughs should also be given on behalf of the state. The price of these ploughs should be realized from the zamindars in two to three years. Each halmir [one who has four or five ploughs] should be found out and given a dastar [sash or turban; i.e. marks of honour] so that he may clear the forests and bring the land into cultivation. In this manner, the people and the ri’aya would be attracted by good treatment to come from other regions and sub as (provinces) to bring under cultivation wasteland and land under forests.
If the above records provide a general statement on Mughal land management policies, the following document, a sanad (order) ISSUED EARLY in Aurangzeb's reign, is very narrowly focused. In granting tax-free status to a mosque and its affiliates on the condition that the latter bring some 166 acres of jungle, into cultivation, the document links Islamic piety with agrarian policy. Hundreds of such land grants had the combined effect of transferring management of large tracts of former jungles to tiny mosques, whose managers took the lead in supervising the cutting of forests and introducing cultivation.
A MUGHAL IMPERIAL SANAD FROM CHITTAGONG (2 SEPTEMBER 1666)
Clerks, assessors past and present, headmen, accounts, and peasants of the revenue circles of Sarkar Islamabad [i.e. Chittagong], know that: Shah Zain al-‘Abidin has made it known that he has many dependants and has built a mosque, where a great many faqirs and inhabitants come and go. But, as he has no means of maintaining the mosque, he is hopeful that the government will bestow some land on him.
Having investigated the matter, the revenue department has fixed the sum of six shahi dun and eight kani [i.e. 166.4 acres] of jungle land, lying outside the revenue rolls, and located in villages Nayapara and others of Pargana Havili Chittagong, as a charity for the expenses of the mosque as well as the needs of himself, his descendants and his dependants. And he must assiduously pray for the survival of the powerful State.
He and his descendants are not required to pay any land revenue or non-land revenue, highway taxes, bridge taxes, special cesses, or any other assessments issued from either the administrative or the revenue branches of government. Nor is he bound to see a fresh sanad each year. Take great care to execute this order. Dated 2 Rabi I 1077 [A.H.]
In the following order, the Mughal government issues 250 qulbas [975 acres] of jungles, lying outside the revenue rolls but capable of being cultivated, to the “organization”- actually a labour force- of one Maulavi Muhammad Rabi aka Maulavi Mohammad Rabi Khan title Danishman’. This is one of four land grants that the provincial officials issued to this individual. Since the combined area granted to Muhammad Rabi’ in these grants came to 15,717 acres or over twenty-four square miles, his workforce would've been of considerable size.
Revenue documents like this confirm what the mangala-Kāvyas and hagiographic literature hint at, namely, that states rewarded Muslim pioneers who agreed to settle former jungle lands by recruiting local labour to cut forests and farm new arable lands. The fact that the beneficiaries of the grants were Islamic institutions- in the present instance, a madrasa and a mosque- meant that non-Muslim labourers recruited to work on these units would become gradually absorbed into communities informed by Islamic ideas and values.
A MUGHAL IMPERIAL SANAD FROM SYLHET (11 MARCH 1756)
Present and former clerks of public affairs, landholders (chaudhuris), accountants, recorders, peasants, and cultivators of [such and such] revenue circles, in the district of Sylhet, attached to the province of Bengal, know that:
It is agreed that once the above-mentioned land is brought into cultivation, its produces should be used to support the expenses of the mosque, the Qur'an school, those who come and go, the faqirs, and his own needs, together with those of his children and his dependants, and that he shall busy himself in prayers for the long life of the State.
Sources
Sekasubhodaya: Sukumar Sen, ed. And trans., Sekasubhodaya of Halayudha Misra (Calcutta: Asiatic Society 1963), pp. 135-255. Kavikankana Candi: Mukundaram, Kavikankana Candi, Srikumar Bandyopadhyay and Vispati Chaudhuri, eds. (Calcutta: University of Calcutta, 1974), pp. 299-300. Suhail-I Yaman: Suhail-I Yemen, ya Tarikh-I Jalali, comp. Maulvi Muhammad Nasir al-Din Haider, 1277 A.H. Persian MS in the Muslim Sahitya Samsad, Sylhet, 4-27. Haqiqat-I Suba Bihar: catalogued under the title Kaifiyat-I Suba Bihar in Wilhelm Pertsch, Handschriften-Verzeichniss der Koniglichen Bibliothek zu Berlin (Berlin: A. Asher, 1888), persische Handschriften no. 500, 4:484. Summarized and partially translated by S.Nurul. An extract by Dilly Meah has been taken from the book: Islam in South Asia in Practice.
The Source of shuhel-e-yamani [1], means "the Canopus (star) of Yemen.
Titles of Monarchs
Monarchs 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 grand duke (Grand Duke of Luxembourg) or duchess. Many monarchs also are distinguished by styles, such as "Majesty", "Royal Highness" or "By the Grace of God". Islamic monarchs use titles such as Caliph, Wali, Sultan, Nawab, Mir, Mirza, Shahzada, Amir, Shah, Sahib, Mian, Sardar and Sheikh. In Mongolian or Turkic lands, the monarch may use the title Khan or Khagan.
The inscription runs thus: Bismillahi-r-rahmanir rahim, al-amra bihazal-imarah al-mubarakah al-mansubah badarul ahsan harsahullahu taa’la; min mukhafat al-zaman ala’bid al-a’ali al-kabir al-mutha’l shaikh jalal mujarrad kinyai (konya) quddusirruhu al-aziz fi a’adhi al-sultan a’alaud-din abul muzaffar husain shah al-sultan khalladahu allahu mulkahu wa sultanahu, bina kard khan-e-a’azam wa khaqan-c-mu’azzam khalis khan jamdar ghair muhalli wa sarri lashkar wa wazir aqlim-e-mua’zzam abad sanh ahad a’ashar was tisa’ miah’ (1505/911 hi).
“(In the name of Allah SWT (God) the merciful and the compassionate who ordered the erection of this blessed building attached to the house of benediction (Sylhet). May God protects it against the ravages of time……is the devotee the high, the great Shaikh Jalal the single, the hermit of Keniya; may Allah SWT (God) Almighty sanctify his dear secrets! It was built during the reign of Sultan Alaud-Din Abu Muzaffar Hussain Shah (Alauddin Husain Shah reigned: 1494-1519), the king, by the great Khan, the exalted Khaqan, Khalis Khan, keeper of the vardrobe outside the palace, Commander, and Wazir (Vizier) of the province Mu’azzamabad in the year 911 A.H./1505 A.D.).”
The inscription 4’x1’ must have belonged to a grand building which is supposed to be the first construction of the shrine. Another important and authentic inscription discovered by Abu Nasr Wahid in Sylhet town is preserved in the Dacca Museum. This inscription also throws much light on this Sufi. It runs thus.
Another important and authentic inscription discovered by Abu Nasr Wahid in Sylhet town is preserved in the Dacca Museum (Dhaka Museum). This inscription also throws much light on this Sufi. It runs thus.
Baa’zmat shaikhu al-mushaikh makhdunm shaikh jalal mujarrad bin muhammad, anwal fataha shar a’risa sirihat (silhat) badast-e-sikandar khan ghazi dar a’adi sultan firuz shah dalwi (dehlawi) thalath wa seba’amia (hi 703) in a’marat rukn khan ki fatih kunanda hasht kamhurayah wazir lashkar bud. shahar ha waqti fathi kamru, kamata, jaznagar warishah lashkar karda bashnd jabaja badunmbal badshah sanh thaman wa a’shar wa tisa’mia (1512/918 hi).’
(The saintly personality and greatness of Hazrat Makhdum Shah Jalal Mujarrad bin Muhammad (RA) who was the cause of the first victory of Islam at Sylhet. This conquest was made by the soldiers of Sikandar Khan during the reign of Firoz Shah Dehlavi (Shamsuddin Firuz Shah reigned: 1303-1322) (703 A.H./1303 A.D.). This building was constructed by the victorious Rukun Khan who had served as the minister and commander-in-chief to the said king during the conquest of Kamrup, Kamata, Jaz Nagar and Orissa).
The above-quoted inscription throws light on the following facts:
a) Hazrat Shah Jalal’s father was Muhammad, and he was a native of Kinyai (Konya).
b) Hazrat Shah Jalal visited Sylhet in 703 A.H./1303 A.D.
c) Sikandar Khan Ghazi conquered Sylhet in 703 A.H. during the reign of Sultan Firoz Shah Dehlavi.
d) The building of his shrine was constructed by Khalis Khan Wazir Muwazzamabad in 911 A.H./1505 A.D., and it was enlarged by Rukun Khan in 918 A.H./1512 A.D.
The author of the Riyaz-us-Salatin is to some extent silent on this topic. He has also, like other writers, contended to write only a few lines in his book. On the footnote of the English translation of the Riyaz-us-Salatin this much has been written: “The country was conquered by Musalmans led by a warrior saint, called Hazrat Shah Jalal (RA) at the end of the fourteenth century when the Afghan king Shamsud-Din ruled over Bengal with his capital at Gaur. Hazrat Shah Jalal (RA’s) shrine in Sylhet town still exist.”
According to the author of the Gulzar-i-Ibrar, Hazrat Shah Jalal Mujarrad (RA) was the disciple of Hazrat Syed Ahmad Kabir Yassawi (RA), who himself was the disciple of Hazrat Khawaja Yusuf Hamadani (RA) (d. 1140 A.D.). Hazrat Jalal Mujarrad (RA’s) spiritual guide was an eminent saint of his time, who had founded a school of mystics. And Hazrat Shah Jalal (RA’s) birth-place was in Turkistan. But it is a matter of surprise that this fact is not recorded by any biographer of Hazrat Shah Jalal Mujarrad (RA). As this was recorded by one of his later disciples it seems to be more authentic and correct.
-Page 170
Biographical Encyclopaedia of Sufis: South Asia
By N. Hanif
Sylhet under Muslim rulers Delwar Hassan
At the time of the Muslim invasion and conquest of Gaur (Sylhet), Shamsuddin Firoz Shah and his successors initiated their independent status in the province of Bengal against the supremacy of the Khalijis in Delhi. The independent Sultanate in Bengal was fully established in A.D. 1338 after the demise of Bahram Khan, who was Mohammed bin Tugloq's Governor at Sonargaon. The Silahdar of Bahram Khan, Fakhra, took the insignia of royalty at Sonargaon with the title of Sultan Fakhruddin Mubarak Shah in 1338 A.D. As per history, Sylhet continued to be in the peaceful possession of the several Muslim kings of Bengal for the period between 1338 and 1538 A.D. As is evident from the postings of officers in th Sylhet, Sikandar Ghazi was the first Muslim officer assigned to Sylhet. He was the maternal nephew of Sultan Shamsuddin Firoz Shah. The "Tawarik-i-Jalali" narrated the following. As per tradition, Hazrat Shah Jalal (RA) met Sikandar Shah at his camp and urged him to take charge of the invaded lands of Sylhet as he (Shahjalal) is not interested in ruling a land at all. He intends to work for the cause of Islam only.
http://www.lged.gov.bd/DistrictLGED.aspx?DistrictID=64 http://dillymeah.blogspot.co.uk/2012/0dillys-works.html
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There is a lot of history here taken from different factual writings and authors,BUT the main thing is that THERE ARE NO LEGITIMATE MUFTI FAMILY MEMBERS from Shahpara, ist in the middle of no where.The MUFTI family have ALWAYS lived in Dargah Mohalla, Sylhet Town where they were and still are active guardians of the holy shrine of HAzrat Shah Jalal. I am sorry to say to the author of this site , that shahpara is the home of the original Muftis is completely false. Shah para is in the middle of no where and only has come into prominensce during the late part of 20th century due to influx of " Londony money".
ReplyDeleteIf you really do doubt my work, below is a paragraph explaining that there ARE legitimate mufti family members from shaharpara which I extracted from shaharpara Wikipedia. There is also a link which would only strengthen my case. You could then comment on your new findings which I would be interested to hear.
ReplyDeleteDescendants of Hazrat Shah Kamal Quḥāfah are settled in Shaharpara, Patli and Dargah Mahallah in Sylhet and they have formed very distinguished families, which are known as Kamalis of Shaharpara, Qureshis of Patli and Muftis of Sylhet. Kamali, Qureshi, Mufti, Khwaja, Siddiqui and Shah are the surnames invariably used by the descendants of Hazrat Shah Kamal Quḥāfah. Descendants of Hazrat Shah Kamal Quḥāfah have mainly extended to five families: Mullah Family, Shahjee Family and Baglar Family in Shaharpara, Qureshi Family in Patli and Mufti Family in Sylhet Dargah Mahallah. Maulana Shah Shamsuddin Qureshi, a descendant of Hazrat Shah Kamal Quḥāfah, established the Qureshi Family in Patli and Maulana Shah Zia Uddin, another descendant of Hazrat Shah Kamal Quḥāfah, established the Mufti Family in Dargah Mahallah, Sylhet.
(The link will need to be copied and pasted into the URL bar).
https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&ved=0CCwQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FShaharpara&ei=mgEWU5v2MtSy7Aa30IGABw&usg=AFQjCNHrjfM4N3tzPodX02jS_IOG1My5hQ&bvm=bv.62286460,d.ZGU
Thank You Dilly bai for this blog.
ReplyDelete