Saifuddin Firuz Shah
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Malik Andil Habshi (), better known by his
regnal title A regnal title is the title held by a monarch while in office. Monarchs can have various titles, including king or queen, prince or princess (Sovereign Prince of Monaco), emperor or empress (Emperor of Japan, Emperor of India), or even duke or grand ...
Saifuddin Firoze Shah (, ) was the second "Habshi" ruler of the
Bengal Sultanate The Bengal Sultanate (Middle Bengali: , Classical Persian: ) was a Post-classical history, late medieval sultanate based in the Bengal region in the eastern South Asia between the 14th and 16th century. It was the dominant power of the Ganges- ...
's Habshi dynasty. He was a former army commander of the Sultanate's
Ilyas Shahi dynasty The Ilyas Shahi dynasty (, ) was the first independent dynasty to set the foundations of the late medieval Sunni Muslim Sultanate of Bengal. Their rule extended from 1342 to 1487, though interrupted with interregna by their slaves as well as th ...
.KingListsFarEast
/ref>


Biography

Andil was an army commander of the
Ilyas Shahi dynasty The Ilyas Shahi dynasty (, ) was the first independent dynasty to set the foundations of the late medieval Sunni Muslim Sultanate of Bengal. Their rule extended from 1342 to 1487, though interrupted with interregna by their slaves as well as th ...
who seized power after killing the rebel Sultan, Barbak Shah II, in 1487. After claiming the throne, he styled himself as ''Saifuddin Firuz Shah''. It is said that Andil was an eunuch. He is often considered as the real founder of the Habshi rule in Bengal as his predecessor Shahzada Barbak only ruled for a few months. This is reinforced in an inscription found in Garh Jaripa in Sreebardi, Sherpur, where he ordered the construction of someone's tomb and referred to himself as Sultan al-Ahad (the first Sultan). The four corners of the specific tomb each bore the names of the
Rashidun The Rashidun () are the first four caliphs () who led the Muslim community following the death of Muhammad: Abu Bakr (), Umar (), Uthman (), and Ali (). The reign of these caliphs, called the Rashidun Caliphate (632–661), is considered i ...
caliphs and the inscription sent blessings upon the
Islamic prophet Prophets in Islam () are individuals in Islam who are believed to spread God's message on Earth and serve as models of ideal human behaviour. Some prophets are categorized as messengers (; sing. , ), those who transmit divine revelation, mos ...
Muhammad Muhammad (8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious and political leader and the founder of Islam. Muhammad in Islam, According to Islam, he was a prophet who was divinely inspired to preach and confirm the tawhid, monotheistic teachings of A ...
, his daughter
Fatimah Fatima bint Muhammad (; 605/15–632 CE), commonly known as Fatima al-Zahra' (), was the daughter of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and his wife Khadija bint Khuwaylid, Khadija. Fatima's husband was Ali, the fourth of the Rashidun caliphs and ...
and her two sons Hasan and Husayn. This inscription now can be found in the Indian Museum, Kolkata. Firuz Shah minted coins during his reign which mention the historical town of Mahmudabad. He is described as a patron of architecture and calligraphy in Bengal. He ordered Majlis Sa'd to build a mosque in
Maldah Malda district, also spelt Maldah or Maldaha (, , often ), is a district in West Bengal, India. The capital of the Bengal Sultanate, Gauḍa (city), Gauda and Pandua, Malda, Pandua, was situated in this district. Mango, jute and silk are the m ...
. On 18 January 1489, he ordered Mukhlis Khan to construct a ten-domed mosque in Goamatli,
Maldah Malda district, also spelt Maldah or Maldaha (, , often ), is a district in West Bengal, India. The capital of the Bengal Sultanate, Gauḍa (city), Gauda and Pandua, Malda, Pandua, was situated in this district. Mango, jute and silk are the m ...
. In the same year, he also ordered Ulugh Ali Zafar Khan to construct a mosque in Kalna. It is also considered that the Bokainagar and Tajpur forts were established by
Majlis Khan Humayun Majlis Khan Humayun, also known as Majlis Shah Humayun, was a military commander in service of the Sultanate of Bengal who led the conquest of Garh-Dalipa (renamed to Garh-Jaripa) in present-day Sherpur District, Bangladesh. His military exploi ...
during his expedition to
Kamarupa Kamarupa (; also called Pragjyotisha or Pragjyotisha-Kamarupa), an early state during the Classical period on the Indian subcontinent, was (along with Davaka) the first historical kingdom of Assam. The Kamrupa word first appeared in the ...
, under the orders of Firuz Shah. He also built the Katra mosque in Maldah and the inscription contains authentic
Tughra A tughra (; ) is a calligraphy, calligraphic monogram, Seal (emblem), seal or signature of a sultan that was affixed to all official documents and correspondence. Inspired by the Tamga, tamgha, it was also carved on his seal and stamped on the co ...
calligraphy. His most famous architecture is the Firuz Minar. Named after himself, it is a large five-storey tower situated in Gauda. The construction started in 1485 before his reign, but was completed in 1489 to commemorate his victories in the battlefield. According to tradition, he threw the chief architect from the topmost storey, as he was not satisfied with the tower's height and wanted it to be taller.


Death

His rule lasted two years until his death in 1489, and was succeeded by his adopted son, Mahmud Shah II. Most historians consider that he died of natural causes, while some such as
Ghulam Husain Salim Ğulām Husayn "Salīm" Zaydpūrī was a historian who migrated to Bengal and was employed there as a postmaster to the English East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company that was ...
and
Jadunath Sarkar Sir Jadunath Sarkar, (10 December 1870 – 19 May 1958) was a prominent Indian historian and a specialist on the Mughal dynasty. Sarkar was educated in English literature and worked as a teacher for some time but later shifted his focus to h ...
theorized that he was killed by one of the Abyssinian palace-guards.


See also

*
List of rulers of Bengal This is a list of rulers of Bengal. For much of History of Bengal, its history, Bengal was split up into several independent kingdoms, completely unifying only several times. In Kingdoms of Ancient India, ancient times, Bengal consisted of the ...
*
History of Bengal The history of Bengal is intertwined with the history of the broader Indian subcontinent and the surrounding regions of South Asia and Southeast Asia. It includes modern-day Bangladesh and the States and union territories of India, Indian stat ...
*
History of India Anatomically modern humans first arrived on the Indian subcontinent between 73,000 and 55,000 years ago. The earliest known human remains in South Asia date to 30,000 years ago. Sedentism, Sedentariness began in South Asia around 7000 BCE; ...


References

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