Ali Mech was a tribal chief in the 13th century CE, in the region of present-day north of Bengal belonging to the
Mech people. He is said to have helped
Bakhtiyar Khalji during his Tibet campaign and converted to Islam under his influence.
Biography
Ali Mech is considered the first Muslim convert in present-day
North Bengal
North Bengal ( , Uttar Banga) is a cross-border cultural–geographic region consisting of the north-western areas of Bangladesh as well as the northern part of the West Bengal state of India. Bounded to the east by the Jamuna and in the south ...
. In the wake of Ali Mech's conversion to Islam, some Mech and
Koch tribes also adopted the faith.
The modern descendants of these converts are the
Deshi people.
As a tribal chief in the foothills of the North of
Bengal
Bengal ( ) is a Historical geography, historical geographical, ethnolinguistic and cultural term referring to a region in the Eastern South Asia, eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. The region of Benga ...
, he aided
Bakhtiyar Khilji in his
failed invasion of Tibet in 1206 by acting as a guide.
mentions that he guided Bakhtyar Khalji march northwards along the right bank of the
Karatoya river (present-day
Bangladesh
Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...
) for ten days, through a country inhabited by the
Koch, Mech and
Tharu (Terai) tribes.
Ali Mech supposedly bears a Muslim first name because he was fond of
Islam
Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...
and accepted it. Soon hundreds of Mech inhabitants converted to Islam due to growing oppression in the hands of
Hindu
Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...
lords and its caste, customs and traditions and as most of them were considered to be
Yavanas or polluted outsiders by the Aryan hindus
and as they were lightly exposed to Brahmanic culture.
References
13th-century monarchs in Asia
Islam in Assam
12th-century births
13th-century Indian Muslims
13th-century Indian people
13th-century deaths
Converts to Islam
Tribal chiefs
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