Bokainagar Fort is a

ruined Ruins () are the remains of a civilization's architecture. The term refers to formerly intact structures that have fallen into a state of partial or total disrepair over time due to a variety of factors, such as lack of maintenance, deliberate ...

fort A fortification (also called a fort, fortress, fastness, or stronghold) is a military construction designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from La ...

located in Gauripur Upazila, on the eastern bank of the Balua River, a tributary of the

Brahmaputra River The Brahmaputra is a trans-boundary river which flows through Southwestern China, Northeastern India, and Bangladesh. It is known as Brahmaputra or Luit in Assamese language, Assamese, Yarlung Tsangpo in Lhasa Tibetan, Tibetan, the Siang/Dihan ...

, 19.32 km east of present-day

Mymensingh Mymensingh () is a metropolis, metropolitan city and capital of Mymensingh Division, Bangladesh. Located on the bank of the Old Brahmaputra River, Brahmaputra River, about north of the national capital Dhaka, it is a major financial center ...

city. A tributary of the Balua River ran east–west through the fort. The fort was 1.60 km long and 0.80 km wide from east to west. The fort was protected by a high earthen wall and surrounded by a deep

moat A moat is a deep, broad ditch dug around a castle, fortification, building, or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence. Moats can be dry or filled with water. In some places, moats evolved into more extensive water d ...

outside.

History

No historical evidence has been found about the erecting Bokainagar fort. There are two legends about the construction of the fort. According to early tradition, a

Koch Koch may refer to: People * Koch (surname), people with this surname * Koch dynasty, a dynasty in Assam and Bengal, north east India * Koch family * Koch people (or Koche), an ethnic group originally from the ancient Koch kingdom in north east In ...

tribal chieftain named 'Bokai' built the fort in the 15th century when the ancient

Kamrup kingdom 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 S ...

was fragmenting in small kingdoms. After death of Bokai, the fort was named after him. According to another legend,

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 ...

, representative of Sultan Saifuddin Firuz Shah II (1486–1489), built the fort. In 1495, the fort came under the control of

Hussain Shah Syed Hussain Shah () (born August 14, 1964) is a retired Pakistani boxer from Lyari, Karachi Pakistan, who won the bronze medal in the Middleweight division (71–75 kg) at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea. This was the country ...

and he appointed his son

Nusrat Shah Nāṣir ad-Dīn Naṣrat Shāh (r. 1519–1533), also known as Nusrat Shah, was the second Sultan of Bengal belonging to the Hussain Shahi dynasty. He continued with his father's expansionist policies but by 1526, had to contend with the Mughal ...

as its commander. Later

Khwaja Usman Khawāja Uthmān Khān Lōhānī (), popularly known as Khwaja Usman, was a Pashtun chieftain and warrior based in northeastern Bengal. As one of the Baro-Bhuyans, he was a zamindar ruling over the northern parts of Bengal, including Greater M ...

fled from

Orissa Odisha (), formerly Orissa ( the official name until 2011), is a state located in Eastern India. It is the eighth-largest state by area, and the eleventh-largest by population, with over 41 million inhabitants. The state also has the thir ...

after being defeated by the

Mughals The Mughal Empire was an early modern empire in South Asia. At its peak, the empire stretched from the outer fringes of the Indus River Basin in the west, northern Afghanistan in the northwest, and Kashmir in the north, to the highlands of pre ...

and took refuge with

Isa Khan Isa Khan (Middle Bengali: , 17 April 153629 August 1599) was one of 16th-century Baro-Bhuyan chieftains of Bengal. During his reign, he successfully unified the chieftains of Bengal and resisted the Mughal invasion of Bengal. It was only afte ...

and was established as the feudal lord of Bokainagar. He rebuilt the fort and established it as a strong military base and put up a strong resistance against the Mughals from here. He was finally defeated by Islam Khan in November 1611 and the fort came under Mughal possession. Mughals occupied the fort on 7 December 1611. Khwaja Usman's residence was in the southwestern part of the fort. Khwaja Usman built a mosque and dug a pond inside the fort. Later Subedar Chand Roy dug another pond and built a temple in the fort.

Remains

Remains of mosques, temples and ruins of Bokainagar Fort still exist. Today, numerous brick fragments, part of the south wall, and the ruined

bastion A bastion is a structure projecting outward from the curtain wall of a fortification, most commonly angular in shape and positioned at the corners of the fort. The fully developed bastion consists of two faces and two flanks, with fire from the ...

References

{{coord missing, Bangladesh Archaeological sites in Mymensingh district Forts in Bangladesh Mymensingh District