Ghiyasuddin A'zam Shah (, ) was the third

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

and 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 ...

. He was one of the most prominent medieval Bengali sultans. He established

diplomatic relations Diplomacy is the communication by representatives of state, intergovernmental, or non-governmental institutions intended to influence events in the international system.Ronald Peter Barston, ''Modern Diplomacy'', Pearson Education, 2006, p. ...

with the

Ming Empire The Ming dynasty, officially the Great Ming, was an imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming was the last imperial dynasty of China ruled by the Han people, ...

of China, pursued cultural contacts with leading thinkers in

Persia Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

and conquered

Assam Assam (, , ) is a state in Northeast India, northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra Valley, Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . It is the second largest state in Northeast India, nor ...

Reign

Ghiyasuddin Azam Shah became the Sultan of Bengal after his own forces overthrew and killed his father Sultan

Sikandar Shah Abul Mujāhid Sikandar Shāh (, ), commonly known as Sikandar Shah; was the second Sultan of Bengal and the Ilyas Shahi dynasty. He was the son of Shamsuddin Ilyas Shah. Sikandar Shah continued to project the imperial ambitions of his father. He ...

at the Battle of Goalpara in 1390, despite Azam Shah ordering them not to kill his father. During the early part of his reign, he conquered and occupied

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 ...

in modern-day

. His interests included establishing an independent

judiciary The judiciary (also known as the judicial system, judicature, judicial branch, judiciative branch, and court or judiciary system) is the system of courts that adjudicates legal disputes/disagreements and interprets, defends, and applies the law ...

and fostering

Persianate A Persianate society is a society that is based on or strongly influenced by the Persian language, culture, literature, art and/or identity. The term "Persianate" is a neologism credited to Marshall Hodgson. In his 1974 book, ''The Venture of I ...

and Bengali culture. He also had a profound regard for law. A story about him and a ''qazi'' is very famous as a folktale and moral story. Once, the sultan while hunting accidentally killed the son of a poor widow with his arrow. The widow appeared before a ''qazi'' and brought a charge of murder against the sultan. Ghiyasuddin Azam Shah was summoned by the Qazi, and appeared before the court like an ordinary accused person. Many people had gathered there to see a case against the ''sultan'' of the country. The ''sultan'' obeyed the law and gave indemnity to the poor widow for killing her son. When the trial was over the Qazi stood up and praised the sultan for his regard for the law. Then the ''sultan'' said that he would have instantly beheaded the ''qazi'' if he faltered in his judgment. The ''qazi'' smiled and said that he would have flayed his majesty's back with a whip if he had not obeyed the law. Sultan Ghiyasuddin embraced the brave ''qazi'', and the whole crowd shouted in their honour.

Diplomatic and regional affairs

The Sultan pioneered diplomatic relations with China by sending

embassies A diplomatic mission or foreign mission is a group of people from a state or organization present in another state to represent the sending state or organization officially in the receiving or host state. In practice, the phrase usually denotes a ...

to the

Ming dynasty The Ming dynasty, officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming was the last imperial dynasty of ...

court in

Peking Beijing, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's most populous national capital city as well as China's second largest city by urban area after Shanghai. It is l ...

. He exchanged envoys and gifts with the

Yongle Emperor The Yongle Emperor (2 May 1360 – 12 August 1424), also known by his temple name as the Emperor Chengzu of Ming, personal name Zhu Di, was the third List of emperors of the Ming dynasty, emperor of the Ming dynasty, reigning from 1402 to 142 ...

. Bengal was interested in establishing a strategic partnership with China to counter the influence of its neighbors, including the

Delhi Sultanate The Delhi Sultanate or the Sultanate of Delhi was a Medieval India, late medieval empire primarily based in Delhi that stretched over large parts of the Indian subcontinent for more than three centuries.

. The Chinese mediated in several regional disputes. The Sultan also built strong relations with the Sultanate of Jaunpur in North India. He sent envoys to the

Hejaz Hejaz is a Historical region, historical region of the Arabian Peninsula that includes the majority of the western region of Saudi Arabia, covering the cities of Mecca, Medina, Jeddah, Tabuk, Saudi Arabia, Tabuk, Yanbu, Taif and Al Bahah, Al-B ...

and financed the construction of

madrasa Madrasa (, also , ; Arabic: مدرسة , ), sometimes Romanization of Arabic, romanized as madrasah or madrassa, is the Arabic word for any Educational institution, type of educational institution, secular or religious (of any religion), whet ...

s in

Mecca Mecca, officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, is the capital of Mecca Province in the Hejaz region of western Saudi Arabia; it is the Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow valley above ...

and

Medina Medina, officially al-Madinah al-Munawwarah (, ), also known as Taybah () and known in pre-Islamic times as Yathrib (), is the capital of Medina Province (Saudi Arabia), Medina Province in the Hejaz region of western Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, ...

Literary patron

Ghiyasuddin was a patron of scholars and poets. Among others, the Persian poet

Hafez (), known by his pen name Hafez ( or 'the keeper'; 1325–1390) or Hafiz, “Ḥāfeẓ” designates someoone who has learned the Qurʾān by heart" also known by his nickname Lisan al-Ghaib ('the tongue of the unseen'), was a Persian lyri ...

kept correspondences with him. One of the earliest Muslim Bengali poet,

Shah Muhammad Sagir Shah Muhammad Sagir () was one of the earliest Bengali Muslim poets, if not the first. Life Shah Muhammad Sagir was a poet of the 14/15th century, during the reign of the Sultan of Bengal Ghiyasuddin Azam Shah. He was born to a Fakir family in C ...

, who was a poet-laureate of Ghiyasuddin, wrote his famous work, '' Yusuf-Zulekha'' at the request of the Sultan. The Hindu poet, Krittibas Ojha, also translated the ''

Ramayana The ''Ramayana'' (; ), also known as ''Valmiki Ramayana'', as traditionally attributed to Valmiki, is a smriti text (also described as a Sanskrit literature, Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epic) from ancient India, one of the two important epics ...

'' in Bengali as Krittivasi Ramayan during his reign.

References

{{Ilyas Sultans of Bengal 1411 deaths Year of birth unknown 15th-century Indian monarchs Ilyas Shahi dynasty

Reign

Diplomatic and regional affairs

Literary patron

See also

References