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Isa Khan (
Middle Bengali Middle Bengali (), is a historical form of the Bengali language that covers the period from the approximately 1200 CE to the 1800 CE. In this period, Middle Bengali became distinguished from the Old Bengali. Although this variety of Bengali lan ...
: , 17 April 153629 August 1599) was one of 16th-century
Baro-Bhuyan The ''Baro-Bhuyans'' (or ''Baro-Bhuyan Raj''; also ''Baro-Bhuians'' and ''Baro-Bhuiyans'') were confederacies of soldier-landowners in Assam and Bengal in the late Middle Ages and the early modern period. The confederacies consisted of loosel ...
chieftains 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 ...
. During his reign, he successfully unified the chieftains of Bengal and resisted the Mughal invasion of Bengal. It was only after his death that the region fell totally under Mughal control. He remains an iconic figure throughout
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 ...
as a symbol of his rebellious spirit and unity.


Early life and background

Isa Khan was born on 17 April 1536 into a ''
zamindar A zamindar in the Indian subcontinent was an autonomous or semi-autonomous feudal lord of a ''zamindari'' (feudal estate). The term itself came into use during the Mughal Empire, when Persian was the official language; ''zamindar'' is the ...
'' family known as the
Dewan ''Dewan'' (also known as ''diwan'', sometimes spelled ''devan'' or ''divan'') designated a powerful government official, minister, or ruler. A ''dewan'' was the head of a state institution of the same name (see Divan). Diwans belonged to the el ...
s of Sarail in the Bhati region of the Sultanate of Bengal. There are conflicting accounts regarding his origins. According to one tradition, his grandfather Bhagirat was a Bais
Rajput Rājpūt (, from Sanskrit ''rājaputra'' meaning "son of a king"), also called Thākur (), is a large multi-component cluster of castes, kin bodies, and local groups, sharing social status and ideology of genealogical descent originating fro ...
from Oudh who came to Bengal in search of fortune. His father Sulaiman Khan, originally named Kalidas Gajdani, converted to Islam and carved out a principality in Bhati. Another account suggests Isa Khan was of Afghan origin. Abu'l Fazl, in his '' Ain-i-Akbari'', calls him "Isa Afghan", though in the '' Akbarnama'' assigns the Bais Rajput origin. Isa Khan's mother, Syeda Momena Khatun, was the daughter of Sultan Mahmud Shah. His maternal aunt was married to Khidr Khan Surak. Isa had one younger brother, Ismail Khan, and one sister, Shahinsha Bibi. Following the death of Sultan Mahmud Shah, Isa's father declared himself as the legal successor and revolted against the Sur Empire. He was later killed in battle.


Rise to power

With the help of Taj Khan, a Karrani ruler during 1564–1566, Isa obtained an estate in
Sonargaon Sonargaon (; ; Literary translation, lit. ''Golden Hamlet (place), Hamlet'') is a historic city in central Bangladesh. It corresponds to the Sonargaon Upazila of Narayanganj District in Dhaka Division. Sonargaon is one of the old capitals of ...
and Maheswardi Pargana in 1564 as a vassal of the Karrani dynasty of Bengal. He gradually increased his power in the Bhati region by making alliances with other Zamindars and helping fellow Afghan chieftains. In 1573 he helped Daud Khan Karrani in his expedition to Chittagong against Udai Manikya, the
Maharaja Maharaja (also spelled Maharajah or Maharaj; ; feminine: Maharani) is a royal title in Indian subcontinent, Indian subcontinent of Sanskrit origin. In modern India and Medieval India, medieval northern India, the title was equivalent to a pri ...
of
Tripura Tripura () is a States and union territories of India, state in northeastern India. The List of states and union territories of India by area, third-smallest state in the country, it covers ; and the seventh-least populous state with a populat ...
. From the inscription on a cannon, it is known that by 1593-1594 Isa Khan was using the title ''Masnad-i-Ala''. Various theories have been put forward regarding who might have granted him the title. Historian Abdul Karim believes he assumed the title himself sometime after 1581–1582.


Military campaigns

The rule of Karrani dynasty ended when Daud Khan was defeated in the Battle of Rajmahal in 1576. Isa started playing a leading role in the local resistance. In the end he successfully conquered parts of
Dhaka Dhaka ( or ; , ), List of renamed places in Bangladesh, formerly known as Dacca, is the capital city, capital and list of cities and towns in Bangladesh, largest city of Bangladesh. It is one of the list of largest cities, largest and list o ...
, Rangpur,
Pabna Pabna () is a city of Pabna District, Bangladesh and the administrative capital of the eponymous Pabna District. It is on the north bank of the Padma River and has a population of about . Etymology * According to the historian Radharaman Saha ...
,
Tripura Tripura () is a States and union territories of India, state in northeastern India. The List of states and union territories of India by area, third-smallest state in the country, it covers ; and the seventh-least populous state with a populat ...
, Mymensingh and Bogra. In 1577, Isa established Egarasindhur (in present-day Pakundia Upazila, Kishoreganj) as the political and trading centre of his realm. Forming a petty kingdom that remained independent. He declared himself as the ruler of the Bhati region in 1581–82. From Sarail, he shifted his administrative centre to Sonargaon. He built fortresses at Katrabo, Kalagachhia and Khizrpur near Sonargaon.


Battle against Khan Jahan

In 1578, Mughal Subahdar of Bengal, Subahdar Khan Jahan led an expedition towards the Bhati region and set camp in Bhawal. Isa faced the Mughal force led by Shah Bardi and Muhammad Quli on the Sarail-Juan Shahi border in Kastul on the bank of
Meghna river The Meghna () is one of the major rivers in Bangladesh, one of the three that form the Ganges Delta, the largest delta on earth, which fans out to the Bay of Bengal. A part of the Surma-Meghna River System, the Meghna is formed inside Banglade ...
. According to the '' Rajmala'', Isa then quickly retreated to Tripura and sought assistance from the then Maharaja of Tripura, Amar Manikya. With the good grace of the queen Amrabati, the king granted an army of 52,000 men to help Isa face the Mughals. However, before Isa returned to Sarail, two zamindars – Majlis Pratap and Majlis Dilawar already attacked and defeated the Mughal forces under Khan Jahan. Muhammad Quli was captured but Shah Bardi fled to Bhawal camp. Khan Jahan retreated to the city of Tandah where he died on 19 December 1578 after a prolonged illness. According to descriptions by Rajmala, Khan, who became the Zamindar of Sarail, sent one thousand labourers for Amar Manikya along with other Zamindars of Bengal in response to the request made by Manikya to excavate the ''Amar Sagar Dighi'' at around 1580 AD. Besides, as the naval commander of Manikya, Khan fought against the Zamindars of Taraf and
Sylhet Sylhet (; ) is a Metropolis, metropolitan city in the north eastern region of Bangladesh. It serves as the administrative center for both the Sylhet District and the Sylhet Division. The city is situated on the banks of the Surma River and, as o ...
, Syed Musa and Fateh Khan respectively, in 1581.


Battle against Shahbaz Khan

In 1583, Mughal General Shahbaz Khan destroyed Isa's palace in Baktiarpur. In September 1584, the then-subahdar Shahbaz crossed the
Ganges The Ganges ( ; in India: Ganga, ; in Bangladesh: Padma, ). "The Ganges Basin, known in India as the Ganga and in Bangladesh as the Padma, is an international which goes through India, Bangladesh, Nepal and China." is a trans-boundary rive ...
near Khizirpur and attacked
Sonargaon Sonargaon (; ; Literary translation, lit. ''Golden Hamlet (place), Hamlet'') is a historic city in central Bangladesh. It corresponds to the Sonargaon Upazila of Narayanganj District in Dhaka Division. Sonargaon is one of the old capitals of ...
, Katrabo and Egarasindhur and pursued the defeated Pathan forces under Masum Kabuli up to Bikrampur in Dhaka, the cunning Isa then pretended to negotiate for surrender and delayed the attack of the Mughal general for several months. However, in 1584, Isa and Masum Khan Kabuli, deploying musket and gunpowder artilleries, launched a counterattack which finally defeated Shahbaz Khan in the naval and land battles of Egarasindur and Bhawal, and even killing one of the Mughal general, after that Shahbaz Khan retreated to Tandah.


Battle against Laksmana Singh Hajra

In 1585, he attacked two Koch rulers, Ram Hazra and Lakshman Hazra, and occupied their Jangalbari Fort (in present-day Karimganj Upazila, Kishoreganj). Another source from local tradition was recorded that this happened in 1586 after Man Singh had defeated him in the battle of Egarasindhur. In the same year, Mughal Subahdar Shahbaz Khan again sent his forces against Isa to the south.


Second battle against Shahbaz Khan

With the help of reinforcements by Emperor
Akbar Akbar (Jalal-ud-din Muhammad Akbar, – ), popularly known as Akbar the Great, was the third Mughal emperor, who reigned from 1556 to 1605. Akbar succeeded his father, Humayun, under a regent, Bairam Khan, who helped the young emperor expa ...
, Shahbaz Khan led another military expedition towards Bhati in 1586. Isa attacked him at Bhawal (north of Dhaka) but forces of Shahbaz Khan were well fortified near Brahmaputra. Isa then chose to give allegiance towards Akbar and prevented an imminent invasion of Bengal by the Mughals. He even promised the Mughals he would dispatch Ma'sum Khan Kabuli, the renegade to a compulsory Pilgrimage to Mecca, something that was viewed as an act of banishment. In late 1586, Ralph Fitch, an English traveler and merchant, came to Sonargaon, Bengal's eastern districts and stated, Later on in 1588, he was involved in conflicts against Chand Rai and Kedar Rai.


Battle against Raghudev

Isa continued his campaign against the Koch dynasty. He fought and defeated Raghudev, the king of Koch Hajo, who ruled from Sankosh River in the west to the Bhareli River in the east on the north bank 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 ...
and rival to Koch Bihar kingdom which gained prominence after the latter's annexation by the Mughal empire. Isa captured portions of Raghudev's territory as far as Rangamati and Goalpara. However, later Isa Khan and Raghudev formed an alliance against the threat of a Mughal invasion.


Battle against Durjan Singh

On 17 March 1594, Man Singh was appointed the
Subahdar Subahdar, also known as Nazim, was one of the designations of a governor of a Subah (province) during the Khalji dynasty of Bengal, Mamluk dynasty, Khalji dynasty, Tughlaq dynasty, and the Mughal era who was alternately designated as Sahib- ...
of Bengal by Emperor Akbar. After establishing Rajmahal as the capital of Bengal, Man Singh set out on 9 December 1595 to wrest the East Bengal delta from Isa Khan. Isa was emboldened to resist the Mughals after he successfully sought alliance with Raghudev, his former enemy and Kedar Rai, Zamindar of Bhusna in Faridpur. In the clash that took place in August 1597, Isa became engaged in a battle against Mughal naval forces with the assistance of Masum Khan Kabuli, an ex-Mughal defector. At first Isa faced defeat with the Mughals attacking Katrabo, one of Isa's
pargana Pargana or parganah, also spelt pergunnah, equivalent to Mohallah as a subunit of Subah (Suba), was a type of former administrative division in the Indian subcontinent during the time of the Delhi Sultanate, Mughal and British Colonial empire ...
and city. However, on 5 September, Durjan Singh was killed and the Mughal forces were defeated. Both the army and navy of the Mughal-Koch Bihar alliance were either routed or captured. It is recorded that in this clash, Isa personally fought Man Singh in a duel. However, the duel ended inconclusively when Isa Khan stopped fighting after Man Singh's sword broke. The noble gesture touched Man Singh and both men developed respect for each other which culminated in a friendship. Man Singh's respect for his rival was later made evident; when Isa sought to submit to the Mughal under a guarantee that it was wiser for the Mughals not to incite a full invasion, Man Singh accompanied him to the Mughal court.


Administration

Due to his submission, Akbar assigned 22 parganas or administrative units under the ruling of Isa.


Marriage

Khan first married his maternal cousin Fatima Bibi, a daughter of his aunt Raushan Akhtar Banu and her husband Syed Ibrahim Danishmand. Later he married Sarnamoyee, the daughter of Chand Rai of Sripur. After her conversion to Islam, Sarnamoyee took the name ''Sona Bibi''.


Descendants

Khan's son, Musa Khan, took control of Sonargaon after his death. On 10 July 1610 Musa was dethroned by Mughal General Islam Khan Chisti. After that, the descendants of Isa left Sonargaon and settled in Jangalbari Fort. Masum Khan was the eldest son of Musa Khan. Masum served as the Mughal army General during the Hughly invasion in 1632. His eldest son was Monwar Khan. Monwar acted as the chief of the Bengal Zamindars' flotilla on the conquest of Chittagong in 1666. Monwar, leading naval ships armed with bronze 9,5 inches cannons, recovered Chittagong from the Portuguese. A village called ''Monwarbagh'', in Bandar Upazila of Narayanganj District, was named after him. Haybat Khan, another grandson of Musa, established ''Haybatnagar'' (in present-day Kishoreganj district) and made it the centre of his land-lordship of seven parganas. James Wise (d. 1886), a civil surgeon in Dhaka for 10 years, published a report on Baro-Bhuyans in ''Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, Volume 43'' in 1874. He found information from the account of his meeting with the descendants of Isa in Jangalbari and Haybatnagar. He addressed Isa as the ''Zamindar of Khizirpur''. The Haybatnagar family had possessed sent by Shah Shuja in 1649 and another one from
Shaista Khan Mirza Abu Talib (b. 22 November 1600 – d. 1694), better known as Shaista Khan, was a general and the Subahdar of Mughal Bengal. He was maternal uncle to the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb, and acted as a key figure during his reign. Shaista Khan ini ...
in 1667. Subhan Dad Khan had been the head of the family in Jangalbari in 1874. The other descendant of Haybatnagar family, Ilah Nawaz Khan, had died in
Calcutta Kolkata, also known as Calcutta (List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern ba ...
in 1872. Other branches of the family had settled in Jafarabad, Baghalpur, Mymensingh, Harishpur (Tripura), Katrabo (Dhaka), and Barisal. The wealth, property and Zamindari was distributed amongst the descendants which is why they each lived in different parts of the country. As of 2005, Dewan Amin Dau Khan, the 14th descendant of Isa has been living in Jangalbari Fort in Egarasindur village. The fort seemed to have a circular front and had 40 rooms. The fort was mostly destroyed during an earthquake in 1893.


Death and legacy

The so-called alliance between Kedar Ray and Isa Khan turned into animosity as Isa Khan abducted Kedar's widowed niece Swornomoyee. Rattled by this, Kedar Ray invaded Isa Khan's capital, tearing down the Kalagachhia and other forts one after the other up until his death in 1599. Following Ray's attacks, Isa soon fled to Medinipur. Kedar Ray continued to occupy the zamindari of Isa Khan. Khan died there in September 1599. His tomb remains in the village of Baktarpur in Kaliganj Upazila, Gazipur District of Bangladesh. On 12 February 1909, a farmer unearthed seven cannons in Monwarbagh in Bandar,
Narayanganj Narayanganj () is a city in central Bangladesh in the Greater Dhaka area. It is in the Narayanganj District, about southeast of the capital city of Dhaka. With a population of almost 1 million, it is the 6th largest city in Bangladesh. It is als ...
. The cannons were partly made of brass. They had labels "Isa Khan" and "1002" (Hijri 1002 year is 1593 CE in
Gregorian Calendar The Gregorian calendar is the calendar used in most parts of the world. It went into effect in October 1582 following the papal bull issued by Pope Gregory XIII, which introduced it as a modification of, and replacement for, the Julian cale ...
). These cannons were made from the era of Sher Shah Suri who ruled Bengal before the Bara Bhuiyans while at least three cannons which carved with Isa Khan labels were made during the
Baro-Bhuyan The ''Baro-Bhuyans'' (or ''Baro-Bhuyan Raj''; also ''Baro-Bhuians'' and ''Baro-Bhuiyans'') were confederacies of soldier-landowners in Assam and Bengal in the late Middle Ages and the early modern period. The confederacies consisted of loosel ...
s independent era. Bangladesh Navy has named a base, BNS Issa Khan in his honour. The base, BNS Issa Khan, was the first Bangladesh Navy base to receive the national standard in 1974.


Popular culture

On 15 September 1992, Bangladesh issued a commemorative stamp in honour of Isa. A jatra, named ''Isa Khan'', depicting the life of Isa, written by Bhoironnath Gangopadhyay and directed by Mridul Kanti Dey, was staged on the premises of ''Bangladesh Lok O Karu Shilpa Foundation'' on 18 October 2012. DA Tayeb made a movie named Isa Khan.


See also

*
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 ...
* Karrani dynasty * Khwaja Usman * 24 Parganas *
Skanderbeg Gjergj Kastrioti (17 January 1468), commonly known as Skanderbeg, was an Albanians, Albanian Albanian nobility, feudal lord and military commander who led Skanderbeg's rebellion, a rebellion against the Ottoman Empire in what is today Albania, ...


Original sources


Primary

* Akbar-nama/Book of Akbar Volume 3:Ain-i-Akbari * ''Memoirs of Bengal'' by Ralph Fitch * Tarikh-i-Sher Shahi * ''Chronicle of Bhara Buiyans'' by Baharistan-i-Ghaibi


Secondary

* NK Bhattasali, ''Bengal Chiefs' Struggle for Independence in the Reign of Akbar and Jahangir, Bengal Past and Present'', 38, 1929; * MA Rahim, ''The History of the Afghans in India'', Karachi, 1961; * Abdul Karim, ''History of Bengal (Mughal Period),'' I, Rajshahi, 1992.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Khan, Isa Bengali zamindars 16th-century Bengalis 1536 births 1599 deaths People from Sarail Upazila 16th-century Indian Muslims Sunni Muslims Bengali Muslims Bengal Sultanate officers