Kirtinarayan Basu (; r. 1668), also spelt Kirti Narayan Basu, was the eleventh ''

raja Raja (; from , IAST ') is a noble or royal Sanskrit title historically used by some Indian subcontinent, Indian rulers and monarchs and highest-ranking nobles. The title was historically used in the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia. T ...

'' of medieval

Chandradwip Chandradwip was a historic principality and later a zamindari located in southern Bengal, largely corresponding to the present-day Barisal Division in Bangladesh. The principality first rose to prominence under the rule of Raja Danujamardana Deva ...

, 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 ...

i'' which covered much of the Barisal Division of 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 ...

Background

Kirtinarayan Basu was born in the 17th-century to an aristocratic

Bengali Kayastha Bengali Kayastha is a Bengali Hindu caste that originated from the Bengal region of Indian subcontinent, and is one of the main subgroups of the Kayastha community. The historical caste occupation of Kayasthas throughout India has been that of ...

family in the Madhabpasha Palace of

, which had become a feudal territory of the

Mughal Empire The Mughal Empire was an Early modern period, 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 ...

following the defeat of his father, Ramchandra Basu, against the forces of

Islam Khan I Shaikh Alauddin Chisti (1570–1613; popularly known as Islam Khan Chisti) was a Mughal general and the Subahdar of Bihar and later Bengal. He transferred the capital of Bengal from Rajmahal to Sonargaon and founded the city of Jahangirnagar. ...

in 1611. His mother, Vimala, was the first wife of Ramchandra Basu and the daughter of Raja

Pratapaditya Pratapaditya Guha was a rebellious Kayashtha zamindar of Jessore of lower Bengal, before being defeated by the Mughal Empire. He was eulogized by 19th and 20th century Bengali historians as a resistor against Mughal in Jessore but the statements ...

Jessore Jessore (, ), officially Jashore, is a city of Jessore District in Khulna Division. It lies in southwestern Bangladesh. It is home to the first flight training school of the Bangladeshi Air Force, established in 1971. Jessore city consists of 9 wa ...

Reign

Kirtinarayan became the ''Raja'' of

following the death of his father, Ramchandra. Shortly after his accession, Chandradwip's Portuguese military commander, João Geri, launched a rebellion with 10,000 soldiers. Kirtinarayan rallied the supporting remnants of the army and a three-day battle occurred between the two forces in Ballabhpur. Many of Chandradwip's Portuguese soldiers were killed and Geri subsequently fled the Bakla region. As a result of Portuguese betrayal, Kirtinarayan reorganised the Chandradwip army and supported the

Mughal Mughal or Moghul may refer to: Related to the Mughal Empire * Mughal Empire of South Asia between the 16th and 19th centuries * Mughal dynasty * Mughal emperors * Mughal people, a social group of Central and South Asia * Mughal architecture * Mug ...

governor

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 his campaign to subdue Portuguese and Magh (

Arakan Arakan ( or ; , ), formerly anglicised as Aracan, is the historical geographical name for the northeastern coastal region of the Bay of Bengal, covering present-day Bangladesh and Myanmar. The region was called "Arakan" for centuries. It is ...

ese) pirates in the

Bay of Bengal The Bay of Bengal is the northeastern part of the Indian Ocean. Geographically it is positioned between the Indian subcontinent and the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese peninsula, located below the Bengal region. Many South Asian and Southe ...

. To protect Chandradwip from Magh-Portuguese attacks, Kirtinarayan constructed several forts in his territory. A fort was constructed in the village of Jagua (east of the Kalijira river) and the

Raipur Raipur ( ) is the capital city of the Indian state of Chhattisgarh. Raipur is also the administrative headquarters of Raipur district and Raipur division, and the largest city of the state. It was a part of Madhya Pradesh before the state of Chh ...

fort (west of the Kalijira) that was constructed by his father was repaired. He constructed a moat in Koterdon where he stationed troops, and also constructed some new forts in Shahbazpur. Kirtinarayan also contributed to the development of education in the Bakla region by establishing schools in Madhabpasha, Guthia, Hosenpur, Narayanpur, Khalisakotha,

Shikarpur Shikarpur or Shakkarpur or Sikarpur may refer to the following places: India *Shikarpur, Bihar (Vidhan Sabha constituency) * Shikarpur, Gujarat, a village and Harappan archeological site in Kutch district of Gujarat * Shikarpur, Shimoga, a town in ...

, Nalchira, Gaila and other areas.

Conversion to Islam

Despite Kirtinarayan's contributions to Chandradwip's military and educational facilities, his reformations to Hindu dietary customs caused backlash. Kirtinarayan was invited by the Governor of Bengal

to his court in Jahangir Nagar (

Old Dhaka Old Dhaka () is a term used to refer to the historic old city of Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh. It was founded in 1608 as Jahangirabad or Jahangirnagar (), the capital of Bengal Subah, Mughal Province of Bengal and named after the Mughal em ...

) to discuss the war against the Magh-Portuguese pirates. A feast was presented with

Halal ''Halal'' (; ) is an Arabic word that translates to in English. Although the term ''halal'' is often associated with Islamic dietary laws, particularly meat that is slaughtered according to Islamic guidelines, it also governs ethical practices ...

meat, which caused the Hindu community to

excommunicate Excommunication is an institutional act of religious censure used to deprive, suspend, or limit membership in a religious community or to restrict certain rights within it, in particular those of being in communion with other members of the co ...

him. Khan suggested that he convert to

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 ...

instead, to which Kirtinarayan willingly accepted. The Hindu elders of Chandradwip refused to recognise his status, and so the Chandradwip ''zamindari'' was passed on to his younger brother, Basudev. Kirtinarayan subsequently resettled in the village of Keora. He eventually married a

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

woman, with whom he had a son named Mahmud Hasan Taqi. Kirtinarayan maintained his relationship with the Mughals, and continued to fight against the Magh pirates. After being injured in an encounter against the Maghs, Kirtinarayan shortly died and was buried in the nearby village of Pipalita. His favourite horse was also buried not far from him.

Succession and legacy

Although Kirtinarayan was made to give up Chandradwip to his younger brother Basudev, he continued to possess land in the Chandradwip and Salimabad

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 ...

s even after becoming a Muslim. His descendants, known as the Baklai family of Keora, held

taluq A tehsil (, also known as tahsil, taluk, or taluka () is a local unit of administrative division in India and Pakistan. It is a subdistrict of the area within a district including the designated populated place that serves as its administrative ce ...

s in Mathbaria and Morrelganj. His son and successor, Mahmud Hasan Taqi, founded a

mosque A mosque ( ), also called a masjid ( ), is a place of worship for Muslims. The term usually refers to a covered building, but can be any place where Salah, Islamic prayers are performed; such as an outdoor courtyard. Originally, mosques were si ...

in Keora. Taqi had three sons; Mahmud Ghazanfar Ali, Mahmud Sadeq and Ejaz Mahmud. Mahmud Sadeq's son was Qutb Mahmud, whose son was Jan Mahmud, whose son was Rahmat Ali Baklai, whose son was Mahmud Ali Baklai, whose son was Amud Ali Baklai, whose son was Ahmad Ali Balkai, whose son was Abdul Majid Baklai. In total, Kirtinarayan's descendants number over one thousand today.

References

Bibliography