Musa Khan (; died April 1623) was a Bengali zamindar and the ruler of Bhati, a region in medieval

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 ...

that covered the greater districts 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 ...

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 ...

, Comilla, 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 ...

in 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 ...

. He also served as the chief of 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, a confederation of soldier-landowners who aimed to resist the Mughal invasion of Bengal and to continue the legacy of his father,

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 ...

Early life and family

Musa Khan was born into a

Bengali Muslim Bengali Muslims (; ) 'Mussalman'' also used in this work./ref> are adherents of Islam who ethnically, linguistically and genealogically identify as Bengalis. Comprising over 70% of the global Bengali population, they are the second-largest ...

family from Sarail. He was the eldest son of Isa Khan, probably by his first wife Fatima Bibi, who was the daughter of Ibrahim Danishmand. Khan's grandfather, Kalidas Gazdani, converted to Islam under the guidance of Ibrahim Danishmand. Musa Khan's grandfather, Sulaiman Khan, married the Sultan's daughter Syeda Momena Khatun and received the

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 of Sarail which passed onto Musa Khan's father. Musa Khan had two younger brothers, Abdullah Khan and Mahmud Khan. Along with his maternal cousin Alaul Khan, the three of them assisted Musa Khan when he was fighting against the Mughals. He also had another brother called Ilyas Khan who later surrendered to the Mughals.

Career

After the death of his father in 1599, Musa Khan inherited the throne of

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 ...

, gaining the vast territory of Bhati and becoming the chief of the Baro-Bhuiyan landlords of Bengal. Continuing his father's legacy, he resisted Mughal invasion for over a decade until he was forced to submit to the Mughal Emperor

Jahangir Nur-ud-din Muhammad Salim (31 August 1569 – 28 October 1627), known by his imperial name Jahangir (; ), was List of emperors of the Mughal Empire, Emperor of Hindustan from 1605 until his death in 1627, and the fourth Mughal emperors, Mughal ...

on 10 July 1610. He was then dethroned and imprisoned by Islam Khan Chishti, the army general of Emperor

and

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- ...

Bengal Subah The Bengal Subah (Bengali language, Bengali: সুবাহ বাংলা, ), also referred to as Mughal Bengal and Bengal State (after 1717), was one of the puppet states and the largest subah, subdivision of The Mughal India, Mughal Emp ...

. During the office of Subahdar Ibrahim Khan Fath-i-Jang (1617-1624), Musa Khan became loyal to the Mughal force and was freed. He actively participated in the conquest 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 ...

and the suppression of revolt in Kamrup.

Death

Musa Khan died in 1623 in the city of Jahangirnagar, and was succeeded by his son Masum Khan. He was buried in a place known as ''Bagh-i-Musa Khan'' (Musa Khan's garden). 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 ...

, known as the Musa Khan Mosque, was built near his tomb by his son, Diwan Munawwar Khan. The tomb and mosque are situated within a present-day residence hall compound of Dhaka University.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Khan, Musa Year of birth unknown 1623 deaths 16th-century Bengalis 17th-century Bengalis People from Sarail Upazila Bengali Muslims 17th-century Indian Muslims 16th-century Indian Muslims