Ṣabīḥ Khān (), popularly known as Sabi Khan (), was a

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 ...

statesman best known for serving as the

Kotwal The Kotwal also spelled as Cotwal, or Kotval, was a title used in medieval and early modern period for the leader of a Kot or fort. Kotwals often controlled the fort of a major town or an area of smaller towns on behalf of another ruler. It was ...

and

Faujdar Faujdar under the Mughals was an office that combined the functions of a military commander along with judicial and land revenue functions. The term faujdar contained pre-Mughal origins. During those times, the term referred to a military offic ...

Bakla In the Philippines, a baklâ ( Tagalog and Cebuano) (), bayot (Cebuano) or agî ( Hiligaynon) is a person who was assigned male at birth and has adopted a gender expression that is feminine. They are often considered a third gender. Many bakla ...

(Barisal) during the reign of

Mughal emperor The emperors of the Mughal Empire, who were all members of the Timurid dynasty (House of Babur), ruled the empire from its inception on 21 April 1526 to its dissolution on 21 September 1857. They were supreme monarchs of the Mughal Empire in ...

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 ...

. He was renowned for the construction of numerous roads, bridges, reservoirs and places of worship in the Barisal region. Henry Beveridge credits him as the first road-builder of the region. The

Kotalipara Upazila Kotalipara () is an upazila of Gopalganj District in the Division of Dhaka, Bangladesh. It is one of the five (5) upazilas of Gopalganj. Geography Kotalipara is located at . It has 48,029 households and a total area of 355.90 km2. It is a ''mo ...

is named after him.

Early life and appointmentship

Saif Shumon Kasba Mosque Of Gauranadi 001

Sabi Khan was said to have arrived to the region during the reign of

as a representative of 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- ...

(Governor) 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 ...

. A minority of researchers opine that he was a contemporary of Sultan

Daud Khan Karrani Daud Khan Karrani (died 12 July 1576) was the last ruler of Bengal's Karrani dynasty as well as the final Sultan of Bengal, reigning from 1572 to 1576. During the reign of his father Sulaiman Khan Karrani, Daud commanded a massive army of 40,00 ...

. The Mughal governor, based 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 ...

), appointed Sabi Khan as the

in 1618. He settled with his army in the village of Gaila-Fullasri in present-day Agailjhara. It is said that Gaila got its name from ''Golabarud'', the

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

word for ammunition, as ammunition was produced in this village by Sabi Khan and his group. The present Gaila Das Bari is thought to have been Sabi Khan's home due to the foundations discovered in the brick walls of the residence. Henry Beveridge records a different account, which places Sabi Khan as the son of a wealthy merchant who was kidnapped at an early age and raised in the forests of Bakla-Chandradwip. Beveridge continues by narrating how Sabi's father was murdered many years later eventually leading to his mother escaping to the forests. In this account, she was married to Sabi Khan for a while not knowing of their relationship until the discovery of a mole in his foot. The legend explains Sabi Khan's architectural philanthropy to have been a means of Sabi Khan receiving forgiveness for the sin that he had committed.

Contributions

Sabi Khan greatly contributed to the development of the Bakla-Chandradwip region, and signs of this can still be found in Gournadi,

Wazirpur Wazirpur () is a municipality in Barisal, Bangladesh Barisal ( or ; , ), officially known as Barishal, is a major city that lies on the banks of the Kirtankhola river in south-central Bangladesh. It is the largest city and the administrative ...

, Kotwali,

Muladi Muladi may refer to: * Muladí, a native Iberian Muslim in al-Andalus * Muladi (politician) (1943-2020), Indonesian academic {{dab ...

and Kotalipara. During his time as ''faujdar'', a large road was constructed from the port of Tarki to Madhabpasha (capital of

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 ...

) via Qasba, Gaila, Dhamura and Otra. He also constructed a road from

to Kotalipara via Jhalkathi, Rahmatpur, Shikarpur and Gaila. In his own village, Gaila, there were three more roads. The first went from Ramdas-Hatkhola southwards to Dhamura and Otra, the second went from Kotalipara in the west towards

Murshidabad Murshidabad (), is a town in the Indian States and territories of India, state of West Bengal. This town is the headquarters of Lalbag subdivision of Murshidabad district. It is located on the eastern bank of the Hooghly river, Bhagirathi Riv ...

and the third went from the southeast and merged with the present-day Gaila-Gaurnadi road. The 50-feet Gaila-Mashang road continues to be used today, though it is now reduced to 20 feet. On the two sides of the road, he had a ''dighi'' (reservoir) built for the locals and his army. A village was eventually established near the ''dighi'' which came to be known as ''Sabi Khar Par''. He also constructed a road from Barisal to Bhurghata, and the Dhaka-Barisal highway was built upon it. He also had a road built from Nalchira to what would become the Sharikel Fort. Other than roads, Sabi Khan also constructed numerous

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 ...

s in Gaila, Ramsiddhi, Qasba and Kotalipara. Brick and iron bridges can also be found on his constructed roads. One bridge in Gournadi was destroyed last century, though the ruins of one of Sabi Khan's bridges can be seen in the village of Ghanteshwar.

Controversy

It is said that Emperor

allowed him to spend a lot of money on his philanthropic works. However, rumours then spread that Sabi Khan's works were not being done in Jahangir's name and that he had surpassed him in power and popularity. This angered the emperor, who called for his imprisonment. On one occasion, Ram Mishra, the progenitor of the Mishras of Gaila, caught Sabi Khan when he was asleep and took him to the soldiers of the

. Sabi Khan was later released after the Subahdar released that the accusation was false.

Personal life

Sabi Khan was a devout

Sunni Muslim Sunni Islam is the largest branch of Islam and the largest religious denomination in the world. It holds that Muhammad did not appoint any successor and that his closest companion Abu Bakr () rightfully succeeded him as the caliph of the Musli ...

. He was a ''

murid In Sufism, a (Arabic ) is a novice committed to spiritual enlightenment by (traversing a path) under a spiritual guide, who may take the title , or . A or Sufi follower only becomes a when he makes a pledge () to a . The equivalent Pers ...

'' of Mir-i-Mashaikh, the ''

dervish Dervish, Darvesh, or Darwīsh (from ) in Islam can refer broadly to members of a Sufi fraternity (''tariqah''), or more narrowly to a religious mendicant, who chose or accepted material poverty. The latter usage is found particularly in Persi ...

'' of Udchara in Jhalkathi. He was also a follower of Syed Qutb Shah, the dervish of Nalchira in Gournadi and son of Ulfat Ghazi. Khan was married to a woman from the village of Qasba in Gournadi.

Death

After retirement, Sabi Khan remained in the Bakla region and devoted himself to religion. He had established a ''

hujra A mehmaan khana (Hindustani language, Hindustani مہمان خانہ, मेहमान ख़ाना, ) is a drawing room where guests are entertained in many houses in North India, Bangladesh and Pakistan. Alternative names include hujra and ...

'' in the village of Bankura in Batajor where he died. His ''hujra khana'' still stands today.

Early life and appointmentship

Contributions

Controversy

Personal life

Death

See also

References

Further reading