Shāh Sulṭān Qamar ad-Dīn Rumī (, ), was an 11th-century
Sufi Muslim figure who in scholarly tradition, is believed to have been the first Sufi who visited and settled in Bengal. His name is associated with the
spread of Islam
The spread of Islam spans almost 1,400 years. The early Muslim conquests that occurred following the death of Muhammad in 632 CE led to the creation of the caliphates, expanding over a vast geographical area; conversion to Islam was boosted ...
into
Netrokona, part of a long history of travel between the
Middle East
The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq.
The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...
,
Central Asia
Central Asia is a region of Asia consisting of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. The countries as a group are also colloquially referred to as the "-stans" as all have names ending with the Persian language, Pers ...
and
South Asia
South Asia is the southern Subregion#Asia, subregion of Asia that is defined in both geographical and Ethnicity, ethnic-Culture, cultural terms. South Asia, with a population of 2.04 billion, contains a quarter (25%) of the world's populatio ...
.
Biography
Earlier documents reveal that Rumi arrived in Bengal in 1053 CE (445 Hijri) with his teacher Syed Shah Surkhul Antia and ten disciples. This was a century before the arrival of Muslim general
Bakhtiyar Khalji and 250 years before
Shah Jalal
Shāh Jalāl Mujarrad Kunyāʾī (), popularly known as Shah Jalal (), was a celebrated Sufi Saint, conqueror and historical figure of Bengal. His name is often associated with the Muslim conquest of Sylhet and the Spread of Islam into the ...
's
Conquest of Sylhet
The Conquest of Sylhet () predominantly refers to an Early Muslim conquests, Islamic conquest of Srihatta (present-day Sylhet, Bangladesh) led by Sikandar Khan Ghazi, the military general of Sultan Shamsuddin Firoz Shah of the Lakhnauti Sultanat ...
in 1303 CE. Thus, Rumi arrived in Bengal even before the conquests.
Rumi and his comrades settled in modern-day Netrokona, an area with no Muslim population and ruled by a
Koch king called Ganesh. The message of Islam reached the local residents, many of whom accepted Islam. When news of conversions reached the king, Rumi was summoned to the royal court. It is said that Rumi claimed that God granted him the spiritual power, and so he was faced with an ordeal. Poison was offered to him and, as is believed, he was safe and sound even after drinking the poison. All present at the scene accepted Islam and the king granted him the village of Madanpur as well as some neighbouring villages, and made it a rent-free area.
Death and legacy
It is assumed that Shah Sultan Rumi died in 1075 CE (475 Hijri). A shrine was built in the village of Madanpur which continues to be visited. A mosque was built adjacent to the shrine complex.
During the colonial period of Bengal, the
British East India Company
The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company that was founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to Indian Ocean trade, trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (South A ...
tried to takeover the shrine estate in 1829. This was contested by the guardians of the shrine who provided an old
Persian
Persian may refer to:
* People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language
** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples
** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...
document from 1082 CE. In response, the government abandoned the plan and granted the estate to the document holder; Syed Jalaluddin.
[
There are number of things named after Rumi:
* Shah Sultan Jame Mosque, Madanpur
* Shah Sultan Degree College
* Shah Sultan High School, Madanpur
* Shah Sultan Digital Institute
* Shah Sultan Diagnostic Center
]
See also
* Shaikh Jalaluddin Tabrizi
References
{{authority control
1075 deaths
Muslim missionaries
Missionaries in India
11th-century Muslims
Bengali Sufi saints
People from Netrokona District
Rulers of Mymensingh