Syed Shāh Tāj ad-Dīn ( ar, , bn, সৈয়দ শাহ তাজ উদ্দিন) was a 14th-century Sufi Muslim figure in the

Sylhet region The 1947 Sylhet referendum was held in the Sylhet District of the Assam Province of British India to decide whether the district would remain in Undivided Assam and therefore within the post-independence Dominion of India, or leave Assam for E ...

. Tajuddin's name is associated with the propagation of Islam in Osmani Nagar, Aurangpur. In 1315, he joined

Shah Kamal Quhafa Shāh Kamāl Quḥāfah ( ar, , bn, শাহ কামাল কোহাফাহ; 1291–1385), was a philanthropist, pioneer, social and religious activist. Life Shah Kamal was born in Makkah, Shah Kamal Quhafah was a descendant of Abdur R ...

who was travelling to the

to meet

Shah Jalal Jalāl Mujarrad Kunyāʾī (), popularly known as Shah Jalal, was a celebrated Sufi figure of Bengal. His name is often associated with the Conquest of Sylhet and the spread of Islam into the region, part of a long history of interactions bet ...

and reunite with his father, Khwaja Burhanuddin Ketan.

Life

Syed Shah Tajuddin was born in

Baghdad Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesipho ...

in the 13th century CE. He is from the

Arab tribe The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, N ...

Quraysh The Quraysh ( ar, قُرَيْشٌ) were a grouping of Arab clans that historically inhabited and controlled the city of Mecca and its Kaaba. The Islamic prophet Muhammad was born into the Hashim clan of the tribe. Despite this, many of the Q ...

, his x10 great grandfather being Jaʿfar, a son of

Musa al-Kadhim Musa ibn Ja'far al-Kazim ( ar, مُوسَىٰ ٱبْن جَعْفَر ٱلْكَاظِم, Mūsā ibn Jaʿfar al-Kāẓim), also known as Abū al-Ḥasan, Abū ʿAbd Allāh or Abū Ibrāhīm, was the seventh Imam in Twelver Shia Islam, after h ...

(745-799 CE). He joined his father, Alauddin, and his brothers,

Shah Ruknuddin Shāh Kamāl Quḥāfah ( ar, , bn, শাহ কামাল কোহাফাহ; 1291–1385), was a philanthropist, pioneer, social and religious activist. Life Shah Kamal was born in Makkah, Shah Kamal Quhafah was a descendant of Abdur R ...

and Bahauddin and Shamsuddin in accompanying

in his quest to meet

and reunite with his father, Burhanuddin. In 1315, they reached Sylhet and spent some time as a

murid In Sufism, a ''murīd'' (Arabic مُرِيد 'one who seeks') is a novice committed to spiritual enlightenment by ''sulūk'' (traversing a path) under a spiritual guide, who may take the title murshid, ''pir'' or '' shaykh''. A ''sālik'' or Suf ...

of Shah Jalal in Dargah Mahalla. In June 1315, Jalal then ordered

and his 12

dervish Dervish, Darvesh, or Darwīsh (from fa, درویش, ''Darvīsh'') 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 ...

es to travel to north-western

Taraf ''Taraf'' ("Side" in Turkish) was a liberal newspaper in Turkey. It had distinguished itself by opposing interference by the Turkish military in the country's social and political affairs. It was distributed nationwide, and had been in circula ...

and propagate the religion there. The 13 men, as well as Kamal's wife, then set off from Sheikh Ghat along the

Surma River The Surma River ( bn, সুরমা নদী) is a major river in Bangladesh, part of the Surma-Meghna River System. It starts when the Barak River from northeast India divides at the Bangladesh border into the Surma and the Kushiyara rivers ...

in three small ''bajra''s known as ''pangshi'' (or ''panshi''). The area which they resided in was originally a cluster of islands in body of water called Ratnang. It came to be known as

Shaharpara Shaharpara ( bn, শাহারপাড়া) is a village of historical importance in the south-eastern part of Sunamganj District, Bangladesh. It was founded in 1315 CE by Shah Kamal Quhafah and his disciples. It is approximately one hour dr ...

(the neighbourhood of

Shah Shah (; fa, شاه, , ) is a royal title that was historically used by the leading figures of Iranian monarchies.Yarshater, EhsaPersia or Iran, Persian or Farsi, ''Iranian Studies'', vol. XXII no. 1 (1989) It was also used by a variety of ...

s), on the banks of the Ratna river. Tajuddin later moved to Gauharpur in the Aurangapur Pargana where he spent the rest of his life.

Death and legacy

He is buried in a mazar in the village of Lama Tajpur in Sadipur Union,

Osmani Nagar Upazila Osmani Nagar ( bn, ওসমানীনগর) is an upazila of Sylhet District in the Division of Sylhet, Bangladesh. Etymology “Osmani Nagar” is a compound of two words, ''Osmani'' and ''nagar'' (city), which literally means “the city of ...

. Tajpur in Osmani Nagar, is named after him. Among his descendants, Abdul Ghafur of Sylhet, was notable.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tajuddin, Shah People from Baghdad People from Osmani Nagar Upazila 14th-century Indian Muslims Bengali Sufi saints