Sidi Badr, later known by his

regnal name A regnal name, regnant name, or reign name is the name used by monarchs and popes during their reigns and subsequently, historically. Since ancient times, some monarchs have chosen to use a different name from their original name when they accede ...

Shams ad-Dīn Muẓaffar Shāh (, ), was the

Sultan of Bengal The Bengal Sultanate (Middle Bengali: , Classical Persian: ) was a Post-classical history, late medieval sultanate based in the Bengal region in the eastern South Asia between the 14th and 16th century. It was the dominant power of the Ganges- ...

from 1491 to 1493. Described by the Indo-Persian historians as a tyrant, his cruelty was said to have alienated the nobles as well as his common subjects.

Biography

Sidi Badr was born to 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 ...

family of Habshi descent. Intending to takeover

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 ...

, he first killed Habash Khan, the regent of the young Sultan Mahmud Shah II, before proceeding to also kill the Sultan. Badr ascended the throne under the title of ''Shams-ud-Din Muzaffar Shah''. He developed an army of 40,000 soldiers; recruiting thousands of

Afghans Afghans (; ) are the citizens and nationals of Afghanistan, as well as their descendants in the Afghan diaspora. The country is made up of various ethnic groups, of which Pashtuns, Tajiks, Hazaras, and Uzbeks are the largest. The three main lan ...

and 5,000 Abyssinians. In 896 AH (1490-1491 AD), he constructed 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 ...

Gangarampur Gangarampur is one of the cities and a municipality in Dakshin Dinajpur district in the state of West Bengal, India. Balurghat is the headquarters of the Gangarampur subdivision, Gangarampur Subdivision. The city is located on the bank of river ...

, adjacent to the

Dargah A Sufi shrine or dargah ( ''dargâh'' or ''dargah'', Turkish: ''dergâh'', Hindustani: ''dargāh'' दरगाह درگاہ, ''dôrgah'') is a shrine or tomb built over the grave of a revered religious figure, often a Sufi saint or dervi ...

of Makhdum Mawlana Ata. On 30 December 1492, his governor Khurshid Khan established a Jama Mosque near Nawabganj on the banks of the

Mahananda River The Mahananda ( ) is a trans-boundary river that flows through the Indian states of Bihar and West Bengal before crossing into Bangladesh. It is an important tributary of the Ganges. Course The Mahananda river system consists of two streams- ...

. He defeated the

Kamata Kingdom The Kamata Kingdom ; in the eastern Sivalik Hills, emerged in western Kamarupa probably when Sandhya (ruler of Kamarupa), Sandhya, a ruler of Kamarupanagara, moved his capital west to Kamatapur sometime after 1257 CE. Since it originated in ...

in battle and conquered their territory in the year 898 AH (1492-93 AD) and subsequently issued coins bearing ''Kamata Mardan 898''. On 2 July 1493, the Sultan constructed a building near the

dargah A Sufi shrine or dargah ( ''dargâh'' or ''dargah'', Turkish: ''dergâh'', Hindustani: ''dargāh'' दरगाह درگاہ, ''dôrgah'') is a shrine or tomb built over the grave of a revered religious figure, often a Sufi saint or dervi ...

Nur Qutb Alam Nūr Qut̤b ʿĀlam (, ) was a 14th-century Bengali Islamic scholar, author and poet. Based in the erstwhile Bengali capital Hazrat Pandua, he was the son and successor of Alaul Haq, a senior scholar of the Bengal Sultanate. He is noted for his ...

Hazrat Pandua Pandua, also historically known as Hazrat Pandua and later Firuzabad, is a ruined city in the Malda district of the Indian state of West Bengal. It served as the capital city of the independent Sultanate of Bengal for nearly a century, until t ...

. His wazir (chief minister) Sayyid Husain led a rebellion in which he was killed. Husain succeeded as Sultan in 1494, assuming the name

Alauddin Husain Shah Ala-ud-din Husain Shah (; ; ) was an independent late medieval Sultan of the Bengal Sultanate, who founded the Hussain Shahi dynasty. He became the ruler of Bengal after assassinating the People of Ethiopia, Abyssinian Sultan, Shamsuddin Muzaff ...

, and founded the

Hussain Shahi dynasty The Hussain Shahi dynasty was a family which ruled the late medieval Sunni Muslim Sultanate of Bengal from 1494 to 1538. History The dynasty's founder, Alauddin Husain Shah was possibly of Sayyid Arab, or even Afghan origin. He is considered ...

of Bengal. He also removed all Habshis from administrative posts, ending Habshi rule in Bengal. These Habshis eventually migrated to

Gujarat Gujarat () is a States of India, state along the Western India, western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the List of states and union territories ...

and the

Deccan The Deccan is a plateau extending over an area of and occupies the majority of the Indian peninsula. It stretches from the Satpura and Vindhya Ranges in the north to the northern fringes of Tamil Nadu in the south. It is bound by the mount ...

References

Sultans of Bengal 1494 deaths Year of birth unknown 15th-century Indian monarchs Habshis of Bengal {{india-royal-stub

Biography

See also

References