Shamsuddin Yusuf Shah (, ) 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 1474 to 1481. He belonged to the

Ilyas Shahi dynasty The Ilyas Shahi dynasty (, ) was the first independent dynasty to set the foundations of the late medieval Sunni Muslim Sultanate of Bengal. Their rule extended from 1342 to 1487, though interrupted with interregna by their slaves as well as th ...

and was the successor of his father, Sultan

Rukunuddin Barbak Shah Ruknuddīn Bārbak Shāh (, ; 1459–1474) was the son and successor of Sultan Nasiruddin Mahmud Shah. Initially appointed as the governor of Satgaon during the reign of his father, Barbak ascended the throne of the Bengal Sultanate in 1459. H ...

Early life and family

Yusuf was born into a ruling class

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 ...

Sunni 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 Mu ...

family known as the

, in the

Bengal Sultanate 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- ...

. His father, Barbak, and his grandfather,

Mahmud Mahmud is a transliteration of the male Arabic given name (), common in most parts of the Islamic world. It comes from the Arabic triconsonantal root Ḥ-M-D, meaning ''praise'', along with ''Muhammad''. Given name Mahmood * Mahmood Ali (1928 ...

, were descendants of

Shamsuddin Ilyas Shah Shamsuddin Ilyas Shah was the founder of the Sultanate of Bengal and its inaugural Ilyas Shahi dynasty. The Ilyas Shahi Dynasty ruled Bengal for 145 years (1342–1487), except for a 21-year interregnum by the House of Ganesha, descendants of R ...

– the founder of the ruling dynasty as well as the nation. Hailing from what is now eastern

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

and southern

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

, Yusuf's family was of

Sistan Sistān (), also known as Sakastān (, , current name: Zabol) and Sijistan (), is a historical region in south-eastern Iran and extending across the borders of present-day south-western Afghanistan, and south-western Pakistan. Mostly correspond ...

i ancestral origin but had assimilated in Bengal for over a hundred years. According to tradition, Yusuf married a Hindu dancer called Mira (or Mirabai) who had embraced Islam and taken the name Lotan Bibi. In her name, Yusuf Shah established the Lotan

Taluq A tehsil (, also known as tahsil, taluk, or taluka () is a local unit of administrative division in India and Pakistan. It is a subdistrict of the area within a district including the designated populated place that serves as its administrative ce ...

(administrative subdivision) which contains the Lattan Mosque and Lotan Dighi, and that taluq existed even until the British period.

Reign

After the death of his father

in 1474, Yusuf ascended the throne of Bengal stylising himself as ''Shams ad-Dunyā wa ad-Dīn Abu al-Muẓaffar Yūsuf Shāh''. He also took other titles such as ''Ẓillullāh fī al-ʿĀlamīn'', ''Khalīfatullāh bi al-Ḥujjah wa al-Burhān'', ''As-Sulṭān as-Salāṭīn'', ''As-Sulṭān al-ʿĀdil al-Aʿẓam'', ''Malik ar-Riqāb wa al-Umam'' and ''Khalīfatullāh fī al-Arḍīn''. He had several ministers under him such as

Majlis Alam Majlis Alam (, ), was a minister (Dastur) of Srihat (Sylhet) from 1472 to 1476, during the reign of Shamsuddin Yusuf Shah, the Sultan of Bengal of the Ilyas Shahi dynasty. Background Alam was the son of Musa ibn Haji Amir Khan. According to th ...

and Malik Khaqan Pahlavi and Mirṣād Khān Atābek, who constructed numerous mosques across his domain. The most notable ones were the Sakomohan Mosque in

Maldah Malda district, also spelt Maldah or Maldaha (, , often ), is a district in West Bengal, India. The capital of the Bengal Sultanate, Gauḍa (city), Gauda and Pandua, Malda, Pandua, was situated in this district. Mango, jute and silk are the m ...

, the

Faqir Mosque The Faqir Mosque (; ) is a Sunni Sufi mosque, located in Hathazari Upazila, in the Chittagong District of Bangladesh. The fifteenth-century mosque dates from the Bengal Sultanate period. The mosque is situated in the Mouza of Dewannagar. History ...

Chittagong Chittagong ( ), officially Chattogram, (, ) (, or ) is the second-largest city in Bangladesh. Home to the Port of Chittagong, it is the busiest port in Bangladesh and the Bay of Bengal. The city is also the business capital of Bangladesh. It ...

Goyghor Mosque The Goyghor Masjid, (; ), also known as the Goyghor Historical Khwaja's Mosque, is an ancient Sunni mosque located in the village of Goyghor in Mostafapur Union, Moulvibazar District, Bangladesh. It was built and established on top of a small h ...

Moulvibazar Moulvibazar (), is a town in north-eastern Bangladesh just south of Sylhet. It is the capital of Moulvibazar Sadar Upazila and Moulvibazar District, and is located on the banks of the Manu River, Tripura, Manu River. History In 1771, Moulvi S ...

, the

Qadam Rasul Mosque The Qadam Rasul Mosque () built in 1530-1531 by Sultan Nasiruddin Nasrat Shah, Nusrat Shah () in the ancient city of Gauḍa (city), Gaur, is a historic single-domed mosque known for housing a stone tablet bearing the Qadam Rasul, footprint of Pr ...

, Lattan Mosque, Tantipara Mosque and Darasbari Mosque in

Gaur The gaur (''Bos gaurus''; ) is a large bovine native to the Indian Subcontinent and Southeast Asia, and has been listed as Vulnerable species, Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List since 1986. The global population was estimated at a maximum of 21,000 ...

. He put strict

Sharia Sharia, Sharī'ah, Shari'a, or Shariah () is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition based on Islamic holy books, scriptures of Islam, particularly the Quran, Qur'an and hadith. In Islamic terminology ''sharīʿah'' ...

law in order and prohibited drinking wine in his ruling kingdom. According to legend, Yusuf Shah executed Shah Jalal Dakhini, a Sufi preacher who had established a

khanqah A Sufi lodge is a building designed specifically for gatherings of a Sufi brotherhood or ''tariqa'' and is a place for spiritual practice and religious education. They include structures also known as ''khānaqāh'', ''zāwiya'', ''ribāṭ'' ...

in present-day Motijheel, Dhaka and gained excessive prominence and pomposity.

Patron of Islamic culture

Yusuf Shah appreciated poetry in various languages. Upon the construction of a mosque in

Dhaka District Dhaka District () is a Districts of Bangladesh, district in central Bangladesh, and is the densest district in the nation. It is a part of the Dhaka Division. Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, rests on the eastern banks of the Buriganga River ...

in 1480, its inscription ended with a Persian verse from

Saadi Shirazi Abu Mohammad Moshrefoldin Mosleh ebn Abdollah ebn Mosharraf, better known by his pen name Saadi (; , ), also known as Saadi of Shiraz (, ''Saʿdī Shīrāzī''; born 1210; died 1291 or 1292), was a Persian poet and prose writer of the medieval p ...

's Bustan. During his time as a prince, he was the patron of poets Zainuddin and

Maladhar Basu Maladhar Basu (; c. 15th century) was a Bengali poet. He wrote ''Sri Krishna Vijaya'' (শ্রীকৃষ্ণবিজয়, ''Triumph of Lord Krishna''), the earliest Bengali narrative poem that can be assigned to a definite date. It is also ...

Death

He died in 1481 and was succeeded by his paternal uncle, Nuruddin Sikandar Shah.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yusuf Shah, Shamsuddin 1481 deaths Year of birth unknown 15th-century Indian monarchs Ilyas Shahi dynasty 15th-century Bengalis 15th-century Indian Muslims

Early life and family

Reign

Patron of Islamic culture

Death

See also

References