Tughral Tughan Khan (, ), later known as Mughith ad-Din Tughral (, ), was an officer of the

Delhi Sultanate The Delhi Sultanate or the Sultanate of Delhi was a Medieval India, late medieval empire primarily based in Delhi that stretched over large parts of the Indian subcontinent for more than three centuries.

. He was the 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 ...

during 1236-1246 CE and again during 1272-1281 CE.

Biography

He was a Turkic of Khitan origin and was a slave-officer bought by Sultan

Iltutmish Shams ud-Din Iltutmish (1192 – 30 April 1236) was the third of the Mamluk kings who ruled the former Ghurid territories in northern India. He was the first Muslim sovereign to rule from Delhi, and is thus considered the effective founder of ...

. He was the given the

iqta' An iqta () and occasionally iqtaʿa () was an Islamic practice of farming out tax revenues yielded by land granted temporarily to army officials in place of a regular wage; it became common in the Muslim empire of the Caliphate. Iqta has been defi ...

Badayun Budaun (romanised: Badāʾūn or Badāyūn, ) is a medieval city and headquarters of Budaun district, in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is located about a mile east of the Sot river, and 27 km north of the Ganges, in the Rohilkhand ...

before being appointed the Governor of

Bihar Bihar ( ) is a states and union territories of India, state in Eastern India. It is the list of states and union territories of India by population, second largest state by population, the List of states and union territories of India by are ...

by the Sultan in 1232 as Saifuddin Aibak had been transferred to Lakhnauti. Following the death of

, assassination of Saifuddin Aibak and the subsequent ascension of the rebel usurper Awar Khan Aibak, Tughan invaded

and successfully defeated Awar Khan in 1236. Immediately after assuming power, Tughan Khan led a number of expeditions. He established his dominance throughout Bengal, Bihar and

Oudh The Kingdom of Awadh (, , also Oudh State, Kingdom of Oudh, Awadh Subah, or Awadh State) was a Mughal subah, then an independent kingdom, and lastly a British protectorate in the Awadh region of North India until its annexation by the Br ...

while staying loyal to the

. He conquered

Tirhut Mithila (), also known as Tirhut, Tirabhukti and Mithilanchal, is a geographical and cultural region of the Indian subcontinent bounded by the Mahananda River in the east, the Ganges in the south, the Gandaki River in the west and by the foothi ...

in September 1242. He advanced westwards towards

Kara Kara or KARA may refer to: Geography Localities * Kara, Chad, a sub-prefecture * Kára, Hungary, a village * Kara, Uttar Pradesh, India, a township * Kara, Iran, a village in Lorestan Province * Kara, Republic of Dagestan, a rural locality in ...

, where he got news of the ascension of Sultan

Ala ud din Masud Alauddin Masood Shah bin Rukhuddin Firuz Shah bin Shamsuddin Iltumish (; died 10 June 1246) was the seventh sultan of the Delhi Sultanate. Life Ala-ud-Din Masud-Shah ruled from 1242 to 1246. He was the grandson of Iltutmish and the son of ...

. In 1242, he ordered his treasurer Mubarak Khan al-Khazan to construct a building in southern

. Tughral is referred to as "Majlis Ali, the great Khan, the exalted Khaqan, honour of the Truth and the Religion, helper of princes and sultans, patriarch of victory, Tughril the Sultani" (). The inscription stating this is preserved in

Bihar Museum Bihar Museum is a state museum located in Patna. It was partially opened in August 2015. 'The children's museum', the main entrance area, and an orientation theatre were the only parts opened to the public in August 2015. Later, in October 20 ...

. In 1243, during the reign of Tughan Khan, the Hindu king of

Orissa Odisha (), formerly Orissa ( the official name until 2011), is a state located in Eastern India. It is the eighth-largest state by area, and the eleventh-largest by population, with over 41 million inhabitants. The state also has the thir ...

Narasimhadeva I Gajapati Langula Narasingha Deva I was an Eastern Ganga Dynasty, Eastern Ganga monarch and a warrior of the Kalinga (historical region), Kalinga region who reigned from 1238 CE to 1264 CE. He defeated the Muslim forces of Bengal who constantl ...

, invaded southern Bengal and defeated Tughan Khan in the Battle of Katasin. The Oriya army pursued the Muslims all the way to Lakhnauti, the capital of Bengal, and besieged the city. All the Muslims of Lakhnauti were slain and the city plundered. Tughan Khan fled and sought assistance from the Delhi sultan, Alauddin Masud Shah, who sent Malik Karakash Khan of

and Malik Tughlaq Tamar Khan of Oudh to help Tughan Khan. Hearing the approach of the Delhi army, the Oriya army retreated to Orissa. But Tughlaq Tamar Khan himself assumes the power of Bengal which forced Tughan Khan to flee to

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, but spread chiefly to the west, or beyond its Bank (geography ...

. Thus Tughan Khan's ten year ruling of Bengal ended in 1246 CE. Tughan Khan was later appointed as the governor of Oudh by Sultan Alauddin Masud Shah.

Second term (1272–1281)

In 1272 Sultan

Ghiyasuddin Balban Al-Sultan al-Azam Ghiyath al-Dunya Wal Din Abu'l Muzaffar Balban al-Sultan (; 1216 – 13 January 1287), more famously known as Ghiyath al-Din Balban or simply Balban, was the ninth Mamluk sultan of Delhi. He had been the regent of the last Sha ...

appointed Amin Khan as the governor and Tughan Khan as the sub-governor of Bengal with the duty to reconquer and pacify the Province, most of which had been under the control of the

Eastern Ganga dynasty The Eastern Ganga dynasty (also known as Purba Gangas, Rudhi Gangas or Prachya Gangas) were a large medieval era Indian royal Hindu dynasty that reigned from Kalinga from as early as the 5th century to the mid 20th century. Eastern Gangas rul ...

since the death of

Malik Ikhtiyaruddin Iuzbak Malik Ikhtiyār ad-Dīn Yūzbak (), also known as Mughith ad-Din Abu al-Muzaffar (), was the appointed as the Delhi Sultanate's Governor of Bengal from 1251 CE to 1255 CE. He became an independent Sultan of North Bengal from 1255 CE to 1257 CE. ...

in 1257 CE. However Tughan Khan deposed Amin Khan with the help of his old loyalists and declared himself Sultan of Bengal. He took the name ''Mughisuddin Tughral''. In 1279, Tughan Khan defeated the Sena king Vishwarup Sen of eastern Bengal (present-day

Assam Assam (, , ) is a state in Northeast India, northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra Valley, Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . It is the second largest state in Northeast India, nor ...

) and established an Islamic fiefdom in that region for the first time in history. He res-established the Bengali Navy, destroyed in 1243 by

at the Fort Narikella at

Sonargaon Sonargaon (; ; Literary translation, lit. ''Golden Hamlet (place), Hamlet'') is a historic city in central Bangladesh. It corresponds to the Sonargaon Upazila of Narayanganj District in Dhaka Division. Sonargaon is one of the old capitals of ...

. In 1280, Tughan Khan took advantage of a drought to invade South Bengal and then, Jajnagar (present-day Orissa). Taking advantage of Tughan Khan's absence, Sultan Ghiyasuddin Balban sent a huge army led by Malik Turmati the ruler of Oudh against Tughan. But the Delhi army was thoroughly defeated by Tughan's army.

Balban Al-Sultan al-Azam Ghiyath al-Dunya Wal Din Abu'l Muzaffar Balban al-Sultan (; 1216 – 13 January 1287), more famously known as Ghiyath al-Din Balban or simply Balban, was the ninth Mamluk sultan of Delhi. He had been the regent of the last Sha ...

sent another army against Tughan. But this time once again Balban's army was defeated by Tughan's army. Infuriated by repeated defeats Balban himself invaded Bengal in 1281. His son,

Nasiruddin Bughra Khan Nasiruddin Bughra Khan (, ) was the governor (1281–1287) and later the independent sultan of Bengal (1287–1291). He was the son of Delhi Sultan Ghiyasuddin Balban. Earlier Bughra Khan was the governor of Samana (Patiala) and Sanam (Sangru ...

, assisted him in this mission. There were about three hundred thousand soldiers in Balban's army. This massive army was accompanied with a huge navy. Tughan fled to Jajnagar by river. Balban split his army into smaller groups. One such small group led by Malik Sher Andaz attacked Tughan's army and Tughan was defeated and killed in the battle. It is generally believed that savage punishment was given by Balban to Tughril’s family members and followers. This campaign which lasted three years was the only distant campaign undertaken by Balban. Chandra, Satish. ''Medieval India: From Sultanat to the Mughals. Vol. 2''. Har-Anand Publications, 1997. ISBN 978-8124105221. After Tughan's death, Balban put his son in charge of Bengal. Thus the separatist Mameluk ruling of Bengal ended in 1281.

References

{{S-end Mamluks 13th-century Indian Muslims 13th-century Indian people 13th-century Indian monarchs Governors of Bengal 13th-century slaves Indian slaves

Biography

Second term (1272–1281)

See also

References