Jalaluddin Fateh Shah
Jalaluddin Fateh Shah (Bengali: জলালউদ্দীন ফতেহ শাহ, Persian: جلال الدین فتح شاه) was the last ruler of later Ilyas Shahi dynasty of the Bengal Sultanate reigning from 1481 to 1487. He was the uncle and successor of Sultan Shamsuddin Yusuf Shah.
| Jalaluddin Fateh Shah | |
|---|---|
| as-Sulṭān al-ʿAẓam al-Muʿaẓẓam as-Sulṭān al-ʿAhd wa az-Zamān al-Malik al-ʿĀdil al-Bādhil Jalāl ad-Dunyā wa ad-Dīn Abū al-Muẓaffar Ghawth al-Islām wa al-Muslimīn[1] | |
| Reign | 1481 - 1487 |
| Predecessor | Sikandar Shah II |
| Successor | Barbak Shah II |
| Born | Fath bin Mahmud |
| Died | 1487 Bengal Sultanate |
| Burial | 1487 |
| Issue | Son[2] |
| House | Ilyas Shahi |
| Father | Mahmud Shah |
| Religion | Sunni Islam |
Early life and family
Fateh was born in the 14th-century into an aristocratic Bengali Muslim Sunni family in the Bengal Sultanate. His forefathers – the Ilyas Shahis – were the inaugural dynasty of Bengal. Despite his family's long presence in the region, historians such as Ghulam Husain Salim assert that Fateh's ancestors were of Sistani origin, hailing from what is now eastern Iran and southern Afghanistan.[3] His predecessors lost control of Bengal to the Ganesha dynasty, and his father, Mahmud, was a farmer of rural Bengal in his early life. Following a coup in 1435, the nobles of Bengal installed Fateh's father to the throne, thus re-establishing Ilyas Shahi rule in Bengal.[4]
Accession and reign
Fateh Shah's accession occurred in 1481, as the nobles of Bengal deemed his brother Nuruddin Sikandar Shah to be mentally unfit.[5][6]
No reference of military expedition led by Fateh Shah is found. But from the numismatic evidence it can be presumed that his kingdom extended to Sylhet in the northeast and to the river Damodar in the southwest.[7] During his reign, the Habshis took important and influential positions in his court. Fateh Shah took some measures to take back control. But a conspiracy rose against him and later he was assassinated by the commander of the Habshi palace-guards, Shahzada Barbak, in 1487.
By his death, the rule of Ilyas dynasty came to an end.
References
- Ahmad Hasan Dani. "Analysis of the Inscriptions". Asiatic Society Of Pakistan Vol-ii. p. 87.
- Sushila Mondal, History of Bengal Part 1 (1970), p.201
- Sarkar, Jadunath, ed. (1973) [First published 1948]. "VI: Later Ilyās Shahis and the Abyssinian Regime". The History of Bengal. Vol. II: Muslim Period, 1200–1757. Patna: Academica Asiatica. OCLC 924890.
- Ferishta, Mahomed Kasim. Briggs, John (ed.). History of the Rise of the Mahomedan Power in India, Till the Year AD 1612. Vol. 4. Oriental Books. p. 199.
- Ahmed, ABM Shamsuddin (2012). "Sikandar Shah II". In Sirajul Islam; Miah, Sajahan; Khanam, Mahfuza; Ahmed, Sabbir (eds.). Banglapedia: the National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh (Online ed.). Dhaka, Bangladesh: Banglapedia Trust, Asiatic Society of Bangladesh. ISBN 984-32-0576-6. OCLC 52727562. OL 30677644M. Retrieved 10 October 2023.
- Abdul Karim (August 1999). বাংলার ইতিহাস: মুসলিম বিজয় থেকে সিপাহী বিপ্লব পর্যন্ত [১২০০-১৮৫৭ খ্রিঃ] (in Bengali). Dhaka: বড়াল প্রকাশনী. p. 90.
- Ahmed, ABM Shamsuddin (2012). "Jalaluddin Fath Shah". In Sirajul Islam; Miah, Sajahan; Khanam, Mahfuza; Ahmed, Sabbir (eds.). Banglapedia: the National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh (Online ed.). Dhaka, Bangladesh: Banglapedia Trust, Asiatic Society of Bangladesh. ISBN 984-32-0576-6. OCLC 52727562. OL 30677644M. Retrieved 10 October 2023.