page_title: Bengal Sultanate
section_title: Rise of nativists (15th century)
hierarchical_section_title: Bengal Sultanate / History / Rise of nativists (15th century)
caption_attribution_description: The Ming Empire (in yellow) under the Yongle Emperor, in the year 1415
context_page_description: The Sultanate of Bengal, was an empire based in Bengal for much of the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries. It was the dominant power of the Ganges-Brahmaputra delta. Its imperial capital was one of the world's largest cities. The Bengal Sultanate had a circle of vassal states, including Odisha in the southwest, Arakan in the southeast, and Tripura in the east. In the early 16th-century, the Bengal Sultanate reached the peak of its territorial growth with control over Kamrup and Kamata in the northeast; and Jaunpur and Bihar in the west. It was reputed as a thriving trading nation and one of Asia's strongest states. Its decline began with an interregnum by the Suri Empire, followed by Mughal conquest and disintegration into petty kingdoms.
  The Bengal Sultanate was a Sunni Muslim monarchy with Indo-Turkish, Arab, Habshi and Bengali Muslim elites. The empire was known for its religious pluralism where non-Muslim communities co-existed peacefully. While Bengali was the most widely spoken language, Persian was used as an official, diplomatic and commercial language. The cities of the Bengal Sultanate are termed as Mint Towns where the historical taka was minted.
context_section_description: During the early 15th-century, the Ilyas Shahi rule was challenged by Raja Ganesha, a powerful Hindu landowner, who managed to place his son (a convert to Islam), Jalaluddin Muhammad Shah, on the throne. Jalaluddin had a relatively short-lived but significant reign, during which he helped an Arakanese king to achieve the Reconquest of Arakan. Jalaluddin established control over Fatehabad. Jalaluddin also promoted more native Bengali elements into the architecture and governance of the sultanate. Jalaluddin was initially loyal to the Abbasid Caliph but later declared himself as the Caliph in a sign of Bengali Muslim independence. The Ilyas Shahi dynasty was restored in 1432.
  Nine kings ruled Bengal from Pandua over the course of ten decades. They built palaces, forts, bridges, mosques, and mausoleums. Chinese envoy Ma Huan described the city at the time in his travel accounts, which state that "the city walls are very imposing, the bazaars well-arranged, the shops side by side, the pillars in orderly rows, they are full of every kind of goods". Pandua was an export center for cloth and wine. At least six varieties of fine muslin and four types of wine were found in Pandua. High-quality paper was produced from the bark of Pandua's mulberry trees. Sultan Mahmud Shah of Bengal shifted the capital from Pandua to Gaur in 1450. One of the probable reasons behind the move was a change in the course of nearby rivers.
  The reign of Mahmud Shah witnessed greater control over the Sundarbans. The governor of the Sundarbans, Khan Jahan Ali, built the mint town of Khalifatabad. Like many other officials, Khan Jahan had settled in Bengal after Timur's sack of Delhi. During the reign of Rukunuddin Barbak Shah, the Kingdom of Mrauk U conquered Chittagong. The late 1480s saw four usurper Sultans from the Abyssinian mercenary corps. Tensions between different Muslim communities often affected the sultanate.
caption: Map of Asia in 1415 showing Bengal and other regional states
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