Title: Riḥlah maʻa al-nuqūsh al-kitābīyah al-Islāmīyah fī bilād al-Banghāl
Description: Rihla ma’a al-Nuqush al-Kitabiyyah al-Islamiyyah fi Bilad al-Bangal: Darasah Tarikhiyyah Hadariyyah (English translation of the title of this Arabic book: An Epigraphic Journey through Muslim Bengal: Historical and Cultural Aspects of Islamic Inscriptions of Bangladesh and West Bengal). By Mohammad Yusuf Siddiq. Damascus, Syria: Dar al-Fikr, 2004, ISBN:1-59239-339-x; 492 pp.



The Islamic world has a rich legacy of historical inscriptions ranging from tombstones to varieties of writings often inscribed on architecture. This is particularly true about Bengal which has a rich Islamic Epigraphic legacy, a vibrant scholarly field in its own right that has been the main theme of this book.

Bengal played an important role in the historical dynamics of the Islamic world form time to time. The book begins with a discussion about the introduction of Islam in Bengal and the gradual consolidation of Islamic culture in the region starting from thirteenth century. Quite naturally, Arabic script as well as Arabic and Persian languages -- vital tools of Islamic cultural transmission -- , played an active role in the diffusion of Islamic Civilization in the region. Islamic inscriptions in Bengal were rendered in various styles such as Kufi, thulth, naskh, riqa‘, muhaqqaq, rayhani, tughra and Bihari. Introduction of Arabic script and the development of Islamic calligraphic tradition in the region is another major theme at the beginning of this book.

The book is undoubtedly the most up to date and exhaustive survey of the Islamic inscriptions of Bengal. The author, as it appears, surveyed the region completely over years, and was successful to find many new inscriptions that somehow escaped the notice of previous scholars in the field,  such as the prominent epigraphist of the last century Maulvi Shamsuddin Ahmad (Inscriptions of Bengal, Volume 4, Rajshahi, Varendra Research Museum, 1960) or historian Abdul Karim (Corpus of Arabic and Persian Inscriptions, Dhaka: Asiatic Society of Bangladesh, 1993). In addition, he has attempted to interpret the previously known inscriptions freshly. The overall layout of this book itself presents a unique style in epigraphic publication as the photographs and plates of the inscriptions are placed just above the edited texts of the inscriptions. This facilitates readers to compare the epigraphic texts with the original photographs of the inscriptions and to get a visual image of the calligraphic layout of these inscriptions. The book is also rich in maps, charts, diagrams and different other illustration.

Thus far, academic and scholarly publications on South Asia in Arabic language are extremely limited, let alone on the regional studies particularly on Muslim Bengal. The present work has thus the merit to be the first comprehensive book on the Islamic inscriptions of Bengal ever published in Arabic. 

Dr. Mohammad Mujibur Rahman
Ex-Professor of Arabic and Islamic Studies
Rajshahi University, Bangladesh

Book Review

Mohammad Yusuf Siddiq, Historical and Cultural Aspects of the Islamic Inscriptions of Bengal: A Reflective Study of Some New Epigraphic Discoveries, (general editor: Enamul Haque), The International Centre for Study of Bengal Art, Dhaka, 2009, hard cover, pp. [14]+15-316, with 194 plates, appendices, glossary and index. Size: 29 cm., ISBN: 978-984-33-0344-8, Price: Tk. 2000/ US $ 45


Professor Mohammad Yusuf Siddiq is an internationally renowned scholar in the field of Islamic History, Civilization and Culture. He has educational, research and teaching background in a number of universities both in the East as well as in the West (including Harvard University and Oxford University). His extensive research in the field of Arabic and Persian inscriptions of Bengal has earned him a world-wide appreciation and standing and his impressive publication on Islamic epigraphy has been translated in numerous other languages, including Arabic, Persian, Urdu and Bengali languages. At present he is the H. E. C. Professor of Islamic History, Civilization and Culture at the University of the Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan as well as a visiting faculty at Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS). 

Preface of the book by Professor Dr Enamul Haque highlights the very creative approach of this unique work as well as new findings by the author in Islamic epigraphy. A foreword by Clifford Edmund Bosworth (Emeritus Professor of Arabic Studies in the University of Manchester) helps us further to get introduced to the author and his work. The book contains eight chapters and four appendices as well as a bibliography and index. 

In chapter 1, the author deals with “Introduction: Epigraphy of Muslim Bengal”. On page 17 he rightly observes that Pre-Islamic Sanskrit and Pali inscriptions are generally informative rather than calligraphic in intent. The significance of Calligraphy (viz. the art of writing and elegant penmanship) in Islamic culture has been discussed in the book in details, with particular focus on the role of inscriptions in Islamic buildings. He disagrees to the earlier authors that inscriptions of Bengal were mostly rendered in Naskh character. On the contrary, he emphasized that most of the Sultanate inscriptions are of Thulth character. On page 87 he rightly observes that Tughra style of writing has some central Asian link with Seljuk antecedent and similarity with Egyptian Tughra.
While discussing the calligraphic peculiarities of Muslim Bengal, the author coined a special term for a particular variety of Arabic calligraphy in the region which he named as Bengali Tughra (p. 24), something that deserves special mention in this review. Indeed, Tughra style of calligraphy, that can be also seen in Egypt and Central Asia, found a special place in the architectural calligraphy of medieval Bengal.  A.B.M. Husain also considers this style to be Bengal's own.  In this regard, Abdul Karim observes, 
Thus the foundation of calligraphic style was very beautifully and firmly laid from the beginning of Muslim rule in Bengal. A further development was arrived at by raising the shafts of vertical letters upwards and arranging them artistically in a row thus to produce an impression of a congregation of Muslims in prayer. In this style the text of the inscription is set in order at the base but the round letters are further twisted to form themselves into ringlets. The raised column of letters is called by some as squadron of infantry standing in a regular row with lances in hand. In a further development to columns are found to be crossed by segments of carved letters ى, ق and ن which some interpret Bow and Arrow design, other as Boat and Oars, while still others as advancing of Muslim regiment in a triumphal march’. 

Inscriptions were considered so much important in the Islamic world that a building would have been considered an unfinished one without an inscription. Inscriptions not only decorated buildings in the world of Islam, it also recorded various important dates including date of construction, repair etc. Inscriptions were widely used in mosques of Bengal.  The author has rightly pointed out that while Islamic culture employed inscriptions as an important aesthetic element for architecture, Pre-Muslim monuments in Bengal hardly used inscriptions as decorative element.  On page 37, for instance, he mentions that both the Pala and Sena rulers used copper and bronze plates for their inscriptions in addition to stone slabs. The reviewer may be allowed to add here that while the Islamic inscriptions are used for decoration, pre-Muslim inscriptions (usually in incised form) were hardly ever made with calligraphic intent. Islamic inscriptions, as the author aptly notes, are relief in nature.
On page 30 the author mentions that copper grants were used to donate lands by rulers. In this connection one copper plate belonging to the owner’s of the adjoining lands of the mausoleum of Khan Jahan (d. 1459 AD) may be mentioned here which was later on taken to Kolkata for litigation purposes and none could examine it. In subsequent pages (p. 62) the author has explained about land grants of madad-i-mash lands associated with mosques, but la-kheraj lands of Bengal have not found proper attention in his discussion. In this connection, the author also discussed interestingly about some fabricated or concocted traditions of the Prophet (PBUH) that can be found in some inscriptions. On page 201, he has given an epigraphic example of such a tradition in Bengal. Here the founder of a mosque fabricates a tradition probably himself probably with a pious intention to alert those who were likely to vandalize mosques or any endowed property for public welfare.
While most of the Islamic inscriptions in Bengal were inscribed on black basalt stone, there are some brick inscriptions preserved in the Kolkata Museum.  Some brick inscriptions bearing the name of Sultan Ghiyasuddin Abul Muzaffar Mahmud Ibn Husain (1532-38 AD) were discovered in the excavation of Jorbangla mound at Barabazar, Jhenidah district.  These pieces are at present in the Khulna Divisional Museum of the Department of Archaeology. It is probable that because of the war with Sher Shah at that time it was not possible to quarry stones from Bihar and for this reason brick inscriptions were used in Bengal.  It is to be noted also that same type of majolica was used in Samarkand in the 14th century. 
On page 28 the author has expressed his opinion that Sultan Ghiyasuddin Abul Muzaffar Mahmud Ibn Husain (1532-38 AD) issued an inscription in 1528 owing to rebellion against his bother Sultan Nasiruddin Nusrat Shah (1519-31). But inscriptions or coins in the life time of another Sultan with his approval is not uncommon in Bengal history. Nusrat Shah also issued coins during his father Sultan Alauddin Husain Shah (1493-1519 AD) with the latter’s approval. The rebellion of Mahmud, as mentioned on page 186, is not supported by Abdul Karim.  After the death of Nasiruddin Nusrat Shah(1519-31), his son Sultan Alauddin Firuz Shah (1531-32 AD) came to power. Mahmud Shah was his paternal uncle. The latter came to power by killing his nephew Alauddin Firuz Shah in 1532 AD. The author has described 5 brick inscriptions of Sultan Ghiyasuddin Mahmud Shah in thulth  style in a subsequent page (p. 188). The author describes the original site of these inscriptions as “An unknown Sultanate masjid somewhere in Bangladesh”. As mentioned above, Muhammad Abdul Qadir has explained in detail about its provenance.  These were discovered on the landing place of Jorbangla Dighi, Barabazar, Jhenidah, Bangladesh during excavation. The nearby single-domed mosque is the Jorbangla mosque. The reviewer has also referred to the same inscriptions. He commented, “A few fragmented pieces of an inscription have been discovered from the site. It is not yet correctly deciphered but gives an idea that the mosque was built during Sultan Ghyasuddin Mahmud Shah, son of Alauddin Husain Shah (1533-38).”   Afterwards M. A. Qadir deciphered the same in the next issue of the Journal of Bangal Art. These pieces are at present preserved in the Khulna Divisional Museum of the Department of Archaeology. On page 189 plate 6.32.e it has been published faultily. Abdul Qadir published it in a legible way but here it is illegible and wrongly placed. On page 61 the author gives the date of Shait Gunbad mosque at Bagerhat as 1459 AD which seems to be the date of the demise of Khan Jahan. The date of the mosque is given by Percy Brown as c. 1440 AD. 
The heading of chapter 3 is “The diffusion of Islam in Bengal and the Articulation of a new order” in which he also discusses various ways of Islamization in Bengal (for example see  page 44). While he refers to various theories of Eaton (axe and plough theory, for example), he should have discussed here the work of Khundkar Fazle Rabbee, namely Haqiqat-e-Musalman-i-Banglah.  Professor Emeritus A. K. M. Yaqub Ali has also emphasized the importance of epigraphic and other archaeological records in understanding the Islamization process in medieval Bengal.  

On page 50, the author explains the contact of Ali Mech and his tribe with the conquering Muslim forces of Bakhtiyar Khalji. At times, he discusses the role of the Muslim religious scholars (‘ulama’) towards gradual conversion of the indigenous people. He presumes probably rightly that Bakhtiyar was interested to see the local people converted to Islam so that he could rely on them to set up his new administration as well as his ongoing military campaigns. He describes the role of Ali Mech during the Tibet expedition of Bakhtiyar Khalji. But it is very uncertain how a whole community could become so trustworthy to a foreigner like Bakhtiyar Khalji. A. K. M. Yaqub Ali observes,
“The soldiers recruited for the Tibet expedition are stated to have been ten thousand in number, and most of them possibly belonged to the Khalji stock, because at such an early date of the Muslim conquest neither the Hindu would dare to seek employment in the army nor would the Muslims trust them in the position involving the security. There is no poof of any Hindu being employed in the army before the time of Shamsuddin Ilyas Shah.”  

So, mass conversion at so early age of Muslim conquest in Bengal seems to be nothing but a mere hypothetical conclusion by the author. His analysis about the impact of Muslim sea-trade and early Islamic contacts with Bengal take somewhat a different route than what Eaton thinks particularly when he says:
“On the basis of the Arakanese chronicle, the historian Muhammad Enamul Haq concluded that the Muslim settlers in the Chittagong region gradually grew into a compact and influential community, and eventually organized an independent principality comprising the coastal Chittagong and Noakhali districts. The ruler of this Muslim principality bore the title Sultan.” (see, for instance, p. 47)
On page 51 he mentions the policy of Muhammad b. Qasim while conquering Sind when treated the indigenous people as Ahl-i-Kitab. He compares this to the standing of ‘ulama’ of Bengal at a much later time when they took a similar position (probably on the basis of a Hanafi juristic position, such as the opinion of Ibahim Nakha’i, a famous student of Ibn Mas’ud who served as a Qadi in Iraq, d. 95 AH).  

The language of the early Islamic inscriptions in Bengal was Arabic which gradually changed into Persian during Mughal period. This makes author‘s assertion that the first inscription of Bengal inscribed in the reign of Alaudin Khalji [1210-1213] and the third Islamic inscription in the reign of Balka Khan Khalji [1229-1231] were inscribed in Persian a complete departure from the previous traditional approaches.

Ideologically, there should not be any class system in Islam. A slave was put to the rank of a Commander-in-chief during the life time of the prophet and other slaves were elevated to the rank of Sultans in Delhi, Bengal and Egypt. Yet the author has used a very uncommon classification of Muslim societies of historical Bengal comparing with the Hindu tradition of Brahmin and non-Brahmin (see, for example, p. 55). In this connection, it may be mentioned that Muslim class system is horizontal, but Hindu class system is vertical. On pp. 55-56, he has discussed the Jihad movement of Syed Ahmed Shahid and later on its influence on Haji Shariatullah (1781-1840), Mir Nithar Ali (Titumir, 1782-1831 AD) and Mawlana Keramat Ali, though each one of them followed a different path. Hazi Shariatullah of Faraizi movement was a direct disciple of “Shaikh Tahir Sombal, an authority of Hanafi School” in Makkah and as a result had direct Arab influence. “Titu Mir” also went on a pilgrimage to Makka in 1822 AD and came in close contact with the great Islamic reformer and revolutionary leader Sayyid Ahmad of Bareilly who inspired him to free his fellow countrymen from un-Islamic practices and foreign domination. Mawlana Karamat Ali focused on preaching Islam in Bengal through speeches and his pen. The author also mentions about Mawlana Abdul Hamid Khan Bhasani (1880-1976), Tabligh Jamat and Ahl-e-Hadith movement though his explanations seem to be too concise. 
In the chapter 4 on page 76 the author describes the use of the word “Allah” in various ways in decoration and its philosophical interpretation as a compromise with prevailing faith in this land. But according to Muslim faith aniconic objects especially calligraphy is chosen for all kinds of decoration – particularly mosque decoration. Even in the cave beneath the Dome of the rock in Jereusalem an upright arrow has been used in the centre of the mihrab and it has also been used in a coin of the Umayyad Caliph Abdul Malik.  Here it is explained as a sutra, which alienate the worshipper from the outer world.  In the Adina mosque at Hazrat Pandua chain and lamp motif has been used as a visual expression of a Quranic verse of Sura an-Nur where Allah is compared with light. The reviewer is studying this element of Islamic art of Bengal separately. On page 78 he compares some Arabic letters with some parts of mosques. But one should keep in mind that the mosque at Medina had neither a minaret nor a dome. These are gradual development in the history of Islamic Architecture.

Though Bakhtiyar Khilji built mosques, madrasahs and Khanqahs throughout his newly conquered domain and latter rulers followed him, a very few examples of madrasahs have been found in Bengal. On page 82 he describes about 2 madrasahs. This also testifies the fact that there were many other mosque-madrasahs in medieval Bengal. The reviewer thinks that even the Shait Gunbad mosque at Bagerhat was used as a madrasah also. On page 241-42 he mentions about the construction of another madrasah.


In the Chapter 5 (see p. 99-100) the author has given a reading of an inscription of a bridge constructed by Sultan Alauddin Ali Mardan Khilji. In this inscription the word sarai (meaning inn-like world) has been used. The reviewer finds similarity of it with another inscription of the Mughal period. It is a plaster inscription above the mihrab inside the Lalbagh Fort mosque, Dhaka. In this inscription the world has also been compared to a sarai (meaning inn-like world).  There is another inscription of a bridge (as deciphered by Soghra Esmaili of Tehran) at present preserved in the Lalbagh Fort Museum, Dhaka.  But no inscription of Lalbagh Fort has been included in this book under review.

On page 103 he has described about the conversion of an upper class Brahmin to Islam. He was the Bhojar Brahmin. This type of conversion is also proved by other inscriptions mentioned latter. On page 147 he has mentioned about Pir Ali Muhammad Tahir of Bagerhat, an upper class Brahmin converted to Islam. On page 194 he also refers to one Abdullah Bukhari as a scribe of an inscription. His title Bukhari indicates that he was an immigrant. On page 206 he mentions Qadi Muhammad Sharif Multani, which also proves the latter’s extraneous lineage. On page 208 he again mentions name of another immigrant Sa’ad uddin Muhammad al-Shirazi, the famous calligrapher of Dhaka as scribe of an inscription of Dhaka. On page 226-27 he mentions a tomb stone containing the name of Mir Muhammad, son of Mir Muhammad Kasani. Both Shiraz and Kasan are places in Iran.  These records indicate about mass Muslim immigration to Bengal.
On pages 122-23 he describes an inscription of Sultan Shamsuddin Ahmad Shah preserved currently in the Dhaka office of the Department of Archaeology. But actually it is now preserved in the Paharpur Museum of that Department. He has referred to Professor AKM Yaqub Ali. The latter has mentioned that it was collected from the village of Gazipur, but learnt from Md. Abdul Khaleque, regional Director, Department of Archaeology that actually it was collected by the Police Department from a place near the Dargah of Gazi Pir near the vicinity of Gaur area in Bangladesh and ultimately given to the Department of Archaeology.

On page 146 in the caption of the photograph of the sarcophagus of the tomb of Pir Ali Muhammad Tahir it has wrongly been stated that the tomb of Muhammad Tahir lies in the same mausoleum with Khan Jahan. But in the next page he rightly observes that it is located on the “west of the funerary chamber of Khan Jahan”. Again on page 146 Khan Jahan has been said as the Sultan of Bagerhat, but on the next page he has been mentioned as the representative of the Sultan of Bengal. Khan Jahan’s Delhi connection has been disputed by Habiba Khatun and the reviewer. This might have been referred to also by Siddiq. On page 156 the word Badshah has been used describing the history of Bengal Sultans. It is well-known to all that there was no Badshah in Sultanate Bengal. Still the word Badshah-ka-Takht is being used by all at large.

On page 170 the author mentions a three-domed traditional Sultanate mosque. But it is also known to all that all three-domed traditional mosques are Mughal, not Sultanate. This mosque of Chapai-Maheshpur has been described as being located at a strategic position on the Mahananda River. It is a very interesting finding as a resting place of the Bengal Sultans probably on their naval expeditions or journey. Old Malda mosque is a similar type of mosque in another strategic position of the Mahananda River. On its opposite side is the Nim Sarai Tower placed in an axis with this mosque. 

On page 231 he mentions about a mosque built near the Dhaka new Market. It was built by a lady named Maryam Saliha. Another mosque of Dhaka city is the mosque of Binat Bibi. Another important inscription is discussed on pages 219-20 containing the name of Lala Rajmal, a non-Muslim of north Indian origin. It proves that during the rule of Aurangzebe non-Muslims were put in charge of high financial positions.

The book is much more than a mere compilation of hitherto known and unknown inscriptions of Bengal. The author has put forward several new as well as creative ideas and suggestions, the most interesting of which is undoubtedly the explanation and weltanschauung of the author relating to the cultural history of different periods of Bengal history vis-à-vis the Muslim world. 
The book is divided into 8 chapters and a last chapter (chapter 9, though appendices are not normally included in a chapter) containing 4 appendices. The book also contains an introduction, a detailed bibliography and an exhaustive index. It offers an extremely interesting and rich mine of information about the history and epigraphy of Bengal and the author deserves due congratulations on presenting such a standard and well-documented important work. A huge number of photographs, some of them are very good, illustrative of different periods enhance greatly the significance of the book. 
It will be a prized possession for every important library, for an art historian and every researcher specializing in this field and students of Medieval Bengal history, culture and archaeology. Undoubtedly, Dr Siddiq’s book is one of the most important and finest books ever written on the  epigraphy of Bengal.

Dr Khoundkar Alamgir
Subjects: Arabic Inscriptions, Islamic inscriptions
Places: Bangladesh, Bengal, India
Time periods: Book Review