Danyal (Hussain Shahi dynasty) explained

Danyal
Dulal Ghazi
Shahzādā-i-Bangālah
Reign1:1495–1498
Succession1:Governor of Bihar under Bengal Sultanate
Reign2:1498-
Succession2:Governor of Kamata under Bengal Sultanate
Successor2:Musundar Ghazi
Father:Alauddin Husain Shah
House:Hussain Shahi
Birth Name:Dānyāl bin Ḥusayn
Birth Place:Bengal Sultanate
Death Place:Kamata Kingdom
Religion:Sunni Islam

Dānyāl, Prince of Bengal (Persian: {{Nastaliq|شاهزاده دانیال بنگالی, d. 1500s), also known as Dulāl Ghāzī (Bengali–Assamese: দুলাল গাজী), was the eldest son of the Sultan of Bengal Alauddin Hussain Shah. He performed official duties and engagements on behalf of his father. In 1495, Danyal secured a peace treaty with the Delhi Sultanate in Bihar, and served as the regional governor of Bihar under the Bengal Sultanate. He was appointed as the governor of Kamata following its conquest in 1498.

Early life and background

Danyal was born in the 15th-century into an aristocratic Bengali Muslim Sunni Syed family in the Bengal Sultanate.[1] In 1494, his father Husain, the Wazir (prime minister) of Bengal, established a new ruling dynasty of the Sultanate after defeating Sultan Shamsuddin Muzaffar Shah. Danyal is thought to be the eldest son of Husain Shah.[2] Among his seventeen other brothers and at least eleven sisters, Nasrat and Mahmud were future Sultans of Bengal.

Princeship

As the prince of the Sultanate of Bengal, Danyal played several important roles during his father's reign. Sikandar Lodi, the Afghan ruler of the Delhi Sultanate, led an expedition to Bengal in 1495 as a result of Danyal's father granting refuge to Hussain Shah Sharqi of the defeated Jaunpur Sultanate. Danyal was appointed by his father to command the Bengali army against Lodi's forces. The two armies faced off at Barh, and Danyal managed to conclude a treaty, thus saving Bengal from a possible invasion. The treaty made the town of Barh the official border of the two sultanates.[3] In 903 AH (1497-1498 CE), Danyal was responsible for the construction of a vault at the Munger Fort in Bihar and an inscription commemorating this was hung on the eastern wall of the nearby Dargah of Shah Nafa (also known as Pir Nafa).[4] There are also local legends about Danyal that are prevalent,[5] and it is generally thought that Danyal ultimately constructed the dargah too.[6]

In 1498, Shah Ismail Ghazi conquered Kamata by defeating King Nilambar of the Khen dynasty.[7] Following the victory, Danyal's father appointed him as the governor of the newly conquered region; that reached up to Hajo and intended to expand to Central Assam.[8]

On Eid al-Adha 905 AH (July 1500), Danyal constructed a congregational mosque in Bengal.[9] Danyal governed Kamata for several more years until the Assamese Bhuyans led by Harup Narayan led a campaign against him. In this campaign, the Bhuyans seized and killed Danyal and his officers, thus ending the Sultanate's short rule over the territory some time before 1509.[10] Musundar Ghazi succeeded Danyal as Bengal's representative in Kamrup.[11]

See also

Bibliography

Notes and References

  1. "[H]e identified himself so whole-heartedly that his alien origin was forgotten"
  2. Book: Desai, Ziyaud-Din A.. Z. A. Desai. Purā-prakāśa: Recent Researches in Epigraphy, Numismatics, Manuscriptology, Persian Literature, Art, Architecture, Archaeology, History and Conservation : Dr. Z.A. Desai Commemoration Volume. 2003. Bharatiya Kala Prakashan. 978-81-8090-007-5. 244.
  3. Book: Majumdar . R. C. . R. C. Majumdar . The Delhi Sultanate . 1980 . First published 1960 . The History and Culture of the Indian People . VI . 3rd . Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan . Bombay . 664485 . 143, 217.
  4. Book: https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.126929/page/n55/mode/2up. Asiatic Society Of Pakistan Vol-ii. Ahmad Hasan Dani. Ahmad Hasan Dani. Analysis of the Inscriptions. 47.
  5. Web site: Pir Shah Nafah Shrine. Government of Bihar. 6 April 2022.
  6. Web site: MUNGER – Historical Pointers . 14 October 2009 . National Informatics Centre . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20090410021811/http://munger.nic.in/ink3.html . 10 April 2009 .
  7. Book: Majumdar . R. C. . R. C. Majumdar . The Delhi Sultanate . 1980 . First published 1960 . The History and Culture of the Indian People . VI . 3rd . Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan . Bombay . 664485 . 217.
  8. Book: Desai, Ziyaud-Din A.. Z. A. Desai. Purā-prakāśa: Recent Researches in Epigraphy, Numismatics, Manuscriptology, Persian Literature, Art, Architecture, Archaeology, History and Conservation : Dr. Z.A. Desai Commemoration Volume. 2003. Bharatiya Kala Prakashan. 978-81-8090-007-5. 244.
  9. Book: 2011. 9781588394347. 240. Dedicatory Inscription from a Mosque. 344. Masterpieces from the Department of Islamic Art in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Ekhtiar, Maryam. Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York City.
  10. "But the rule of the Muslims was short. The Bhuyans made a united attack on Daniel's garrison and destroyed it to the last man."
  11. Book: Salim, Gulam Hussain. tr. from Persian . Abdus Salam . Riyazu-s-Salatin: History of Bengal. 1902. Asiatic Society, Baptist Mission Press. 132.