Age of Glory

Pre 5-6th century BC

Different Dravir principalities: Garh, Banga, Samatata, Pundhrabardhan etc. (probably Barman/Singh Rulers)

United into Gangaridai and Prasoi Empires

(Expansion in East Asia as far as Vietnam and Bali and south into Sri Lanka)

Age of Empires

Gupta rulers

Gaur (Garh) independent and becomes nucleus of Shahanka's Empire.

Pal Dynasty

Bangla is unified and Pal Empire (last Bangla Empire) is formed.

Conquers Northern India and Gandhara (Afganistan) and expands empire after intial defeats. Founded 50   religious colleges -- the learning centres that India is much famed for. Married Rastrakuta princess. (Rastrakuta was the most powerful empire of India at the time and ruled South India)

Another conqueror, he defeated the Huns, Utkala, Pragjyotisha, Dravid and Gurjarat.

Saw begining of decline of empire.

Empire declined to central Banga and Bihar. He attempts to restore empire but unsuccessful as Rastra kutas invaded... later Barman emperors (Dravir nations, like Bangla, were ruled by Varmans in ancient times) from South and North attacked.

Magadha is lost and Banga also starts breaking up. End of First Pal period. Chandra and Deva dynasties rise in Central, South and East parts. Rise of mysterious Kambojas in the North.

Empire reconstituted somewhat. His empire did not have the great expanse of his predecessors but maintained a dignified extent. Second Pal period begins at this point.

MahaMandalikas rise on the Western part (remnants of the mighty Rashtrakutas) and helps Bigraha Pal.

Sens form small kingdom under Mahi Pal II.

He tried hard to regain empire but had to fight harder to maintain whatever was left.

End of Second Pal Period.

Third Pal Period.

Kumar Pal's brother. He loses Asam to his general. Sens become independent in the south. Fought with Ganga and lost Patna. The sun starts to set for the last time over the Pal Empire.

(not major ruler but one of the last notable Pal rulers)

Rules over small kingdom. However in parts of the first empire (Dharma Pal) ShahiPals continued to rule until much later some till the independence of India. Small local Pal kings continued in different parts of Bangla until recently.

NOTE: Varman Kings ruled SinghPur (SimhaPur or even SingaPur) with capital at BikramPur in Eastern Bangla from the 5th to the 11th century. They were eventually taken over by the Sens.

Sen Dynasty

(Vira Sen of the mythical candra or lunar dynasty of vaidya caste)

Conquered most of Bangla under smaller dynasties such as the Devas.

Married Vilasadevi, daughter of the Shura dynasty. Adi Shura was probably the founder of the Shura dynasty that ruled in Southern Bangla (he brought Aryan Brahmins to Bangla from Kanauj)

Conquered Gaur from probably Govinda Pal  and married daughter of Malla king in southwest Bangla established their total control of Bangla by 1168. He established the caste system and Brahmin rule.

Expanded rule atleast to Asam (Kamrup), Kalinga (Orissa), and maybe even to Kashi (the most sacred city of India) and probably warred with Cedi, the Mlechha king.

Muslims had taken over most of Northern India by then and started attacks on Bangla. Ikhtiyaruddin Mohammed Bokhtiar Khilji (a murderous Turkish general) conquered and carried out massacres in Bihar and burned Vihars (the learning centres) with all its manuscripts robbing all humanity from accumulated knowledge. Then he invaded Bangla in 1201 or 1204 AD. He defeated Lakshan Sen at their capital in South Bangla. The Sens then ruled from BikramPur in central Eastern Bangla.

Defends Banga well from marauding invaders.

Vishvarup Sen and Keshab Sen (brothers) defend Banga from waves of marauding invaders. The Sens however capitulate ... but small independent Sen kings hold out as does other Deva kings. Bangla becomes fragmanted and some parts become loosely connected to the Turkish Sultanate at Delhi. Bangla became the stepping stone to power in Delhi for some.

Age of Darkness

Bangla is lost to the foreigners for good before the end of the 13th century and for almost a millennium the foreigners would rule. Amin Khan was the governor of Bangla under the Delhi Sultan. The Sultanate at this point was Turk.

He was Amin Khan's assistant but in reality was de-facto ruler of conquered parts of Bangla. He conquered JAjaNagar that ruled large portions of South Bangla. Defeats Amin Khan and declares Bangla independent and becomes Sultan Mughis-ud-din. He defends bangla several times from Delhi until 1282. Tries to flee to JajaNagar but caught and killed by Hashim-ud-din.

Appointed by Delhi Sultan, Ghias Uddin Balban Ulugh Khan (1266-1286) as ruler of Bangla to hunt Tughril Khan.

Delhi Sultan appoints Bughra Khan (his youngest son) as governor of Bangla.

Burga Khan's nephew was named heir to the throne in Delhi but his son, Kay Qubadh attained throne in Delhi.

Bughra declares himself as Sultan of Bangla and goes to war with his son. However he stops and makes peace with son. But his son was killed by his general, Jalaluddin Khilji who founded the Khilji dynasty.

According to Ibn Batuta, Shams Uddin was Bughrra's son. He conquered many parts of Bangla. All but one of his sons were tyranical rulers.

Son of Firuz Shah

Another son of Firuz Shah. He was the tyranical governor of Assam under his father. Defeated Shihab Uddin and killed all the brothers except Nasir Uddin and Shihab Uddin and took over.

Ghiyas Uddin did not get to enjoy his rule. His two brothers joined the new Delhi ruler (Jauna Khan, son of Ghiasuddin Tughluq, known as Muh.ammad shah Tuglaq), now of the Tughlaq dynasty, and attacked Ghiyas Uddin. Ghiyas was defeated and Bangla once again came under Delhi's rule. Several governors were appointed in Bangla by Tughlaq. Tughlaq ruled Delhi from 1325 to 1351 AD.

The governor of SonarGaon (Central Bangla) died and his guard Fakhr-ud-din Mubarak Khan takes over. He is attacked and defeated by another governor, Kadar Khan, but Kadar is killed by Fakhr's supporters. Fakhr reconquers SonarGaon. He becomes ruler of most of Bangla (rules Sonargaon until 1350 ... he heavily taxed the Hindus). He appointed Mukhlis in power at Laknauti (centre of power).

Ali Mubarak assasinated Mukhlis and called for Delhi to send a governor. The governor however died on the way. Ali Mubarak then continued to rule as Ala-ud-din Ali Shah. He fought a lot with Fakhr Uddin.

Shahi Dynasty

Malik Iliyas Haji kills AlaUddin and captures power. He was probably from Eastern Persia (Iran). He ruled under the name of Shams Uddin Iliyas Shah. He conquered much more of Bangla and defeated Nepal and Orissa and looted them. He destroyed many temples.

The Delhi ruler came to war with him but failed to defeat him. He established the first strong Muslim dynasty in Bangla

His son took over and rebuffed more attacks from Delhi. He even meddled in TriPura politics.

Sikandar was killed by his son Ghiyas Uddin. He was a poet and had contact with Hafiz of Iran and built Madrasas (Islamic school) in Mecca and Medina. He had very good diplomatic relations with China and other small neighbouring kingdoms.

At the begining of the century he removed all high ranking Hindu officials (these were probably Brahmins) and Raja Gobinda (Hindu) has him assasinated.

Ghiyas' son takes over but is promptly killed by his slave Shihab Uddin Bayazid Shah.

Also killed (probably by Raja Gobinda) who already is the real ruler. Was he an infiltrator really working for Raja Gobinda and maybe ... maybe ... was not really a Muslim.

Promptly deposed by Raja Gobinda. Delhi was in chaos at the time suffering from infighting and foreign invasions. Thus ends the first Shahi period.

Gobinda Dynasty

In 1415, Raja Gobinda assumes the role as king and is a good ruler but destroyed some Mosques but also renovated a few. He also removed Muslims from political arena.

Almost immediately, he was attacked by Muslims from within and without. Raja Gobinda was supported by Shiva Singh, the Hindu king of Mithila but is defeated.

Even his son, Yadu,  converted to Islam and fought against him assuming the name Sultan Jalal Uddin. He joined invading Ibrahim Shah Sharqui from JaunPur and took over Bangla in the same year.  But as soon as Ibrahim Shah left, Yadu reverted back to Hindu.

He ruled later in a small Hindu Kingdom where later his other son probably ruled after him. He died in 1417.

Yadu later reverted to Islam after his father's death and helped the king of Arakan regain his kingdom from Burma and became overlord of Arakan. His rule covered Bangla, parts of Bihar, Arakan and parts of Tripura.

The last attempt of self determination was stiffled. But it appears that he might have converted from political considerations and this is even seen in his son who was viewed as somewhat pro-hindu.

Raja Gobinda's grandson. He was possibly assasinated by slaves Nasir Khan and Sadi Khan and with him ended the Ganesh dynasty. Were they infiltrators too?

Shahi Dynasty (II)

Nasir Khan took over power and either assumed the name Nasir Uddin Mahmud Shah or Nasir Uddin assumed power. Nasir Uddin was a grandson of Shams Uddin Ilyas Shah. If Nasir Khan was the grandson, he must have been a grandson through a slave or there my be some other intrigue. Under his rule, Muslim rule expanded in Bangla. Contact with China stopped at this point.

Nasir Uddin made his son Rukn Uddin joint ruler in 1455 AD. He expanded Muslim rule into more parts of Bangla and force coverted a Hindu King. But he also appointed many Hindus to high ranking positions.

He also brought a lot of Afgans and Abyssinians to Bangla.

Rukn Uddin appointed his son joint ruler in 1474 and he further expanded into the Northwestern part. He converted many temples to mosques and destroyed idols.

Shams Uddin's son. He was removed for his insanity within a few months. This insanity could have been induced using a poison that is used in Bangla.

He was the next ruler. Under his rule, Hindus suffered. He was assasinated by Khoja Barbak, Palace chief in a conspiracy of Abyssinians living in Bangla.

He was assasinated by the Abyssinian, Malik Andil Khan Sultan, who was Jalal Uddin's Prime Minister.

Abyssinian Interlude

He became first Abyssinian ruler of Bangla.

Firoz Shah was succeeded by Nasir Uddin who was either the son of Saif Uddin Firoz Shah or of Jalal Uddin Fateh Shah.

The real power was an Abyssinian called Habsh Khan. He was killed by another Abyssinian, Sidi Badr Khan. He also killed Nasir Uddin II and became ruler under the name Shams Uddin Abu Nasir Muhammad Shah. He is reputed to have been a tyrant.

Interesting to note the name was similar to his predecessor.

Hussain-Shahi Dynasty

Hussain Shah killed the last tyrannical Abyssinian ruler and assumed power creating the Hussain-Shahi dynasty. He established law by killing a lot of people and he replaced all the palace guards (who were involved in previous assasinations) and transfered all the Abyssinians to south India and Gujarat. He destroyed a lot of idols. His rule was marked by oppression of Hindus. A large number of Hindus converted to Islam during this period.  

Nasib Shah became Nasir Uddin Nusrat Shah. During his time Mogul ruler (not emperor) took Delhi from its ruler Ibrahim Lodhi an Afgan. The Afgan nobles were given refuge in Bangla and Nasiruddin married a daughter of Ibrahim Lodhi. These Afgans tried to recapture power in Delhi but were defeated but managed to capture JaunPur. Nasir Uddin was assasinated in 1533.

Last Hussain-Shahi ruler.

Farid Khan (Shir Shah Sur) who became ruler of Bihar conquered Bangla. He appointed Muhammad Khan as governor. Gaur was ransacked. Humayun, son of Babur (Moghul ruler) took back Gaur in 1539 but lost it the next year.

In Delhi there was quick changes in power as different Shah's  came to power. When Adil Shah became Emperor of India (at Delhi) Muhammad Shah, who was governor of Bangla from 1540 to 1555 declared independence. He took over Bihar and JaunPur but was killed in battle.

Khizr took over after Muhammad Shah and defeated Adil Shah. He became ruler as Ghiasuddin Bahadur Shah.

Jalal Din took over after Khizr and became known as Ghiasuddin Abul Muzaffar Jalal Shah.

Taj Khan captures power in Bangla.

Conquered Orissa and Kooch Bihar.

He tried to assert his independence from the Afgan chiefs of India.

Afgan ruler of Bangla. Moguls conquer Bangla from Daud Khan in 1575. Bangla becomes a province.