Shaykh Jalauddin Tabrizi (1226 or 1244) and Shaykh Shah Jalal (1347) were the greatest Sufi saints of Bengal. Shaykh Jalauddin Tabrizi came in Bengal after Bhaktiyar Khilji conquered Bengal defeating the Hindu king, Lakshman Sena in 1205. He settled in Devtala near Pandua (Maldah, West Bengal). He is said to have “converted large number of Kafirs” (Hindu or Buddhist) to Islam. In Devtala the Shaykh demolished the temple and constructed a Takiya (khanqah). Shah Jala came to India with 700 companions to take part in the holy war or Jihad. Shah Jala fought a bloody Jihad against the king of Sylhet Gaur Govindo. Ibn Battuta who paid a visit to Shah Jalal in Sylhet, records how the infidels were forced to convert and embrace Islam. When Shah Jalal came to settle in Sylhet in East Bengal (now Bangladesh), it was ruled by a Hindu king, named Gaur Govindo. Before this arrival in Bengal, Sultan Shamshuddin Firuz Shah of Gaur had twice attacked Gaur Govindo and these campaigns were led by his nephew, Sikandar Khan Ghazi. On both occasions the Muslim invaders were defeated. The third assault against Gaur Govindo was commanded by the sultan’s Chief General Nasiruddin. Shaykh Nizamuddin Auliya sent forth his illustrious disciple Shah Jalal with 360 followers to participate in this Jihad campaign. Shah Jala reached Bengal with his followers and joined the Muslim army. In the fierce battle that ensued, King Gaur Govindo was defeated.
In 1414, Ganesh, a Hindu prince, revolted against Muslim rule and captured power in Bengal. The ascension of a Hindu to power created strong revulsion amongst both the Sufis and the Ulemas. They repudiated his rule and enlisted help from Muslim rulers outside of Bengal. Responding to their call, Ibrahim Shah Sharqi invaded Bengal and defeated Ganesh. Nur Qutb-i-Alam, the leading Sufi master of Bengal, now stepped in to broker a truce. He forced Ganesh to abdicate and Genesh’s 12 year old son Jadu was converted to Islam by a Sufi saint. His name became Jalauddin Muhammad. Jalauddin Muhammed 1414-31. According to the Cambridge History of India, a wave of conversions happened under Jalauddin Muhammad. Dr. James Wise wrote (1894) that the “only condition he offered was the Koran or death… many Hindus fled to Kamrup and the jungles of Assam but it is nevertheless possible that more Mohammedans were added to Islam during these 17 years (1414-31) than in the next three hundred years (Journal Of The Asiatic Society of Bengal). According to Prof. Ishtiaq Hussain Qureishi, the Sufis of Bengal followed an “orthodox like” of conversion (Qureishi: The Muslim Community Of India, Pakistan, Sub continent). According to Qureishi, The Sufis of Bengal established their Khanqahs and shrines at places (i.e. temples) which already had a reputation for sanctity before Islam. Levtzion says that this fitted well into the religious situation in Bengal by establishing Khanqahs on the sites of Buddhist shrines (Nehemia Levtzion, Conversion In Islam).
References:
- M.A. Khan (2009): Islamic Jihad: A Legacy Of Forced Conversion, Imperialism, and Slavery. IUniverese, NY.
