Khalji dynasty of Bengal

An early 20th-century depiction of Muhammad Bhakhtiyar Khilji's conquest.[7]

The Khalaj were a tribe of Turkic origin that after migration from Turkestan had later settled in Afghanistan for over 200 years.[8][9] The Khalaj adopted Afghan customs and intermarried,[10] thus leading to the Turkic nobles of the subcontinent perceiving them as Afghans and/or not considering them as authentic Turks.[11][12] Many of them traced their origins to Garmsir and under the leadership of Muhammad Bakhtiyar Khalji, they desired to be employed by the provincial Delhi army of the Ghurid Empire.[13] After being refused rank by Delhi governor Qutb al-Din Aibak, the Khaljis proceeded eastwards where they commanded different troops and were granted land-estates in places such as Mirzapur.[13][14]

In a short amount of time, the Khaljis became established and Bakhtiyar began to successfully carry out raids towards the east. After subjugating Bihar in 1200,[15] his forces entered Nabadwip in Bengal three years later. Subsequently, Bakhtiyar went on to capture the capital and the principal city, Lakhnauti,[16] and conquered much of Bengal.[17]

Given the considerable overland distance between Delhi and Bengal, the Khaljis had carved an independent territory of the own, establishing their own administration system. Bakhtiyar became the dynasty's first ruler, and the conquered territory was divided into jagirs which were granted to other Khalji tribesmen. Iwaz Khalji was appointed to govern Kangori and Ali Mardan Khalji in Devkot.[18]

Bakhtiyar initiated his Tibet campaign not long after, and so entrusted the capital, Lakhnauti, to Muhammad Shiran Khalji. Gathering his army in 1206, Bakhtiyar managed to also gain the support of tribal chief Ali Mech, though this was not enough to gain victory over the Tibetans. Failing to conquer Tibet, Bakhtiyar returned to Devkot severely ill and with only one hundred men.[19] The Tabaqat-i Nasiri by Minhaj-i Siraj Juzjani states that Bakhtiyar died of illness, although it also mentions that some narrators considered Ali Mardan Khalji to have assassinated bed-ridden Bakhtiyar. Nevertheless, Bakhtiyar's death marked the beginning of an internal feud between his senior officers. Shiran, who was governing the capital, immediately visited Devkot where he paid his respects to his deceased leader and was nominated as Bakhtiyar's rightful successor by the Khalji nobles.[20]

Shiran's first principal task was marching against Ali Mardan and his supporters who had fled to Ghoraghat, and had Ali Mardan imprisoned by of Baba Isfahani, the local kotwal. Shiran maintained the former policies and reinstated the titles of the pro-Mardan rebels to maintain peace. This peace was however short-lived as Ali Mardan managed to escape the prison in 1208 and flee to the Delhi court where he requested Sultan Qutb al-Din Aibak to intervene. The Sultan dispatched an army under Qaymaz Rumi, governor of Awadh; this was the first invasion of Bengal by the Delhi Sultanate. Iwaz Khalji showed no hostility to the Delhi army as they marched through his jagir on the way to confront Shiran, which pleased Rumi. Shiran refused to surrender and a battle took place between the Khaljis and the Delhi forces. Upon the Delhi victory, Shiran fled to Mahisantosh where he later died. Iwaz was thereafter appointed to govern Bengal under the vassalage of Delhi.[21][2]

In 1210, Ali Mardan returned to Bengal and the governorship was conceded to him by Iwaz Khalji. After Sultan Aibak's death, Ali Mardan had the khutbah (Friday sermon) read in his own name like his Khalji predecessors but also assumed the title of Sultan Ala ad-Din, which the former Khalji rulers had not done. According to the Tabaqat, he also executed a large number of Khalji noblemen. Variously described as a madman and tyrant, the Khalji nobles rejected Ali Mardan's rule and eventually conspired against him. The assassination of Ali Mardan marked the end of the internal feud, referred to as the "Khalji Civil War" by Jadunath Sarkar. The Khalji nobles appointed Iwaz to return as Bengal's governor, though this time as an independent sultan.[14]

With the absence of conflict, Iwaz Khalji managed to significantly develop the territory as its ruler. He founded Bengal's first naval force, innovated flood defence systems and linked Lakhnauti with the Grand Trunk Road.[22][23][24] He was the first Khalji ruler to officially declare independence as a Sultan, which caused conflict with Sultan Iltutmish of Delhi on more than one occasion.[note 1] During his reign, invasions were carried out across Vanga, Tirhut and Utkala and the Khalji territory was expanded to its greatest extent.[25] In 1227, Iwaz was killed in battle by an army led by Iltutmish's son Nasiruddin Mahmud who once again established Bengal as a province of the Delhi Sultanate.[25]

The Khaljis were the first Muslim dynasty to rule Bengal, and played a role in influencing Muslim culture in the region. The Persian historian Minhaj-i Siraj Juzjani, who was alive during the Khalji rule, credits Bakhtiyar for the construction of a madrasa (Islamic school), possibly the first in the Bengal region.[2] The 21st-century British historian Muhammad Mojlum Khan describes Khalji as a "pioneer of Islamic thought, culture and civilisation".[29] Ali Mardan Khalji has also been credited for building mosques and bridges during his reign.[30]

Iwaz Khalji was the most notable patron of Islamic education and culture in Khalji Bengal as he was known for establishing mosques, colleges, caravanserais and giving pension to the ulama (Islamic scholars and teachers). He also arranged for the arrival of Muslim preachers from the Middle East and Central Asia; for example, Jalaluddin bin Jamaluddin Ghaznavi, who had travelled from the Ghurid capital Firozkoh to give religious lectures in the Khalji court, was awarded 18,000 takas for this service.[31][32][14]

Iwaz Khalji's son and heir, Ali Sher Khalji, was the governor of Birbhum and northwestern Bengal during his father's reign.[30] In his governorship, a khanqah was endowed by Ibn Muhammad of Maragheh in 7 Jumada al-Akhir 618 AH (August 1221) in Sian, Suri Sadar. This khanqah now holds the mazar (mausoleum) of Muslim preacher Makhdum Shah.[33] Praising Sultan Iwaz Shah as Burhan-i-Amir al-Mu'minin,> the khanqah contains the earliest known stone inscription mentioning a Muslim ruler in Bengal.[34] In the 1230s, Khan Balka Khan also commissioned a mosque in the village of Naohata in Rajshahi during his short-reign.[35]

Bengali Muslims continue to celebrate the achievements of Bakhtiyar and his dynasty, who first established Islam as Bengal's state religion. His name is frequently mentioned in the poetry of Bangladesh. In 1978, Mufakharul Islam glorified the Khalji conquest in Jalali Kabutar whilst award-winning poets Al Mahmud and Ruhul Amin Khan demonstrated Khalji as a hero in their poems.[29][36] Locals have preserved the Pirpal Dargah of Narayanpur, Gangarampur which contains Bakhtiyar's tomb as well as the tomb of Muhammad Shiran Khalji in Mahisantosh.[37]

Titular Name(s)	Personal Name	Coinage	Reign
Malik al-Ghāzī Ikhtiyār ad-Dīn ملک الغازی اختیار الدین Bengali: মালিক আল-গাজী ইখতিয়ারউদ্দীন	Muhammad Bakhtiyār Khaljī محمد بختیار خلجی Bengali: মুহম্মদ বখতিয়ার খলজী		1204-1206
Malik ʿIzz ad-Dīn ملک عز الدین Bengali: মালিক ইজ্জউদ্দীন	Muhammad Sherān Khaljī محمد شیران خلجی Bengali: মুহম্মদ শিরান খলজী		1206–1208
Malik Husām ad-Dīn ملک حسام الدین Bengali: মালিক হুসামউদ্দীন	ʿIwaz bin Ḥusayn Khalji عوض بن حسین خلجی Bengali: ইওজ বিন হোসেন খলজী		(First term) 1208–1210
Malik Rukn ad-Dīn / Sultān ʿAlā ad-Dīn سلطان علاء الدین / ملک ركن الدین Bengali: মালিক রোকনউদ্দীন / সুলতান আলাউদ্দীন	ʿAlī Mardān Khaljī علی مردان خلجی Bengali: আলী মর্দান খলজী		1210–1212
Sultān Ghiyāth ad-Dīn سلطان غیاث الدین Bengali: সুলতান গিয়াসউদ্দীন	ʿIwaz Shāh عوض شاه Bengali: ইওজ শাহ		(Second term) 1212–1227
Interregnum by Nasiruddin Mahmud as Mamluk Delhi Sultanate Governor of Bengal
Shāhanshāh ʿAlā ad-Dīn شاهنشاه علاء الدین Bengali: শাহেনশাহ আলাউদ্দীন	Dawlat Shāh bin Mawdūd دولت شاه بن مودود Bengali: দৌলত শাহ বিন মওদূদ		1229-1230
Malik Ikhtiyār ad-Dīn ملک اختیار الدین Bengali: মালিক ইখতিয়ারউদ্দীন	Balkā Khaljī بلکا خلجی Bengali: বলকা খলজী		1231

In the following period, various Governors of Bengal under the Mamluk dynasty followed (1231–1287), some of them at time claiming independence. From 1287, a Balban dynasty of Lakhnauti declared independence from the Mamluks (1287–1324), until new Governors of Bengal were appointed under the Tughlaq dynasty (1324–1338).[43]

• List of rulers of Bengal#Delhi Sultanate era
• History of Bangladesh
• History of Bengal
• List of Sunni Muslim dynasties