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The Kingdom of Mrauk U is marked with a dotted line on the map.

On 27th January 1666 AD, Wednesday is a memorable day in the history of Chittagong. On this particular day, the forces of the Arakan Kingdom of Mrauk U were defeated by the Mughal forces under the command of Buzurg Ummed Khan, the son of Mughal Subedar Shaista Khan.[1][2] During the reign of the Kingdom of Mrauk U, the region was known as Moger Mulluk (মগের মুল্লুক - ill governed state) due to its misrule and extreme oppression. This kingdom extended from the Feni river to the whole of Arakan.

The Mog kingdom (Kingdom of Mrauk U) was established in Chittagong for about a hundred years in the medieval period after overthrowing the Sultans of Bengal. Since this victory, Chittagong has never been outside the administrative and political sphere of Bengal. Chittagong has always been associated with Bengal, as the entry point to Bengal, regardless of who ruled this land: Mughals, British, Pakistan, independent Bangladesh.

Chittagong port has a long history that dates back thousands of years. Chittagong port has been necessary for ages due to trade. A type of anarchy existed in Chittagong during the Arakanese rule. The local residents were sold as slaves, and banditry and looting were commonplace. The poet Alaol was also sold as a slave and later took his place in the royal court of Arakan (Kingdom of Mrauk U).

The Portuguese helped Arakanese or Mogs in various anarchy situations. The Mogs also had business relations with the Dutch, which was known as the Dutch East India Company (VOC). Historians have described the atrocities of the Portuguese and the Mogs as "Both the Mogs of Arakanese and the Portuguese pirates constantly plundered Bengal (Dhaka to Chittagong region). They pierced the palms of the hands of all the Hindus and Muslims they could capture, inserted thin cane ribbons through the holes, and tied them up. Hung together below the ship's deck. Every morning they threw some uncooked rice to the prisoners from above, as food is thrown to birds. They were sold to Dutch, English and French merchants in the Deccan ports. Sometimes they brought their captives to Tamluk and Balasore to sell them at high prices. Only the Portuguese sold their captives, but the Mogs employed the captives in Arakan in agriculture and other occupations or as domestic servants and concubines".[3] Historians, however, call this Arakanese reign a golden age of commercial prosperity. With the help of the Portuguese and their strong navy, the Arakanese were formidable enough to resist any attempts to overthrow them.

Poet Alaol describes the Arakan (Kingdom of Mrauk U) king's power-symbol fleet in his epic Sikandarnama (published in full in 1673)::

অসংখ্যাত নৌকাপাঁতি নানা জাতি নানা ভাতি

সুচিত্র বিচিত্র বাহএ।

জরশি-পাট-নেত লাঠিত চামর যূত

সমুদ্র পূর্ণিত নৌকামএ।[4]

Two Mughal campaigns failed in 1617 and 1621 AD.

In 1657, Aurangzeb defeated his other brothers in a fratricidal war between the four sons of Shah Jahan for the Mughal throne. One of the rival brothers of Aurangzeb (Alamgir) was Shah Shuja. Shah Shuja was Subahdar of Bengal for about 20 years from 1640 to 1660. After the defeat in the fratricidal war, Shah Shuja hoped to sail from Noakhali to Mecca or Istanbul by sea. However, as the rainy season came, it did not happen any more. Meanwhile, Emperor Aurangzeb's forces are constantly looking for Shah Shuja. To escape from Aurangzeb, Shah Shuja sought political asylum in the neighboring state of Arakan with a large amount of treasures (approx 23 tons)[5]. In August 1660, the once mighty Bengal Subahdar Shah Shuja settled in Arakan State. But after six months, Shah Shuja was killed by the Arakan King. The daughters of Shah Shuja’s family were abused, and the sons were imprisoned. This sad news of the Mughal Prince soon reached the Emperor of Delhi, who was Suja’s brother Aurangzeb. The Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb sent two emissaries in succession to the Arakan royal court asking for the return of his brother Shah Shuja’s children and treasures. The Arakanese captured and enslaved the first messenger. The second emissary was received by the royal court of Arakan, but all the children had already been killed, and their wealth confiscated, so there was no reply.[6] On the question of power, Aurangzeb never sympathized with Shuja even though he was his own brother. However, he could not accept that his brother was killed by a foreigner.

To avenge the murder of his brother at the hands of the Arakan King, Aurangzeb sent his uncle and long-time political companion Shaista Khan as Subahdar of Bengal. Fearing an inevitable conflict with the Mughals, who wanted to avenge the murder of their prince Shah Shuja by the Arakanese king, the Arakanese started preparing for war. In 1664, they attacked Dhaka, the capital of Bengal, with the help of the Portuguese pirates and destroyed about 160 ships. At the behest of the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb, governor of Bengal Shaista Khan embarked on a war plan to crush the Arakanese[7] He built 300 warships and put them in the hands of naval commander Ibn Husain. Along with this, Shaista Khan established diplomatic relations with the Dutch and the Portuguese and took advantage of Arakanese disputes with the Portuguese.

In the winter of 1665, Subahdar Shaista Khan formed a well-equipped army to fight against the Arakanese. His son, Buzurg Ummed Khan joined this mission of Chittagong recovery as the chief commander.[8]

Entrance, River Map

In November 1665, the Mughals captured Sandwip with the assurance of Dutch diplomatic support and military aid. The naval battle took on another dimension when 40 ships under the command of Portuguese Captain Moore, experienced in Bengal’s waterways, joined the Mughal fleet.[3] Meanwhile, 6500 Mughal army led by Shaista Khan's son Buzurg Ummed Khan started advancing towards Chittagong across Feni river. Before the Mughal conquest, Chittagong was called a forest of hills and trees. Historians wrote analogies that the forest was so dense that ants had no way to move.[9] A large number of axes were supplied from Dhaka for the Mughal army, with which they cleared the forest and arrived at the outskirts of Chittagong. Historians call this road built by the Mughals the origin of the present Dhaka-Chittagong Trunk Road.[10]

An artist’s depiction of the fall of Chittagong.

On January 27, 1666, Chatgochar Killa or Anderkilla, the Arakanese centre of the region, fell after a three-day siege in a two-pronged attack.[11] Shaista Khan’s diplomatic success made this unlikely Mughal victory over the powerful Arakanese possible. According to the information recorded in the Alamgirnama, the son of the former Mrauk U King Sirisudhammaraja is believed to have accompanied the Mughal force, and the Mughals intended to place him as king after conquering Arakan.[12] But due to insufficient logistics and the monsoon, they limited their progress to the banks of the Naf river.[13] After the Mughals conquered Chittagong, they abolished the slave system and the Portuguese power declined.

Above the entrance inside the mosque are two stone blocks inscribed in Persian.

Bujurg Umid Khan renamed Chittagong as Islamabad after capturing Anderkilla and built a mosque on top of the fort the following year, which is now known as Anderkilla Jame Masjid. Above the entrance of the mosque, there are two stone blocks inscribed in Persian. The second one translates as ‘O Wise! You tell the people of the world that the second Kaaba has been established in this world today. The date of its establishment is 1078 Hijri.’

The Mogs or Rakhines (Arakanese) tried hard to recapture this region of Bengal, but they were not successful. Later, the Mughals built many buildings, mosques, and temples in Chittagong. Rahmatganj, Hamzarbagh, Ghat Farhadbeg, Askar Dighi, Bagmaniram, Mughaltuli, Pathantuli, Bagh-i-Hamzah Mosque, Miskin Shah Mosque, Kadam Mubarak Mosque, Bayezid Bostami Mosque, and Wali Khan Mosque are some of the places that remind us of the Mughal presence all over Chittagong. Basically, its spread can be seen from Feni to Chittagong. These make Chittagong very traditional.

  1. ^ Abdul Karim (August 1999). বাংলার ইতিহাস: মুসলিম বিজয় থেকে সিপাহী বিপ্লব পর্যন্ত [১২০০-১৮৫৭ খ্রিঃ] (in Bengali). Dhaka: বড়াল প্রকাশনী. pp. 182–183.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: year (link)
  2. ^ Jadunath Sarkar (1948). The History of Bengal. Vol. II. Dhaka University. p. 381.
  3. ^ a b Jadunath Sarkar (1948). The History of Bengal. Vol. II. Dhaka University. pp. 378–379.
  4. ^ Ahmed Sharif (1967). সিকান্দরনামা আলাওল বিরচিত (PDF) (in Bengali). pp. 32–33.
  5. ^ Galen, S.E.A. van (2008-03-13). "Arakan and Bengal : the rise and decline of the Mrauk U kingdom (Burma) from the fifteenth to the seventeeth century AD". Scholarly Publications, Leiden University. 7: 186 – via NA VOC 1236, fol. 127-134 Letter from Gerrit van Voorburg to Batavia, dated Arakan 21 January 1661.
  6. ^ Galen, S.E.A. van (2008-03-13). "Arakan and Bengal : the rise and decline of the Mrauk U kingdom (Burma) from the fifteenth to the seventeeth century AD". Scholarly Publications, Leiden University. 7: 192–193.
  7. ^ Galen, S.E.A. van (2008-03-13). "Arakan and Bengal : the rise and decline of the Mrauk U kingdom (Burma) from the fifteenth to the seventeeth century AD". Scholarly Publications, Leiden University. 7: 194.
  8. ^ Majumdar, Ramesh Chandra; Pusalker, A. D.; Majumdar, A. K., eds. (2007) [First published 1974]. The History and Culture of the Indian People. Vol. VII: The Mughal Empire. Mumbai: Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan.
  9. ^ Eaton, Richard Maxwell (1993). "9". The Rise of Islam and the Bengal Frontier, 1204-1760. University of California Press.
  10. ^ চৌধূরী, শ্রীপূর্ণচন্দ্র দেববর্ম্মা তত্ত্বনিধি (1920). চট্টগ্রামের ইতিহাস (in Bengali) (3rd ed.). গতিধারা প্রকাশনী. p. 58. ISBN 9789848945537.
  11. ^ চৌধূরী, শ্রীপূর্ণচন্দ্র দেববর্ম্মা তত্ত্বনিধি (1920). চট্টগ্রামের ইতিহাস (in Bengali) (3rd ed.). গতিধারা প্রকাশনী. p. 61. ISBN 9789848945537.
  12. ^ Galen, S.E.A. van (2008-03-13). "Arakan and Bengal : the rise and decline of the Mrauk U kingdom (Burma) from the fifteenth to the seventeeth century AD". Scholarly Publications, Leiden University. 7: 198 – via Leider, Le royaume d’Arakan, p. 311.
  13. ^ Kazim, Muhammad (1868). Alamgirnamah (in Persian). The Asiatic Society. pp. 953–956.
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