The Habshi dynasty refers to the brief era of Siddi (referred to at the time as Habesha peoples) rulers in Bengal that lasted from 1487 to 1493 during the Bengal Sultanate. Four Habshi rulers ruled Bengal during this period. This rule began with the rebellion against and assassination of Jalaluddin Fateh Shah of the Ilyas Shahi dynasty.
Background
Before the Ilyas Shahi dynasty, it was customary for Muslim rulers to purchase slaves and appoint them to royal palaces or important positions in the kingdom. Even during the reign of Jalaluddin Fateh Shah, some slaves were appointed as palace guards, who gradually increased their power among themselves. Jalaluddin tried to rein them in. But the Habshis rebelled under the leadership of
Shahzada Barbak and killed the Sultan and seized the throne. While originally used to refer specifically to
Abyssinia, their name later became more broadly used to refer to Africans of any ethnicity.
Similarly, this term for Siddis is held to be derived from the common name for the captains of the
Ethiopian Empire ships that also first delivered Siddi slaves to the subcontinent.
Historian Richard M. Eaton states Habshis were initially pagans sold by Ethiopian Christians to
Gujarati people merchants for Indian textiles.
Reign
Shahzada Barbak
Shahzada Barbak killed Jalaluddin Fateh Shah in 1487 and assumed the rule.
He took the royal name
Ghiyasuddin Shahzada Barbak. As his reign was short-lived, he was able to start few coins.
A few months after his accession to the throne, Ilyas Shahi's loyal Malik Andil Khan killed him and took the throne.
Saifuddin Feroz Shah
Andil Habshi or Saifuddin Firuz Shah ruled Bengal for two years. He killed Barbak and took the throne. He is credited by many as the main founder of Habshi rule. Because Barbak ruled for a short time. He was reportedly impotent. He was generous and kind. He ruled from 1487 to 1489. According to most historians, he died a natural death. However, according to some historians like Ghulam Husain Salim and Jadunath, he was also killed by one of the palace guards.
Mahmud Shah II
Mahmud Shah II was the adopted son of Saifuddin Firuz Shah. He took over as an infant. His royal regent was Habash Khan. After a year in 1490, Sidi Badr killed him and Habash Khan and took over the rule.
Shamsuddin Mozaffar Shah
Shamsuddin Muzaffar Shah or Sidi Badr was the Habshi ruler who ruled Bengal for the longest time. Intent on capturing Bengal, he first killed Habash Khan, the royal regent of Sultan Mahmud Shah II, before proceeding to assassinate the Sultan. Badr Shams-ud-Din ascended the throne assuming the title of Muzaffar Shah.
He raised an army of thirty thousand soldiers; Among them were thousands of Afghans and five thousand Habshi.
Downfall and legacy
Due to political instability and a lack of capacity to deal with injustices, Siddi rule eventually fell. Although Saifuddin Firuz Shah was compassionate, but he could not spread that much power. On the contrary, Shamsuddin Mozaffar Shah, who was focused on expanding his power, was also focused on empowering the Habshi in Bengal. Described by Indo-Persian historians as a tyrant, his cruelty was said to have alienated the nobility as well as his common subjects.
[Majumdar, R.C. (ed.) (2006). The Delhi Sultanate, Mumbai: Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, p.215] In 1494, a rebellion led by Syed Hussain led to the death of Shamsuddin Mozaffar Shah. Syed Hossain ascended the throne with the name Alauddin Husain Shah. He expelled all the Habshi from power and banished them from the area. Eventually they were forced to move to different areas of the
Deccan and
Gujarat.
See also
Further Read
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Memorials
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Sarkar, Jadunath. History of Bengal, Volume II, Muslim Era, 1200–1757.
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Sinha, Sutpa. Gaur Rediscovered: The Medieval Capital of Bengal.
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Ferista, Mohammad Qasim. Tarikh-i-Ferista: A History of the Rise of Muslim Power in India, to 1612 AD, Volume IV.
