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Afghan Rule, 1539-1576 started in Bengal in 1539 after the discomfiture of Humayun at Chausa at the hands of Sher Khan and ended in 1576 with the Mughal victory at rajmahal over daud karrani. But long before Sher Khan (who assumed the title of Sher Shah after his victory at Chausa had wrested Bengal from Jahangir Quli Khan, the Mughal deputy, in October 1539, the Afghans had entered the services of the Bengal sultans. Like the Sharqi sultans of Jaunpur, the sultans of Bengal too used to recruit Afghans in their services. For example, the last Habshi Sultan Muzaffar Shah (1491-94 AD) had a few thousand Afghans in his army. Sultan Husain Shah (1494-1519 AD) too had in his service a good number of Afghan officers and soldiers who subsequently played an important role as generals and administrators under Nusrat Shah (1519-33 AD). So by the time Sher Shah conquered Bengal, the Afghans were no strangers. They now found their own man on the throne, first of Bengal and Bihar and ultimately of the Indian empire.
Bengal under the Sur governors (1539-53 AD) Realising justly the importance of Bengal for his empire building, Sher Shah paid his utmost attention for its proper administrative reorganisation. He deposed his first governor Khizir Khan for treacherous activities within a span of two years and, as a novel scheme, subdivided Bengal including Chittagong into a number of smaller units, each under a separate Muqta, and appointed Qazi Fadilat, a learned scholar of Agra, as the supreme superintendent with a jurisdiction on all the subordinate muqtas. Sher Shah's plan worked well and the Afghans became so permanently domiciled in Bengal that its climate and culture had transformed them almost beyond recognition vis-a-vis the non-Afghan Bengalis.
Islam Shah (1545-53 AD), son and successor of Sher Shah, wielded a very firm control over the whole of Bengal. But in his bid to further centralise the administration he removed Qazi Fadilat and appointed as governor his own relative Muhammad Khan Sur in 1545 AD. The new governor retained his position by successfully chastising a rebel named Sulaiman Khan alias Kali Das Gajdani in 1546-48. Subsequently when the unworthy Adil Shah had usurped the Afghan throne of Delhi by murdering Islam Shah's son and successor Firuz Shah, Bengal governor Muhammad Sur deemed it below his dignity to acknowledge the authority of the usurper and declared independence in 1553 AD with the title of Sultan Shamsuddin Muhammad Shah Ghazi. His successors ruled Bengal up to 1563 AD, when his line was brought to an end with the ascendancy of the Karrani Afghans in Bengal.
Bihar witnessed the arrival and settlement of Afghans right from the beginning of the 13th century and this process gained momentum with Afghan ascendancy under the Lodis at Delhi in 1451 AD. Darya Khan Nuhani was succeeded by his son Bahar Khan Nuhani in Bihar. The latter shook off Lodi allegiance and with the support of the majority of the eastern Afghans declared himself independent under the title of Sultan Muhammad Nuhani sometime after 1522 AD. In 1527 his death brought his son Jalal Khan Nuhani to the throne. In the meantime Mahmud Lodi, brother of Ibrahim Lodi, championed the Afghan cause and the supporters of the fallen dynasty rallied round him. Very soon he wrested Bihar from Jalal who found political asylum with Nusrat Shah of Bengal. In spite of many initial successes Mahmud too was forced to take shelter in the court of Nusrat as a refugee in consequence of a hot pursuit by Babur.
Babur's death in 1530, however, turned the scale and Mahmud Lodi again took the field for Afghan resurgence. But he was defeated by Humayun at Dorah in 1532, retired from politics and subsequently died in Orissa in 1542 AD. In the meantime Sher Shah steered clear of the tangled politics by ousting all other rivals including Humayun.
In his administrative rearrangements Islam Shah appointed a certain Saiyyed Yahya as muqta of Bihar in 1548/9 AD. But after the former's death in 1553 AD northern Bihar passed under the control of Sultan Shamsuddin Muhammad Shah of Gaur while in southern Bihar sulaiman karrani and Fath Khan Batani were in joint command.
http://www.banglaembassy.com.bh/History.htm
Bengal under the Sur governors (1539-53 AD) Realising justly the importance of Bengal for his empire building, Sher Shah paid his utmost attention for its proper administrative reorganisation. He deposed his first governor Khizir Khan for treacherous activities within a span of two years and, as a novel scheme, subdivided Bengal including Chittagong into a number of smaller units, each under a separate Muqta, and appointed Qazi Fadilat, a learned scholar of Agra, as the supreme superintendent with a jurisdiction on all the subordinate muqtas. Sher Shah's plan worked well and the Afghans became so permanently domiciled in Bengal that its climate and culture had transformed them almost beyond recognition vis-a-vis the non-Afghan Bengalis.
Islam Shah (1545-53 AD), son and successor of Sher Shah, wielded a very firm control over the whole of Bengal. But in his bid to further centralise the administration he removed Qazi Fadilat and appointed as governor his own relative Muhammad Khan Sur in 1545 AD. The new governor retained his position by successfully chastising a rebel named Sulaiman Khan alias Kali Das Gajdani in 1546-48. Subsequently when the unworthy Adil Shah had usurped the Afghan throne of Delhi by murdering Islam Shah's son and successor Firuz Shah, Bengal governor Muhammad Sur deemed it below his dignity to acknowledge the authority of the usurper and declared independence in 1553 AD with the title of Sultan Shamsuddin Muhammad Shah Ghazi. His successors ruled Bengal up to 1563 AD, when his line was brought to an end with the ascendancy of the Karrani Afghans in Bengal.
Bihar witnessed the arrival and settlement of Afghans right from the beginning of the 13th century and this process gained momentum with Afghan ascendancy under the Lodis at Delhi in 1451 AD. Darya Khan Nuhani was succeeded by his son Bahar Khan Nuhani in Bihar. The latter shook off Lodi allegiance and with the support of the majority of the eastern Afghans declared himself independent under the title of Sultan Muhammad Nuhani sometime after 1522 AD. In 1527 his death brought his son Jalal Khan Nuhani to the throne. In the meantime Mahmud Lodi, brother of Ibrahim Lodi, championed the Afghan cause and the supporters of the fallen dynasty rallied round him. Very soon he wrested Bihar from Jalal who found political asylum with Nusrat Shah of Bengal. In spite of many initial successes Mahmud too was forced to take shelter in the court of Nusrat as a refugee in consequence of a hot pursuit by Babur.
Babur's death in 1530, however, turned the scale and Mahmud Lodi again took the field for Afghan resurgence. But he was defeated by Humayun at Dorah in 1532, retired from politics and subsequently died in Orissa in 1542 AD. In the meantime Sher Shah steered clear of the tangled politics by ousting all other rivals including Humayun.
In his administrative rearrangements Islam Shah appointed a certain Saiyyed Yahya as muqta of Bihar in 1548/9 AD. But after the former's death in 1553 AD northern Bihar passed under the control of Sultan Shamsuddin Muhammad Shah of Gaur while in southern Bihar sulaiman karrani and Fath Khan Batani were in joint command.
http://www.banglaembassy.com.bh/History.htm
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