History of Orissa from the Earliest Times to the British Period v1.c26.20

v1.c26.20

The next stage in the Musalman wars is reached in the reign of Yūzbak. Mālik Ikhtiyāruddin Yūzbak was a slave of Iltutmish. Bilbun placed him in charge of Kanauj, whence he was transferred to Gauḍ or Musalman Bengal. Very soon hostilities began between him and Narasimha I. Ikhtiyāruddin Yūzbak was appointed Governor of Musalman Bengal in 1246 and the war may have taken place in 1247. It is stated in the *Ṭabaqāt-i-Nāṣirī* that the commander of the army of Orissa was the son-in-law of Narasimha I, a person named *Sābantar*, evidently a corruption of *Sāmanta Rāya* and that the same person had commanded the Hindu army which had driven 'Izzuddīn Tughral Tughān Khān to seek shelter in Gauḍ. The Musalman history states that this commander had been defeated by 'Izzuddīn and again by Ikhtiyāruddīn Yūzbak. But in the third battle Yūzbak was defeated and lost a white elephant which was considered very valuable. After this defeat he was compelled to seek aid from Delhi and invaded Orissa once more. He is said to have advanced as far as Armardan and compelled the King to evacuate this, his capital. The name of this place has been read by Major Raverty as Umardan or Armardan.¹ It appears to be the same place as that in memory of the conquest of which a silver coin was struck by Yūzbak from the mint of Lakhnautī in A. H. 653=1255 A. D. The legend on the margin of the reverse was read as "Struck at Lakhnautī as tribute of Arzbadan and Nudiya in the month of Ramaẓān of the year six hundred and fifty-three."² In a previous paper the present writer had proposed to identify this Arz-badan with Gar-bardan or Bardhan Kot in Northern Bengal,³ but it seems more probable that this Arzbadan is the same as the Umurdan and Armardan of the *Ṭabaqāt-i-Nāṣirī*. There is no doubt about the fact that no such place was the capital of Orissa in the 13th century. Yūzbak may have captured an important fort and with it some members of the royal family. The date of the coin makes it possible: