The Cambridge History of India, Vol. III: Turks and Afghans v3.c24.11.1

v3.c24.11.1

Neither rebel had much to apprehend from Muhammad Tughluq, whose long course of tyranny was now bearing fruit in these rebellions which led to the disintegration of his kingdom, and ‘Alā-ud-dīn ‘Alī’s transfer of his capital to Pāndua seems to have been a strategic move calculated to bring him within striking distance of his rival’s capital at Sonārgāon. Hostilities between the two continued for some years, and in 1349 Mubārak disappears from the scene. He can hardly have been defeated and put to death, as stated by the chroniclers, who place the event some years earlier, by ‘Alī, for he was succeeded in Eastern Bengal by his son, Ikhtiyār-ud-dīn Ghāzī Shāh, and ‘Alī himself was no longer reigning in 1349, for his foster-brother, Malik Iliyās, who had been contending with varying success for the crown of Western Bengal ever since ‘Alī had assumed the royal title, caused him to be assassinated in 1345, and ascended the throne under the title of Shams-ud-dīn Iliyās Shāh. He was nicknamed *Bhangara* from his addiction to the preparation of hemp known as *bhang*. There is some authority for the statement that he captured and slew Mubārak of Sonārgāon, but he did not obtain possession of Sonārgāon until 1352, when Ghāzī Shāh was expelled. Iliyās is also said to have invaded Jājnagar, as the Muslim historians style the kingdom of Jājpur¹ in Orissa, and there to have taken many elephants and much plunder.