The History of Bengal (Vol. I: Hindu Period; Vol. II: Muslim Period 1200–1757) v2.c29: Editor's Preface
The History of Bengal (Vol. I: Hindu Period; Vol. II: Muslim Period 1200–1757) v2.c29
- Language
- English
Editor's Preface
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The first volume of this History, containing the Hindu period, was published in May 1943. The second and third volumes, which were to cover the early Muslim and the Mughal periods respectively, were planned at the same time as the first in 1936, and should in normal circumstances have followed it in two to four years. But the times were not normal, and a number of unforeseen difficulties have compelled the editor not only to delay their publication but also to alter their plan.
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My first and most serious difficulty sprang from the insufficiently known fact that while the Hindu period of Bengal history, in almost every part of it has been worked over by a large number of modern scholars producing fruits of a high standard,—the Muslim period, except for a few reigns still remains unexplored ground, and we are still encompassed by almost the same mist of tradition and the deceptive light of pious frauds, which baffled Captain Charles Stewart when he attempted the first History of Bengal in English 130 years ago. Even the chronology of many of the early Muslim rulers of Bengal is still unsettled, as their coins are so few and so badly executed that their dates cannot be read with certainty. This want of modern research has been most acutely felt in respect of the social, economic and cultural history of mediaeval Bengal, the only exception being the studies in Vaishnavism, which, however, relate to the Mughal period. The students of our province's economic history have concentrated their attention on the British period and the late 17th century British trade in Bengal, while in respect of the rest of the country's history during the Muslim period, the surface has been hardly scratched.
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Thus a history of Bengal under Muslim rule is bound to be a production of very uneven parts, being up to modern standards of scholarship and rich in accurate details in certain topics or reigns only, and totally dark or covered with the haze of loose tradition in all others.
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It was originally intended to spread the political and cultural history evenly through these two volumes, one ending with the Mughal conquest (1575) and the other with the downfall of Muslim rule (1757). But if this plan had been adhered to, the publication of each of these volumes would have been put off till a new generation of research students had arisen and lit up the dark places of our cultural and social history during the middle ages. Therefore, the first change that was forced upon me was to put all the political narrative of the projected two volumes in one and print it first, as the necessary contributors were available and they could be asked to supply their chapters in two years. The social and cultural history of the entire Muslim age was assigned to the final volume, which we could not hope to compile in the near future.
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The next hitch occurred after the chapters of this "political history" volume had been allotted to different scholars and they had been given two years' time to submit their work. Some of them, after wavering, declined the task, many others were found to be habitually incapable of writing their promised chapters within the time limit, or indeed ever at all. So, at last the painful truth dawned upon the mind of the Editor that he must personally shoulder the burden of writing the major portion of even the political history of Bengal during five and a half centuries, if this volume was to be completed in his lifetime. That, as will be remembered, was also the sad experience of Dr. R. C. Majumdar, the Editor of the first volume. As will be seen, I have had to write more than 200 pages in this volume of a little over 500 pages, besides revising and sometimes recasting the work of many of the other contributors.
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After these preliminary troubles had been got over as best we could, we had hopes of the manuscripts for the different chapters being sent in to the Editor by the end of 1941; but just at that time came the war with Japan and the air raids on Bengal and Assam. The libraries of our Universities and learned Societies were closed and their most valuable books and journals were sent into storage in safer places far inland. Thus, our Bengali contributors could not consult learned works or verify references. This interruption lasted during the pendency of the war.
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When the world war ended, our troubles instead of easing, became rather intensified. Political disorder, sectarian fights, and even common types of crime, raised their ugly heads all over the province on a scale unheard of before. The evil was aggravated by almost universal labour trouble, which interrupted postal and railway communications, and during several months the working of printing presses. Thus, though the first chapter of this volume was put in type as early as October 1944, its actual printing made very slow progress for over two years, for no fault of the printers. However, by intense activity during 1947, the book was completed and the printing nearly finished by the end of that year.
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These troubles and the necessity of printing off the composed matter promptly during 1947, explain why the proofs could not be sent to our distant contributors but had to be read in Calcutta. If any errors have crept in, the writers should not be held responsible for them.
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This long delay has robbed one of our valued contributors, Dr. Sudhindra Nath Bhattacharya, Ph.D., of the pleasure of seeing his work in print; and it is now the Editor’s painful duty to give him posthumous thanks for his excellent chapters (82 pages of print, Chapters 13-16) relating to a period that he had made peculiarly his own. His intensive study of the history of Bengal’s north-eastern frontier during the reign of Jahangir, his minute attention to topography, his gift of identifying even petty villages by ransacking the lists of villages in different districts compiled by Government for the use of post offices, and his acumen in correcting errors of date in accepted works, all lend a special value to the work of Dr. Sudhindra Nath Bhattacharya. He had written his contribution at much fuller length and requested the Editor to compress it to a size more in keeping with the general plan of this volume. The Editor has reduced it to half its original length, but nowhere has any of the author’s opinions been altered.
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The other contributors are happily still in our midst and to them I render my thanks for their valued assistance: Dr. Kalika Ranjan Qanungo (91 pages, Chapters 1-3), Professor Nirod Bhusan Roy (38 pages, Chapters 4 and 8), Dr. A. B. M. Habibullah (36 pages, Chapters 6 and 7), Dr. Jagadish Narayan Sarkar (7 pages, Chapter 18), Dr. Surendra Nath Sen (20 pages, Chapter 19) and Dr. Kali Kinkar Datta (33 pages, Chapters 22 and 23).
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No attempt has been made to remove the minor differences of opinion or date between one contributor and another in their respective sections; and each of them must be judged in the light of the authority relied upon by him.
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For the Editor’s own portion of this volume (200 pages, Chapters 5, 9-12, 17, 20, 21, 24-26, besides some sections of Chapters 14 and 18), his only apology is the nature of the raw material on which he had to work. He had to clear the jungle and break virgin soil in respect of certain periods in his share, such as the viceroyalties of Prince Muhammad Shuja’, Shaista Khan, and Murshid Quli Khan. In these, my predecessors, the Riyāz-us-salātin and its English version, Stewart’s History of Bengal, had merely left to us an uncharted wilderness, and I had to construct their true story by piecing together a large number of stray hints in Persian manuscripts and letters and European traders’ reports. A comparison of these chapters with the corresponding pages in Stewart will show how our knowledge of the history of Bengal has advanced beyond recognition in the century and a quarter that have followed the days of Stewart. No period of the history of mediaeval Bengal is now known even in half such fulness and accuracy of detail, supported by absolutely contemporary records, as the reign of Jahangir (1608-1627). But that was due entirely to my discovery of the *Bahāristān-i-Ghaibi* (Mirzā Nathan’s personal recollections) in the Bibliotheque Nationale of Paris (in 1919) and the Ahom *buranjis* brought to light at Sir Edward Gait’s initiative. These priceless materials have been exhaustively utilised through the long and devoted study of Professor Sudhindra Nath Bhattacharya.
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In conclusion, I must thank the General Printers & Publishers Ltd., for their patient care in printing what was often very badly typed and worse corrected manuscripts and keeping the composed matter standing for long periods of civil disturbance. Dr. Ramesh Chandra Majumdar, Ph.D., smoothed the launching of the scheme by making the preliminary arrangements and giving constant attention to the work to be done by the Dacca Committee, during his five years’ Vice-Chancellorship of that University, till his retirement in 1942. The present Vice-Chancellor of the Dacca University, Dr. Mahmood Hasan, D. Phil, has made my work much easier by taking an unfailing interest in the book and solving every difficulty as it arose, so as to expedite its publication.
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For the very detailed and helpful index, with its cross references and explanatory notes, we are indebted to the trained skill of Professor Nirod Bhusan Roy M.A. Sriyut Asoka K. Majumdar, M.A., has been very helpful to me in expediting the printing.
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The cost of book production is now four times what it was in 1938 when the publication of this History was planned, and there is an acute shortage of skilled assistants. For this reason and also to avoid further delay in the publication of this volume, no map (except one), picture or coin plate could be included in it. The Editor’s regret for this cruel necessity is no less keen than that of his readers, especially as all will miss the very necessary illustrations of the changes in the river-courses and land-routes during the six centuries covered by this volume. We can only hope that with better times this defect will be made good in Volume III.
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February, 1948. JADUNATH SARKAR
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Muslim Conquest of Bengal Sections 1, 3-6 by Dr. Kālikā Ranjan Qānungo, M.A., PH.D. Professor, and Head of the Department of History, Dacca University Section 2 by Sir Jadunāth Sarkār, M.A., D.LITT. Ex-Vice-Chancellor, Calcutta University . . . 1-29 Appendix A. Race, parentage and dates of Md. Bakhtyār Khilji Dr. K. R. Qānungo . . . 30-34 Appendix B. Geographical notes Dr. K. R. Qānungo . . . 35-38 Appendix C. Coins and Chronology of ‘Iwāz Dr. K. R. Qānungo . . . 39-41
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CHAPTER II. Bengal under the Mamluks (1227-87) Dr. K. R. Qānungo . . . 42-57
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CHAPTER III. Bengal under the House of Balban Dr. K. R. Qānungo . . . 58-91 Appendix A. Chronology Dr. K. R. Qānungo . . . 91-94
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CHAPTER IV. Rise of the Ilyās Shāhi Dynasty . . . 95-119 Sections 1 and 7 by Sir Jadunāth Sarkār Sections 2-6, and 8 by Professor Nirod Bhusan Roy, Professor of History, Mymensingh College
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CHAPTER V. Intervening Hindu Dynasty . . . 120-129 Sections 1-3 by Sir Jadunāth Sarkār Section 4 by Dr. K. R. Qānungo
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CHAPTER VI. Later Ilyās Shāhis and the Abyssinians (1442-1498) . . . 130-141 Dr. A. B. M. Habibullah, M.A., PH.D. Lecturer Calcutta University
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Husain Shāhi Dynasty (1493-1538) Dr. A. B. M. Habibullah . . . . . . 142-165
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Bengal under Imperial Afghan Rule Professor Nirod Bhusan Roy, M.A. . . . . . 166-178
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CHAPTER IX.
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Last Afghan Sultans, (1553-1575) Sir Jadunāth Sarkār . . . . . . . 179-186
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CHAPTER X.
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First Mughal Conquest of Bengal Sir Jadunāth Sarkār . . . . . . . 187-206