History of the Qaraunah Turks in India c6.84

c6.84

The province of Bengal like the Deccan, had a tendency to revolt against the authority of Dihli. It was far from being a loyal appanage of the empire, and the governors of Bengal always tried to shake off the yoke of Dihli and set up their own independent power. The history of Bengal during the period is shrouded in obscurity, and out of the fragmentary materials available to us, it is difficult to construct a complete and connected account of the rulers of that province in the 14th century. The Muhammadan historians were so imperialistic in their outlook that they paid but scant regard to the annals of a dependent province. Balban had entrusted Bengal, after the revolt of Tughril Beg in 1283 A.D., to his son Mahmud surnamed Baghra Khan who was succeeded by his younger son Rukn-al-Din Kaikaus who assumed the position of a local Sultan in 697 A.H. although he still professed allegiance to Dihli.³⁹ Shams-al-din Firuz, younger brother of Kaikaus, established himself as Sultan of Bengal, and issued coins from Lakhnauti and Sonargaon.⁴⁰ He was more ambitious than his predecessors and, unlike the other rulers of his house, he does not expressly mention the fact of his descent from Balban on his coins. It seems, Bengal shared in the general confusion that followed the death of 'Ala-al-Din and practically cut itself off from Dihli thus enabling Shams-al-Din Firuz to exercise