Bengal for her enormous natural resources and
moderate climatic conditions had been a covetous country of attraction for the
foreigners from the ancient time. Many civilizations in this region grew up and
declined with the passage of time since its record in the history. From the
historical records it is evident that over this fertile soil of Bengal, the Mauryans,
the Guptas, the Palas and the Senas before the coming of
Muslims had their sway and contributed a lot to the enrichment of her
political, administrative and cultural attainments.
A fragmentary Mauryan Brahmi
Inscription paleographically dated in the 3rd century B.C. discovered at Mahasthan
twelve kilometers north of Bogra city reveals to us Pundanagala equating
with Pundranagara and conclusively identified with Mahasthan, an
emporium of Bengal from very ancient time. Archaeological excavation of this
mound of Mahasthan unfolds the various starts as of civilization to speak the
glorious past of Bengal history. Even in and around the vicinity of Mahasthan
are unearthed the ancient relics in the form of viharas and temples
which tell her past heritage.
Likewise the Sumapura Vihara of Paharpur
in the district of Naogaon district and Shalbana Vihara of Mainamati in
the district of Comilla district bear witness to the rich heritage of
the ancient Bengal. In this chain of cultural attainments the advent of the
Muslims at the beginning of the 13th century A.C. added a new vista of
contribution to the history.
Pertinently it may be mentioned here that the
Janapada names existed at the advent of the Muslims sank into oblivion
and Bengal emerged as a country uniting three administrative divisions of Lakhnawati,
Satgaon and Sonargaon. The credit of this unification goes to Sultan
Shams al-Din IIyas Shah (1342-1359 A.C.) who assumed the title of Shah-i-Bangala
bringing the above mentioned regions under his suzerainty in 1352 A.C. Hence
Bengal of the Sultanate period denotes the territorial expanse of Bangladesh
and West Bengal of India extending from Rajmahal hill in the west
to hilly region of Chittagong in the east and from the Himalayan mountain in
the north to the Bay of Bengal in the south.
The time span of Bengal Sultanate began with
the conquest of Lakhnawati Kingdom of the Senas by Ikhtiyaral-Din
Muhammad Bakhtiyar Khalji in 1204 A.C. and ended with its annexation
to the Mughal Empire of Delhi in 1576 A.C. Arabic as the language
of religion and Persian as the language of cultural accomplishment of incoming
Muslims got utmost consideration for study during their rule in Bengal.
To see the extent of Arabic and Persian
studies during the period of Bengal Sultanate literary and
archaeological sources are to be taken into consideration. Arabic, the youngest
Semitic language got its recognition among the richest languages of the world
as being the language of the holy Quran and the Prophet (Sm) of Islam.
With the expansion of Islam over half of the then world just after the demise
of the Prophet (Sm), Arabic got momentum as an enriched language to
produce voluminous works in all branches of learning for onward transmission to
the contemporaneous and to the posterity as well.
In the heydays of Muslim civilization
tentatively from the beginning of the seventh century A.C. to the end of the
thirteenth century A.C. Arabic became the language of expression and bearer of
knowledge in all the Muslim occupied territories of three continents of Asia,
Africa and Europe. It did not preclude the cultivation of
indigenous language of the countries of their domination. Hence Persian second
to Arabic as language got flourishment at the hands of the Muslim rulers since
tenth century A.C. and spread all over the Central Asian regions as one
of the richest languages of at time.
It is not, therefore, unreasonable to assume
that the Central Asian Turks with the rich linguistic heritage of Arabic and
Persian entered the Indian subcontinent as the conquerors. In the case of
Bengal it is not an exception. The Khalji Turks of Central Asia who
entered Bengal as conquerors initiated the cultivation of Arabic and
Persian learning by introducing Persian as the court language and establishing
madaris where due attention was given for the study of both the languages. This
move continued unabated in later times of the rulers and sultans till the end
of the Sultanate period.
Source: ARABIC AND PERSIAN STUDIES UNDER
BENGAL SULTANATE: AN APPRAISAL
By- Dr A K M Yaqub Ali
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