History of Mymensingh - Pathan Period

Pathan Period

While Bakhtiyar Khilji established himself in the western parts of Bengal in the 12th-13th centuries, he failed to conquer Kamrupa. The supremacy of the Sena dynasty in the area continued for around a century after the capture of Nabadwip by Bakhtiyar Khilji in 1202. In 1258, Ikhtaruddin Uzbeg Tugralkhan attacked Kamrupa and captured parts of it. The king of Kamrupa initially fled but returned back to give fight. Ultimately, Tugralkhan managed to retain his supremacy in certain parts of Kamrupa, more specifically the Mymensigh area.

When Tugralkhan refused to accept the sovereignty of the Delhi Sultanate in 1279, Ghiyas ud din Balban launched a campaign against Tugralkhan, who fled but Ghiyas ud din pursued him and reached Sonargaon. Dunaj Roy, the ruler of Sonargaon warmly welcomed Ghiyas ud din. The latter made his second son Nasiruddin Mohammad the ruler of Bengal and left for Delhi. Nasirabad, named after him, later became Mymensingh town. Subsequently Feroze Shah divided Bengal into three parts and made Sonargaon the capital of the eastern region. Fakiruddin on assumption of office as ruler of Sonargaon, adopted the name of Sultan Sekendar and declared independence. Thereafter up to 1490, 17 sultans ruled at Sonargaon but it is not clear whether their territory included whole or part or any at all of the Mymensingh area.

In 1491, Feroze Shah II ascended the throne of the independent Bengal sultanate, and sent his general Majlis Khan Humayun to attack Sherpur. He defeated the Koch king Dalip Samanta. That appears to be the beginning of Pathan rule in the Mymensingh area. It was during the rule of Hussein Shah, who ascended the throne in 1494, that Pathan rule was extended to the entire Mymensingh area (1498).