Oriya Muslims - History

History

Islam first arrived in the Eastern Indian state of Odisha in the 16th century after the invasion of Kalapahad, a Hindu convert to Islam, a vassal of Suleiman Kirrani the Sultanate of Bengal, after defeat and death of Raja Mukund Dev of Cuttack in 1568 CE. Suleiman Kirrani was the Governor of Bengal appointed by Mughal Emperor Akbar the Great. Kirrani was invited by Raja Mukund Dev to defeat Raja Ramchandra Bhanja the Gajapati King of Odisha, his arch enemy.

Kirrani brought with him Muslim soldiers who settled down in Odisha, however their number was very few. Some early Oriya Muslims were converts. However, the number of these Muslims, almost all converts from Hinduism, was statistically insignificant and though they were Muslims by faith, they continued subscribing to the local customs and traditions and retained Oriya as their native tongue, as opposed to Persian or Urdu, the then lingua franca of most Indian Muslims. The descendants of these Muslims are still found in the districts of Puri, Khurda and Cuttack.

Kalapahad was the title of an Iconoclast Muslim general of Mughal governor Sultan Sulaiman Karrani of Bengal. According to some historical documents he was either, Rajiv Lochan Ray, an Oriya convert to Islam or a Pashtun from Afghanistan. After conversion to Islam he took a Muslim name but is popularly know as Kalapahad. He was instrumental in conquering Odisha for Mughal Empire. Kalapahad was buried in Sambalpur. Large number of tombs believed to be those of the dead soldiers of Kalapahar are also located in a mango grove near Samaleswari College building on the bank of river Mahanadi in Odisha. The tomb of Kalapahad and the graves of his soldiers were destroyed in 2006 by Hindu extremists.

Later migration continued under Mughal as well as the Nawab of Bengal's rule. The majority of these were traders or clergy, sent to preside over the courts, both secular and Islamic. There is also a small number of Bengali Muslims who emigrated during the tumult of the Indo-Pak War of 1971. Similarly Telugu speaking Muslims from Andhra Pradesh are also found in the southern districts of Odisha.