Shamsuddin Ilyas Shah

Part of a series on the
Bengal Sultanate
Ruling dynasties Ilyas Shahi dynasty (1342–1414) Shamsuddin Ilyas Shah 1342-1358 Sikandar Shah 1358-1390 Ghiyasuddin Azam Shah 1390-1411 Saifuddin Hamza Shah 1411-1413 Muhammad bin Hamza Shah 1413 Shihabuddin Bayazid Shah 1413-1414 Alauddin Firuz Shah I 1414 House of Ganesha (1414–35) Raja Ganesha 1414-1415 Jalaluddin Muhammad Shah 1415-1416 Raja Ganesha 1416-1418 Jalaluddin Muhammad Shah 1418-1433 Shamsuddin Ahmad Shah 1433-1435 Restored Ilyas Shahi dynasty (1435–87) Nasiruddin Mahmud Shah 1435-1459 Ruknuddin Barbak Shah 1459-1474 Shamsuddin Yusuf Shah 1474-1481 Nuruddin Sikandar Shah 1481 Jalaluddin Fateh Shah 1481-1487 Habshi rule (1487–94) Shahzada Barbak 1487 Saifuddin Firuz Shah 1487-1489 Mahmud Shah II 1489-1490 Shamsuddin Muzaffar Shah 1490-1494 Hussain Shahi dynasty (1494–1538) Alauddin Hussain Shah 1494-1518 Nasiruddin Nasrat Shah 1518-1533 Alauddin Firuz Shah II 1533 Ghiyasuddin Mahmud Shah 1533-1538 Muhammad Shahi dynasty (1554–64) Shamsuddin Muhammad Shah 1554-1555 Ghiyasuddin Bahadur Shah I 1555-1561 Ghiyasuddin Jalal Shah 1561-1563 Ghiyasuddin Bahadur Shah II 1563-1564 Karrani dynasty (1564–76) Taj Khan Karrani 1564-1565 Sulaiman Khan Karrani 1565-1572 Bayazid Khan Karrani 1572 Daud Khan Karrani 1572-1576
Subdivisions Mint Towns: Pandua Sonargaon Gaur Khalifatabad Satgaon Chatgaon Tanda Fatehabad Hajo Cuttack Jaunpur Mrauk U Realms: Chandradwip Pratapgarh Rohang Srihat
Architecture Adina Mosque Sixty Dome Mosque Firoz Minar Choto Sona Mosque Baro Shona Masjid Bagha Mosque Pathrail Mosque Panbari Mosque Shankarpasha Mosque Goaldi Mosque Majidbaria Mosque Darasbari Mosque Eklakhi Mausoleum Muazzampur Mosque Qasba Mosque Kusumba Mosque Sura Mosque Nine Dome Mosque Jamaluddin Mosque Nasrat Gazi Mosque
Culture Literature Dobhashi Yusuf-Zulekha Persian influence Indo-Persian culture Persianate society Education Ghiyathiyyah Madrasah
Economy History of the taka
Warfare Ekdala (1353-1359) Jaunpur (1415-1420) Reconquest of Arakan (1429-1430) Kamata (1498) Mrauk U (1512–1516) Mughal invasion of Bengal Ghaghra (1529) Tukaroi (1575) Rajmahal (1576)
v t e

Shamsuddin Ilyas Shah was the founder of the Sultanate of Bengal and its inaugural Ilyas Shahi dynasty. The Ilyas Shahi Dynasty ruled Bengal for 145 years (1342–1487), except for a 21-year interregnum by the descendants of Raja Ganesha. The Ilyas Shahi rulers are considered to be among the most important political, diplomatic and military leaders of Bengal during the sultanate period. In Bengali history, Ilyas Shah himself has been compared with Alexander the Great because of his ability to conquer large swathes of the Indian subcontinent.^[3] Ilyas Shah was instrumental in unifying the principalities of Bengal into a single state.^[4]

Born in Sistan, and a follower of Sunni Islam, Ilyas Shah rose through the ranks of the Delhi Sultanate.^[5] In the early 14th-century, the Delhi Sultanate divided Bengal into three provinces based in the towns of Satgaon in South Bengal, Sonargaon in East Bengal, and Lakhnauti in North Bengal. The purpose was to improve administration as Delhi's sway over Bengal weakened. Ilyas Shah was appointed Governor of Satgaon. In the middle of the 14th-century, the governors of the three city-states declared independence. The three city-states began warring against one another. Ilyas Shah eventually defeated the ruler of Lakhnauti, Alauddin Ali Shah, and the ruler of Sonargaon, Ikhtiyaruddin Ghazi Shah. He unified Bengal into an independent sultanate, establishing his capital in Pandua.

As Sultan, Ilyas Shah waged a war against the Delhi Sultanate to secure recognition of Bengal's independence. He raided cities across northern and eastern subcontinent, becoming the first Muslim ruler to invade the Kathmandu Valley. Under Ilyas Shah, the territory of the Bengal Sultanate expanded to include parts of north India, northeast India, Nepal and Orissa.