Raja Ganesha

Raja Ganesha (1415) was a ruler of Bengal for a very short period, who overthrew the Ilyas dynasty rule from Bengal. The Indo-Persian historians of the medieval period considered him as an infidel usurper. The dynasty founded by him ruled over Bengal from 1415-1435 [Majumdar, R.C. (ed.) (2006). "The Delhi Sultanate", Mumbai: Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, p.827] .

Raja Ganesha ("Kans" or "Kansi", according to the Indo-Persian historians) was a landlord of Bhaturia or Dinajpur in the northern Bengal. Later, he became an officer of the Ilyas Shahi dynasty rulers in Pandua. According to a very late authority, the "Riaz-us-Salatin" (a chronicle written in 1788), he killed Sultan Ghiyasuddin Azam Shah, but the earlier authotities like Firishta and Nizam-ud-Din do not refer to any such event and probably he died a natural death [Majumdar, R.C. (ed.) (2006). "The Delhi Sultanate", Mumbai: Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, p.204] . Firishta says that he became very powerful during the rule of Shihabuddin Bayazid Shah. While the earlier authotities like Firishta and Nizam-ud-Din say that Ganesha ascended to the throne after the death of Shihab-ud-Din, the "Riaz" says that he killed Shihab-ud-Din and seized the throne. Soon after he took over the power in Pandua, according to the "Riyaz", he oppressed the Muslims of Bengal and slew a number of them. Thereupon, a Muslim saint Nur Qutb-ul-Alam wrote a letter to the Jaunpur Sultan Ibrahim Shah Sharqi with an appeal to invade Bengal. When Ibrahim Shah reached Bengal with his army, Ganesha asked saint Nur Qutb-ul-Alam for his forgiveness and protetion. The saint agreed and Jadu, the twelve year old son of Ganesha was converted to Islam by him and re-named Jala-ud-Din. He was placed on the throne under the title Jalaluddin Muhammad Shah. Sultan Ibrahim returned back to Jaunpur. Ganesha ascended the throne immediately after the return of Ibrahim Shah for the second time. But this time, he was killed by some servants of his son, who re-occupied the throne after his death. According to a modern scholar, N.K. Bhattshali, "Danjuamardana Deva" who issued coins in Saka era 1339-40 from Suvarnagram, Panduanagar and Chatigram is a title of Raja Ganesha but his view is not accepted by all [Majumdar, R.C. (ed.) (2006). "The Delhi Sultanate", Mumbai: Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, pp.205-8] .

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