The Tigers of Bengal (A Divine Wind AAR)

[Robert Wyatt]

The Sultanate of Bengal
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The Founding of the Sultanate of Bengal and the Ilyas Shahi Dynasty

The Sultanate of Bengal was founded by Shamsuddin Ilyas Shah in 1352 after his conquest of the Bengali Kingdom of Sonargaon under Sultan Ikhtiyaruddin Ghazi Shah, annexing the territories and founding the newly born Sultanate. Despite an initially successful occupation by the Sultanate of Delhi under Sultan Firuz Shah Tughluq, Shamsuddin Ilyas Shah as able to repel his forces and eventually re-establish control over his new realm.

Early Years

Conflict and interference from the Sultanate of Delhi dominated the early political history of the Islamic Sultanate as Shamsuddin Ilyas Shah's son Sikandar Shah was a victim of Delhian aggression also. Bengal was soon invaded by Firuz Shah Tughluq who backed Zafar Khan Fars, the son-in-law of the deposed Sultan Fkhr-ud-Din Mubarak Shah the ex-ruler of Sonargaon, as rightful ruler of the Sultanate. Despite early successes, even forcing Sikandar Shah back to Ekdala where the two rulers were able to seal a peace treaty, confirming Sikander Shah as ruler of Bengal.

Sikandar had seventeen sons by his first wife and one by his second. The latter revolted against his father and occupied Satgaon and Sonargaon. Finally, in a battle near the capital, he defeated his father and killed him in 1390. He ascended to the throne as Ghiyas-ud-Din Azam Shah...

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AAR Information

This AAR is being played on a slightly modified version of Divine Wind, effectively invasions of enemy provinces doesn't conclude in the destruction of their buildings as I felt this was unrealistic and represents every nation as an unruly horde despite the fact most would happily utilise existing structures, albeit with possible modifications to suit their own culture etc. Other than that I have replaced Oman's flag with a darker version displaying the current coat of arms, simply as I prefer this.

I am playing with zero inflation, I am not claiming to be the greatest ever EU III player and prefer to not have to deal with inflation and solely concentrate on creating an AAR which is interesting to read rather than as a boast of my conquering talent, as such my goals do not extend to global domination but other motives that will become apparent as my posts continue.

With that in mind I hope you enjoy the following AAR, it is my first but hopefully it is gripping enough to capture your interest! Expect intermittent updates as I tend to make detailed notes of my games to write up later, so there may be gaps between posts but I will be updating semi-reguarly until I either complete the timeframe/ end at a suitable point in the "story" or am destroyed by the AI nations, whichever comes first!

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Contents

Sultan Azam Ilyas 1390-1404
1) Early Reign and Consolidation and the Hindu Question
2) The Bihari-Bengalese Crisis and the Pegu-Arakani Religious War

 

[Gerle]

I look forward to following this, love playing Indian nations!

 

[unmerged(157031)]

This ought to be interesting to read! Good luck with Bengal!

 

[Robert Wyatt]

Sultan Azam Ilyas

The Sultanate of Bengal, circa 1399

Sultan Ghiyasuddin Azam Ilyas was the third Sultan of the Bengalese Ilyas Shahi dynasty, reigning from 1390 until his death in 1404. The eighteenth son of Sikander Shah, Azam Ilyas ascended the throne after killing his father in a battle near the capital Howrah in 1390. Following his act of patricide Azam Ilyas began to strengthen his position as Sultan of Bengal, as the only son of Sikander Shah's second wife he maintained that he held the right to rule the Sultanate alone and above all others, disinheriting his seventeen half-brothers and imprisoning those who would not submit to his rule.

Early Reign and Consolidation

Azim Ilyas was keen to avoid outside interference in his Sultanate's affairs, especially with so many half-brothers who could be placed on the throne as puppets for Bengal's more influential neighbours. Azam Ilyas' father and grand-father both suffered at the hands of the Sultan's of Delhi, although they had both managed to repel the North Indian Sultanates advances and retain their independence, Azam Ilyas was keen to avoid similar conflicts with his more powerful Islamic Brothers, making moves to improve relations with the Delhi Sultanate with a series of tributes. From early in his reign it was clear that a policy of strengthening ties with Delhi would be undertaken and for much of his reign Azam Ilyas went to great efforts to creates bonds with the Sultanate, keen to avoid any more interference in his legitimacy or authority.

Ultimately, however, it was through a stroke of luck, on Bengal's part, that Azam Ilays was able to move towards more acceptable relations with the Delhian's. In 1398 Sultan Nasir-u Din Mehmud was forced to avert his attentions away from Bengal to their western provinces as Timur invaded the Islamic state. The eventual devastation, including the sacking of Delhi itself, underlined a period of decline which forced the Delhi Sultan's to concentrate on their own affairs rather than interfering in Bengal's. AS a result, Azam Ilyas found himself in a position to pursue a more positive relationship with Nasir-u Din.

As his half-brothers began to die, some in the service of Azam Ilyas and others in prison, the Sultan was in a far more stable position and with his crown no longer under any immediate threat he found himself in the enviable position of being able to make bolder decisions domestically and internationally.

The Hindu Question

Despite his own personal beliefs, Azam Ilyas was a Islamic Sultan who ruled over largely Hindu populace and this placed him in an awkward position. Despite an eagerness to include Islamic doctrine in his own policies he found himself unable to go too far through fear of upsetting his own people and perhaps more importantly his neighbours. Whilst the most powerful of the Indian Sultanates in Delhi was not far from Bengal's borders its immediate neighbours were either Hindu or Buddhist states, the rich trading state of Bihar was perhaps the most immediate threat as Godwanda and Orissa were more concerned with affairs in India whilst Assam to the east was more concerned with Taungu and Manipur was not in a position to threaten the Bengalese Sultanate.

This presented perhaps the great issue Azam Ilyas faced, he was isolated in western India and his position was a dangerous one should any of his neighbours decide to liberate the Hindu's under his rule. His initial policy was one of diplomacy, sealing an alliance with Arakan in 1399 whilst improving relations with his Islamic brothers in the west, notably Sind and Gujarat. This helped solidify his position abroad, however, it did not answer the question of how to deal with the large percentage of Hindu's in Bengal itself.

The religious divisions of the governments of the Indian subcontinent circa 1399. Green : Sunni Islam, Light Blue : Hindu, Purple : Buddhism

The arrival of a young Islamic convert from Bihar was to provide an answer for the Bengalese government. Ahmad Saklani originally arrived at court after he was persecuted by the Hindu authorities in Bihar and fast became a popular favourite at court. After eventually rising to a position of prominence on Azam Ilyas' council, Saklani began to push for more radical action against the Hindu populace and, playing on the Sultan's piety, he was able to intially persuade Azam Ilyas to remove all Hindu's from his court and surround himself with a purely Muslim council to eradicate any Hindu influence. This act was to pave the way towards an anti-Hindu mindset that would remain in the government throughout Saklani's lifetime.

Shortly after Saklani's rise to power in 1399, Azam Ilyas was forced to declare war in the defence of his allies Arakan after the Buddhist realm of Pegu under Razadarit Toungoo declared war and perhaps more worryingly he found himself at war with Bihar who were horrified at the Sultan's anti-Hindu policies, providing the latter with a cause for war. Within a month Bengal became embroiled in the 1st Bihari-Bengalese Religious War and a conflict with Pegu, Lan Xang and Sukhotai in defence of her Islamic allies in Arakan.

Bengal was not the only state to become embroiled in the vicious bout of religious conflicts which would define the subcontinent, the Sultanate of Deccan found itself at war with Godwanda, Rajputana, Bihar, Orissa, Mysore, Travancore and Vijaynagara during the early 15th century and both Sind and Gujarat engaged in conflict with Rajputana. India descended into anarchy as Hindu-Islamic conflict erupted from north to south and east to west. This lead to the eventual total collapse of the Sultanate of Deccan in central India and the loss of the key trading region of Kutch to the Hindu's.

 

[jii]

Lovely! I like the textbook style.

 

[Robert Wyatt]

jii, thank you I like to write stories as if they actually happened, so expect a short history textbook style AAR!

On another note, following New Years I will be now writing up the rest of the first part of the AAR and posting it so expect more updates in the next few days!

 

[Robert Wyatt]

Sultan Azam Ilyas

The Bihari-Bengalese Crisis

The belligerents of the Bihari-Bengalese Religious War, Green : Bengal, Red : Bihar

Following the honouring of the Bengal-Arakani Alliance Azam Ilyas found himself unprepared for Bihar's declaration of war on the 14th November 1399 and in a precarious position militarily. With the crisis in Arakan mounting and eventually worsening with their annexation the Sultan was forced to prioritise the defence of his capital against the stronger power from the north and allow Pegu to march her troops into Chittagong for the time being.

The rise of Sher Shar Roy a year earlier had increased discipline amongst the Bengalese army which prepared to clash with Mubarak Shah Sharqi as Azam Ilyas hoped to take his Bihari counterpart by surprise by marching into Bihar itself, clashing at the Battle of Bihar on the 11th December 1399. Azam Ilyas' gamble had failed, suffering defeat at the hands of Mubarak Shah Sharqi himself in a minor battle decided by the arrival of 2 fresh divisions of troops from Allhabad in the Bihari's favour. Despite this setback Azam Ilyas was able to escape unscathed and marched back to Howrah to prepare to defend the capital from the pursuing forces of Shah Sharqi, who had decided to press home his advantage following the Battle of Bihar.

It was, however, in the face of defeat that Azam Ilyas was able to display his military prowess. In the fields outside of Howrah he prepared to face Shah Sharqi at the Battle of Howrah on 26th February 1400. Despite being previously outnumbered by two to one in Bihar, Azam Ilyas had managed to raise three new regiments in the face of potential invasion with the war tax levied on the citizens in Bangala, Jharkhand and Pandua. Their arrival presented equal odds for the Bengalese Sultan, much to the surprise of Shah Sharqi who had hoped that superior numbers would help end the war quickly. After delivering an inspiring speech, Azam Ilyas went on the offensive and utilised his troops fear of invasion to push a hole through the centre of Shah Sharqi's battle line, isolating his left flank who were massacred whilst his right flank turned and routed in the face of overwhelming odds. The casualties numbered around 650 for the Bengalese, far lower than their foes which numbered over 2000 an over a third of their 5000 strong army that had entered Bangala. The crushing blow dealt to Shah Sharqi's army effectively ended the war as Azam Ilyas chased his foe back to Bihar and captured the city on the 28th April 1400, forcing him to concede defeat embarrassingly in his own palace.

The swift end to the religious conflict had not been expected by either side, Azam Ilyas himself had remarked that he "expected to be bogged down at our borders for several months before any break through" whilst surviving records in Bihar reveal that Shah Sharqi had made provisions for a protracted conflict, preparing funds to release in the need of reinforcements for the eventual invasion of Bengal. The conclusion of the war resulted in Bihar's embarrassment on the diplomatic stage and a permanent endearing hatred of the Bihari's in Bengal that would fuel foreign policy in later years as the people of Jharkhand, Bangala, Pandua and Koch especially developed an anti-Bihari stance as they feared a similar invasion would be forthcoming in retribution. Azam Ilyas, however, was able to switch his attentions away from the area surrounding the capital and move to the east of his Sultanate to repel the forces of Pegu, marking a huge turning point in the Pegu-Arakani Religious War.

The Pegu-Arakani Religious War

The belligerents of the Pegu-Arakani Religious War, Green : Arakan, Bengal and Malacca, Red : Pegu, Lan Xang and Sukhotai

The conclusion of the Bengal-Arakani Alliance Pact in mid-1399 had been intended to secure a long term future for the two West Indian Islamic states in the face of the religious divide they both found themselves in but inevitably it was this position that led to the Pegu-Arakani Religious War. Shortly following the conclusion of an alliance pact between the two Sultanates Pegu declared war on the smaller Arakani state, Razadarit Toungoo of Pegu's aggressive policies included the total annexation of Arakan and within months of the conflict he succeeded in his goal after a short spell of violence in the region. Despite the removal of Arakan as an independent state on the 31st December 1399 Azam Ilyas was determined to continue the conflict, despite his involvement in the Bihar-Bengalese crisis.

The defeat of Shah Sharqi in early 1400, however, allowed Azam Ilyas to dedicate his efforts on avenging Arakan and removing the forces of Razadarit Toungoo from Chittagong and latterly Pandua. An alliance with Malacca that was sealed during the Bihari-Bengalese Religious War proved useful as forces under Sultan Sam Agi Srivijaya arrived in Pegu itself after devastating the regions of Moulmein and Tenasserim. After chasing Razadarit Toungoo across Bengal, Azam Ilyas managed to force him towards Arakan following minor conflicts in Vanga, Koch, Chittagong and Pandua. As Toungoo marched back to Arakan he received news that Malacca had taken Arakan after lifting the siege of Pegu, however Lan Xang's Samu Sena Daya Khun have begun to ravage Malacca's homeland which left the conflict on a dangerous knife edge.

The loss of Arakan, however, was a crushing blow for Toungoo whose forces dispersed as he evaded Malaccan and Bengalese troops in Arakan for the duration of the war. Without a leader or an army to defend the realm Pegu itself fell to Azam and the Malaccans on 14th May 1401 and the Benglese Sultan was able to force a white peace on Pegu ending the war completely before Daya Khun was able to inflict any more lasting damage on Malacca itself. The conclusion of the war was simply a return to the status quo of 1399 with the exception of Arakan's annexation, which was unable to be reversed. Azam Ilyas was determined to force this through, however the impending collapse of his allies forced him to accept lesser terms and he found himself with no allies on his borders. This total isolation was to shape Bengalese foreign policy in the coming decades as Azam Ilyas and his descendants determined that expansion in the face of isolation was the key to the survival of an Islamic Sultanate in the east.