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{{Short description|Sultan of Bengal from 1459 to 1474}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2024}}
{{Use Indian English|date=June 2024}}
{{Infobox royalty
|name = Ruknuddin Barbak Shah
|title = as-Sulṭān al-ʿĀdil Rukn ad-Dunyā wa ad-Dīn Abū al-Mujāhid Bārbak Shāh<ref>The Philological Secretary, ''Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, Volume 43'' (1874), p.295</ref><ref name=dani/>
|image =
|caption =
|succession = 10th [[Sultan of Bengal]]
|reign = 1459–1474
|coronation = 1459
|predecessor = [[Mahmud Shah of Bengal|Nasiruddin Mahmud Shah]]
|successor = [[Shamsuddin Yusuf Shah]]
|regent =
|spouses=
|issue = [[Shamsuddin Yusuf Shah|Yusuf]]
|house = [[Ilyas Shahi dynasty|Ilyas Shahi]]
|father = [[Mahmud Shah of Bengal|Nasiruddin Mahmud Shah]]
|mother =
|birth_name = Bārbak bin Maḥmūd
|birth_date =
|birth_place = [[Satgaon]], [[Bengal Sultanate]]
|death_date = 1474
|death_place = [[Lakhnauti|Gaur]], [[Bengal Sultanate]]
|burial_date = 1474
|burial_place = [[Lakhnauti|Gaur]], [[Bengal Sultanate]]
|religion = [[Sunni Islam]]
}}
'''Ruknuddīn Bārbak Shāh''' ({{langx|bn|রোকনউদ্দীন বারবক শাহ}}, {{langx|fa|{{Nastaliq|رکن الدین باربک شاه}}}}; {{reign}} 1459–1474) was the son and successor of Sultan [[Mahmud Shah (Sultan of Bengal)|Nasiruddin Mahmud Shah]]. Initially appointed as the governor of [[Satgaon]] during the reign of his father, Barbak ascended the throne of the [[Bengal Sultanate]] in 1459. He was the first ruler to give prominent roles in the Sultanate's administration to the [[Habshi|Abyssinian]] community.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Jairath |first=Vinod K. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5sffCgAAQBAJ |title=Frontiers of Embedded Muslim Communities in India |date=2013-04-03 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-136-19680-5 |pages=68 |language=en}}</ref> Historian [[Aniruddha Ray]] credits Barbak Shah as the pioneer of urbanisation in [[Bengal]].<ref>{{cite Banglapedia|article=Gaur, City|author=[[Aniruddha Ray|Ray, Aniruddha]]}}</ref>

==Early life and ascension==
Barbak was born into an aristocratic [[Bengali Muslim]] [[Sunni]] family known as the [[Ilyas Shahi dynasty]] that had founded the [[Bengal Sultanate]] in 1352 CE. Despite his family's long presence in the region, Barbak's ancestors were of [[Sistan]]i origin, hailing from what is now eastern [[Iran]] and southern [[Afghanistan]]. His father, Sultan [[Mahmud Shah of Bengal|Nasiruddin Mahmud Shah]], ruled Bengal for over twenty years.

During his father's reign, Barbak served as the governor of [[Satgaon]] (Arsah Sajla Mankhbad).<ref name=sarkar>{{cite book |editor-last=Sarkar |editor-first=Jadunath |editor-link=Jadunath Sarkar |year=1973 |orig-year=First published 1948 |title=The History of Bengal |volume=II: Muslim Period, 1200-1757|chapter=VI: Later Ilyās Shahis and the Abyssinian Regime|location=Patna |publisher=Academica Asiatica |oclc=924890|chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.24396/page/n153/mode/2up}}</ref> During his governorship in 1455, [[Ulugh Ajmal Khan]] erected a inscription at [[Zafar Khan Ghazi Mosque and Dargah|Zafar Khan Ghazi Mosque]] in [[Tribeni, Hooghly|Tribeni]].<ref name=dani>{{cite book|chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.126929/page/n29|title=Asiatic Society Of Pakistan Vol-ii|author=Ahmad Hasan Dani|author-link=Ahmad Hasan Dani|chapter=Analysis of the Inscriptions|year=1957 |pages=21–28}}</ref> Barbak inherited the throne of the country in 1459 CE, after his father's death.<ref>{{cite book|last=Salim|first=Gulam Hussain|author2=tr. from Persian |author3=Abdus Salam |title=Riyazu-s-Salatin: History of Bengal|url=https://archive.org/details/riyazussalatinhi00saliuoft/page/120/mode/2up|year=1902|publisher=Asiatic Society, Baptist Mission Press|pages=119}}</ref>

==Reign==
[[File:মজিদবাড়িয়া শাহী মসজিদ, সম্মুখ দৃশ্য.jpg|thumb|The [[Majidbaria Shahi Mosque]], built during Barbak Shah's reign, is the first mosque and brick building in the [[Barisal Division|Bakla]] (Barisal) region.]]{{Bengal Sultanate}}
In 1459, Barbak upgraded Mahisantosh into a [[Mint (facility)|mint]] town known as Barbakabad. This acquisition helped his kingdom extended to the [[Buriganga]] river in north. In 1474, he re-established his authority in [[Chittagong]].<ref name=bpedia/> The extent of Barbak Shah's kingdom can be discovered through various inscriptions commemorating the construction of [[jame mosque]]s and royal gates across [[Malda division|Malda]], [[Rajshahi Division|Rajshahi]], [[Rangpur Division|Rangpur]], [[Chittagong Division|Chittagong]], [[Dhaka Division|Dhaka]], [[Sylhet Division|Sylhet]], [[Mymensingh Division|Mymensingh]] and for the first time, [[Barisal Division|Barisal]].<ref name=dani/>

Barbak Shah was a patron of [[Bengali literature|Bengali]] and [[Persian literature]]. During his time [[Zainuddin (poet)|Zainuddin]] wrote his ''Rasul Bijay'' and Ibrahim Qawwam Faruqi composed a Persian lexicon ''Farhang-i-Ibrahim'' (known as ''Sharafnamah''). Raimukuta Brhaspati Mishra, [[Maladhar Basu]], [[Krittibas Ojha]] and Kuladhar were the most noted Hindu scholars that time.<ref name=bpedia>{{cite book |last=Ahmed |first=ABM Shamsuddin |year=2012 |chapter=Ruknuddin Barbak Shah |chapter-url=http://en.banglapedia.org/index.php?title=Ruknuddin_Barbak_Shah |editor1-last=Islam |editor1-first=Sirajul |editor1-link=Sirajul Islam |editor2-last=Jamal |editor2-first=Ahmed A. |title=Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh |edition=Second |publisher=[[Asiatic Society of Bangladesh]]}}</ref>

===Warfare===
{{Main|Conquest of Mandaran}}
Barbak was the first ruler in Bengal to recruit large numbers of [[Siddi|Habshis]] (Abyssinians) to the administration of the royal palace and army, which would eventually lead to a Habshi usurp permanently ending the [[Ilyas Shahi dynasty]] several years after Barbak's death.<ref>{{cite Banglapedia|article=History|author=Ahmed, ABM Shamsuddin}}</ref><ref>{{cite Banglapedia|article=Islam, Bengal|author=[[Abdul Karim (historian)|Abdul Karim]]}}</ref> According to the 17th-century work ''Risalat ash-Shuhada'', Raja [[Kapilendra Deva]] (r. 1434–1467) of the [[Gajapati Kingdom]] (present-day [[Orissa]]) invaded southern Bengal during the early years of Sultan Barbak's reign and managed to capture the fort of [[Mandaran]]. Barbak sent his military general, the Muslim missionary [[Shah Ismail Ghazi]], who defeated the Gajapati army and recovered Fort Mandaran.<ref name=sarkar/>

The Sultanate's next expedition was against Kameshwar of [[Kamrup region|Kamarupa]] who had gained control of eastern Dinajpur. Barbak's army, again led by general Ismail Ghazi, suffered a heavy defeat in [[Dhamoirhat Upazila|Mahisantosh]], although Kameshwar was impressed by the general's spiritual characteristics and [[Conversion to Islam|embraced Islam]]. In January 1474 CE however, Barbak executed Ismail Ghazi after a malicious instigation led by Bhandsi Rai, who commanded the Sultanate's [[Ghoraghat Upazila|Ghoraghat]] frontier. Rai had accused Ghazi of attempting to establish a separate independent kingdom with Kameshwar in the regained territory.<ref name=bpedia/><ref name=sarkar/>

Barbak Shah was also known to have invaded [[Mithila (ancient)|Mithila]] (present-day [[Janakpur]]) and conquered the region. He appointed Kedar Rai as the governor of that region. He also invaded [[Hajiganj Fort]] and surroundings at [[Tirhut]] in 1468.{{fact|date=June 2024}}

==Death==
Rukunuddin Barbak Shah died in 1474 after ruling [[Bengal]] for 15 years.

{{S-start}}
{{S-hou|[[Ilyas Shahi dynasty|Ilyas Shahi]]}}
{{S-bef|before=[[Mahmud Shah (Sultan of Bengal)|Mahmud Shah I]]}}
{{S-ttl|title=[[Sultanate of Bengal|Sultan of Bengal]]|years=1459–1474}}
{{S-aft|after=[[Shamsuddin Yusuf Shah|Yusuf Shah]]}}
{{end}}

==See also==
* [[List of rulers of Bengal]]
* [[History of Bengal]]
* [[History of India]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Ilyas}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rukunuddin Barbak Shah}}
[[Category:1474 deaths]]
[[Category:Year of birth unknown]]
[[Category:15th-century Indian monarchs]]
[[Category:Ilyas Shahi dynasty]]
[[Category:Sunni monarchs]]
[[Category:15th-century Bengali people]]
[[Category:15th-century Indian Muslims]]

Ruknuddin Barbak Shah - Revision history

JeffreyChallis6: Added Entry