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Pratapgarh Kingdom

Medieval kingdom in the north-east of the Indian subcontinent

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Centred around the hilly, forested region which forms the modern border between eastern Bangladesh and India, the lands which later formed Pratapgarh were initially under the control of the rulers of Tripura and were principally inhabited by Hindu tribes. It is believed that during the latter years of the 15th century AD, the area was seceded by Malik Pratap, a landowner of mixed native and Persian ancestry, who established the kingdom and from whom it may have received its name. Under the rule of his grandson, Sultan Bazid, the influence of Pratapgarh reached its zenith, developing into a significant cultural centre. It also became a notable military power, defeating the stronger kingdom of Kachar as well as engaging against the dominance of Bengal. It was during this time that the state enjoyed its territorial peak, having briefly captured Sylhet from the latter.

Pratapgarh was eventually captured and dissolved by Kachar during the early 18th century, with its ruling family later only governing as Zamindars under the British. However, the kingdom's legacy continued to have a notable impact in the region, with its name being borne by subsequent administrative divisions in the area and its history and legends surviving as oral traditions among the local population.

Origins

Early history

The heartland of the later Pratapgarh Kingdom, on the present border of southern Sylhet and the Indian state of Tripura, has undergone several name changes in its history. Originally called Sonai Kachanpur, the area was renamed Chatachura after the wandering Magadhan prince Chatra Singh, who received the land as a gift from the Maharaja of Tripura c. 1260 AD, about two hundred years prior to Pratapgarh's foundation. Singh's new principality was hilly country, having been located on the south-eastern corner of the Adal-ail and Du-ail ranges. Incorporating dense, tiger-inhabited forests, his territory stretched from Karimganj up to parts of the Lushai Hills and had its capital in Kanakpur, named after his son Kanak Singh. The latter's own son, Pratap Singh, later founded a new town which he named Pratapgarh after himself. It has been suggested that the Pratapgarh Kingdom, established centuries later, received its name from Pratap Singh and this settlement. Alternatively, the name may have come from the first ruler of the state, the Muslim Malik Pratap.

Pratap Singh appears to have maintained marital relations with contemporary neighbouring kingdoms: his father had previously married a princess of Tripura while his sister Shantipriya married Garuda of Gour, a cousin to Gour Govinda, the last king of Sylhet. The latter couple received a portion of Singh's kingdom as a dowry, which later became known as Chapghat. Singh's own family may not have left heirs however, as by the 15th century AD, his royal palace was in the hands of Muslim lords.

Founding of the ruling dynasty

The earliest recorded member of the royal family of Pratapgarh was a Persian noble, Mirza Malik Muhammad Turani, who lived at the close of the 14th century AD. Turani, as a result of family feuds in his native Iran, migrated to the Indian subcontinent with a large force, first going to Delhi before settling in present-day Karimganj district. Although by this point nearby Sylhet had long since been conquered for Islam by the warrior-saint Shah Jalal, the area to which Turani arrived was in the dominion of the Maharaja of Tripura, still under the control of Hindu tribes.

According to local legend, Turani, after settling into the area, came upon a beautiful woman bathing in a river and immediately fell in love with her. After discovering that the woman, named Umavati, was of noble birth, he went to her father, the local Khasi governor Pura Raja, to ask for her hand in marriage. Reluctant to marry his daughter to a Muslim, Pura Raja rejected the proposal. Turani, humiliated, led his forces in an attack on Pura Raja's fort and captured it, forcing the governor to acquiesce to the marriage. Further to this, as he had no sons, Pura Raja also agreed to name Turani his successor.

According to the researcher Habib Ahmed Duttchowdhury, Turani is identical to the Timurid prince Muhammad Sultan Mirza, grandson of the Central Asian conqueror Timur. He states that the capture of Pura Raja's lands had been during a sojourn in Bengal in the midst of Timur's Indian campaign of 1398, after which Muhammad Sultan with Umavati (converted to Islam under the name Daulat Sultan) returned to Central Asia. Duttchowdhury continues that following Muhammad Sultan's death in 1403, Umavati alias Daulat Sultan went back to her homeland with their young son and took up its rule upon Pura Raja's death.

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