Samudratanaya Gaur Govinda - Hindu Monarch of Sylhet who defeated Turkic Invaders 3 times

Hindu Resistance of Ishan-Vanga Srihatta - Samudratanaya Maharaja Gaur Govinda -  the Hindu Monarch of Srihatta of defeated Turkic Invaders 3 times 

Samudratanaya Maharaja Sri Gour Gobinda

Srihattadhishweravyah Samudratanaya Maharaja Gauda Govinda (শ্রীহট্টাধীশ্বেরভ্য: সমুদ্রতনয় মহারাজ গৌড় গোবিন্দ/श्रीहट्टाधीश्वरव्य: समुद्रतनय महाराज गौड़ गोविंद) was the 21st Monarch of medieval Srihatta janapada's Gour Kingdom in the Ishana-Vanga. He is described as a very conservative Hindu ruler whose reign started in 1260. He is honoured for his tremendous military power and for defeating the Turk invaders of Lakhnauty three times. 

In early thirteen century, Sribhumi was ruled by Maharaja Jayananda. His three sons Srinanda, Upananda and Govardhan became embroiled in a quarrel. This conflict gradually took the shape of a civil war. After defeating Upananda, Maharaja Gaur Govardhan became the ruler of Brahmachal. He ruled Srihatta as a feudal lord of the central Sena dynasty ruler of Bengal, Gaudeshwar Suryasena. In 1278 when Gaudeshwar Madhusudan Sena invaded & conquered Magadha, Govardhan was appointed as the feudal lord of Magadh. 

Map of the Kingdom of Srihatta /Sylhet

In such situation, the Deva dynasty Monarch of Suvarnagram, Ariraj Danujmadhav Dasharath Dev aka Rai Danuj advanced an invasion towards Bikrampur. It was the most tragedic moment in medieval Indian history while two major relative Hindu dynasties of Bengal having civil war among themselves while invading Turkic sword hanging over throats of both. The Devas had a fierce battle with the Senas and after defeating Senas, Danuj Ray captured Bikrampur and this is where the Sena dynasty came to an end. In 1297, the Tripura king was at war with Mughisuddin Tughril II, the governor of the Delhi Sultanate at Noakhali in the south-eastern region of Bengal.

Raja Govardhan died within a few days in an internal tribal revolt. Meanwhile Jaydev Ray, the feudal lord of Tripura invaded Srihatta and occupied the Brahmachal region. At this time Govardhan's nephew Maharaja Gaur Govinda ascended the throne of Srihatta & crowned as the "Samudra Tanaya Srihatta Nripati". He appointed Achaknarayan as the feudal lord of Tunganchal. Manoranjan Ray was appointed as the Prime Minister and Chakrapani Dutta as the Commander-in-Chief. He made an alliance with Raja Vijaya Manikya, the king of Tripura.

The Fort of Maharaja Gaur Govinda in Sylhet, BD 

Maharaja Gour Govinda dramatically restored Gour's reputation as a regional superpower by constructing forts all over his kingdom, guarding his kingdom with large stones (shil; from which the name Shilhot/Sylhet is theorised to have come from) and establishing a number of military training camps. He built a seven-storey stone brick tower in Penchagor which he called Gorduar, which would serve as the new capital. Maharaja Gaur Govinda is credited to introducing grand archery in the History of Bengal.

 

To express his might, he tied the Khasi king to ropes, bringing him to Gour. The Khasi paid a ransom to Gour to free their king. Using Puni beel as his battlefield against states like Laur and Jaintia, Govinda "drowned his challengers" to such an extent that Gour was described to be "free of enemies" during his reign. By making peace with Ratan Manikya of Tripura and gifting him an elephant, he was able to retrieve Brahmachal and Tungachal back to Gour administration. He appointed his brother-in-law, Achak Narayan, to govern Tungachal.

At this time the Hindu ruler of Sylhet, Maharaja Gaur Govinda established such Hindu extremist rule on the kingdom of Srihatta. Govinda encouraged celebrations such as Vishnu-Sankranti, Shiva-Chaturdashi, Mahastami, Janmashtami and Utthana-Ekadashi, in addition to holding a 45-day celebration in spring.

The Dharmabedi of Maharaja Gaur Govinda where he used to perform the Varshika Narabali of Mlecchas

It so happened that a Muslim by the name of Burhanuddin who lived in Sylhet sacrificed a cow on the occasion of the birth of his son and the beef was picked up by a kite and dropped in the compound of the temple of the Hindu King. The Hindu Ruler got infuriated and out of hatred and malice and revenge got the son of Burhannuddin killed and cut off his right hand. Burhanuddin came to Gour and pleaded to Sultan Shamsuddin Feroz Shah, telling the Ruler about the cruelty and inhuman treatment that he had met at the hands of King Gour Govinda.

● 𝟏𝐬𝐭 𝐒𝐫𝐢𝐡𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐚-𝐋𝐚𝐤𝐡𝐧𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐲 𝐖𝐚𝐫 :

As Govinda's minister, Manoranjan Ray, was based near the port, Ray decided to stop river transport and ferries making it difficult for the opponents as the only other option was through the hills. When word of this reached Sultan Shamsuddin Firoz Shah, the commanded his nephew Sikandar Khan Ghazi to lead an army against the Raja. Sikandar marched with his soldiers towards the low-lying hills of Sylhet via Mymensingh. 

Raja Govinda appointed Chakrapani Dutta as his Commander-in-Chief. The army was confronted by Govinda's skilful archery. Govinda's army was noted as Bengal's first army which practised the skillful art of archery. The Turkic army, inexperienced in the foreign terrain which consisted of many low-lying hills and valleys, were brought to utter shame by Govinda's Srihatti Banghali archers and had no option but to retreat back to Lakhnauty  to avoid casualties.

● 𝟐𝐧𝐝 𝐒𝐫𝐢𝐡𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐚-𝐋𝐚𝐤𝐡𝐧𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐲 𝐖𝐚𝐫 :

The Sultan was not happy at all with his defeat of the first battle and decided that the army should train and prepare before readying themselves for another battle with such a powerful warrior like Maharaja Gaur Govinda. In the second expedition, Sikandar took the same recognised route through Mymensingh. As the army marched through the hills, a storm took place. Due to heavy rainfall and flooding, nearly half of the army died by the time Sikandar reached Govinda.

Accordingly to the Gulzar-i-Abrar (گھساؤ اور کھولو), a Muslim account of the war, Govinda's massive war boats looked as if they were floating forts on the water. They were defeated once again and Sikandar retreated back to Lakhnauty for a second time, humiliated by what had occurred. 

● 𝟑𝐫𝐝 𝐒𝐫𝐢𝐡𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐚-𝐋𝐚𝐤𝐡𝐧𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐲 𝐖𝐚𝐫 :

Firoz Shah then turned to his Sipahsalar Syed Nasiruddin as he realised that this undertaking was much bigger than he anticipated and he would need a larger and more skilled army. The two armies decided to attack together but it ended in failure due to Maharaja Govinda's superior military strategy. 

Maharaja Gaur Govinda's family rejoiced over the three consecutive victories and his aunt Apurna, the queen-mother and wife of the previous Raja Govardhan, celebrated by building a large 20-acre water tank in Ambarkhana known as Rajar Maa'r Dighi.

Rajar Maa'r Dighi - the lake constructed by Raja Gaur Govinda as the valour sign of his 3rd victory over the invading Turks 

● 𝟒𝐭𝐡 𝐒𝐫𝐢𝐡𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐚-𝐋𝐚𝐤𝐡𝐧𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐲 𝐖𝐚𝐫 :

Nasiruddin then returned to Lakhnauty where he heard of the arrival of the famous saint Shah Jalal, as well as his companions who at this point numbered around 360. Shah Jalal was famed for his strong physique and tall stature, and the army decided to spend a night in his company. A much larger army was made, and this new and improved army travelled to Sylhet via Cumilla and Habiganj. The army was then guided through Sylhet once again by Ghazi Burhanuddin, ultimately arriving at the banks of the Barak River. They set their camp on top of a small hillock, northwest of the Kangsa-Nisudhana temple. From here the third battle was fought between Gour Govinda and the combined armies of Shah Jalal and Syed Nasiruddin, with the latter forces ultimately claiming victory. 

Raja'r Guha -  The Cave of Raja Gaur Govinda

Shah Jalal called out the adhan as the time for salah approached and the army were able to destroy Govinda's 7-storey Gorduar palace. After hearing that his commander Manoranjan Ray was killed, Govinda was forced to retreat and Srihatta was brought under Turkic control. According to tradition, another disciple of Shah Jalal, Shah Chashni Pir at this point compared the soil in Srihatta with that which was previously given by Ahmad Kabir, finding them to be identical. In any case, following the battle, Shah Jalal along with his followers permanently settled in Sylhet.

● Sources :

1) Mondal, Sushila (1970). History of Bengal: The middle age, 1200-1526. Prakash Mandir. p. 124.

2) Khan, M. A. (2009). Islamic Jihad: A Legacy of Forced Conversion, Imperialism, and Slavery. p. 126. ISBN 978-1-4401-1846-3.

3) E M Lewis (1868). "Sylhet District". Principal Heads of the History and Statistics of the Dacca Division. Calcutta: Calcutta Central Press Company. p. 290.

4) About the name Srihatta". Srihatta.com.bd. Retrieved 7 April 2019.

5) EB, Suharwardy Yemani Sylheti, Shaikhul Mashaikh Hazrat Makhdum Ghazi Shaikh Jalaluddin Mujjarad, in Hanif, N. "Biographical Encyclopaedia of Sufis: Central Asia and Middle East. Vol. 2". Sarup & Sons, 2002. p.459

6) Stewart, Charles (1813). The History of Bengal. London.