Sultanate of Bengal
| Sultanate of Bengal | ||||||||||||||||||
| বাংলা সালতানাত | ||||||||||||||||||
| Sultanate | ||||||||||||||||||
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 The Bengal Sultanate at its peak
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| Capital |
Gaur Pandua Sonargaon |
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| Languages |
Bengali (spoken) Persian (court and diplomatic language) Arabic (liturgical) |
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| Religion | Sunni Islam (official), Hinduism, Buddhism | |||||||||||||||||
| Government | Absolute monarchy, unitary state with federal structure | |||||||||||||||||
| Sultan | ||||||||||||||||||
| • | 1342–1358 | Shamsuddin Ilyas Shah (first) | ||||||||||||||||
| • | 1572–1576 | Daud Khan Karrani (last) | ||||||||||||||||
| Historical era | Late medieval | |||||||||||||||||
| • | Independence declared from Delhi | 1352 | ||||||||||||||||
| • | Battle of Raj Mahal | 1576 | ||||||||||||||||
| Currency | taka | |||||||||||||||||
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| Today part of |
 Bangladesh India Myanmar Nepal
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The Bengal Sultanate, officially the Sultanate of Bengal, was a Muslim state and empire based in the Indian subcontinent on the coast of the Bay of Bengal. It was an important power in South and Southeast Asia. Its rulers carried the title of King of Kings in the East. The kingdom's heartland was in Bengal, which is today divided between Bangladesh and the Indian state of West Bengal, but its realm included large parts of North India and western Myanmar. Its bordering countries included the Delhi Sultanate, Tibet, Ahom and Burmese states.
The Bengal Sultanate seceded from the Delhi Sultanate under Shamsuddin Ilyas Shah in 1352 and had capitals in Gaur, Pandua and Sonargaon. Delhi recognised Bengal's independence after it was defeated by Ilyas Shah and his son, Sikandar Shah. The kingdom enjoyed a strategic relationship with Ming China. It reached the height of its power during the reigns of Jalaluddin Muhammad Shah and Alauddin Hussain Shah in the 15th and early 16th centuries, when it controlled most of the eastern subcontinent. Trade links were fostered with the Horn of Africa, the Maldives and Malacca. Its political economy featured the Taka as its standard currency. Bengali Muslim architecture flourished under the sultanate's distinct regional genre, incorporating Bengali and Persian elements. A cosmopolitan literary culture developed in the kingdom.
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