Ali Mech
{{Short description|Tribal chief in 13th century}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Ali Mech
| native_name =
| native_name_lang = hi
| occupation = Tribal chief
| known_for = Tibet campaign
| birth_date = 12th century
| birth_place = Kamatapur Kingdom
| era = early 13th century
}}
Ali Mech was a tribal chief in the 13th century CE, in the region of present-day north of Bengal{{Cite book |last=Siddiq |first=Mohammad Yusuf |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nAUBCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA36 |title=Epigraphy and Islamic Culture: Inscriptions of the Early Muslim Rulers of Bengal (1205–1494) |publisher=Routledge |year=2015 |isbn=9781317587460 |pages=36}} belonging to the Mech people. He is said to have helped Bakhtiyar Khalji during his Tibet campaign and converted to Islam under his influence.
Biography
Ali Mech is considered the first Muslim convert in present-day North Bengal.{{Cite book |last=Siddiq |first=Mohammad Yusuf |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nAUBCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA36 |title=Epigraphy and Islamic Culture: Inscriptions of the Early Muslim Rulers of Bengal (1205–1494) |publisher=Routledge |year=2015 |isbn=9781317587460 |pages=36}}{{Cite web|last=Saikia|first=Arunabh|title='We don't want to be identified on the basis of our religion,' say Assam's indigenous Desi Muslims|url=https://scroll.in/article/864299/we-dont-want-to-be-identified-in-the-name-of-our-religion-say-assams-indigenous-desi-muslims|access-date=2021-07-07|website=Scroll.in|language=en-US}}{{cite book |last1=Nath |first1=Monoj Kumar |title=The Muslim Question in Assam and Northeast India |date=29 March 2021 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=978-1-000-37027-0 |page=23 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sDAXEAAAQBAJ&dq=Ali+Mech+converted+from+hinduism&pg=PA23 |language=en}} In the wake of Ali Mech's conversion to Islam, some Mech and Koch tribes also adopted the faith.{{Cite book|last=Nath|first=Monoj Kumar|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sDAXEAAAQBAJ&dq=ali+mech&pg=PA23|title=The Muslim Question in Assam and Northeast India|publisher=Taylor & Francis|year=2021|isbn=978-1-000-37027-0|pages=23|language=en}}{{Cite web|last=Ahmed|first=Haamim K.J.|date=12 September 2018|title=The Ethnicity of Assamese Muslims|url=https://www.thehillstimes.in/featured/the-ethnicity-of-assamese-muslims/|access-date=2021-07-25|website=The Hills Times}} The modern descendants of these converts are the Deshi people.
As a tribal chief in the foothills of the North of Bengal,{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nAUBCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA36 |title=Epigraphy and Islamic Culture: Inscriptions of the Early Muslim Rulers of Bengal (1205–1494)|last=Siddiq|first=Mohammad Yusuf|year=2015|publisher=Routledge|isbn=9781317587460 |pages=36}} he aided Bakhtiyar Khilji in his failed invasion of Tibet in 1206 by acting as a guide.{{Cite book|last=Nadwi|first=Abu Bakr Amir-uddin|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=18CTOgAACAAJ|title=Tibet and Tibetan Muslims|publisher=Library of Tibetan Works and Archives|year=2004|isbn=9788186470350|location=Dharamsala|pages=43–44|translator-last=Sharma|translator-first=Parmananda}}
E. A. Gait mentions that he guided Bakhtyar Khalji march northwards along the right bank of the Karatoya river (present-day Bangladesh) for ten days, through a country inhabited by the Koch, Mech and Tharu (Terai) tribes.
Ali Mech supposedly bears a Muslim first name because he was fond of Islam and accepted it. Soon hundreds of Mech inhabitants converted to Islam due to growing oppression in the hands of Hindu lords and its caste, customs and traditions and as most of them were considered to be Yavanas or polluted outsiders by the Aryan hindus{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nAUBCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA36 |title=Epigraphy and Islamic Culture: Inscriptions of the Early Muslim Rulers of Bengal (1205–1494)|last=Siddiq|first=Mohammad Yusuf|year=2015|publisher=Routledge|isbn=9781317587460 |pages=35–36|quote="Their adherence to the caste system kept them away from establishing roots with the local population. The Vedic religion which the Aryans brought with them never took strong root in the local people of the region. This might be one of the factors that led to a good portion the Mlecchas population ( such as the Mech tribe in the north according to Tabaqat-i-Nasiri) to cooperate with Muslim conquerors identified by the Aryan (Vedic) Hindus as Yavanas (originally Sanskrit word meaning polluted outsiders/aliens"}}{{Cite book|last=Gait|first=Edward|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GvcRAAAAYAAJ|title=A History of Assam|date=1906|publisher=Thacker, Spink & Company|isbn=978-0-404-16819-3|language=en}} and as they were lightly exposed to Brahmanic culture.{{Cite journal|last=Roy|first=Gautam Chandra|date=2015-06-05|title=Negotiating with the Changing Landscape: The Case of the Rajbanshi Community|url=https://www.epw.in/engage/article/negotiating-changing-landscape-case-rajbanshi|journal=Economic and Political Weekly|language=en|pages=7–8|quote=Even Richard Eaton (Eaton 2014: 118) observes that “Muslim converts in Bengal, were mainly from the Rajbanshi, Pod, Chandal, Kuch and other indigenous groups that had been lightly exposed to Brahmanic culture.}}