Shah Ismail Ghazi
{{Short description|Muslim preacher of Bengal}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Shah Ismail Ghazi
| image = Tomb of Syed Ismail Gazi at Garh Mandaran 01.jpg
| caption = Tomb of Syed Ismail Gazi at Gar Mandaran
| birth_date = unknown
| birth_place = Mecca{{cn|date=July 2022}}
| burial_place = Ghoraghat, Dinajpur, Bangladesh
| death_date = 16th century
| death_cause = Executed on the orders of Sultan
}}
File:Shah Ismail Ghazi's shrine at Baradarga, Rangpur, Bangladesh.jpg
Shah Ismail Ghazi ({{langx|bn|শাহ ইসমাঈল গাজী}}) was a 15th-century Sufi Muslim preacher based in Bengal.{{Cite web|url=http://www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac/pritchett/00islamlinks/ikram/part1_06.html|title=part1_06|website=www.columbia.edu|access-date=2020-04-01}} He came to Bengal in the mid-fifteenth century during the reign of Rukunuddin Barbak Shah, settling in the country's capital, Gaur.{{Cite book|last=Banu|first=U. A. B. Razia Akter|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XyzqATEDPSgC&q=Shah+Ismail+Ghazi&pg=PA14|title=Islam in Bangladesh|date=1992|publisher=BRILL|isbn=978-90-04-09497-0}}
Life
Shah Ismail Ghazi was born in Mecca into the Arab tribe of Quraysh,{{Cite book|last1=Singh|first1=Surinder|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QVA0JAzQJkYC&q=G.+H.+Damant+shah+ismail&pg=PA286|title=Popular Literature and Pre-modern Societies in South Asia|last2=Gaur|first2=I. D.|date=2008|publisher=Pearson Education India|isbn=978-81-317-1358-7|language=en}} and was a descendant of the Prophet Muhammad.{{Cite Banglapedia|article=Shah Ismail Ghazi (R)}} He settled in the city of Gaur. During this time Sultan Rukunuddin Barbak Shah was building a dam across the river Jhatiya-Bhatiya or Chutiaputia. All the engineers and craftsmen tried for long seven years but could not complete the dam. After hearing this Ismail approached the Sultan and suggested a scheme. After his solution proved successful, Ismail became one of the most important men in the Sultan's army,{{Cite book|last=Hanif|first=N.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=O3GXOqPa67MC&q=Shah+Ismail+Ghazi&pg=PA118|title=Biographical Encyclopaedia of Sufis: South Asia|publisher=Sarup & Sons|year=2000|isbn=9788176250870|pages=117–118}} and many battles were won under his command.{{cn|date=April 2020}}
Military career
Shah Ismail Ghazi's first campaign was against the confronting Prataparudra Deva of the Gajapati dynasty on the south-western frontier. He achieved some military success against the Gajapati dynasty in Orissa, where he constructed a fort.{{Cite book|last=Chattopadhyay|first=Bankim Chandra|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PobpAgAAQBAJ&q=Shah+Ismail+Ghazi+mandaran&pg=PT73|title=Durgeshnandini|date=2014-02-25|publisher=Diamond Pocket Books Pvt Ltd|isbn=978-93-5083-240-0}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.kaladanpress.org/index.php/scholar-column-mainmenu-36/arakan/1135-bader-maqams-or-the-shrines-of-badr-al-din-auliya-part-ii.html|title=Bader Maqams or the shrines of Badr Al-Din-Auliya (Part II) - Kaladan Press Network|website=www.kaladanpress.org|access-date=2020-04-01}} After defeat at the hands of Kameshwar, king of Kamatapur, Barbak Shah decided to send Shah Ismail. He was victorious; the king surrendered to the Sultan{{Cite book|last=Neog|first=Maheswar|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DcReZM-rI0MC&q=Shah+Ismail+Ghazi&pg=PA47|title=Early History of the Vaiṣṇava Faith and Movement in Assam: Śaṅkaradeva and His Times|date=1980|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass Publishers|isbn=9788120800076|pages=47|language=en}}{{Cite web|url=http://hozir.org/history-ancient-period.html?page=2|title=Bibliography - History Ancient Period|website=hozir.org|access-date=2020-04-01}} and converted to Islam.
Death
There are two theories regarding the death of Shah Ismail Ghazi. One is that he was slain in a war in 1474.{{Cite book|last=Bhattacharya|first=Asok K.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=b5axYviGjO8C&q=Shah+Ismail+Ghazi&pg=PA25|title=Rakhaldas Bandyopadhyay|date=1999|publisher=Sahitya Akademi|isbn=978-81-260-0848-3|language=en}}{{Cite book|last=Sengupta|first=Nitish K.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kVSh_TyJ0YoC&q=Shah+Ismail+Ghazi&pg=PA80|title=Land of Two Rivers: A History of Bengal from the Mahabharata to Mujib|publisher=Penguin Books India|year=2011|isbn=9780143416784|pages=79–80|language=en}} Another theory says that after so many victories Bhandsi Rai, the commandant of Ghoraghat, was jealous of him and reported to the Sultan that Shah Ismail Ghazi was in collusion with the Raja of Kamrup. After hearing this the Sultan immediately ordered Ismail's execution in 1474 A.D(878 A.H). There are six shrines dedicated to the memory of the saint; one at Mandaran (in Jhanabad, west of Hooghly),{{Cite web|last=CENSUS 1961|first=DISTRICT CENSUS HANDBOOK|title=PLACES OF TOURISTS' INTEREST|url=http://lsi.gov.in:8081/jspui/bitstream/123456789/5181/1/44369_1961_HOO.pdf|access-date=13 October 2021}} one at Ghoraghat, and four in Pirganj in the district of Rangpur, one of those being in Baradarga.
References
{{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ghazi, Shah Ismail}}
{{Dinajpur District}}
Category:Bengal Sultanate officers