Taraf (Bengal)

The headquarters of the territory has always been within the modern-day Chunarughat Upazila. Majority of Tungachal was a part of the modern-day Habiganj District and eastern borders of the Moulvibazar District. It was bounded by the Twipra Kingdom and Bejura pargana to the south, Bhanugach Hills to the east, and Lakhai to the west. Following the establishment of Muslim rule, its territory was extended all the way south to Sarail and west to Joanshahi.[5][4]

Epivishnu is the earliest known ruler of this territory. He is considered to be a Tripuri though he was a feudal ruler under Raja Upananda of Brahmachal and not the Twipra Kingdom. He ruled from the capital at Rajpur (modern-day Bishgaon/Bishgram, Chunarughat). It is said that the entire territory was named Tungachal after the birth of his son, Prince Tungamadhav. Epivishnu appointed Bhadra Janardan to be his minister and Raghu to be the army commander.

Shrine of Syed Nasiruddin in Murarband Darbar, Taraf (Chunarughat, Habiganj).

One of the theories behind Shankarpasha Shahi Masjid is that it was built by Nasiruddin's disciple Shah Majlis Amin.

There was also a minority of Muslim families who migrated to Tungachal, following the short-lived Azmardan Expedition in 1254 led by the Governor of Bengal, Malik Ikhtiyaruddin Iuzbak.[8] Qazi Nuruddin, a rich cultivator, celebrated his son's marriage ceremony by slaughtering a cow for them to eat. Achak Narayan, in a fury for what he saw as sacrilege due to his Hindu beliefs, sentenced Nuruddin to death. Burhanuddin, a man punished by Govinda of Gour for also slaughtering a cow, as well as Nuruddin's brother, Halimuddin, travelled to lower Bengal where they addressed their issues with Sultan Shamsuddin Firoz Shah of Lakhnauti.

In 1303, forces led by Sikandar Khan Ghazi and Shah Jalal defeated Govinda at Gour annexing it to Shamsuddin Firuz Shah's sultanate. Govinda then fled with his family to Hurong Harong cave in Mulnicherra. He then went to the shrine of Grivakali, where he left his aunt, Apurna, and his cousin Garuda and Garuda's wife Shantipriya in the care of the priest. Garuda, Apurna and Shantipriya, taking shelter at Grivakali shrine, then decided to head off to Tungachal. However, they were caught by Subid, a rebel from the time of Raja Govardhan, who informed the Muslims of their actions; leading to Garuda's boat being followed by the Muslims. Out of embarrassment, Garuda appeared to committed suicide, jumping off the boat at Puni beel. The boatmen, however, continued taking Apurna and Shantipriya to Tungachal, eventually finding refuge with Achak Narayan. They made a vow in Tunganath Shiva temple to fast for ninety days, hoping for safety.[7]

Following the successful Islamic conquest of Gour, Syed Nasiruddin, Sultan Shamsuddin Firuz Shah's commander-in-chief, set off on an expedition to Tungachal in 1304. Nasiruddin arrived with 12 lascars and he camped in a place now known as Laskarpur.[9] One of the lascars, Majlis Amin, built the Shankarpasha Shahi Masjid. Achak Narayan was defeated and fled with his family to Mathura. Following a victory, Tungachal was annexed to Shamsuddin Firuz Shah's sultanate and renamed as Taraf.

Syed Nasiruddin became the effective leader of Taraf and his descendants continued to rule there. The capital would be shifted from Rajpur to Laskarpur. Nasiruddin's son, Syed Sirajuddin would succeed him. Sirajuddin had two sons; Syed Musafir and Syed Faqir.

The elder son, Musafir, would succeed him as the ruler of Taraf. Musafir had four sons; Khudawand, Ismail, Sulayman and Ibrahim. Taraf was transformed to an esteemed centre of study in the subcontinent. This is evident with the famous proverb associated with Taraf;

জায়গার নাম তরফ, ঘরে ঘরে হরফ
Jaygar naam Torof, ghore ghore horof

Translated, this means "The place is named Taraf, letters in every house".[2][3][4][5] Syed Ibrahim was an Islamic scholar who was recognised by Delhi emperors and granted land in Sonargaon where he moved to in his later life. Syed Khudawand had three sons; Mikail, Israil and Sayef. Syed Israil, wrote the Persian book Ma'dan al-Fawaid in 1534 and is considered to be the Sylhet region's first author.[10] Mikail became the effective ruler of Taraf after his father Khudawand, and he had four sons; Nazir Khan, Abbas, Musa and Mina. There are claims that Syed Mina is the same person as Syed Sultan although the dates do not seem to add up.

Battle of Jilkua
Date 1581 Location Jilkua, Taraf Result Taraf is defeated, its leaders imprisoned Territorial changes Taraf annexed to Twipra Kingdom
Belligerents
Taraf	Twipra Kingdom
Commanders and leaders
Fateh Khan (POW) Syed Musa (POW) Syed Adam Bairam (POW)	Amar Manikya Commander-in-chief Rajdhar Manikya I Baro-Bhuiyan backed Naval Commander Isa Khan
Strength
	22,000[12]

Syed Musa was the successor of Syed Mikail and his reign marked the end of the Syed dynasty of Taraf. It was also during his rule that the Bengal Sultanate fell in 1576 leading to the nobles of Bengal to become fiercely independent local rulers forming an anti-Mughal confederacy known as the Baro-Bhuiyans.

Amar Manikya of the Manikya dynasty of Twipra, just south of Taraf, was digging a tank, now known as Amar Sagar, in his capital at Udaipur for religious reasons.[13] He demanded various chieftains to supply labour for this task and pay tribute to Twipra.[14][15] The Rajmala chronicles highlights all the donations provided by the Baro-Bhuiyans, numbering at least over 500 labourers. Syed Musa was the only ruler to refuse to accept such subordination as he viewed Taraf to be an independent principality. This angered Amar Manikya and he sent his son, Prince Rajdhar, to deal with him. Musa called upon Fateh Khan, a Baro-Bhuyan zamindar of Sylhet, who came to his aid. In 1581, a battle took place in the village of Jilkua in Chunarughat. Isa Khan was appointed as Manikya's naval commander. The Tripuris were victorious and Syed Musa and his son Syed Adam were taken as prisoners. Syed Musa was imprisoned in Udaipur, but Adam was eventually set free.[16] The Twipra army then proceeded to Gudhrail, via Dinarpur and the Surma River, where they defeated Fateh Khan with the help of their elephants. Khan was captured and transported to Udaipur via Dulali and Ita.[12] He was treated well and later released. Amar Manikya was very proud of the successful conquest of Taraf and even minted a coin referring himself as the Conqueror of Sylhet. This coin was in the possession of Bir Bikram Kishore Debbarman in the 20th century.[11]

Some historians suggest that Syed Musa of Taraf is the same person as the Syed Musa of Arakan. It is claimed that after Syed Adam was set free he went to Min Phalaung Sikandar Shah, the ruler of Kingdom of Mrauk U, for help requesting the freedom of his father, Syed Musa, to which he did. Both Musa and Adam found refuge in the Arakanese court. Musa was appointed as a minister and under it was under his patronage that Alaol completed Saiful Mulk Badi Uzzamal. Adam is claimed to have been appointed as a governor of Ramu. This theory however has been proved to be incorrect as the dates do not match up.[17]

Mughal conquest of Taraf
Date 1610 Location Fort of Taraf Result Taraf chiefs escape to Usmangarh (Uhar) Territorial changes Taraf annexed to Mughal Empire
Belligerents
Afghans of Taraf	Mughal Empire (Bengal Subah)
Commanders and leaders
Khwaja Usman Khwaja Mumriz  Khwaja Malhi  🐘 Baaz †	Jahangir (Islam Khan I) Haji Shamsuddin Baghdadi Mirza Saqi Mirza Baqi Mirza Pattani

Although the Bengal Sultanate was defeated, the Mughal Empire took a very long time to defeat the local chieftains across Bengal. Many rebellious Afghans led by Khwaja Usman migrated to the Sylhet region as it was seen as a safe-zone for them due to the strong insurgency of rebellious chieftains. Usman managed to gain control of Taraf and then appointed his brother Khwaja Malhi and his son Khwaja Mumriz to govern the territory, in which they built a lofty fort. After the capture of Baniachong, Islam Khan I, the Subahdar of Bengal, then appointed Haji Shamsuddin Baghdadi and the three brothers, Mirza Saqi, Mirza Baqi and Mirza Pattani, to carry a campaign against Malhi and Mumriz of Taraf and Pahlawan of Matang. He ordered Shamsuddin to build a fort in between Matang and Taraf. The Mughal forces reached the location in a few days, and raised a strong deeply-trenched fort. They plundered the neighbouring villages surrounding the fort. News of this reached Malhi and Mumriz who decided that they get ready for a battle. Leaving a small garrison at their own fort at Taraf, they set off on an expedition to attack the Mughal fort. They started marching at midday and reached the fort in the next morning after six pahars. The Baharistan-i-Ghaibi highlights the terror experienced by the Mughal forces in this battle and mentions that it reminded them of the Day of Resurrection. The Mughals launched arrows and cannonballs from their fort, showering over the Afghans. The Afghans managed to charge in unison, behind a war elephant named Baaz, towards the gate of the fort. In the midst of the battle, the front and back drivers of Baaz were killed and lay wounded. Shamsuddin then emerged from the left trench and managed to close off the fort gate with his soldiers. They then killed the elephant. The Afghans offered a hand-fight to which they were driven out. The Afghans entered the fort two more times and were driven out again and again. In the fourth assault, the Afghans were finally defeated and they fled to Khwaja Usman who was at Uhar, thus leading to a Mughal victory and establishing Mughal rule in Taraf.[18][19]

Taraf was incorporated into the Sarkar of Sylhet. The Mughals made use of the fort at Taraf, often camping whilst on expeditions to defeat other rebellious chieftains such as Pahlawan of Matang and Bayazid Karrani II of Sylhet. During the expedition against the latter, the Mughal forces camped at Taraf for one day in which they were given the news of the birth of a son of Mirza Nathan, a Mughal officer. Ihtimam Khan's camp was joyous of this occasion and Ihtimam celebrated by bringing out two of his strongest elephants to fight each other outside the fort of Taraf.[18] In the final expedition against Khwaja Usman at Uhar, Shuja'at Khan rested at the fort of Taraf for a day and left a garrison there before proceeding. Mukarram Khan was briefly the Sardar of Sylhet in 1617 before being replaced by Mirak Bahadur Jalair at Sylhet and Sulayman Banarsi at Taraf and Uhar. Banarsi died in 1620, and Taraf was then governed by his son, who was most probably Tufan Bahadur.[18]

With the establishment of the East India Company and later the British Raj, Taraf continued to exist as a pargana or fiscal division within Sylhet. Its area was 79.65 square metres, consisted of 1601 estates and had a land revenue of £4,400 as of 1875.[20]

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