From an evidently successful resistance to the advance of Alexander the Great in the 4th century BCE, through undoubted resistance to invaders such as the South Indians, the Afghans, the Persians and the Europeans, as well as those closer to home, such as the Arakanese, Burmese and Tripurans, and especially the Pakistanis, theirs is a great history of resistance and freedom fighting.
Amongst the better documented, the role of the Baro Bhuiyans in resisting the Mughal invasion of the rich and valuable lands that are now the lands of Bangladesh, in the late 16th century has probably never been properly explored.
Like the subsequent takeover by the British, those who colluded with the invaders were eventual victors, and, as a quotation often attributed to Winston Churchill, suggests, “History is written by the victors who have hanged the heroes,” so we may expect short shrift to be given by the historians, around the world, as well as closer to home, who subsequently, almost universally, came to admire the Mughal dynasty, at least in its first century and a half of rule.
The great Isa Khan is often referred to as leader of the resistance, and one wonders if the fact that he was, himself, also a Muslim is one reason for the probable misrepresentation. There is no doubting his own courageous role in that resistance, but it was, in fact, the somewhat loose alliance of the Baro Bhuyans, a dozen or so of the great landholders, who each, in their own way, played a part in the lengthy resistance to preserve the independence of Bengal.
It is also, often, misrepresented that this alliance of the great landholders was one of Hindu landholders. Patently, that is also a historical misrepresentation, like so many in the hazy, real history of these lands. Another of the mysteries of misrepresentation that seem to disguise centuries of cooperation and coexistence between such adherents of great religions in these lands.
But another of the great, “Freedom Fighters” who resisted that takeover by a foreign invading family was unquestionably the contemporary Zaminder of Jessore, Pratapaditya.
It has often been said that, with the death of Isa Khan in 1599, resistance to the Mughal forces ceased. That is another misrepresentation. In fact, Pratapaditya only surrendered his 20,000 infantry forces, 500 war boats, and 45 tons of gunpowder, 13 years after Isa Khan’s demise, having continued his resistance for more than 10 years.
Born, it is believed, in 1561, to one of the greatest families in what was becoming widely known as Bengal, the lands he inherited were extensive. Although it is unclear just when he inherited, he was, at a young age, perhaps in his mid teens, already acknowledged as, “The Crown Prince of Jessore.” His father, Srihari, had already divided his lands between Patapadiya, and his brother Basanta Ray, the larger portion going to Pratapaditya.
Srihari had been granted the rich Zamindari of Jessore by Daud Khan Kerrani, the last of the independent Sultans of Bengal in about 1572, as a reward for his services as a military officer of the Sultanate, on the childless death of Chand Khan, a close associate of the Portuguese.
The Emperor Akbar, determined to take full control of the valuable international trading centre around the Ganges delta, and the lands of Bengal, which the sixth Emperor, Aurangzeb, a century later, would describe as, “the paradise of nations,” for its wealth and trade, had already, by 1574, appointed his own Subahdar, or governor, of the lands that Daud would not relinquish until 1576. When Daud finally fell to the Mughal onslaught, Srihari declared independence of his Jessore based zamindari, assuming the title, Maharajah.
These were troubled times, and resistance to the Mughals would continue for over another 30 years.
In an age of low life expectancy, boys became men at a young age, and it is certain that Pratapaditya was already manifesting the military skills that continued resistance, as one of the leading freedom fighters, from his teens. Like Isa Khan, Srihari’s independence was constantly challenged by succeeding Mughal representatives, and much of the conflict was fought on water. The fleet of war boats - these were river craft, armed, almost certainly with some form of cannon, given the huge supply of gunpowder that Pratapaditya had accumulated by the time of his eventual surrender - although we cannot be certain of size and shape.
In addition to the Mughal enemy, there were also the Portuguese pirates with their base on Sandwip Island, and Arakanese pirates, who so continuously raided the coastal regions of the Jessore Zamindari, that included the once flourishing port of Barisal, and Bhola Island, driving from the coastal lands many of the farmers who supplied both crops for domestic consumption, and export quantities of rice, to fuel the flourishing export trade through the coastal ports like Barisal, representing a considerable proportion of the wealth that financed both zamindari, and the maintenance of the war boats and army.
Whilst Isa Khan is so often credited with leading the resistance to the Mughal advance, it seems that, despite his control of the great trading centre at Sonargaon, his resources are never as clearly listed as those of Pratapaditya. Perhaps his island hopping strategy of resistance was more effective, and, certainly, he died in his bed, never having surrendered.
When the most effective of the Mughal generals, Islam Khan, arrived, in 1608, to make another attempt at bringing Bengal, and especially the wealth that was centred on the lands that are now Bangladesh, under Mughal control, Pratapaditya, on the other hand, stood aside from allying himself with Isa Khan’s son, Musa Khan, resisting Mughal power. He assumed that, just like the long running conflict between the Mughal forces and Isa Khan himself, the campaign would wear down Islam Khan’s strength, and force him to retreat, leaving Bengal again largely alone.
Unfortunately, he was wrong. Musa Khan was easily overcome, and the Mughal strength was turned on Jessore.
Pratapaditya had already managed to assemble a large fleet of war boats, as well as a considerable land force, much of it under dissident Afghan officers from the ruling class of the days of the Sultanate who had been displaced by the administrators of the Mughal regime, mostly of Persian origin, as well as a few Portuguese mercenaries.
The first major confrontation, late in 1611, between the forces, took place around Salka, now in West Bengal. A battle fought on both water and land, between an estimated 800 war boats, and cavalry, elephants and infantry. Pratapaditya’s forces were defeated, but the fight was not conclusive.
He withdrew his forces to a second, prepared position at Kagarghat, close to modern Shatkira.
The Mughal fleet opened this engagement, with an attack on that of Jessore, forcing a retreat to the protection of the guns of the fortress that Pratapaditya had hastily constructed. However, a second, successful, sudden attack by the Mughal fleet opened the way for an attack by elephants upon the fort, which was overwhelmed.
Pratapaditya surrendered the fort, but was treacherously captured on his way to a negotiated peace, under truce. Taken in chains to Dhaka, he managed to escape en route to Delhi, but died whilst attempting to return to Jessore.
The vengeance taken on the people of Jessore by the Mughal generals, in a piece written by the historian, Tapan Kumar Ray Choudhuri, reads somewhat like a report on the modern ISIS organisation’s victories in Iraq. They, “wrought such havoc that (they) became an object of terror to the people of the country. Yet, to be sure... were more humane than Murad Nathan who during the Jessore campaign bought as captives four thousand women, young and old, stripped of their clothing.”
Some elements of conflict appear to be unchanged, even in the twenty first century. It seems that the resistance of Pratapaditya, as a freedom fighter, and resister of invaders, was sufficient to so antagonise the conquerors as to considerably besmirch the reputation of the Mughals as civilised conquerors and overlords.
