Kalapahar
Kala Pahaṛ (Bengali: কালাপাহাড়) or Kalapahada (Odia: କାଲାପାହାର) was a Bengali Muslim General of the Bengal Sultanate under the reigning Karrani Dynasty.[1]
According to traditional narratives pieced together since late 18th century,[2][3] Kalapahaṛ was a Bengali Brahmin from either Bhurisrestha or Barendra who was military commander of the Sultanate & fell in love with the Sultan Sulaiman Khan Karrani's daughter, which led him to convert to Islam in order to win her hand (or being excommunicated by the Brahmin pandits, who denied him prayaschitta) and solidified his position within the ruling Muslim elite of Bengal; this conversion is often associated with his change in name from Kalachand Ray/Rajibalochana Bhaduri to "Mohammad Farmuli."[citation needed]
Historiography
[edit]The myths and legends around Kalapahad were propagated in the 19th century, three centuries after his existence. Lalatendu Das Mohapatra, assistant director of the records center, National Archives in Bhubaneswar questions over the historiography: "The origin of Kalapahad is confusing because there are Persian manuscripts at the British museum where Allahabadi Kalapahad has been mentioned, while in an Odia manuscript of 1600s, there is a mention of Illahdat Kalapahad,"
In Bengal Kalapahad has been seen as standing against Brahminical oppression in plays and novels. Historians also assert that the destruction of Konark or temples built later are wrongly attributed to him.[4]
Military Campaigns
[edit]Sultan Sulaiman sent his army to conquer Odisha to expand his Sultanate under the command of his son "Bayazid and general Kalapahaṛ alias Raju". They defeated and killed the king Mukundadeva. The general Kalapahaṛ led a contingent deep into the kingdom to plunder it.[5]
He also successfully fought the Kamatapur army after its king Naranarayana had attacked the Sultanate; Naranarayana's brother, the military general Sukladhwaja was imprisoned and the capital Gosanimari seized.[5] However, fearing an attack from the Mughal armies (as Naranarayana had nominally accepted Akbar as his overlord), Sultan Sulaiman ordered Kalapahaṛ to withdraw and restored status-quo.[5] In 1575, the Sultan's son Bayazid was treacherously murdered. Kalapahar rallied around Daud Karrani who ascended to the throne of the Bengal Sultanate but were defeated at Battle of Rajmahal in July 1576.[6] Kalapahar was killed in this battle & later buried at Sambalpur.
Legacy
[edit]The term Kalapahaṛ (or Black Mountain in English) has come to mean iconoclast[7] among the Hindu population in East and Northeast India due to his personal involvement in the desecration & sacking of the multiple Hindu temples during his military campaigns, most notably the Jagannath Temple of Puri, the Sun temple of Konark, the Jalpesh Temple in Jalpaiguri, temples of Hajo, and allegedly the Kamakhya temple of Guwahati on religious grounds. Legend has it that he also tried to sack the temple of Bargabhima in Tamluk & that of Sambaleshwari in Sambalpur but failed due to divine intervention.[8]
In March 2021, the Indian Minister of Home Affairs Amit Shah referred to AIUDF leader Badruddin Ajmal as Kalapahaṛ.[9]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ Panda, Shishir Kumar (1999). Political and Cultural History of Orissa. New Age International. ISBN 978-81-224-1197-3. Archived from the original on 2023-09-18. Retrieved 2023-12-02.
- ^ Kalita, Bharat Chandra (1988). Military Activities in Medieval Assam. Daya Publishing House. p. 48. ISBN 978-81-7035-047-7. Archived from the original on 2024-02-06. Retrieved 2023-12-26.
In retaliation the Bengal governor Sulaiman Kararani engaged his General Kalapahaṛ, a Hindu Brahmin converted to Islam, to teach a lesson to the Koch king.
- ^ Namita Panda. "Experts trace Kalapahad's footprints". Retrieved 1 April 2024.
- ^ Panda, Namita. "Experts trace Kalapahad's footprints". The Telegraph Online. Retrieved 2025-05-22.
- ^ a b c Ahmed, ABM Shamsuddin (2012). "Sulaiman Karrani". In Islam, Sirajul; Jamal, Ahmed A. (eds.). Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh (Second ed.). Asiatic Society of Bangladesh. Archived from the original on 2016-03-06. Retrieved 2016-07-25.
- ^ Ahmed, ABM Shamsuddin (2012). "Daud Khan Karrani". In Islam, Sirajul; Jamal, Ahmed A. (eds.). Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh (Second ed.). Asiatic Society of Bangladesh. Archived from the original on 2015-07-03. Retrieved 2018-08-24.
- ^ "Search Result For কালাপাহা | Bengali to English". accessibledictionary.gov.bd. Retrieved 2025-06-21.
- ^ Biswal, Sarat Chandra (June 2018). "Sri Jagannath and Kalapahad" (PDF). Gov. Of Odisha. ISSN 0970-8669.
- ^ "Rahul Baba is on Assam visit as a tourist: Amit Shah in Chirang". Deccan Herald. 31 March 2021. Archived from the original on 14 November 2021. Retrieved 14 November 2021.