Sultan Balkhi

Shah Sultan Balkhi Mahisawar was a 14th-century Muslim saint. He preached Islam in Pundravardhana (present-day Bogra District).

Early life

Mahisawar was a ruler of Balkh in Central Asia. He was the son of Shah Ali Asgar, a ruler of Balkh. He was selected as ruler after the death of his father. He left his kingship and became a dervish. In 44 H.E. after coming to Pundravardhana, he first reached Sandwip of Bangla, and he stayed there for few years. Later he came to (Mahasthangarh, the capital of Pundravardhana)

Conqueror

Mahisawar conquered the fort of Pundravardhana after warring with Raja Parshuram in the 14th century. Another source mentioned that, he defeated Parshuram in 1343 C.E., the last Buddha king of Mahasthangarh. According to legend, Shah Sultan of Balkh came to Mahasthangarh accompanied by his disciples dressed as a Faqir in a boat shaped like a fish. Initially Chilhan, the army chief of Parshuram and many others accepted the message of Islam and became Muslims but eventually there was conflict between Parshuram and Balkhi Mahisawar in which Parshuram was defeated and killed.

Conquest of Mahasthan

A historian Provash Chandra Sen wrote in his book titled “Bogurar Itihash” that, ‘’Narshingh" or Parshuram, the Bauddha king of the Mahasthan Bhoj Garh dynasty, was defeated and killed by Shah Sultan Balki in the year 1343CE’’.

Babu Satish Chandra Sen stated a legend in his book Bogurar Itihas that, Shah Sultan of Balkh Ancient Bactrial accompanied by Ibrahim-bin-Adham, another missionary, and some disciples arrived at Mahastan in the grab of a fakir, riding a fish-shaped barge in 1343 A.D. Here he succeeded in converting Chilhan, the General of King Parshuram and many local Buddhas and Jainas to Islam. This gave rise to the struggle between the Fakir and the King, in which the latter eventually was betrayed by one Harapal, defeated and killed.