Khwaja Usman

Usman Khan and his four brothers, Sulayman, Wali, Malhi and Ibrahim, were born to a Pashtun father, Khwaja Isa Khan Miankhel, who belonged to the Lohani tribe. Usman's uncle was Qutlu Khan Lohani who was the Governor of Puri appointed by the Sultan of Bengal Sulaiman Khan Karrani.[6] The Pashtuns living in Eastern India were a small but influential community to the Delhi and Bengal Sultanates.[8] Most Pashtuns were against Mughal rule and supported the Baro-Bhuyans after the defeat of the Sultanate.[9] Following Qutlu's demise in 1590, Nasir Khan Lohani gave allegiance to the Mughals which led to rebellion in the region between the Pashtuns.

The Governor of Bihar at the time, Man Singh I, defeated Nasir two years later due to his betrayal of the Mughal Empire. Later, Man Singh I became the Subahdar of the Bengal Subah and attempted to weaken the influence of the Pashtuns.[10] Khwaja Sulayman was killed in Orissa by Singh and so he was succeeded as leader of the Afghans by Usman. Usman managed to make a deal with him that he would leave Orissa if he can have jagirs in Fatehabad in Bengal.[11] Initially, Singh agreed which caused Usman, his four brothers and other Pashtuns to start migrating to Bengal. After Singh realised the rising influence of rebels in Bengal due to Isa Khan's resistance against the Mughals, Singh cancelled the jagirs in order to stop more Pashtuns from migrating to Bengal. This cancellation angered Usman leading to his invasion of South Bengal and capture of the fort in Satgaon. In 1593, Usman then continued east to Bhusna where he defeated Chand ibn Kedar Rai on 11 February. Here, he formed an alliance with Isa Khan of Bhati, the leader of what was to become the Baro-Bhuyans.[7] It is said that Usman also took shelter in Goyghor, South Sylhet as he was hiding from Man Singh I.[12]

Working alongside Isa Khan, Usman was able to gain control of northeastern Bengal, ruling over Greater Mymensingh and making the fort town of Bokainagar, in Gouripur, his capital.[13] For a short period of time, the Pathans regained North Orissa. After the death of Emperor Akbar in 1599, Usman was able to rebuild and develop Bokainagar Fort into a powerful military base consisting of 20,000 soldiers.[14] Usman also established two other forts in Hasanpur and Egarosindur and took advantage of the Brahmaputra River to separate himself from the Mughal territory in the west.[7]

In 1596, Usman defeated Chand Rai of Sripur.[3] In 1602, Usman crossed the Brahmaputra and defeated the Mughal thanadars of Alapsingh, Sajawal Khan and Baz Bahadur Qalmaq, the latter who fled to Bhawal.[15] This news came to Man Singh I in one day who immediately set off from Jahangirnagar to battle Usman on the banks of the Banar River.[16] Many of Usman's weapons and resources were looted in this battle as well as the deaths of many Pashtuns.[17] After the death of Isa Khan, his son, Musa Khan rose to power. The plans of the insurgents were to launch an attack on the Mughal Empire and attempt to free Musa Khan in order to liberate Bhati again.[18]

After the surrender of Musa Khan to the Mughal Subahdar of Bengal Islam Khan I in 1606, Usman immediately became the next target of the Empire. In October of the same year, Islam Khan appointed Abdul Wahid and Sheikh Kamal Bayazid to march with a large army from Jahangirnagar to Hasanpur, which was north of Usman's capital in Bokainagar. From Hasanpur, the Mughal army built trenches and forts as they prepared for battle in Bokainagar. Usman's army was defeated and his Pashtun allies in nearby Tajpur, Nasir and Daria Khan surrendered to the Islam Khan I. Some Pashtuns of Tajpur followed their leaders and expressed support of the Mughals while others joined Usman. With Usman's support from other chieftains decreasing, he set off for Sylhet with over 200 Pashtuns. The Sylhet region had the strongest Afghan insurgency in Bengal and Usman made alliances with the many Afghan chiefs there such as Anwar Khan of Baniachong, Bayazid Karrani II of Sylhet and Mahmud Khan.[19] Bokainagar was taken over by the Mughal Empire on 7 December 1611.[6] However, Anwar Khan of Baniachong had successively surrendered to the Mughals after the death of Musa Khan, visiting them in Jahangirnagar, and promising to help defeat Usman as long as he can keep his land in Baniachong.

Usman reached Taraf where he appointed his son, Mumriz, and brother, Malhi to station themselves in Taraf (Habiganj). Khwaja Wali was also stationed at a hill fort called Putia (Putijuri) on the foot of the Giripal in Bahubal. Usman then continued and reached the Ita Kingdom ruled by Raja Subid Narayan who he defeated in a battle. He then established his new capital in Uhar, Kamalganj and managed to gain control of South Sylhet.[20] Uhar came to be known as Usmangarh and Taraf also encompassed Usman's domain. It is said a force was sent to Cachar from Taraf at an attempt to invade Manipur.[21]

Islam Khan I prepared a large army on an expedition to defeat Usman. Mughal emperor Jahangir provided soldiers and officers from across the subcontinent and appointed Shajaat Khan Chisti of the Deccan as the commander of the operation.[22] Before commencing, Shajaat sent messages to Usman advising him to surrender to the Mughal Empire. Usman replied to this message saying that he would like to create peace between themselves and to allow himself to continue living in the Sylhet region, a place not yet conquered by the Mughal Empire.[7]

Islam Khan I refused in trusting Anwar Khan of Baniachong to lead a force against Usman and replaced him with Islam Quli Khan. Anwar, in anger, marched from Jahangirnagar to Egarosindur. He came across Musa's brother Mahmud Khan and Bahadur Ghazi of Bhawal and made a new plot to fight the Mughals in Hasanpur, therefore supporting Usman. Their plot was unsuccessful and all rebel leaders were chained.[23]

However, Islam Khan I was keen to end Afghan power in Bengal and decided to commence the battle. He readied 500 of his own cavalry, 4,000 musketeers and large numbers of war horses and war elephants.[24] Shona Ghazi of Sarail provided warships and Ihtimam Khan assembled an imperial force. Shaykh Achhay and Iftikhar Khan Turkmen were placed on the wings. On 4 February 1612, the army reached Taraf, ruled by Malhi (Usman's brother) and Mumriz (Usman's son), who retreated to Uhar after a short skirmish. Khwaja Wali abandoned his Putia hill-fort before facing the approaching army.[6]

After the arrival of Malhi, Mumriz and Wali, Usman also prepared for war. He readied 2000 of his own cavalry, 5,000 infantry, and 40 war elephants. Usman was known for his tup-o-tufang style artillery.[25] On his left, he appointed Wali with 1000 cavalry, 2000 infantry, and 30 war elephants. On his right, he appointed Sher-e-Maydan with 700 cavalry, 1000 infantry and 20 war elephants.[7]

In 12 March 1612, the two armies met at the nearby village of Daulambapur where they entrenched themselves in a nullah bank.[26] Both, Iftikhar Khan Turkmen and Shaykh Achhay, were killed and their force was heavily defeated. The central force, led by Shajaat Khan, was then defeated although Shajaat managed to escape.[6]

Just as the defeat of the Mughals seemed certain, Iftikhar Khan's devoted soldier, Sheikh Abdul Jalil, rode his horse towards Usman. Abdul Jalil aimed his crossbow at Usman and fired. The arrow hit Usman's left eye, striking through his brain. Usman tried to pull the arrow out, causing his right eye to come out. Usman became blind as he tried giving a gesture to one of the men on the elephants to find and attack Shajaat. Usman died a few moments later, after also losing his speech.[7]

Usman was brought back to Uhar by the Pashtuns and buried in an unknown spot between two hills. A false tomb was also created outside Usman's palace.[27]

To formalise a surrender, the Afghans gifted all 49 elephants and jewels to the Mughal Empire.[28] The Mughals also honoured Usman's relatives and to the surrendered Afghans. They also had a feast to mark the victory.[29]

An upazila (sub-district) has been proposed in the Moulvibazar District to be named after Usman, as Usmangarh (Fort of Usman) by locals since 1985. The proposal for this upazila Currently, Usman's fort at Uhar is spread across two areas, Srisurya and Usmangarh, both in the Patanushar Union of Kamalganj Upazila.[5] If successful, the Usmangarh Upazila will consist of 6 Union Parishads:

• Kamarchak (from Rajnagar Upazila)
• Patanushar (from Kamalganj Upazila)
• Shamshernagar (from Kamalganj Upazila)
• Hajipur (from Kulaura Upazila)
• Sharifpur (from Kulaura Upazila)
• Tilagaon (from Kulaura Upazila)

The Goyghor Mosque in Moulvibazar is also named after Usman as the Historical Khwaja's Mosque.[12]

• Baro-Bhuyan
• History of Sylhet