APAC History
Battle of Raj Mahal – The Beginning of Mughal Rule in Bengal
On 12th July 1576, Raj Mahal in Bengal (Now in Bangladesh) witnessed a decisive battle between the Mughals and the Karrani dynasty of Sultanate of Bengal.
Mughal Emperor Humayun established his control over the capital city of Gaur after the fall of Ghiyasuddin Mahmud Shah in 1538. However, he soon lost the kingdom to Sher Shah in the Battle of Chausa in 1539.
Bengal managed to regain its independence under the rule of the Karrani dynasty. Daud Khan Karrani was the youngest son of Sulaiman Khan Karrani and he had high ambitions to conquer the entire Indian sub-continent. His Sultanate included the whole of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa.
Source: Wikipedia
Daud Khan Karrani refused to accept the supremacy of Akbar and hence faced continuous assault from the Mughals. In 1575, he was defeated by Munim Khan in the Battle of Tukaroi and as a result signed the Treaty of Katak on 12th April 1575. According to the conditions of the treaty he had to surrender nearly all of Bengal and Bihar and was allowed to keep only Orissa under his rule.
However, with the death of Munim Khan, the treaty of Katak proved to be ephemeral. Soon Daud Khan succeeded in bringing the lost territories of North and West Bengal under his rule. Akbar appointed Husain Quli Beg to subjugate Daud and bring Bengal under the Mughal regime. Akbar also conferred the title of ‘Khan-i-Jahan’ on Beg.
Daud Khan with the alliance of other rebel Afghan leaders including Kalapahad, Junaid and Qutlu Khan was ready to face the Mughal Army under Husain Quli Beg. He took his position in the Raj Mahal hills while three thousand select Afghans were posted at Teliagarhi to defend the pass.
‘Khan-i-Jahan’ Beg came across the Afghans at Teliagarhi first. Despite a valiant effort the Afghans were defeated and the Mughal army proceeded towards Raj Mahal. However, the Afghan army at Raj Mahal proved difficult to defeat and Husain Quli Beg spent nearly four months there. Shortage of rations, on setting monsoon and most importantly the Shia-Sunni strife amongst the soldiers proved to the major impediments in the success of the Mughals. Then, on the orders of Akbar, Muzaffar Khan Turbati, governor of Bihar, joined Husain Quli Beg with provisions, ammunition and around 5000 soldiers.
On 12th July 1576, the battle of Raj Mahal commenced between the Mughals and the Afghans. Junaid and Kalapahad were in charge of the left and right wings of Daud’s army respectively. Daud Khan led from the centre while Qutlu Khan was at the forefront. In the course of the battle Junaid was killed by a cannon ball which demoralized the soldiers and they scattered and fled. Kalapahad and Qutlu Khan managed to escape capture but Daud Khan’s horse got stuck in the swamps and he was imprisoned by the Mughals. Daud Khan was considered as a constant source of political turbulence by the Mughals and hence following his capture he was immediately executed.
The defeat and execution of Daud Khan Karrani in the Battle of Raj Mahal marked the end of the Independent Sultanate in Bengal and launched the era of the Mughals.
Source: Banglapedia – The National Library of Bangladesh; World Public Library; IndiaNetzone
Matthew Perry’s Expedition: Japan Opened Trade with the West After 200 Years
On 8th July 1853, Commodore Matthew Calbraith Perry sailed in the Tokyo Bay aboard the frigate Susquehanna along with a squadron of four ships. He represented the US Navy and had reached Japan with an agenda of reviving regular trade and discourse between Japan and the West which were then suspended for a period of 200 years.
Matthew Perry was the younger brother of Oliver Hazard Perry who had led the American’s to victory over the British in the Battle of Lake Erie in 1813. Matthew himself was a leader of a squadron in the Battle against Mexico in which the American’s emerged victorious in 1848.
Source: Wikipedia
Trade relations between the Japan and the West had ceased in 1639 owing to the attempts of Europeans to convert the Japanese to Catholicism as well as the unfair trade practices followed by the West. Only selective trading with Dutch and Chinese ships was allowed thereafter.
During this period all Western powers were trying to expand trade relations in the East, both to access new regions for their manufactured products as well as to obtain supply of raw materials.
Perry was authorized by American President Millard Fillmore to visit Japan and force end the 200 year isolation of Japan from trade. Perry met with the Japanese Emperor and delivered the letter regarding the opening up of trade relations from the American President. He returned to Tokyo, with a larger fleet comprising of 9 ships to obtain an answer from the Japanese Government.
The Treaty of Kanagawa was signed on 31st March 1854 between America and Japan by which ports of Shimoda and Hakodate were opened to trade as well as a US consulate was established in Japan. The first group of Japanese diplomats visited US in 1860 to discuss the scope of the treaty.
Following the Treaty of Kanagawa, similar trade treaties with Russia, Britain, France, and Holland were also signed resulting in regular trade relations, thus putting an end to the 200 year isolation of Japan from the Western powers.
Source: US Department of State; Asia For Educators; PBS.org; MIT.edu; History.com
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