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{{History of Bengal}}Raja Ganesha was a zamindar ruler and the first Hindu Sultan of the Bengal Sultanate, who took advantage of the weakness of the first Ilyas Shahi dynasty and seized power in Bengal. Contemporary historians of the medieval period considered him as an usurper. The Ganesha dynasty founded by him ruled over Bengal from 1415−1435.Majumdar, R.C. (ed.) (2006). The Delhi Sultanate, Mumbai: Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, p.827 His name mentioned in the coins of his son, sultan Jalaluddin Muhammad Shah as Kans Jha or Kans Shah.BOOK, Eaton, Richard Maxwell., The Rise of Islam and the Bengal Frontier, 1204–1760, California University Press, Berkeley, 1993, 60,60ff, 0-520-08077-7,weblink The Indo-Persian historians mentioned his name as Raja Kans or Kansi.Majumdar, R.C. (ed.) (2006). The Delhi Sultanate, Mumbai: Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, pp.205–8 A number of modern scholars identified him with Danujamardanadeva, but this identification is not universally accepted.

Early life

According to the Riaz-us-Salatin (a chronicle written in 1788), Raja Ganesha was a landlord of Bhaturia and according to Francis Buchanan Hamilton he was the Hakim (Governor) of DinajpurBOOK, Buchanan (Hamilton), Francis., A Geographical, Statistical and Historical Description of the District or Zila of Dinajpur in the Province or Soubah of Bengal, Baptist Mission Press, Calcutta, 1833, 23–4,weblink in the northern Bengal. In a contemporary letter, he was described as a member of a landholder family of 400 years' standing.BOOK, Eaton, Richard Maxwell., The Rise of Islam and the Bengal Frontier, 1204-1760, California University Press, Berkeley, 1993, 51, 0-520-08077-7,weblink 13 February 2016, 4 October 2023,weblink live, Later, he became an officer of the Ilyas Shahi dynasty rulers in Pandua. According to a very late authority, the Riaz-us-Salatin, he killed Sultan Ghiyasuddin Azam Shah (reigned 1390–1410), but the earlier authorities like Firishta and Nizam-ud-Din Ahmad do not refer to any such event and probably he died a natural death.Majumdar, R.C. (ed.) (2006). The Delhi Sultanate, Mumbai: Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, p.204 Ghiyas-ud-Din Azam Shah was succeeded by his son Saifuddin Hamza Shah (reigned 1410–12) and the latter by Shihabuddin Bayazid Shah (reigned 1413–14). Firishta says that he became very powerful during the rule of Shihabuddin Bayazid Shah. While the earlier authorities like Firishta and Nizam-ud-Din say that Ganesha ascended to the throne after the death of Shihabuddin but again the Riaz-us-Salatin says that he killed Shihabuddin and seized the throne. Shihabuddin was succeeded by his son Ala-ud-din Firuz Shah (reigned 1414–15) but he was soon deposed by Raja Ganesha.

Identification with Danujamardanadeva

File:Silver coin of Danujamarddana.jpg|thumb|300px|Silver tanka of Danujamarddana issued at Chatigram ((Chittagong]]) in the year Saka 1339 (= 1417 CE). Legends are in letters of medieval Bengali;obverse: sri sri danujamarddana deva,reverse: sri chandi charana parayana.)In 1922, a modern scholar, Nalini Kanta Bhattasali assumed in his Coins and Chronology of the Early Independent Sultans of Bengal, that, Danujamardanadeva, who issued silver coins in Saka era 1339-40 (1416–18) from Suvarnagrama, Pandunagara and Chatigrama with the Sanskrit legend, Shri Chandi Charana Parayana (devoted to the feet of Goddess Chandi) in Bengali script on the reverse, is actually a title of Raja Ganesha. He also assumed that Mahendradeva was the title assumed by the son of Raja Ganesha after his reconversion to Hinduism and before his second conversion to Islam. Historian Jadunath Sarkar dismisses this view, saying the Muslim accounts were biased; he favours the identification of Raja Ganesha with Danujamardanadeva believe that after the death of Raja Ganesha, the Hindu party in the court raised his second son to the throne under the title Mahendradeva, who was soon ousted by his elder brother Jalal-ud-Din.BOOK, Ali, Mohammad Mohar, History of the Muslims of Bengal, Vol 1, 1988, Imam Muhammad Ibn Saud Islamic University, 9840690248, 683, 404, 2,weblink 12 December 2016, 16 July 2021,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20210716042530weblink">weblink live, But Ahmad Hasan Dani regarded Danujamardanadeva and Mahendradeva as the local chiefs in East and South Bengal who asserted independence during troubles caused by the capture of power by Raja Ganesha and the invasions of Ibrahim Shah Sharqi. He, on the basis of the testimony of later oral and literary sources, identified Danujamardanadeva and Mahendradeva as the descendants of the Deva dynasty kings of Chandradvipa (the present-day Barisal district). Another modern scholar, Richard Eaton supported his view and identified the mint town Pandunagara with Chhota Pandua in the present-day Hooghly district.BOOK, Eaton, Richard Maxwell., The Rise of Islam and the Bengal Frontier, 1204-1760, California University Press, Berkeley, 1993, 54,54ff, 0-520-08077-7,weblink 13 February 2016, 4 October 2023,weblink live, However, Vaishnava tradition of Bengal too hold Raja Ganesh as taking the title upon accession to throne.weblink {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303231318weblink|date=3 March 2016}}{{citation needed|date=March 2019}}

Dinajpur Raj

File:Dinajpur Rajbari (5).jpg|Krishna Temple established by Maharaja Ganesh in his Palace as visible from outside road.File:Dinajpur Rajbari (2).jpg|Gateway to the Dinajpur Rajbari.According to a tradition, Dinajpur derived its name from Raja Dinaj or Dinaraj who founded the Dinajpur Raj (the estate of Dinajpur). But according to another tradition, Raja Ganesha was the real founder of this estate. In the late 17th century Srimanta Dutta Chaudhury (s/o Harish Chandra) from Andul Dutta Chaudhury Family became the zamindar of Dinajpur. After him, his sister's son Sukhdev Ghosh inherited his property as Srimanta's son had a premature death. Sukhdev's son Prannath Ray began construction of the Kantanagar Nava-Ratna Temple, presently known as the Kantajew Temple. The main blocks and the enclosing moats of the Rajbari (palace) were most probably constructed by Prannath and his adopted son Ramnath in the 18th century. The two-storied main palace was seriously damaged by an earthquake in 1897 and rebuilt later by Girijanath Ray.NEWS,weblink Dinajpur Rajbari: Discovering the Hidden Glory, Rahman, Zakia, 29 September 2003, The Daily Star (Bangladesh), The Daily Star, 20 August 2010, Dhaka, 5 March 2016,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20160305085651weblink">weblink live,

See also

• List of rulers of Bengal
• History of Bengal
• History of West Bengal
• History of India

References

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