Expansion of the Bengal Sultanate

Timeline

1. 1436–1442Gaur · BengalNasiruddin Mahmud Shah was restored to the throne in 1435–1436, ending more than twenty years of Ganesha dynasty rule and restoring Ilyas Shahi legitimacy. With the Sharqi dynasty of Jaunpur locked in fierce conflict with the Lodi dynasty of Delhi, Bengal enjoyed a relatively peaceful environment, rebuilding its administration and military and laying the groundwork for expansion in the 1440s.
2. 1442–1446Baghhat (Khulna–Jessore) · BengalThe sultan's chief minister Khan Jahan Ali led armies to conquer Khulna and Jessore, carrying out systematic Muslim colonization in the southern marshlands: building mosques, reservoirs, roads, and religious facilities to attract settlers. Numismatic evidence shows the sultanate's territory reaching Bagur in the west, Sylhet in the east, Gaur–Pandua in the north, and the Hooghly estuary in the south.
3. 1443–1446Dhaka · BengalThe Jangipur mosque in Murshidabad (1443), the Hilali mosque in Gaur (1445–1446), the Binat Bibi mosque in Dhaka, and the Khurshid Khan mosque in Bagur were successively completed, marking the penetration of sultanate power across the realm. Architectural prosperity and territorial integration reinforced each other, making Bengal one of South Asia's important Islamic cultural centers in the 15th century.