Lutfullah Shirazi


Mīr Lutfullāh Khān Bahādur Shirāzī, was a Mughal official who held a number of positions during his life such as the Faujdar of Shujabad Sarkar from 1656 to 1658 and the faujdar of Sylhet Sarkar up until 1663.

Background and origin

Shirazi was of Persian descent, originally from the Iranian city of Shiraz.

Career

Documents show that Shirazi was a commander for the Subahdar of Bengal, Shah Shuja. He succeeded Noorullah as Faujdar of Shujabad Sarkar in 1656. In 1657, Shirazi built the hilltop mosque at Hajo, known as Powa-Makkah Barmaqam. It contained the shrine of Ghiyath ad-Din Awliya, an Iraqi prince and preacher commonly credited for introducing Islam to the region. Shirazi was a disciple of Shah Syed Niamatullah of Karnal and he was visited by the Shah in this mosque according to inscriptions.
As Mir Jumla's invasion of Assam commenced, Shirazi fled from Guwahati to Dhaka in 1658 after the Ahoms and the Koch Biharis rebelled, being led by their rulers Supangmung and Pran Narayan respectively. In Dhaka, he was then appointed the faujdar of Sylhet Sarkar and migrated there, replacing Sultan Nazar. In 1660, he established a strong enclosure in Shah Jalal's dargah in Sylhet town and also built a small mosque next to it. The Persian inscription stating this is still in existence today.
He granted Pandit Raghunath Bisharad of Shamshernagar three and a half haals of land in Ita Pargana in 1663.

Legacy

The Pangals that belong to the Makak Angouba clan share a common ancestor whose name is Sunarful. Sunarful was a descendant of Lutfullah.