Shamsuddin Ilyas Shah, the founder of the Bengal Sultanate
By the mid 14th century, three city-states emerged in Bengal after declaring independence from the Delhi Sultanate: Lakhnauti (ancient Gauda) in North Bengal, Sonargaon in East Bengal, and Satgaon in South Bengal. In 1338, after Izzuddin Yahya's death, Ilyas declared himself as the Sultan of Satgaon, with the title Shamsuddin Ilyas Shah. He then waged a long-drawn war from 1339 to 1352 against Sultan Alauddin Ali Shah of Lakhnauti and Sultan Ikhtiyaruddin Ghazi Shah of Sonargaon.
Ilyas Shah emerged victorious after conquering Lakhnauti and Sonargaon in 1342 and 1352 respectively. He then proclaimed the establishment of the Sultanate of Bengal in 1352 through the unification of the three regions: Satgaon, Lakhnauti, and Sonargaon. This region became known as "Bangalah" or "Mulk-i-Bangalah". The capital of this region was in Pandua. He was known as "Shah-i-Bangalah" during his tenure, and the people living in this region were known as "Bengalis". He established his capital in Pandua. The area was the former capital of the Gauda Kings and the Pala Emperors.
Ilyas is sometimes regarded as the father of Bengali nationalism by modern historians.(source-Wikipedia)
Ilyas Shah displayed an egalitarian attitude towards his subjects; his administration was known for its equality and acceptance of members from different religious, caste, social, and ethnic communities. Ilyas Shah also founded the city of Hajipur. He standardized the people of Bengal under the banner of one politico-social and linguistic platform, including the Bengali language. The region received immigrants from across the Muslim world, including North Indians, Turks, Abyssinians, Arabs, and Persians.(source-wikipedia)
so it is clear that the country name "Bangladesh" actually came from "Mulk-i-Bangalah" , which was first unification as a country of Bengali speaking people by a Muslim ruler Shamsuddin. after then Bangla as a language started to get recognition as a standard language(for thousand years before that event, Sanskrit and pali were regarded as standard language and language of elites, and Bangla was regarded as a language of 2nd class citizens) and the idea of Bengali nationalism arose which was mainly based on language. so the credit goes to a Muslim ruler Shamsuddin Ilyas Shah.
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