Muhammad Bakhtiyar Khalji
Ikhtiyār al-Dīn Muḥammad Bakhtiyār Khaljī, also known as Bakhtiyar Khalji, was a Turko-Afghan military general of the Ghurid ruler Muhammad of Ghor, who led the Muslim conquests of the eastern Indian regions of Bengal and parts of Bihar and established himself as their ruler. He was the founder of the Khalji dynasty of Bengal, ruling Bengal for a short period, from 1203 to 1227 CE.
Khalji’s invasions of the Indian subcontinent between A.D. 1197 and 1206 led to mass flight and massacres of monks, and caused damage to the traditional Buddhist institutions of higher learning in Northern India. In Bengal, Khalji’s reign was responsible for the displacement of Buddhism. The leading centre of teaching for Mahayana Buddhism was Nalanda. At the end of the 12th century, Bakhityar Khilji demolished the Monastery in a brutal sacking. But some historians don’t agree and reason that Bakhtiyar’s attacks weren’t on the Buddhist viharas, and the actual Buddhist sites were already abandoned or in declining state.
His rule is said to have begun the Muslim rule in Bengal, most notably those of Bengal Sultanate and Mughal Bengal.
Bakhtiyar launched an ill-fated Tibet campaign in 1206 and was assassinated upon returning to Bengal. He was succeeded by Muhammad Shiran Khalji.
