Latest / The Hidden History of Bengal: Kingdoms, Empires, and Revolution — Fexingo History / The Last Hindu King of Bengal: Hemu Sen's Lost Capital
Transcript
- Lucas: So we've talked a lot about the Senas — their glory under Ballal Sen and Vijay Sen, their fall when Bakhtiyar Khalji stormed Nabadwip in 1204. But what happened to the dynasty after that? Most people assume they just vanished into the dustbin of history. Lucas: But there's a fascinating chapter that's barely known: a Sena prince named Hemu Sen who escaped the collapse and fled east, all the way to Sylhet, where he carved out a brand new kingdom that lasted for over a century. And the evidence for it is scattered across copper plates and a forgotten capital called Baniachong. Luna: Wait, a Sena kingdom in Sylhet? That's deep in the wetlands, near Assam. How did they even get there? Lucas: Good question. After the Khalji raids, the Sena court scattered. Lakshman Sen fled to Vikrampur, south of Dhaka, and it's there that his successors held on for a few generations. But by the late 1200s, the Sultanate was pressing in from the west, and the family split — some went to Bikrampur's southern reaches, others pushed further east. Lucas: Hemu Sen is the one who made the big leap. Around 1325, he led a group of followers through the Meghna river's delta, through what's now the haor wetlands — those vast, seasonal lakes — and established a new base in the Sylhet region, which was still a frontier where Hindu chiefs held power. Luna: So he wasn't just fleeing — he was colonizing new territory. Lucas: Exactly. And it wasn't empty land. The area had its own local rulers, but Hemu managed to secure a foothold, probably through a mix of marriage alliances and military might. He built his capital at Baniachong, which today is a quiet town in Habiganj district, but back then it was a strategic spot on the banks of the Khowai river. Lucas: The place had a natural moat — rivers and swamps on all sides — making it a fortress without walls. And here's the kicker: he styled himself 'king of the eastern regions' and minted his own coins, which is the ultimate declaration of independence. Luna: Did he ever clash with the Sultanate directly? Lucas: He did, and this is where it gets really interesting. In 1328, just a few years after he established his kingdom, the Sultan of Delhi, Ghiyasuddin Tughlaq, sent his son Ulugh Khan — later Muhammad bin Tughlaq — to bring Bengal to heel. The sultan's army conquered the western parts, but Hemu's forested kingdom proved much tougher. Lucas: According to a Persian chronicle, the Tughlaq forces had to cut through dense jungle to reach Baniachong, and even then, Hemu avoided a pitched battle. He used guerrilla tactics — ambushes, cutting supply lines — and ultimately forced the sultan's army to withdraw. It's one of the few recorded instances where a local Hindu king successfully resisted the Tughlaq military machine. Luna: That's huge. So he was a thorn in the side of the Delhi Sultanate for how long? Lucas: Decades, actually. Hemu ruled until sometime around the 1350s, and his successors — we have names like Govinda Sena and others — kept the kingdom going until the late 1400s. That's over a century of independent Sena rule in the east, while the rest of Bengal was under the Ilyas Shahi dynasty or the later Sultans. Luna: So they were contemporaries of the Bengal Sultanate, but they managed to stay autonomous. Lucas: Right. And they weren't isolated. We have copper plate inscriptions that record land grants to Brahmins, and they suggest a functioning bureaucracy with officials like 'mahapradhana' — the chief minister — still using the old Sena titles. They also maintained diplomatic ties with the Ahom kingdom in Assam, which was another rising power in the east. Lucas: There's even a record of a marriage alliance between the Senas and the Ahom royal family, which is fascinating because the Ahoms were originally from Southeast Asia — they'd migrated from present-day Myanmar — and they were adopting Hindu practices. So you have this web of connections stretching from Delhi to Assam, all mediated by this little-known kingdom in the wetlands. Luna: What happened to them in the end? Lucas: They were eventually absorbed by the expanding Bengal Sultanate, likely in the early 1500s. One of the last Sena kings, a certain Govinda Sena, is mentioned in a Persian inscription from the Sultan's court — but not as a king, rather as a noble who had converted to Islam. That's a quiet end, no dramatic battle, just a slow assimilation. Lucas: But the legacy lives on in the landscape. At Baniachong, there's a place called 'Hemu Sen's Palace', and locals have worshipped a Durga idol there for centuries. And archaeologists have found bricks and pottery typical of the Sena period, scattered across a large mound. It's all under a modern village now, but the memory persists. Luna: I love that this is a story about endurance, not just fall and fade away. Lucas: Exactly. And it reminds us that the history of Bengal isn't just a simple narrative of conquest — it's a patchwork of smaller kingdoms, resilient pockets, and unexpected echoes. I mean, here's a dynasty that supposedly ended in 1204, yet we find them still ruling in the 1400s. It makes you wonder what other forgotten chapters are out there. Lucas: And that's actually something we're trying to do with this show — uncover those hidden layers. And it's only possible because a small group of listeners supports us monthly. If you're one of them, thank you, truly. If not, and you've been enjoying these deep dives, you can help keep this ad-free and independent at buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. Just a few people chipping in makes a huge difference. Luna: Yeah, it's a pretty small team, and every bit counts. And honestly, the research for these episodes is intense — tracing copper plates and reading Persian chronicles. Lucas: It is, but it's a labor of love. Now, back to Hemu Sen — there's one detail that really brings him to life. A copper plate from his reign was discovered in the 1950s, and it's written in Sanskrit, with a beautiful verse describing him as 'the lion that destroys the herds of elephants from Yavana' — Yavana being the Persian-speaking Muslims. It's poetic, but also a genuine piece of propaganda. Luna: That's a powerful image. Do we have any physical evidence of his capital beyond the legends? Lucas: Actually, yes. A team from the archaeology department of Jahangirnagar University surveyed Baniachong in the 2000s and found a large fortified enclosure, about 300 by 250 meters, surrounded by a moat that still holds water. They also recovered a hoard of silver coins, some of which bore the name 'Shri Hemu Sen' in old Bengali script. That's pretty solid proof. Lucas: What's ironic is that today, the site is known as 'Baniachong Masjid', because a Sultanate-era mosque was built right on the ruins of his palace. So you have this layered history — Hindu king, then Muslim saint's shrine, then a modern village. It's a microcosm of Bengal's religious and cultural transitions. Luna: That's got to be one of the few places where you can literally walk from a Hindu palace to a mosque built on its stones. Lucas: Yes, and it's a powerful reminder that history is not linear — it's sedimentary. Anyway, I think that's a fitting note: the story of Hemu Sen is not just about a king, but about how a place can carry memory across centuries. And that's a lesson we can all apply to how we see the past. Luna: I'm glad we dug into this. I had no idea the Sena dynasty had this long tail. Lucas: Neither did most people. But that's why we're here — to unearth these gems. Thanks for joining me on this one.