Chhuti Khan


Chhuti Khan was a military commander of the Bengal Sultanate and governor of the Northern Chittagong region in the early 16th century.

Biography

Khan held an inherited position. His father, Paragal Khan, and grandfather, Rasti Khan, were the previous military commander of the Bengal Sultanate and governor of the Northern Chittagong region. He was tasked with guarding the borders of the sultanate. He successfully defended the sultanate from the Twipra Kingdom, which, led by Dhanya Manikya, invaded the sultanate in 1513 and 1515. In the process he occupied large parts of the Twipra Kingdom. He had good relations with Nasiruddin Nasrat Shah, the Sultan of Bengal.
Khan was a supporter of literature. He ordered his court poet, Shrikar Nandi, to translate the Ashvamedha chapter of the Mahabharat from Sanskrit to Bengali. The poem was written in a couplet and tripathi matra format and was called the Chhutikhani Mahabharata. He build a canal in Chittagong the still exists today. He built the Chhuti Khan’s Mosque which, heavily rebuilt, still stands. Chhutikhani Mahabharata is one earlier Bengali versions of the Mahabharata.