A SUBLIME CHARACTER
Principles of Life
EASTERN Bengal was under the central sultanate of Delhi during the age preceding the Mughal rule. Many a times during this period the governors here revolted against the centre and captured the throne. Sultan Ghiyasuddin Azam Shah (1390– 1411 AD) was one of them who having revolted against the central Delhi Sultanate established his independent rule in eastern Bengal.
At that time Dhaka was not in existence; Sonargaon was the seat of the government. An English historian, Francis Bradley-Birt, has given an account of an incident of this Muslim emperor in the book, Dacca: The Romance of an Eastern Capital. In the second edition of this book printed from London, 1914, the incident has been recorded thus:
One day Ghiyas al-Din was practicing archery. Incidentally, his arrow injured the only son of a widow. The woman did not know that the arrow was shot by the king. She went to a Qazi (judge) with her complaint. The Qazi discerned that the arrow had been shot by the King. He wavered for long as he had to choose between two options of either giving priority to fear of the King or to fear of God. In the end the fear of God prevailed over him. He called the King to be held accountable in the court. As soon as the King received the call of the Qazi he left for the court without any hesitation. But he also hid a small sword in his clothes. The Qazi did not make any special arrangements for the King in his court. After investigating the matter the Qazi gave the decision that the King must pay a reasonable amount of money to the widow as compensation in order that his grievous error be forgiven. The King obeyed the command without any complaint and gave the widow a big amount of money to atone for his mistake. When the proceedings ended the Qazi rose from his chair and fell at the feet of the King. The King immediately held him up and showed him the sword that he had hidden in his clothes. The King said to him, ‘I brought this sword so that I could punish you in case you deviated from the path of justice in the proceeding. But you gave the decision in accordance with justice and did not fear me and therefore you deserve utmost respect.
The tomb of this King, who set an example of justice, still exists in Sonargaon, Naraynganj district of current day Bangladesh.
A person with a sublime character is one who accepts one’s mistake instead of concealing them behind excuses and explanations.
The secret of progress of any community is for it to possess men of sublime character. The presence of such individuals makes the community alive and the absence of these causes the community to stagnate. A heedful individual is one who lays importance on principles in the face of interests; one who accepts one’s mistake instead of concealing them behind excuses and explanations; one who ignores personal complaints rather than getting affected by it; and one who honours an individual even after having a verdict pronounced against himself.
