The Conquest of Bakla () refers to the Mughal conquest of the Chandradwip Kingdom, which covered much of the present-day Barisal Division of Bangladesh. The campaign was led by Syed Hakim, under the orders of Islam Khan I, against Raja Ramchandra Basu. Background The Barisal region was historically known as Bakla and much of it was ruled by the Chandradwip Kingdom, an independent line of Hindu kings who enjoyed autonomy under the Sultanate of Bengal. The Mughal Empire defeated the Sultanate at the Battle of Rajmahal on 12 July 1576, formally establishing the Bengal as the easternmost province of the subcontinent-wide empire. However, the collapse of the Sultanate led to the formation of the Baro-Bhuiyans; a loose confederacy of independent chieftains across Bengal who continued to challenge Mughal domination. During the reign of Emperor Akbar, Raja Man Singh I (1594–1606) was the appointed Subahdar of Bengal and responsible for warding off rebellious chieftains in the region. The Chandradwip Kingdom was then under the rule of Raja Kandarpa Narayan Basu. Kandarpa agreed to form an alliance with Singh and the Mughals. Kandarpa's son and successor Raja Ramchandra Basu broke this agreement in 1602, declaring Bakla's independence, just like Masnad-i-Ala Musa Khan of Sonargaon. Ramchandra was among the Baro-Bhuiyans of Bengal and was a close ally and son-in-law of Raja Pratapaditya of Jessore. His mother was against the idea of him breaking the agreement of his father and did not support warring with the Mughals. However, Ramchandra's Brahmin ministers publicly expressed their support to the resistance. Campaign In 1608, Emperor Jahangir appointed Islam Khan Chishti as the Subahdar of Bengal, who continued his predecessors' campaigns to subdue the Baro-Bhuiyans and completely annex all of Bengal to the Mughal Empire. He sent a letter to Ramchandra requesting him to surrender and recognise Mughal subordination. Ramchandra rejected the letter and teamed up with Pratapaditya to develop a large army consisting of thousands of Bengalis and Afghans who were opposed to Mughal rule. In December 1611, Islam Khan dispatched two forces to South Bengal, one against Raja Pratapaditya of Jessore and the other against Raja Ramchandra of Bakla. He entrusted Syed Hakim with the command of a large army for the Bakla campaign. This was so the two Rajas could not come to each other's aid as they would be busy in their own battles. Hakim was joined by leading Mughal generals of Bengal including