Editing West Bengal (section)

=== Medieval and early modern periods ===
[[File:Firoz Minar.JPG|thumb|alt=Firoz Minar a red stone tower at Gauda |[[Firoz Minar]] at [[Gauḍa (city)|Gauḍa]] was built during the [[Bengal Sultanate]].]]
Subsequent Muslim conquests helped spread Islam throughout the region.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://en.banglapedia.org/index.php?title=Islam,_Bengal |title=Islam (in Bengal) |access-date = 26 October 2006 |work=[[Banglapedia]] |publisher=Asiatic Society of Bangladesh |url-status = live |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150723091245/http://en.banglapedia.org/index.php?title=Islam,_Bengal |archive-date = 23 July 2015}}</ref> It was ruled by dynasties of the Bengal Sultanate and feudal lords under the Delhi Sultanate for the next few hundred years. The Bengal Sultanate was interrupted for twenty years by a Hindu uprising under [[Raja Ganesha]]. In the 16th{{nbsp}}century, Mughal general [[Islam Khan I|Islam Khan]] conquered Bengal. Administration by governors appointed by the court of the Mughal Empire gave way to semi-independence under the [[Nawab]]s of [[Murshidabad]], who nominally respected the sovereignty of the Mughals in [[Delhi]]. Several independent Hindu states were established in Bengal during the Mughal period, including those of [[Pratapaditya]] of [[Jessore District]] and [[Raja Sitaram Ray]] of [[Bardhaman]]. Following the death of Emperor [[Aurangzeb]] and the Governor of Bengal, [[Shaista Khan]], the [[proto-industrialization|proto-industrialised]] [[Mughal Bengal]] became a semi-independent state under the [[Nawabs of Bengal]], and showed signs of the world's first [[Industrial Revolution]].<ref name="ray" /><ref name="sengupta" />  The [[Koch dynasty]] in northern Bengal flourished during the 16th and 17th{{nbsp}}centuries; it weathered the Mughals and survived until the advent of the British colonial era.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5lH40gT7xvYC&pg=PA44 |title=Bangladesh: Politics, Economy and Civil Society |last=Lewis |first=David |date=31 October 2011 |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |isbn=978-1-139-50257-3 |language=en |page=44}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=N2tlKzxwhY8C&pg=PA41 |title=Ancient India, History and Archaeology |last=Ganguly |first=Dilip Kumar |date=1994 |publisher=Abhinav Publications |isbn=9788170173045 |language=en |page=41 |access-date=12 August 2020 |archive-date=2 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230202001202/https://books.google.com/books?id=N2tlKzxwhY8C&pg=PA41 |url-status=live}}</ref>