Pratapaditya was born in 1561. He defeated Pathan and Portuguese and extended Jessore's boundary from Puri to Sandwip. He declared independence and restored the martial glory of the Bengalis. He constructed the famous Chusatti Ghat in Varanasi and patronized Bengali language and culture. Pratapaditya prospered immensely, building numerous forts and temples and rapidly expanded through conquest. Finally went on to declare himself sovereign lord from the shackles of Mughal Empire. He presided over a Hindu kingdom in Bengal, which, at its zenith encompassed the districts of Nadia, North 24 Parganas and South 24 Parganas in West Bengal, as well as extending up to modern-day Bangladesh from Kushtia in the North, Barisal in the East and Sundarbans and Bay of Bengal to the South Maharaja Pratapaditya built several fortifications to secure his kingdom. The principal fourteen of them were at Jessore, Dhumghat, Raigarh, Kamalpur, Vedkashi, Shibsha, Pratapnagar, Shalikha, Matla, Haidargarh, Araikaki, Mani, Raimangal and Chaksri, even seven were built in and around present-day Kolkata. They were at Matla, Raigarh, Tala, Behala, Salkia, Chitpur and Mulajor and one near present-day Jagaddalin the North 24 Parganas. Maharaj Pratapaditya’s army was divided into six divisions – infantry, cavalry, artillery, archers and elephant division. The infantry consisted of the Dhali and Raibneshe soldiers, under the command of Kalidas Ray and Madan Malla. Madan Malla belonged to the Bagdi (Barga Kshatriya) caste. The Raibneshe soldiers of Pratapaditya’s army were all Bagdi in origin, brought from Mallabhum by Pratapaditya since the Bagdis were proven warrior clan of Bengal. According to Bharat chandra, Maharaj Pratapadaitya had 52,000 Dhalis under his command. There were many Kuki soldiers in his army and was under the command of Raghu. A cavalry of 10,000 was commanded by Pratapsingha Dutta. Pratapditya formed a rainbow coalition of classes and communities in his army.
