The Palaiologoi: Bengal's Forgotten Byzantine Roots

While most histories of Bengal focus on the Mughal emperors, the British Raj, or the 1971 liberation war, there is a quieter, deeper thread that connects this delta to the Mediterranean. This episode explores the ancient maritime and cultural links between the Bengal Sultanate and the Byzantine Empire, specifically through the lens of the Palaiologos dynasty. We trace how Byzantine gold solidi circulated in the markets of Sonargaon, how the silk roads brought Greek medical texts to Dhaka, and how the diplomatic correspondence between Emperor John V Palaiologos and the Sultan of Bengal reveals a cosmopolitan world far removed from later colonial divisions. Lucas and Luna examine the archaeological evidence of coin hoards found in the Padma river basin, the translation of Galenic medicine into Persian and Bengali, and the surprisingly warm reception of Byzantine envoys who traveled overland from Trebizond. By looking at these forgotten connections, we see Bengal not as an isolated periphery, but as a central node in a global network that included Constantinople, Cairo, and Quanzhou. This conversation peels back the layers of modern nationalism to reveal a medieval reality where faith was less important than trade, diplomacy, and the shared language of commerce.

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