Ilyas Shah was a Sistani Sunni Muslim who rose through the ranks of the Delhi Sultanate. In the early 14th-century, the Delhi Sultanate divided Bengal into three provinces based in the towns of Satgaon in South Bengal, Sonargaon in East Bengal, and Lakhnauti in North Bengal. The purpose was to improve administration as Delhi's sway over Bengal weakened. Ilyas Shah was appointed Governor of Satgaon. In the middle of the 14th-century, the governors of the three city-states declared independence. The three city-states began warring against one another. Ilyas Shah eventually defeated the ruler of Lakhnauti Alauddin Ali Shah and the ruler of Sonargaon Ikhtiyaruddin Ghazi Shah. He unified Bengal into an independent sultanate and established his capital in Pandua.