Indian Antiquary Vol 03

SR No.: 032495
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Jas Burgess
Publisher: Swati Publications
Publication Year: 1984
Total Pages: 420
Language: English
Classification: Book_English
File Size: 19 MB

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THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY.
[MAT, 1874.
mentioned in the Tabaqdt, nor does it occur on the coins of the first century of Muhammadan rule. It is first mentioned in the Túrikh-i-Barani as the residence, during Balban's reign, of an independent Râi; but under Tughluq Shah (A.D. 1323), Sunnârgaon, and Satgaon, which likewise appears for the first time, are the seats of Muham. madan governors, the term Bangalah' being now applied to the united provinces of Lak'hnauti, Sátgåon, and Sunnârgaon.
"The Tarileh-i-Barani, the Tarikh-i-Firúzshahi by 'Afif, and the Travels of Ibn Batatah yield but little additional information. Firozabad, or Panduah (north of Måldahå, or Maldal.), which General Cunningham significantly calls Hazrat Panduah,' or . Panduab, the Residence,' appears as the new capital, and in connexion with it Fort Ekdålah, said to be near Panduah."
"From the middle of the 16th century we have the works and maps of Portuguese historians, notably the classical Da Asia' by Joao de Barros (died 1570); and the graphic descriptions of Cæsar Frederick (1570) and Ralph Fitch (1583 to 1591). Nor must I forget the Persian traveller Amin Râzi, an uncle of Nor Jahân, who composed his Haft Iqum in A. 1. 1002 (A.D. 1594), but it is doubtfal whether he visited Bengal, or merely wrote down what he heard at Agrah."
"Bat by far the most interesting contribation to the geography of Bengal, in spite of the unsatisfactory state of the MSS., is Todar Mall's rentroll." In the Ain we find that Bengal proper was divided into 19 Sirkárs, and 682 Mahåls. Eight of the 19 Sirkårs, and 204 of the 682 Maháls, have Muhammadan names. The rent-roll included both the (khalifah (genuine-vulgo khalsa) or crownlands, and the aqtd or jdgir lands, i.e., lands assigned to officers in lieu of pay or maintenance of troops. The distribution of the Sirkars depended, as in the old Hindd division, on the courses of the Ganges, Bhagirathi, and Megna, or, as the Ain expresses it, on the courses of the Padmawati, Ganga, and Brahmaputra.
For the description of the different Sirkárs and of the Frontiers we must refer to the Essay itself. The following remarks on the Sundarbans may, however, be extracted : " The old Portuguese and Dutch maps have also been frequently mentioned as affording testimony that the Sundarban, even up to the 16th century, was well cultivated; and the difficulty of identifying the mysterious names of the five Sundarban towns Pacaculi, Cuipi. ta vaz, Noldy, Dipuria (or Dapara), and Tiparia, which are placed on the maps of De Barros, Blaev, and Van den Broucke close to the coast-line, has inclined people to believe that they represent 'lost towns. Now the first of these five towns, from its position, belongs to the
Sundarban of the 24-Pargarás, and the second (Cuipitavaz) to that of Jessore District, whilst the remaining three lie east of it. But Pacaculi is either, as Col. Gastrell once suggested to me, a mistake for Pacacuti, i.e., pakkd kot'hi, a factory or warehouse erected by some trading company, as we find several along the Hagli; or it stands for Penchakuli, the name of the tract opposite the present mouth of the Damudar, or a little above the northern limit of the Sundarban. Cuipitavaz I have no hesitation to identify with Khalifatábåd. Van den Broucke also places it correctly southeast of Jessore. Noldy is the town and mahal of Noldi (Naldi) on the Noboganga, east of Jessore, near the Madhmati. Dipuria is Dapara, or Daspara, south-east of Baqirganj station, near the right bank of the Titulis, still prominently marked on Rennell's map; and Tiparia cannot stand for anything else but the district of Tiparah, which is correctly placed north-east of Daspara.
"Of other names given on old maps along the southern boundary of Bengal, we have (above Noldy) Nao Muluco (), Buram (Boshun, in the 24 Parganas); Maluco (Bhaluka, on the Kabadak P); west of them Agrapars and Xore (Agrapari and Dak'hineshor, north of Calcutta); and on the other side of the Hägli, Abegaca, which seems to be some Åmgachha, unless it is slightly misplaced and refers to Ambika (Kalnah); Bernagar, which should be Barnagar, on the other side of the river below Xore; Betor (?) as on Blaer's map, and Belor (?) on that of De Barros. Van den Broucke's map gives, in Hagli District, Sjanabath (Jahånåbåd); Sjandercona (Chandrakona); Cannacoel (Kanakul); Deniachali (Dhonek'håli); Caatgam (Satgion); Tripeni (Tripani, the Mahammadan form of Tribeni); Pandua (Panduah); Sjanegger; Basenderi (the old mahal Basandhari), where Van den Broucke makes the remark, 't Bosh Sanderie alwaar Alexandre M. gestuyt werd, the bush Sanderie, where Alexander the Great was stopped!"
On the Northern Frontier' we have the Sirkars G'horåg'håţ, Panjrah, Tajpur, and Parniah.
"The inhabitants of Northern Dengal according to the Tabaqat-i-Nasiri were the Koch, Mech, and Thård tribes, whose Mongolian features struck the first invaders as peculiar.
"The Rajahs of Northern Bengal wero powerful enough to preserve a semi-independence in spite of the numerous invasions from the time of Bakhtyar Khilji, when Debkot, near Dinajpur, was looked upon as the most important military station towards the north.
"Daring the fifteenth century the tract north of Rangpur was in the hands of the Rajahs of Kimat & Viol."