256 Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. [July, 1909. 
wth and the intertwining cane brakes resisted all attempts 
at further progress. The stones are no longer visible from the 
railway as the fast-growing vegetation had covered it up long 
since. 
When the Portuguese first visited Bengal, the Sayyid or 
Husaini dynasty reigned in Bengal.! One of the reasons of the 
ruin of Satganw was the downfall of the independent kingdom 
dynasty, Sultan Ghiasuddin Mahmud Shah, who is referred to 
as El-rey Mamude by Du Barros in his Da Asia, was ousted from 
his kingdom by Fakhruddin Sher Shah. The subsequent amal- 
gamation of Bengal in the last Empire of the Pathans served 
to hasten the ruin of Satganw. In the year 1540, its harbour 
prise from t ort. 
increasing shallowness of the river Sarasvati necessitated a 
of route for the incoming ships. The only alternative 
route was by the Bhagirathi, which was not deep enough for 
large sea-going vessels. This, again, necessitated a transhipment 
from the larger sea-going ships to smaller vessels, which gave 
rise to Betur and ultimately to Calcutta. The words of the 
Portuguese travellers imply that the Sarasvati was once navi- 
A eet) 
dated A.H.957 or 1550 A.D. Fifteen years later Casar Fredrick 
found it stilla reasonable fair city abounding with all things.* 
ing is known of Satganw during the temporary indepen- 
dence of Bengal under’ the later Suri and Kararani Sultans. 
With the final conquest of Bengal by the Mughals, the last blow 
was dealt to Satga by Emperor Akbar. The permission 
given to Captain Tavarer to erect a permanent town near Huyhly 
brought about the desertion of Satganw. At this time the whole 
1 Karly Annals ee the English in Bengal, vol. i, p. 132 
a Pi 
2 “The Portingal aes " : a 
untamed horses gp ive in a manner like wild men an 
” 
* Caesar Fredrick (Hakluayt Societ ), vol. i, p. 280. 
6 Jarrett’s translation of the Ain-LAkbari, Sehice 
