420 Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, [June, 1907. 



considered the proper heir to the throne whom they have begotten 

 on the person of their own sister. After the conquest of 

 Chatgaon [by Shaista Khan] it was found from the records of the 

 place that the year was written as 1127.1 On being asked to 

 account for the date, the people said that the beginning of the era 

 was the beginning of their Royal dynasty, and that the aforesaid 

 years had passed since the establisliment of the rule of these 

 -Rajahs. This fact makes it clear that in this long period [of 

 1127 years] no foreigner had succeeded in conquering the country, 

 and no_ outsider had got into it. Their cannons are beyond 

 numbering, their flotilla {nawwSra) exceeds the waves of the sea 

 [in number]. Most of their ships are gJiurohs and jalbas; khnlus 

 and dhums are larger than gJiurahs ; these are so strongly made of 

 timber with a hard core ( az choh-i-qalhdar) that the balls of 

 zamlutaks and small cannons cannot pierce them. [Latterly] the 

 Rajah appointed the Feringi pirates to plunder Bengal, and hence 

 he did not send the Arracan fleet for the purpose. 



Old Chatgaon Described. 



[162, a.] Chatgaon is a tract adjacent to Bengal and Arracan 



mS^'m . ^1.^^*^'^' "^^^""^ *^^'"^ "'«« ^ [Mughal] outpost, 

 [ibZ, b\ to Chatgaon lay a wilderness. On the skirt of the hill 



was a dense jungle, without any vestige of habitation or living 

 being. The river Feni, rising in the hills of Tipperah, passes by 

 Jagdia a and falls mto the ocean. Ninety-nine nullaL which 

 contain water even in seasons other than the monsoons, intervene 

 between Fern and Chatgaon. After the capture of Chatgaon, 

 bridges ipul) were built by Shaista Khan's order over all these 

 nullahs From Dacca to Chatgaon six creeks {haliar) have to be 

 crossed m boats ; one of them is the river of Sripur, which is so 

 the whole d^ ""^^ perform only one trip across and back in 



On the bank of the KarnfuH river are some hills, high and 

 low, situated close to each other. The lower hills hale been 

 heaped over ^xth earth and raised to the level of the higher ones ; 

 all these hills have been scarped cy lin drically , fortified, and named 

 Alt A ^ Chatgaon]. In strength it rivals the rampart of 

 tlTZf^'ntf f^*°^^^^^^ (^"'•i) ^re as high as the falalc- 



tnZl\- ^ ' ""■} ^^r^ ^^'^^^* ^^""'^ ^^^ depth of its moat, 

 imagination cannot reach its niched parapet . 



brP^Hfl,*^^ ^fl^ ^^l been dug a deep ditch, about eight yards in 

 tl e rti' r / ,«^^*f .° ^i'ie, close to the edge of the ditch, flows 

 tea On fh^^^li ""^a'^- ^T''^' ^"""^ tl>e Tipperah hills 'to the 

 diteh BeWnTn TV' f ^^'^? ""'^^ ^^^ deep tank close to the 



te^ S^ TmJ ^^""tl *^« ^°*^^e north side and a part of 



tern side, are hills. TKo Tiin= r.^^ „^ i.- i_ . •* ., ^. 



wegtem 



The hills are so high and the jungle 



* Thia should Im 109'? T^ 4.u r> 



Arracan, 1027 corresponds to! RR^ I^ Burmese vulgar era, used also in 



' In Eennell'a J&a.^h^ \?i^- ^?'"^"^ ""'^ ^3ra Gazetteer). 



a Atlas, bheet 1, Jagdia ia ou the Little Feni Riyer 



