42 Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. [N.S., XII, 



(18) Haveli Katak Banaras, with a fort and a masonry 

 palace within. This refers, of course, to the city of Katak with 

 its suburbs. The mahal is represented in the T. chronicles by 

 Kodinda Dandapata, and comprised the modern parganas of 

 Kodinda, Bakhrabad and Patiya. Bakhrabad is the abad or 

 clearance of Bakhir Khan, who was governor of Orissa towards 

 the end of Jahangir's rule, and in the beginning of Shahjehan's. 

 This mahal was bounded on the north by the main branch of 

 the Mahanadi and on the south and west by the hilly jungles 

 of Domaparagara and Khurdha. The tract was not large, and 

 being too much liable to floods did not yield much direct 

 revenue (Rs. 15,140 only). 



The mahal is, of course, noteworthy for its containing the 

 capital of Orissa. In the inscriptions, the Temple chronicles 

 and the older Musalman records l the name of the capital appears 

 as Varanasi Kataka or Katak Banaras (Musalman), Varanasi 

 being usually pronounced Banaras by upcountry people. The 

 name still survives in Biranasi, a small quarter of the city along 

 the Kathajori branch, a little below its bifurcation from the 

 main river Mahanadi, and two miles west of the fort. The 

 double- worded name was apparently found cumbrous, and so it 

 was reduced to simply Kataka, a form found not only in the 

 Am but also in the older Vaisnavite works like the Caitanya- 

 bhagavata. At present the second part of the name has been 

 entirely forgotten. 



The city has been described briefly in the Ain. But Jarrett's 

 translation evidently requires correction in two places. Firstly, 

 " this city has a stone fort situated at the bifurcation of the 

 two rivers." This is misleading. It is not the fort, but it 

 is the city which is so situated. Secondly, " Rajah Makand 

 Deo built a palace here nine stories in height ; the first storey 

 was taken up for the elephants and the stables ; the second was 

 occupied by the artillery and the guards and quarters for 

 attendants " ; and so on. A nine-storied building, if not entirely 

 impossible in those days, is prima facie incredible. From 

 William Bruton's description of Katak city and palace in 

 1632 a.d. (O.S.) it is clear that the translation for ashinah should 

 be not storey but quarters.* A similar description of various 



1 For the mention of Varanasi kataka in Sanskrit inscriptions, 

 ee J.A.S.B. , 1895, p. 149. Ravi-vare Varanasi-katake ; and p. 151 

 Uarhgala-vare Varanasi-katake; in Uriy a inscriptions, see J.A.S.B., 189 5, 



p. 100, Barariasi-katake, Srinaara-Gopalapriya-jagatira daksiyia-merhare. 

 Varanasi Katak was first mentioned in Musalman accounts in connection 

 with Sultan Firoz Shah's Invasion of Jajnagar in 701 H. (1360 A.D. ). 

 Firoz reached this Banaras, the capital of Jajiiagar-tTdlsah, after- 

 having crossed the river Maha-nadri ; see the Tarikh • Firoz Shu hi of 

 -tfiams-i Siraj Afif (Elliot, III, pp. 313-5, and a summary thereof in 



Raverty's footnote to pages 591-2 of his translation of the Tabaku* 

 Vasiri). 



2 For a d cription of Katak town in 1632 a.d. (O.S.), see William 



