Vol. VI, No. 11.] History of the District of Hughli. 609 



[N.8.] 



continued to be so till it was conquered at the close of 

 the 12th century by Mahammad-i-Sheran. a general under 

 Bakhtiyar Khiliji, who afterwards became king of Bengal on 

 the death of the latter. 1 



Notwithstanding that Rada formed a part of Bengal since 

 its conquest by Bijaya-sena, it appears that a portion of the 

 district of Hughli to the west of the Saraswati, though it apper- 

 tained to Rada, was conquered by the Gangavansa kings of 

 Orissa and formed a part of their dominion. The Rev. J. Long 

 says: " The banks of the Saraswati at Triveni formed the 

 ancient boundary of the kingdom of Orissa, extending as far 

 west as Bishenpur in the time of the Gangavansa princes from 

 the 10th to the 14th century A.D." * But Churang or Sarang 

 Deo, otherwise called Chora Ganga, the founder of the Ganga- 

 vansa dynasty, did not conquer Orissa till 1131 A.D., and we 

 find that during the reign of his son Gangeswara Deo, who 

 ascended the throne in 1151 A.D., the dominion of Orissa 

 extended " from the Ganges to the Godavari," 8 and it should 

 be borne in mind that the Ganges in the middle of the 12th 

 century flowed through the Saraswati. There cannot be any 

 doubt that the Gangavansa kings of Orissa, from the time of 

 Ganges war Deo, retained possession of the western portion of the 

 district of Hugh to the west of the Saraswati, and therefore it 

 was that Ananga Bhim Deo assumed the proud title of " Gau- 

 reswara " or sovereign of Gaura in his coin and seal, which 

 title was retained even by the titular Rajas of Khurda.* 

 With regard to Telinga Mukunda Deo, the last independent 

 sovereign of Orissa, who reigned from 1550 to 1558, it has been 

 said "he founded a ghat and temple at the sacred spot called 

 Triveni, on the Hooghly , north of the town of that name, which 

 formed the extreme verge of his dominions." 6 Hence it is clear 

 that the Ganges formed the ancient boundary of the dominion 

 of the Gangavansa kings between the middle of the 12th century 

 to the middle of the 16th century, instead of from the 10th to 

 the 14th century A.D. as stated by the Rev. J. Long. Though 

 no doubt Triveni formed the extreme verge of Mukunda Deo'ft 

 dominion, yet it appears that this limit varied during the reign 

 of one king at least, namely, Prataparudra Deo, the contempo- 

 rary of Chaitanya Deva, who ascended the throne in 1503 

 and died in 1524. It appears from the Chaitanya-chari- 

 tamrita 6 that during his reign the river Mantreswar in the 

 district of 24-Parganas was the northern boundary of the 

 kingdom of Orissa. It should be observed that the part 

 of the district of Hughli to the west of the Ganges is the best 



1 Tabakat-i-Nasiri, translated bv Major Raverty. 



* The Banks of the Bhagirathi : Cal. Rev., vol. vi, p. 402. 

 s Stirling's Orissa (1904), p. 71 ; As. Res., vol. xv, p. 164. 



* Stirling's Orissa, p. 73. 6 Ibid., p. 83. 

 6 Madhyama Khanda, ch. 10. 



