94 H. Beveridge — TJie Simdarhans in Ancient Times. [Mat, 



tlie king of wliich received liim kindly, and allowed him to build a cliurcli. 

 The church built at Ciandeean, the author states, was the first ever erected 

 in Bengal ; that of Chittagong was the second, and then came the chm-ch 

 at Bandel, which was erected by a Portuguese named Villalobos.* 



Mr. Beveridge identifies ' Ciandeean' with Chand Khan, or Dhiimghat, 

 the seat of Eaja Pratapaditya, in the 24-Parganahs, near Kaliganj. ' Chand 

 Khan' was the old name of the property in the Sundarban, which Vikrama- 

 ditya, Pratapaditya' s father, got from Daud Shah of Bengal. 



The description of the wood and rivers, the animals and scenery de- 

 scribed by Fonseca, and the fact that he speaks of no towns, show that the 

 Sundarban in 1599 was what it now is. 



The paper will be printed in No. I, of Pt. I, of the Journal for 1876. 



Mr. W. T. Blanpoed said — That any contribution to the history of 

 the Sundarbans was of interest because of its bearing upon the theories of 

 formation of river deltas. If Mr. Ferguson's views of the mode in which 

 the delta of the Ganges has changed in late years be accepted, it is very 

 improbable that the Sundarbans have, at any recent period, been higher 

 above the water level, and consequently better suited for human habitation 

 than they are at present. 



Mr. H. F. Blaistoed said — That there was good G-eological evidence 

 of the Sundarbans having undergone depression : since excavations every- 

 where in and around Calcutta and also at Kulna in Jessore showed that an 

 old forest, indicated by stumps of trees with their roots in situ, exists at a 

 depth of from 20 to 30 ft. ; at such a depth, that if the ground above were 

 removed, the forest bed would be some feet below low water level. This 

 forest is chiefly Sundri, a tree which now grows between tide marks, 

 and the ground above is apparently a fresh water deposit. Nothing could 

 be said as to the date of the submergence, whether it took place vpithin 

 what are usually regarded historic times or earlier. 



Mr. H. Beverley enquired whether it was not the case that the 

 cultivation of the Sundarbans was largely influenced by the action of the 

 river-system of the lower Grangetic delta. Where there was a strong current 

 of fresh water making its way to the sea, it was only reasonable to suppose 

 that the salt water was thereby kept back somewhat and the laud rendered 

 fit for habitation and capable of being cultivated. Now Mr. Westland had 

 shown in his work on Jessore that for many years past the river-system of 

 the delta had been gradually shifting eastwards, and it was the fact that at 

 the present day the great body of the waters of the Ganges and Brahmaputra 

 rivers emptied itself by the Megna which flowed to the east of the Baqirganj 



* But the keystone of the old Bandel church, said to have belonged to the original 

 chiirch that was destroyed by Shahjahan's troops, bears the year 1599. The Editor. 



