282 H. Blochmann — History and Geography of Bengal. — No. III. [No. 3, 



The narrative of Muhammad Bakhtyar's expedition to Tibhat involves 

 one or two geographical difficulties, which neither the restored text nor Major 

 Kaverty's copious notes have entirely removed. The traffic between Bengal 

 and Tibbat in those days, and even up to the reign of Akbar, seems to have 

 been very considerable. Minhaj speaks of no less than thirty-five roads 

 into Tibbat between the bend of the Brahmaputra and Tirhut, To one 

 of these Major Raverty's MSS. give the (slightly doubtful) name of 

 'Mahamhai Pass.' The traffic consisted chiefly in gold, copper, lead, 

 musk, yak tails, honey, borax, falcons, and hill ponies (tdnfhan). Ralph 

 Fitch* mentions Chichakot as the principal emporium in the (now British) 

 Duars. 



The whole tract south of Bhutan frequently changed rulers. The Ra- 

 jas of Kamrup, the Ahoms, the Kamata, and after them the Koch Rajas, 

 seem to have in turn held the Duars and lost them to the Bhuts. 



It is difficult to say what motives Muhammad Bakhtyar had to invade 

 Tibbat. It was perhaps, as Minhaj says, ambition ; but if we consider how 

 small a part of Bengal was really in his power, his expedition to Tibbat 

 borders on foolhardiness. He seems to have set out from Lakhnauti or 

 Deokot under the guidance of one 'Ali, who is said to have been a chief of 

 the Mech tribe, and marched to Bardhankot (Varddhanakuti). From 

 the way in which Minhaj mentions this town, it looks as if it had lain beyond 

 the frontier of Muhammad Bakhtyar's possessions, though there is no doubt 

 as to its identity. The ruins of Bardhankot lie due north of Bagura 

 (Bogra), in Long. 89° 28', Lat. 25° 8' 25", close to Govindganj, on the 

 Karataya River. f According to Minhaj, a large river flows in front 



in the A'in. I have not found Major Baverty's Kuntilah on the maps. Its longitude and 

 latitude, as given by bim or p. 550, almost coincide with those of the town of K u n t i t 

 (<j^liS\ which up to the time of the Mughul (Chaghtai) Dynasty was a sort of fron- 

 tier town, and is therefore occasionally mentioned by historians. But Major Poverty's 

 Kuntilah (Lat. 25° V ; Long. 82° 35') lies too far to the west. 



The fact that some MSS. of the Tabaqat give Bhagwat and Bhoili, and others Pa- 

 titah and Kuntilah (?), is curious. 



* Vide Journal, A. S. Bengal, 1873, Pt. I, p. 240. In 1861, Major Sherwill esti- 

 mated the number of hill-ponies brought for sale to the fair at Nek-Mardan, 40 miles 

 north-west of Dinajpur, at 3000. 



t Not far from Ghoraghat. Sheet 119 of the Indian Atlas shews the "Bajbari" 

 of the Bardhankot Rajas. Vide Westmacott in J. A. S. B., 1875, Pt. I, p. 188. 



Major Raverty has not identified Bardhankot, and has therefore been misled to 

 place it north of SiJckim (p. 562, note) ; hence it is no wonder that he finds discrepan- 

 cies in Minhaj's statements respecting the river and the bridge mentioned further on. 

 But there are none. Col. Dalton's attempt at identifying the bridge with that of Sil 

 Hako (J. A. S. B., XX, p. 291), and the river with the Brahmaputra, is now likewise 

 disposed of. The only difficulty that is left to be solved is the identification of the Tib- 

 batan town of Karbatan (?), for which each MS. almost has a different lectio. 



