284 H. Bloehmann — History and Geography of Bengal. — No. III. [Xo. 3, 



deviated to the west into Nepal, he would certainly have retreated south- 

 ward into Tirhut. The retreat was disastrous, as the people had removed 

 from the line of march and had burnt everything. After fifteen days of 

 privation, Muhammad Bakhtyar issued from the mountains into the country 

 of Kamrup, and reached the head of the bridge. The guards which he had 

 left there, had deserted their post ; the Hindus of Kamrup had come and 

 destroyed the bridge, and Muhammad Bakhtyar occupied a strong temple 

 near the bridge. He was now besieged by crowds of Kamrup Hindus. 

 "With difficulty did the thinned army cut through the besiegers and hasten 

 to the river. Most of the Musalmans perished ; only Muhammad Bakhtyar 

 with a few horsemen reached the other bank. There they were again assist- 

 ed by Meches, the kinsmen of 'All, who rendered him great assistance until 

 he reached Deokot, or Damdamah, south of Dinajpur. 



Muhammad Bakhtyar from anguish became ill and took to his bed, 

 when 'Ali Mardan assassinated him (602 A. H.) at Deokot* 



Major Baverty is inclined to place Deokot north of Dinajpur ; but the 

 position is well known. Parganah Deokot still exists, and the old Muham- 

 madan ruins at Gangarampur, near Damdamah, the large tanks, and the 

 discovery there of the oldest Bengal inscriptions, fix the site of the ancient 

 Deokot. 



The additional lectiones of geographical names which Major Baverty 

 gives, enable me to identify three more places mentioned in the Tabaqat, 

 viz., Santos h, Masidha, and Kango r,f of which the last was the 

 fief of Husam-uddin 'Iwaz. S a n t o s h, which lower down is identified 

 with Mahiganj on the eastern bank of the Atrai River, contained, 

 according to the Tabaqat, the tomb of Muhammad Sheran, the successor of 



towards the Sangpu, and I agree with him, though I do not believe that Muhammad 

 Bakhtyar reached that river. 



* Regarding the reigns of Muhammad Bakhtyar' s immediate successors, I woidd 

 refer Major Baverty to Mr. Thomas's " Initial Coinage of Bengal, No. II," in J. A. S. B., 

 1873, p. 348, and Proc, A. S. B., 1872, p. 202. 



f The MSS. have ^jiaXw, ^yjki^ and JCXj;^, 8<><~£"°, $*x*Jio ) and <_$-;j.£v> ', 

 ^ffjjS^ and several other lectiones ; vide J. A. S. B., 1873, p. 212, note J. The Jcdf 

 in g,WXA3 must be wrong; it arose very likely from the sign of fatTiah above the 

 initial mim, and the correct name is $&*«k or Iaajwc or UiW» Masidha or Masidha, 

 Bengalice Mosidha, which is mentioned as an old place in the A'ih and in Buchanan's 

 Dinajepoor. Major Baverty identifies ' Maksidah' with the "Maxadabad" of the old 

 travellers; but Maxadabad is Maqcudabad (jL'f oj-oAii/c) the earlier name of Murshid- 

 abad. Maqcudabad, however, is itself not older than the 16th century. 



I prefer the text reading ^jl&j Bangaon, a wellknown place near Deokot, to 

 Major Baverty's ' Bekanwah'. The spelling ' Kons' for ' Kosi,' the river Xosi (Baver- 

 ty, p. 578), may also be an error of the copyists, the final yd having been mistaken for 

 the tail (ddirah) of the sin. 



