1875.] H. Blochmann — History and Geography of Bengal. — No. III. 287 



known throughout India, that even Muhammaclans may be fairly assumed 

 to be acquainted with his name. But all MSS. spell the Raja's name t_t»J(£ 

 Kans, not ^y^ Ganes ; and I am inclined to adhere to the spelling of 

 the MSS. and read the name as Kans or Kansa. This would indeed be the 

 name which Krishna's enemy, the tyrant of Mathura, bore. I do not 

 think that the name is now in use, or has been in use in Bengal since the 

 spread of Chaitanya's Krishna-cultus. But Raja Kans lived just a hundred 

 years before Chaitanya, and the name might not then have been so unusual 

 as it would now be. Further, Raja Kans is styled ' Raja of Bhaturiah', 

 and Raja Ganes ' Raja of Dinajpur'. But Bhaturiah does not include 

 Dinajpur ; for ' Parganah' Bhaturiah lies far to the south of Dinajpur Dis- 

 trict, in Rajshahi proper, between Amrul and Bagura. But the name ' Bha- 

 turiah' is also used in a more extensive sense, and signifies Northern Rajshahi 

 proper. It thus formed part of Barendra, whilst Dinajpur with the northern 

 districts formed the old division of Nivritti. Now the Barendra Brahmans, 

 as Dr. Wise tells me, say that their social classification was made by one 

 Raja Kans Narayana of Tahirpur in Rajshahi ; and as Tahirpur belongs to 

 Bhaturiah {vide Map VI of Rennell's Atlas), there is just a possibility that 

 the statement of the Barendra Brahmans may give us a clue and help us to 

 identify the historical Raja Kans. 



I have no doubt that the name of the district of R aj shahi is con- 

 nected with Raja Kans; for just as Mahmudshahi, Barbakshahi, and other 

 names in the neighbourhood of Rajshahi refer to the Bengal kings Mahmud 

 Shah and Barbak Shah, so can Rajshahi, i. e., Raja-shahi, only refer to the 

 Raja who was ' the Shah', i. e., to a Hindu Raja who ascended a Musalman 

 throne. In its shortened form, ' Rajshahi' is certainly a most extraordinary 

 hybrid ; for the Hindi raj is the same as the Persian shdhi. 



It was remarked in the first part of these ' Contributions to Bengal 

 Geography and History' that Raja Kans did probably not issue coins in 

 his own name. We know, however, that coins were issued during his reign, 

 viz., posthumous coins of A'zam Shah, during whose reign Raja Kans rose 

 to influence, and coins in the name of one Bayazid Shah. The latter issue 

 was described by me before, and bears, as far as is now known, the years 

 812 and 816 ; the former was brought to the notice of the Society by the 

 Hon'ble E. C. Bayley {vide J. A. S. B., 1871, p. 291, note). I can now 

 give a figure of the posthumous coinage : two specimens were lately brought 

 for the Society's cabinet,* clearly dated 812 {vide PI. XI, Fig. 1). They 

 weigh 16169 and 165 - 7 grains respectively. 



* Together with five silver coins of Muhammad Shah, son of Raja Kans, dated 818, 

 819, 822, 823, 826. The hitherto ascertained years of his reign were 818, 821, and 831. 

 Mr. W. L. Martin also sent me lately a Muhammad Shah of the same typo as published 

 by me. It was dug up near Madhupurah, Northern Bhagalpur, which belonged to 

 Bengal. 



