290 H. Bloclimarm — History and Geography of Bengal. — No. III. [Xo. 3, 



" inscriptions are taken from the tomb of the Muhammad an Pir, or saint, 

 " known by the name of Mahi Santosh, mentioned by Dr. Buchanan (apud 

 " Martin's Eastern India, II, 667) as being at Mahiganj, on the eastern 

 " bank of the Atrai, in Thana Potnitala, District Dinajpur. He says that 

 " the saint has communicated his name to Parganah Santosh, and that 

 " the most remarkable thing was that his name is said to be Sanskrit. 



" Mr. J. P. Sneyd, who was good enough to take the rubbings for me, 

 " says that the city among the remains of which the tomb is situate, is 

 " known as Santosh, and that the tombs are said to be those of a lady, 

 " named Mahi Santosh, and her daughter. 



" The larger inscription is over the inner door of the entrance to the 

 " tomb ; the smaller one is outside the building. There are quantities of 

 " brick and blocks of stone all about, and the remains of a stone wall, and 

 " a brick building, said to have been the ' cutcherry'. The local tradition 

 " I look upon as almost worthless. Doctor Buchanan and Mr. Sneyd, an 

 " interval of sixty-six years having elapsed, heard quite different stories about 

 " the name. 



" I do not think the name Mahi Santosh has anything to do with the 

 " Muhammadan occupants of the tomb. Santosh is the name of the Parga- 

 " nah, and Mahi is clearly connected with Mahiganj, 'the mart of Mahi,' 

 " and I cannot but connect that with the Buddhist king of the 9th or 10th 

 " century, Mahi Pal." 



If, as Mr. Sneyd says, the ruins round about Mahiganj are called 

 ' Santosh', we would have to look for the tomb of Muhammad Sheran, 

 Bakhtyar's successor, among them. 



The name ' Mahiganj ' cannot be very old, though ' Mahi ' may be an 

 allusion to Mahi Pal. All names ending with the Persian ganj are modern, 

 and I cannot point to a single place ending in ganj that existed, or had 

 received that name, before the 15th and 16th centuries. 



The two inscriptions, as is so often the case, have nothing to do with 

 the tomb. In all probability, the tomb is older than the inscriptions. Tombs 

 have always been store places for inscriptions of ruined mosques of the 

 neighbourhood. They add to the sanctity of the tomb, because their char- 

 acters are generally tughrd, and therefore unintelligible to the common people ; 

 they are poured over with milk and oil by votaries who Took upon them as 

 powerful amulets, or by the sick who catch the dripping liquid and get 

 cured. 



The larger inscription of the two, which measures 3 ft. by 11 in., is as 

 follows : 



