57 
1890.] at Bhot Bdtjdn in Howrah. 
Both these sanads are as usual addressed to Mutasaddis,’ Chau- 
dharis, 2 Qanungos, Ta’aluqdars, &c., their jurisdiction being described as 
that of Dari BArbakpur, Parganah Boro, in Sarkar SAtgAon, 8 appertain- 
ing to Chaklah Hugli in Subah Jannatu-l-bildd 4 Bangalah. Both 
1 Mv.tasaddi haB various meanings, such as clerk, accountant, &c., but in the last 
century it was used to signify superior officers in the fiscal department. 
* Chaudharl is used both in Hindi and Bengali to mean the headman of 
a caste or profession, also as an honorific title. Mr. Bogle speaks of a “ chaudri ” 
who came to visit him while he was in Tibet j and Markham, p. 172, on the autho- 
rity of Hamilton, explains in a note that " chauduri” or ‘desali’ in Nepal is a sub- 
ordinate revenne officer under the FanzdAr, and ho identifies the word with chautariya 
(minister), an officer next in rank among the Kerantis in Nepal whoso title and office 
were hereditary. Hamilton also describes a chauduri as a zammdar acting as a minis- 
ter to a chief among the Korantis, and says c hauiarUja is the title of the collaterals 
of the royal Gorkha family who sometimes became ministers. In Bengal the titular 
affix chaudharl is common to names of persons belonging to the highest as well as 
to the lowest castes. In the latter case it bears the sense of headmau of a guild or 
profession, and in the former it is an honorific epithet, which is borno out by tracing 
•t to the Sanskrit chaturadhurina “sagacious chief or manager of affairs” or to 
ahaturdhurtifa “chief of four (departments).” In the Upper Provinces the term is 
applied, I believe, only to the headman of a trade or guild. In early days, in Bengal, 
it was a titlo of landholders superior to taluqdars. There aro many families whose 
ancestors, from one reason or other, had this title, and among them it has become, 
bko Majumdars, SarkArs, &o., hereditary. 
* Sarkar Sdtgdon. The Muhammadan empire in the time of Akbar was at first 
divided into twelve largo sections, called subahs or viceroyalties, which were subse- 
quently increased to fifteen. Each of these was subdivided for flsoal purposes into 
sarlcdrs or provinces, each sarkar comprehending a number of par g an aha or mahals. 
Aggregates of soveral parganahs again were formed into groups which in the reign 
of ShAh JahAn wore designated chaklahs. In the tablos of the taqs-tm jam V in the 
A’ln-i-Akbari ftibah Bangdlah is divided into 24 sarkdrs, one of which is Sdtgdon 
( Sanskrit saptagrdma), a group of seven villages. In its relation to chaklah Hugh", as 
described in the sanads to the Tashi Lama and Puran Gir, it must, with the latter dis- 
trict, have formed part of the dominions of the ancient kings of TAmralipti (Tamlnk) 
which had beou visited by Fabian. It was formerly of immense sizo, the residence of 
kings, and had a famous plaoe of worship in it. A reference to the tablos of the fiscal 
divisions of tho Mughal empire in the Ain-i- Akbari, will show that Sarkar Sdtgdon, in 
which the sanads speak of tho place being comprehended, contain mahals, two of which 
are named BArbakpur. One stands by itsolf, and the other is linked to Kalkattd and 
to another place BakuA. No doubt the placo opposite to KalkattA (Calcutta) derived 
rts name from the one at the Calcutta side. Whether tho namos Bdrbakpur and Bakua 
were the old designations of the place, now known as SntAnutf and Govindpur, 
which together with KalkattA, formed old Calcutta, is a point worthy of research. 
As to the Mahal BArbakpur in the ’Aiu, Blochmann indicates in a note to the 
Persian text that another reading gives BArikpur. So has BakuA many other 
readings, as MaijnmA &o. Our KalkattA is variously named Kaltas, KalnA and TalpA. 
4 Jannatu-l-bildd, the paradise of civilized nations. This epithet was applied 
H 
