1878.] 
89 
H. Beveridge —The Antiquities of Bagura. 
in the height of the rains. But in old times, it was a great river, and 
formed the boundary between Bengal and Kamrup. The western bank has 
apparently undergone little change. The old rampart, known as Bhim- 
jangal, still runs alongside of the western bank, and the ancient mound 
and fortification of Mahasthan continues to overhang the sacred bathing- 
place at Sila-dwip; but on the east the appearance of the country has 
been greatly changed. The old river-bed has been nearly filled up, and 
long and wide churs, “ made blithe by plough and harrow”, now cover 
the channel up which the ships of the famous Chand Saudagar used to sail. 
Though no longer a territorial boundary, the Karatoya is still remark¬ 
able for the demarcation which it makes between two distinct kinds of 
soil. On the west, Bagura is a veritable land of Edom, the soil being 
almost as red as blood. It is at the same time so hard and tenacious, that 
ditches cut in it retain their sharpness of outline for years, and that the 
walls of the peasants’ huts are almost invariably made of earth. The ant¬ 
hills so common on the edges of the fields testify to the peculiarity of 
the soil, for they stand up in sharp and many-pointed pinnacles and are 
like Adens in miniature. On the east of the Karatoya, however, all is 
sand and alluvium, and the ryots have to construct the walls of their 
houses with reeds or mats. This difference of soil is said to affect the 
crime of the district; for burglaries are reported to be rare in the western 
thanas, as it is no easy matter for thieves to break through and steal, when 
the walls of the houses are so thick and hard as they are in the “ Khiar” 
land. The etymology of the word Karatoya is indicative of the antiquity 
and sanctity of the river. The name is derived from kar ■ the hand’ and 
toyd 1 water’, and is held to signify that the river was formed by the water 
which was poured on the hands of Siva, when he married the mountain- 
goddess Parvati. 
I find also that, there is the same tradition in Bagura as in Maiman- 
singh about the origin of the name Das-kahania as applied to Sherpur. The 
Bagura Sherpur is called Das-kahania as well as the Maimansingh Sherpur, 
and the explanation given is, that the Karatoya was once so broad that 
ten kahans had to be paid for crossing it. The explanation, however, does 
not seem a very probable one, for ten kahans means 12,800 kauris, i. e., one 
rupee, and I can hardly believe that any Bengali ever paid so much for 
crossing a river. It is just possible that the charge had reference not to the 
breadth of the river but to the fact that it separated two rival kingdoms. 
The charge may therefore have been in the nature of an embargo or an 
export-duty, and went for the most part into the pocket of the king or his 
representative, and not to the ferryman. It would be quite in accordance 
with the principles of native finance to levy such exorbitant duties on 
people leaving the country or taking merchandise abroad. 
H 
