1874.] 
85 
J. Wise —Notes on Sunargaon , 'Eastern 'Bengal. 
Ghazf Shall succumbed to Shamsuddin Ilyas Shah, who struck coins in. 
Sunargaon from 758 to 758 A. H. (A. D. 1352 to 1356). It was during 
his reign that the independence of Bengal was for the first time recognised 
at Dihli. 
On the coins Sun&rgaon is designated “ Hazrat i Jalal,” a title after¬ 
wards given to Mu’azzamabad, # which was made the mint city, probably in 
the reign of Sikandar Shah, son of Shamsuddin. The name of Mu’azzam- 
abad is found on coins from 1358 to 1379 ; but others with the name of 
Sikandar Shah, and stamped at Sunargaon, with the years from 1355 to 
1362 marked on them, have been deciphered. 
In 1367, Ghiyasuddin, son of the reigning monarch, rebelled and fled to 
Sunargaon ; there he collected an army and marched against his father. 
The two armies met at Gowalpara, near Ja’farganj, in the Dhaka district, 
and nearly opposite the junction of the Ganges and Jabuna. The father 
was carried off the field mortally wounded. Eighty yearsf ago, his tomb 
was still pointed out in the neighbourhood. Ghiyasuddin, whose title was 
A’zam Shah, ascended the throne. He is chiefly famous for his correspon¬ 
dence with the poet Hafiz, whom he tried to induce to come and reside at 
his court. It is this monarch’s tomb that is still shown at Sunargaon ( vide 
below and pi. VIII). 
Sunargaon in the 14tli century seems to have been renowned for holy 
and learned men, and history informs us that Jait Mai (Jalaluddin), when 
he abandoned the Hindu religion, summoned from Sunargaon Shaikh Zahid, 
to instruct him in the doctrines of Islam and direct him in the management 
of his kingdom. 
It was probably about this time that Sunargaon swarmed with pirs, 
faqirs, and other religious mendicants, to a greater extent perhaps than any 
other Indian city. Amidst the ruins and forest of modern Sunargaon 
natives assert that at least 150 “ gaddis” of faqirs are distinguishable. 
Why they should have resorted to this distant city, is difficult to explain. 
In 1582, the khal^ah, or exchequer, lands of Bengal were settled by 
* About twelve miles north-west of Sunargaon, on the opposite bank of the Brahma¬ 
putra, is an old village, which gave its name to one of the parganahs of Sirkar Sunargaon, 
called Mu’azzampur, which Mr. Blochmann identifies with Mu’zzamabad. The only old 
building there now is the Dargah of Shah Langar. It attracts Muhammadan pilgrims 
from long distances, who make offerings on a stone which is believed to bear the holy 
man’s foot-print. 
f The tomb of this monarch is, I believe, still shown in the famous Adfnah mosque at 
Panduah, built by him. The tradition, however, in this District is that he was buried where 
he fell. On the west of Ja’farganj, where the Jabuna flows at the present time, stood a 
village called Goariah, where a Dargah of Sikandar Shah, and a langarkhanah, or hospital, 
erected by Jahangir, are said to have been. The “ oldest inhabitant” is positive, how¬ 
ever, that this dargah was that of a faqir, and not that of a king. 
