9(3 J. Wise —Notes on Sunargaon, Eastern Bengal. [No. 1, 
The zananah of the Dihli emperors was supplied with these delicate cloths 
of Sunargaon and Dhaka ; and in Aurangzib’s reign a lakh and thirty thou¬ 
sand rupees were yearly expended under this head. 
The unhealthiness of Sunargaon has been another cause of the decline 
of the cotton trade, but the most influential of all has been the introduction 
of cheap English thread, which can be woven into cloth at a much lower 
price than the native can. A great trade in cotton cloth, chiefly English 
piece-goods, is carried on at Painam. The majority of the residents are 
prosperous merchants, who make extensive purchases in Calcutta and Dhaka, 
which are disposed of in the villages around. 
The separation at the present day of the Muhammadan and Hindu 
population of Sunargaon is unusual. In all the mahallahs to the north and 
west of Magrapara, nine-tenths of the villagers are Muhammadans, while 
in those to the east the Hindu greatly preponderate. In Painam again there 
is not a single Muhammadan. The householders are chiefly ta’luqahdars, who 
pay the Government revenue direct to the Dhaka treasury. There are ninety 
of them in this village. There is also a superfluity of JBrahmans. In Painam 
the castes are as follows—thirty houses of Brahmans, sixty-five of Saos, 
five of Bhuimalis, and the remainder of Barbers, &c. At Aminpur there is 
a Government school where the children of these families receive education. 
The Muhammadans of Sunargaon are contented to remain uneducated ; 
very few can even read the Qor&n, and they have consequently all become 
Earazis. There are no pirs or faqirs resident at Sunargaon now. The 
superintendent of the mosque at Magrapara is a native of Medinlpur, 
who has not as yet acquired the respect of the people. The one man to 
whom every one resorts for advice and help, and who is regarded as the 
most holy pir in Eastern Bengal, is Shah Karim ’All- He was born in 
Silhat, and his residence for many years has been Jagannathpur in the 
Tiparali district. He is popularly believed to have the power of raising 
from the dead, and of causing rain to fall at his pleasure. 
Sunargaon is too poor to support saints now, so the saints have migrated 
to places where the alms of the rich will furnish them with the luxuries 
which in this degenerate age they find to be necessary. 
The Muhammadan women of Sunargaon are all “ pardah-nishin.” 
With the changes in the course of the rivers they have been put to much 
inconvenience and expense. They are no longer able to visit their friends 
by stepping into a boat and being rowed to the house. They have either 
to stay at home, or make the trip in a palki. 
There are several families in Sunargaon who claim to be descendants 
of the old Qazis, but there are none who call themselves Mughuls. Only 
one man, who is still looked up to as the descendant of an official of 
the days when Sunargaon was a royal city, has the unmistakable colour and 
features of the high-born Tatar race. 
