207 
1874.] J. Wise— On the Sarah Bhuyas of JEastern Bengal. 
occupy at the feasts given by the Baja. These offices still exist, and the 
holders of them are much respected by all Kayasths. 
Baja Danuj Mardan De was succeeded by his son Boma Ballabh Bai, 
and he by Krishna Ballabh Bai. The latter had a daughter, named Kama- 
la, who caused a large tank to be excavated at Kachua, the family seat, 
traces of which are visible at the present day. 
Jay Deb Bai, the fourth in descent, died childless. His heir, a sister’s 
son, was Paramanand Bai of the Bose family of Dihur-ghati in Chandradip, 
who traced their pedigree to Dasarath Bose, one of the original Kanauj 
Kayasths. He and his successors were acknowledged as the Samaj-pati of 
the Kayasths of southern and eastern Bengal. This Paramanand Bai is 
mentioned in the Ain i Akbari by Abulfazl as the son of the Zamindar of 
Bakla, and his almost miraculous escape during the cyclone of 1583 is de¬ 
scribed. # 
The Hindus give a different version of this story. They say that an 
astrologer warned Jugodanand Bai, the son of Paramanand Bai, that on a 
certain day and hour he would be drowned in the river. The Baja shut 
himself up in a tower of his palace at Kachua. The river gradually rose 
as the hour approached, and, just at the time fixed, a mighty wave rolled up 
on which the goddess Ganga, like another Lurline, rode proudly. She held 
out her hands to the Baja who clasped them. In a moment he was swept 
away and disappeared. 
In 1574, Bakla or Chandradip was invaded by Murad Khan, one of the 
generals of Akbar and annexed to the empire, f 
The grandson of Paramanand Bai was Kandarpa Narayana Bai, one of 
the five Bhuyas, whose history is now being detailed. It is of him that 
Balph Fitch writes in 1586—“ From Chatigam in Bengal, I came toBacola 
t( (Bakla) the king whereof is a Gentile, a man very well disposed, and de- 
“ lighteth much to shoot in a gun. His country is very great and fruitful, 
“ and hath store of rice, much cotton cloth and cloth of silk. The houses 
“ be very fair and high builded, the streets large, the people naked, except 
“ a little cloth about their waste. The women wear great store of silver- 
i( hoops about their necks and arms, and their legs are ringed about with 
“ silver and copper, and rings made of elephants’ teeth.”£ 
The only memorial of this Bhuya is a brass gun, still preserved at 
Chandradip, with his name and that of the maker Bupiya Khan of Srxpur 
engraved on the breech. This gun is 7| feet in length ; feet in girth at 
the breech; and 19^ inches at the muzzle. Through the trunnions, rings 
had been inserted by which the gun was fastened to the carriage. 
* Proc., A. S. B., December, 1868. 
f Contributions to the Geography and History of Bengal, by H. Blochmann, Journal, 
A. S. Bengal, p. 228. 
X Hackluyt’s Voyages, Vol. II, p. 257. 
