282 H. Blochmann —Geography and History of Bengal. —No. II. [No. 3, 
Muhammadans into the country, and made large consignments of land for 
the maintenance of the Moslem religion. Most of the land is, by permis¬ 
sion of the British Government, still retained for this purpose. Extreme 
measures were also adopted for making proselytes, and temples were indis¬ 
criminately plundered and demolished. The stone temples of Kamikha on 
the Nilachol and of Moha Muni at Hajo were sacrificed to Moslem fanati¬ 
cism. Ghiyasuddin resolved to build a grand mosque, which was to stand 
on the top of a high hill, known as the Gaurachol. There is a tradition that, 
in order to give it peculiar sanctity, it was to have been built upon a stra¬ 
tum of earth that had been brought for this purpose from the holy city of 
Mecca. The hill is known to this day as the ‘ Pao-Makkah,’ and the Mu¬ 
hammadans of the country believe that four pilgrimages to it are equal in 
meritorious efficacy to one made to the tomb of the Prophet. But Ghiyas¬ 
uddin died before he could complete the arrangements for the erection of 
the mosque. He was interred beneath the holy earth, and the materials 
he had collected were used, in raising a monument over his remains, which 
also serves the purpose of a mosque.” 
“ We have already said that, previous to the last Muhammadan inva¬ 
sion, western Kamrup had been overrun by mountain tribes, of which the 
Koch were one of the most important. On the death of Ghiyasuddin, Hajo, 
the leading chieftain of the tribe, succeeded in uniting all the little princi¬ 
palities of the country under his authority, and so constituting himself 
master of Kamrup. His successor, in 1581, # transferred all the western 
portion of his kingdom to his nephew, from whom are descended the kings 
of Koch Biliar.” 
Besides the seventeen inscriptions received from Mr. Westmacott, I 
obtained two from Saran, which Mr. J. R. Reid, C. S., kindly sent me, 
and two from Serampore, near Calcutta, where they had been lying for more 
than half a century in the College and Press compounds. One of the latter 
belongs to the reign of Barbak Shah, and the other to that of Nugrat Shah; 
they bear the dates 865 and 933, respectively. Dr. G. Smith, late Editor 
of the ‘Friend of India,’ very kindly drew my attention to these slabs,f 
and after consulting with the Principal of the College, permitted me to 
transfer them to the Museum in Calcutta, where they are now preserved. 
Lastly, I have given an imperfect reading of an inscription of Firiiz 
Shah II. (A. D. 1488 to 1490), the slab of which was some years ago 
presented to the Society by Babu Hara Chandra Chaudhuri, of Sherpur, 
* Vide Journal, A. S. B., 1872, pp. 52, 100. 
f A third has been used as a mantlepiece ; it only eontaius the A'yat ul-Kursi , (th« 
256th verse of the second chapter of the Qoran) and the year 993 A. H., or A. D. 
1585. 
