1874.] H. Blochmann— Geography and History of Bengal. —No. II. 2S3 
Maimansingh, author of the excellent * * * § Sherpur Bivarana.’* The slab is 
of granite ; but the letters are very unclear and nearly one-fourth of the 
inscription is hopelessly illegible. The inscription was found at Garb Jari¬ 
pa, north of Sherpur Town, not far from the Kanban hills and about 16 
miles south of the old frontier between Bengal and A'sam (Zil’ah Goalpara). 
It was at first attached to iron rings at the gate of the mud fort of Garh 
Jaripa, from where it had been removed to a place inside the fort, called by 
the people 4 the tomb.’ It 3eems to have belonged to a Mausoleum and to 
an ’ Tdgah . The inscription confirms the legend of the foundation of Garh 
Jaripa by the Muhammadans, and also shews that Perganah Sherpur 
belonged to the Bengali Sultans. 
Parganah Sherpur itself was formerly called Daskahania Bazu, under 
which name it occurs as a Mahall of Sirkar Bazuha in Todar Mall’s Bengal 
rent-roll of 1582. In Ja’far Khan’s rent-roll of 1722, the old division into 
Sirkars was abolished, and Daskahania Bazu appears under the name of 
Sherpur-Daskahaniaf as a parganah of Chakla Karibari ; but not long after, 
Sherpur was for the greater part annexed to Dhaka, in which position it is 
given in Kennel’s Atlas. J 
The name ‘ Daskahania,’ or Daskahaonia, is said to be derived from 
das kalian, or das Icahawan , i. e. 10 X 1280 cowries. I cannot say whe¬ 
ther this etymology refers to the waste condition of the parganah in former 
times ; but Babu Hara Chandra Chaudhurl says that the people had to pay 
ten kahans of cowries for crossing the Brahmaputra below Sherpur, because 
the river was so very wide. It is more likely that the klialsa portion of the 
land revenue only amounted to 10 kalians ;§ at least Grant says that in 1728 
* f<R?r«|. Pt. I, Descriptive Geography. Calcutta, 1872. Pt. II is to con¬ 
tain a historical account of Sherpur Parganah. 
f The three principal Sherpurs in Bengal are—Sherpur ’Atai, east of Barharapiir in 
Murshidabad; Sherpur Murchah, south of Bogra; and Sherpur Daskahania, east of the 
Brahmaputra. 
X He spells the name Shearpoor Duskownya. 
§ Indian Atlas Sheet No. 119 shews north-west of Shei'pur and Garh Jaripa a place 
of the name of Badd Chalfs Kahania, or ‘ Bad6 of 40 Kahans/ and the term therefore 
has a reference to the revenue of the parganah. 
Besides, we know that the net malguzari of Silhat, for example, was, even at the time 
when the Company acquired the Diwani, paid in cowries. Thus in 1172 B. S., or 1765, 
the total Aql and Izafah of Silhat was 1,070,120 kahans, at 2i kahans per rupee; but 
about the same time, according to Grant fVth Report, p. 382), the importation of cow¬ 
ries from the Maldiv Islands was so great, that he expected a fall to 4| kahans per rupee. 
He also mentions ( loc . cit., p. 363) a parganah in the Niyabat of Dhaka the revenue of 
which was paid in cowries. 
For Orisa, which is more accessible than Silhat, Abulfazl gives the rate of 10 kaha- 
wans per rupee. Vide Thomas, ‘ Chronicles/ p. 110 n. 
