187 4.] H. Blochmann— Geography and History of Bengal. —No. II. 2S5 
1503 A. D., from Multan to Bengal, and settled at Durmut, where he 
forced the devils to give up the spades with which they had been undermin¬ 
ing the bank of the river. Shah Kamal thus saved Durmut from de¬ 
struction : the current turned towards the east, hut the old bed of the river 
lying close to the village is still visible. 
As an acknowledgment of his services, Kamal received from Isfandi- 
yar # Khan Ghazi, who is also called Isfandiyar Manohar Khan, and from 
Raja Mahindra Narayan a jagir. Kamal died in 952 B. S., or A. D. 1545, 
and his body was interred in the village on the bank of the Brahmaputra, 
where his tomb still exists. Mr. Donough says there is no inscription 
on it. 
On his way from Multan to Bengal, Shah Kamal was accompanied by 
his nephew Shah Ni’mat. They met a travelling Sayyid, whose son Isma’il 
had just died. Shah Kamal restored him to life, and Isma’il from gratitude 
followed him and settled at Ralimatpur, parganah Sherpur, where his de¬ 
scendants still live. Shah Ni’mat remained in Durmut ; and when his uncle 
died without issue, the jagir and Kamal’s tomb remained in his possession. 
The present owner is Shah Qiyamatullah, son of Shall Sami’ullah, alias La’l 
Miyan, son of Shah Khairullali, son of Shah Hafizullah, son of Shah 
Tayyib, son of Shah Ni’mat, Kamal’s nephew. 
Of Shall Kamal’s four wives, Baroi Bibi is still known. She was the 
daughter of a Hindu of the Baroi, or pan seller, caste, who resided in the 
village of Sliaralia. She married Shall Kamal, because his miracles had 
inspired her with veneration. The burial place of Baroi Bibi is esteemed 
as a dargah, and still exists in the village of Baroikandhi. Another of Shah 
Kamal’s wives lies buried by his side in Durmut. 
Shah Kamal passed some days with his numerous followers in the exer¬ 
cise of worship at a place called Bakloi in Thanali Karibari, zil’ah Goalpara. 
The village is situated on a hill, on the east bank of the Brahmaputra, 
where there is a dargah of Shah Kamal. The zamindar also conferred Bak¬ 
loi on him. Shah Kamal’s clihurd , or large knife, is still preserved. It is 
kept with great care on a throne, or chmtki , and is once a year carried away 
in procession and washed. Only Shall Kamal’s descendants may look on 
it with immunity from misfortunes. 
The dates given in this legend cannot be correct; for the present owner 
of Shall Kamal’s Dargah is, according to his own pedigree, the sixth de¬ 
scendant of Ni’mat Shah. Hence we would be nearer the truth, if we took 
1052 B. S., or 1644 A. D., as the year of his death, instead of 952 B. S. 
The incidental mention, however, of Raja Mahindra Narayan and Isfandi¬ 
yar Ghazi helps us to test and fix the chronology of the Shah Kamal 
legend. Raja Mahindra Narayan is the son of Baldeo Narayan (or Balit 
* Corrupted by tlie people to Ishpinjir Ivhan. 
N N 
