1G5 
1877.] Gour Das Bysack —Notes on Khanja Khan GarJi. 
hands of Raja Man Sinlia. If we suppose that this town had been founded 
in the time of Jahangir, we cannot account for its existence in Akbar’s days. 
At the time when the Emperor Jahangir sent Qutb-uddin to kill Sher- 
Afkan, the first husband of Nurjahan, one Bangbara Khan by name is said 
to have assisted him in the atrocious deed. It seems that this person 
was the progenitor of the Khan family of Kot Simul. On his coming 
to Salimabad, he held the office of Tahsildar or Collector of Revenue, 
and commemorated his name by the erection of a mosque* and the 
excavation of a long tank or jhil. The mosque is now in ruins, and the 
tank, too, for want of repair, is in a bad state. It is said that after 
remaining at Salimabad for some time, he went to Dashghara on the in¬ 
vitation of the Rajaf of that place. One day he started on a hunting 
excursion, and by chance reached a jungle on the west bank of the Damii- 
dar, and here he was charmed with the natural scenery and longed to make 
it the place of his abode. In accordance with his wish, the whole jungle was 
cleared within a short time and a dwelling house was built on the spot. This 
primeval jungle had been full of Simul trees —Bombax heptapliylla. In the 
current language Kot means limit, barrier, or surrounding ; the village was 
girdled with Simul trees and hence it was called Simulkot. 
Tradition has preserved a curious story about the settlement of Bang¬ 
bara Khan at Kotsimul. When Bangbara came a-hunting from Dashghara, 
he had a hawk with him. On coming to the forest of Kotsimul, he* 
let loose his hawk to attack an aquatic bird. In a few seconds the 
hawk was defeated in the contest. The Khan, therefore, thought the 
place to be sacred, and caused his mansion to be erected there. The early 
history of our land is full of legends in which it is difficult to distinguish 
the wheat from the chaff:. Nothing in this country, not even the most 
trivial act or event, such as a migration from one place to another, or the 
selection of a particular site for a dwelling place, could be done or allowed to 
occur without invoking supernatural aid; every little circumstance or 
occurrence must be preceded by some superhuman cause or agency. Similar 
legends prevail at other places to account for their origin or for their names. 
This story of Bangbara Khan’s selection of his place and abode may have 
* It is said that there was in this mosque a stone hearing* an inscription, hut 
nobody knows where the stone is or has been removed to. The oldest Muhammadans 
in and about the Garh assured me that it was removed to the Masjid at Salimabad, 
which is near Chakdigi, eleven miles south of Mi’mari Station. Inquiry was made 
there, but no trace of the stone could be found. Some people, however, stated 
that the stone had been taken away from the new Masjid at Salimabad by one 
of the Collectors of Bardwan; but while at Bardwan, and even afterwards, I made 
careful enquiries, but could obtain no clue of the stone or the inscription it bore. 
t Narayan Pal was the Raja alluded to. 
