[No. 2, 
166 Gour Has Bysack —Notes on KJidnja Kluin Garh. 
been borrowed from, or given rise to, the legend of the origin of the 
name of Birbhum : it will be found that a heron killing a hawk at some 
spot within that district led to the adoption of the name of Birbhum ; 
vide Annals of Rural Bengal, Appendix D, page 427. But it is forgotten 
that Birbhum is but one of the 12 hliums* or districts in which part of 
Radha was divided. 
Tradition has it that after a few years the rule of Bangbara Khan became 
permanent in this country. The folklore on this point is, that the name of 
Bangbara Khan appeared on the Imperial coinage of Dihli, and his name was 
beaten in the nauhat. The fact is that, under the Muhammadan rule, even 
subordinate functionaries of the Government tried to assume, and in 
many cases did assume, independence when they came to the mufassal. And 
so it happened in the case of Bangbara Khan. It is probable that this 
Khan taking advantage of favourable opportunities which lay in his way, 
struck the coin and beat the drum in his own name. For this delinquency 
he was arrested by an embassy from the Dihli Court. The Khan on his way 
to Dihli put an end to his life, it is said by swallowing the diamond 
of his ring. The Imperial embassy returned to Dihli with the dead 
body of the Khan. The Emperor was touched with remorse on seeing the 
serene face of the Khan, and asked whether he had any wife and children. 
The wife of the Khan and his son, then fourteen years of age, were summoned 
to Dihli. On their arrival, the Emperor was moved with pity at the 
sight of the mother and her son Khanazad Khan, and gave him the title 
of Nawab and deputed him to act in the place of his father. Nawab 
Khanazad Khan, on returning to Kotsimul, caused a moat to be excavated 
round his mansion, 70 feet in width and 30 feet in depth. The Garh itself 
measures 1060 feet by 890. There is an entrance on the west side of the 
moat. The moat is called Khanazad Khan Garh, for it was excavated by 
Nawab Khanazad Khan. 
Bangbara Khan was descended of a Sayyid family. His birthplace 
was Barba, south of Dihli, but his descendants have deteriorated to Bengali 
Musalmans by intermixture with them, though in point of caste the 
Khans are still esteemed superior. Tradition also preserves to us the 
story that Bangbara Khan was appointed Tahsildar over the Rajas of 
Dashghara, Bardwan, Birbhum, Bishnpur, Mayapur, Goadi-Krishnagar, 
and Katak. How far there is truth in this assertion it is hard for us at 
present to determine. No authentic history has yet been found of these 
several principalities except of those of Bardwan, Bishnpur, and Krishnagar. 
* 1, Birbhum; 2, Sainbhum; 3, Sik’harbhum; 4, Gopfbhum; 5, Bamanbhum ; 
6, Manbhum; 7, Barabhum; 8, Dhalbhum; 9, Singbhum; 10, Tunbhum; 11, Mal- 
bhum; 12, Bhanjabhum. Vide Blochmann’s Geography and History of Bengal, 
Journal, Yol. XLII, (1873) p. 224. 
