187 
1877.] G. A. Grierson —Notes on the Bang pur Dialect. 
whatever ; but I think it will be evident from a perusal of the epic poem 
called Manik-Chandra-Rajar-gan, that he must have lived at a very early 
date, considerably before the Muhammadan invasion under Shah Isma’il 
Ghazi, A. H. circ. 850, of whom an account was given by Mr. Damant, in 
Vol. 43 of the Journal. No character is more popular than Isma’il Ghazi 
in this district, and the popular songs teem with allusions to him ; and 
yet the epic poem above-mentioned contains no mention of him or of any 
Musalman whatever. I therefore conclude that this epic must have been 
originally written, or rather composed, for it has been unwritten till lately, 
before Isma’il Ghazi’s time, and, as it makes Manik Chandra a king of the 
good old days, “ when saints were many, and sins were few,” he must have 
lived a considerable time before the Musalman invasion. 
This invasion was another important factor in forming the character 
and language of the people. Rangpur was for years the battle-ground 
between the Kraun'cha Hindus, and the invading Yavans from the west. 
We have traces of this existing in the topographical nomenclature of the 
present day : there are Maghal Dacha where a Hindu General escaped from 
the enemy, and Maghal hat , where one of the numerous treaties of peace 
was signed, and several other similar names throughout the country. But 
perhaps the most pregnant sign of the magnitude of the forces which were 
insensibly moulding the condition of Rangpur for future centuries is the 
existence to the present day of a vast dyke extending right across the 
district from east to west. 
It was built to aid the defenders in withstanding Musalman inva¬ 
sion. South of it, and when that became untenable, south of another far¬ 
ther north, were conquering foreigners, bearded strangers, bringing a new 
language and a new religion, and armed with all the hatred for the Kafirs 
which a strange language and a strange religion can give. For years the rule 
over the populace south of these dykes was the occupation of conquerors 
and not the colonization of immigrants, and that region has never since 
rebounded from the oppression. The Parganas south of the south dyke, 
are the most backward in Rangpur, and the despair of its rulers. They 
abound in moderately wealthy Muhammadans, descendants of the followers 
of Isma’il Ghazi and his compatriots, but the ra’iyats are a tribe of fetish 
be-ridden savages worthy of the pen of a Burton or Cameron. Too ignorant 
to betake themselves to the refuge of the law, their sole idea on seeing a 
stranger is, that he is come to extort more money from them, and there¬ 
upon they run into the jangals and hide themselves. They do this not 
only when the stranger is a native official, but even when he is a European. 
I myself have gone into villages, and have had the greatest difficulty in find¬ 
ing a man who was brave enough to speak to me. I would not wish it to 
be thought, that what I have just written has been exaggerated : it is 
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