1873.] H. Blochmann —Geography and History of Bengal. 
211 
Part I.—GEOGRAPHICAL. 
Before the conquest of Bengal by the Muhammadans under Bakhtyar 
Khilji in A. D. 1203, Bengal is said to have been divided into five districts— 
(1) R a d h a, the country west of the Hugli and south of the Ganges ; 
(2) B a g d i, the delta of the Ganges ; (3) B a n g a, the country to the east 
of, and beyond, the delta ; (4) Barendr a, the country to the north of the 
Padma (Podda) and between the Karataya and the Mahananda rivers ; and 
(5) M i t h i 1 a, the country west of the Mahananda. We do not know whe¬ 
ther these names refer to revenue districts, or merely indicate (as they now 
do) popular divisions based upon the course of principal rivers ; but as the 
different orders of Brahmans and Kayasths take their distinctive names 
from these divisions, it may be assumed that they existed or were recognized 
at the time of Ballala Sen, who classified the two castes. 
The ease with which Bakhtyar Khilji took possession of Bengal by 
his surprise of Nadiya,* the then capital, stands unparalleled in history, 
unless we compare it with the almost peaceful transfer of the same country, 
five hundred and fifty-five years later, from the Muhammadans to the East 
India Company. But it would be wrong to believe that Bakhtyar Khilji 
conquered the whole of Bengal: he merely took possession of the south-eastern 
parts of Mithila, Barendra, the northern portions of Radha, and the north¬ 
western tracts of Bagdi. This conquered territory received from its capital 
the name of L ak’li naut i, and its extent is described by the author of the 
Tabaqat i Nagiri , who says that the country of Lak’hnauti lies to both sides 
of the Ganges and consists of two wings : the eastern one is called Barendra, 
to which Deokot belongs ; and the western has the name of Ral [i. e., 
Radha], to which Lak’hnur belongs. Hence the same writer also distin- 
guishesf Lak’hnauti-Deokot from Lak’hnauti-Lak’hnur. From the town 
of Lak’hnauti to Deokot on the one side, and from Lak’hnauti to the door 
of Lak’hnur, on the other side, an embanked road (pul) passes, ten days’ 
march. Distinct from the country of Lak’hnauti is Banga {digdr i Bang , 
Bangadesh, Tabaqat, p. 207), and in this part of Bengal the descendants of 
the Lak’hmaniyali kings of Nadiya still reigned in A. H. 058, or 1200, A. D., 
when Minhaj i Siraj, the author of the Tabaqat, wrote his history. J Deokot, 
which still gives name to a large parganah, was correctly identified by 
Buchanan with the old fort near Damdama, on the left bank of the Purna- 
* Lak’hman Sen, the last king of Bengal, though called king, cannot have been 
much more than the principal zamindar of his time, “ lie was a liberal man,” says 
the author of the Tabaqat, “and never gave less than a lak’h of cowries, when lie 
made a present—may God lessen his punishment in hell!” 
f Tabaqat, pp. 1G2, 242. 
J Tabaqat Namin', p. 151. Thus an expedition against Banga by tho governor 
of Lak’hnauti is mentioned in G57. Tabaqat Naifin, p. 2G7. 
