215 
1873.] H. Bloclimann— Geography and History of Bengal. 
by Prince Shuja’ a short time before 1G58. In the Ain we find that Bengal 
proper was divided into 19 Sirkars, and G82 Malialls. Eight of the 19 Sirkars, 
and 201 of the GS2 Mahalls, have Muhammadan names. The rent-roll in¬ 
cluded both the khdligah ( £ genuine,’ vulgo khalsa) or crownlands, and the 
aqtd or jdgir lands, i. e. lands assigned to officers in lieu of pay or mainten¬ 
ance of troops. The distribution of the Sirkars depended, as in the old 
Hindu division, on the courses of the Ganges, Bhagirathi, and Megna, 
or, as the Ain expresses it, on the courses of the Padmawati, Ganga, and 
Brahmaputra, as will be seen from the following list of the Sirkars. 
A. Sirledrs North and Bast of the Ganges. 
1. SirkarLak’hnaut i, or Jannatabad, extending from Taliagarhi 
(K’halgaon, Colgong) along the northern banks of the Ganges, and including 
a few mahalls now belonging to district Bhagalpur and Purniah, and nearly 
the whole of Maldali district. Besides Gaur, this Sirkar contained the 
ancient town of Bangamati. # 6G mahalls; khalsa revenue, Ps. 471,174.f 
2. Sirkar P u r n i a li, or Puranniah, the greater and chiefly westerly 
portion of the present district of Purniah, as far as the Mahananda. £ 
9 mahalls ; revenue Rs. 1G0,219. 
3. S i r k a r T a j p u r, extending over Eastern Purniah east of the 
Mahananda, and Western Dinajpur. 29 mahalls ; revenue, Rs. 1G2,096. 
4. Sirkar Panjra li, so called from the Haweli maliall Pan] rah, 
north-east of the town of Dinajpur, on the Atrai River, comprising the greater 
part of Dinajpur district. 21 mahalls ; revenue, Rs. 145,081. 
5. Sirkar G ’ h o r a s: ’ h a t, so called from the town of G’horagfhat 
or Chauk’handi on the right bank of the Karataya, comprising portions of 
Dinajpur, Rangpur, and Bagura (Bograh) districts, as far as the Brahma¬ 
putra. Being a frontier district towards Koch Bihar and Koch Hajo, it 
contained numerous jagir lands of Afghan chiefs and their descendants. The 
Sirkar produced a great deal of raw silk. 88 mahalls ; revenue, Rs. 202,077. § 
6. Sirkar Barbakabad, so called from Barbak Shah, king of 
Bengal ( vide below), and extending from Sirkar Lak’hnauti along the Podda 
to Bagura. It comprises portions of Maldali and Dinajpur, and a large part 
of Rajshalii, and Bagura. Its cloths were well known, especially the stuffs 
* Maldali is once mentioned in the Tuzuk i Jaliangzrt (p. 178 )—“ When I [Jahangir] 
was prince, I had made a promise to Mir Ziyauddin of Qazwin, a Saifi Sayyid, who has 
since received the title of Mustafa Khan, to give him and his children Parganali Maldali, 
a well known Parganali in Bengal. This promise was now performed (A. D. 1617). 
f Akbarshaln Rupees (1 Rupee = 40 dams). Grant substitutes ‘ Sicca Rupees/ 
at 2s. 3d. 
J It seems as if the Mahananda, in its upper course, is often called Mahanadi. 
Van den Broucko calls it on his map ‘ Martnade.’ 
§ Somo MSS. have 209,577 Rs. 
