909 
H. Blochmann —Geography and History of Bengal. [No. 3, 
macl.* It is not clear how far these Afghan chiefs depended on Husain Shah 
of Bengal, whom inscriptions represent firmly established in 903 at 
Munger, while other inscriptions from Bonhara and Cheran (near Saran) 
would lead us to conclude that the whole of Upper Bihar and the western 
portions of Southern Bihar belonged to him in A. H. 908 and 909 (A. D. 
1502, 1503). On the other hand, we hear in history of the cession by 
Husain Shah of Bihar, Saran, and Tirhut, and of the reconquest of 
these lands by Nu^rat Shah, who, if he could not hold them, assisted the 
Afghans against Babar. Nu^rat Shah seems even to have passed beyond 
the Ghandak ; for a mosque near Sikandarpur, on the right bank of the river, 
in District A’zamgarh, was built during his reign. 
South of the Ganges, the western frontier is better defined. Fort Ta- 
liagarli, or GarM,f near K’halgaon (Colgong) on the Ganges, was looked upon 
as the entrance, or key, to Bengal—a position which Muhammadan historians 
compare with that of Fort Sahwan on the Indus, the key of Sindh. 
From Garhi the frontier passed along the Ganges to the south of Ag- 
M all all (Raj Mahall), when it again turned westward to north-western 
Birbhum, passing along the boundary of the modern Santal Parganahs to 
the confluence of the Barakar and the Damudar, from where it went along the 
left hank of the Damudar to the neighbourhood of the town of Bardwan. 
From here the frontier took again a westerly direction, and passed along 
the north-western and western boundaries of the modern Hugli and Habrah 
(Howrah) Districts down to Mandalg’liat, where the Rupnarayan flows into 
. the Hugli River. 
This boundary, it will he seen, excludes the whole of the Santal 
Parganahs from the south of K’halgaon to the Barakar, Pachet,J and the 
territory of the Rajahs of Bishnpur (Bankura). In vain do we look in 
Santalia for Muhammadan names of villages and towns ; and though there 
can be no doubt that the Muhammadan kings of Bengal tried to hold parts 
of the hills by establishing thanahs and appointing jagirholders, no 
permanent settlements were formed. One of the most westerly thanahs in 
southern Santalia was Sarliat, N. W. of Shiuri (Soory) in Birbhum, which 
is mentioned in Tribeni inscriptions ;§ whilst the settlement of Pathan 
* Called in many MSS. Mahmud. 
f It is not known winch king built the fort j but it may be accidental that the 
name does not occur in the Tabaqat i Na^rf and in Barani. At K’halgaon, Mahmud 
Shah III., the last independent king of Bengal, died in 945 (1538 A. D.). 
J Regarding the invasion ofChutia Nagpur by the Muhammadans, vide J. A. S. B, 
1871, Part I, p. 111. 
§ Sarhat, spelt on inscriptions Sirhat, lies on the left bank of the Ajai River. Its 
name on modern maps is corrupted to Saruth. Rennell has Sarhaut. Outside the 
place, the survey maps mark two old forts. A little to the south of it, a village of 
the name of Lukrakhonda is marked. Rennell on his map of Birbhum (Bengal Atlas, 
