228 
H. Bloehmann —Geography and History of Bengal. [No. 8, 
Thus we see that in southern Jessore also the northern limit of the 
Sundarban has not considerably changed since 1450 A. D. 
Passing from the Haring’hata eastward, we come to Sirkars B a k 1 a and 
F a t h a b a d. Sirkar Bakla only contained four mahalls, viz. Isma’ilpur or 
Bakla ; Srirampur; Shahzadpur; and ’Adilpur, (from ‘ ddiV just,’ corrupted 
on the maps to Edilpore), which all belong to Baqirganj District. Abulfazl, in 
speaking of the great cyclone that swept in 1583 over Bakla, says that 
the then zamindar of Bakla had a son of the name of Pramanand Bai. 
Sirkar Fathabad derives its name from the Haweli mahall Fathabad, in 
which the modern station of Faridpur lies. Yusufpur and Belphuli, in 
Jessore District; Haweli Fathabad and Sirdia (Sherdia), in Faridpur ; 
Balaur, Telhatti, Sarail or Jalalpur,* Khargapur, in both Faridpur and 
Dhaka ; Hazratpur, in Dhaka ; Basulpur, in Dhaka and Baqirganj; the 
Islands of Sondip and Shahbazpiir ; and a few other mahalls which I have not 
yet identified, belong to this Sirkar. Thus we see that the greater 
portion of both Sirkars lies between the Haring’hata (Madhumati) and the 
Titulia Biver, which flows between Baqirganj District and the island of 
Dak’hin Shahbazpur. At the mouth of the Titulia we find the Don Manik 
Islands, one of the few still surviving geographical names of the Portuguese.! 
Opposite to these islands we have mahall N a z i r p u r, which we find on the 
maps of De Barros and Blaev, placed rather far to the north. Near it, we also 
have £ Fatiabas’,{ the chief town of Sirkar Fathabad. The whole south and 
south-east of Baqirganj District is occupied by the old Chandradip 
zamindari, which according to some, as we saw above, gives name to the 
Sundarban. On Bennell’s map it is marked ‘ depopulated by the Mugs.’ 
Abulfazl says that there were in Sirkar Fathabad three classes of 
zamindars, which perhaps refers to the independent Afghan, Hindu, and 
Portuguese chiefs. When Akbar’s army, in 1574, under Mun’im Khan- 
Klianan invaded Bengal and Orisa, Murad Klian, one of the officers, 
was despatched to South-Eastern Bengal. He conquered, says the 
common name) in Radka District, i. e. west of the Hugli, I would be inclined to 
identify the Chandpur near this 'Alaipur as the place where the Husain dynasty of 
Bengal kings had its home, especially because Husain first obtained power in the 
adjacent district of Faridpur (Fathabad), where his earliest coins are struck. 
The Indian atlas (sheet No. 121) spells ’Alaipur ‘ Alypore,’ which blots out every 
historical recollection, and places it moreover wrongly on the right bank, instead of 
on the left, of the Atharabanka. ’Alaipur is a flourishing place and has numerous 
potteries. 
* Which, like the name of the Sirkar, reminds us of Jalaluddin Fath Shah. 
f Their names for Hugli (Porto Piqueno) and for Chatgaon (Porto Grande) are no 
longer known; but Skerpur Firing!, Firingibazar, Point Palmyras, still remind us of 
their former importance in this part of India. 
J Yan den Broucke’s map has wrongly Fathpur. 
