1873.] H. Blochmann —Geography and History of Bengal. 
231 
that they flee from one to another, whereby his horsemen cannot prevail 
against them. Great store of cotton cloth is made here. 
“Sinnergan [Sunnargaon] is a towne six leagues from Serrepore, 
where there is the best and finest cloth made of cotton that is in all India. 
The chief king of all these countries is called Isacan,* and he is chiefe of all 
the other kings, and is a great friend to all Christians. ### I went from 
Serrepore the 28th November 1582 for Pegu.” 
Son dip was only conquered in the end of 1666 (middle of Jumada 
II., 1076), when Dilawar Khan Zamindar submitted, though not without 
fighting, to Aurangzib’s army that invaded Chatgaon. 
I have a few words to say on the hypothesis which has often been 
started, that the whole of the Sundarban was once in a flourishing condition. 
No convincing prooff has hitherto been adduced ; and I believe, on physical 
grounds, that the supposition is impossible. The sporadic remains of tanks, 
ghats, and short roads, point to mere attempts at colonization. The old 
Portuguese and Dutch maps have also been frequently mentioned as 
affording testimony that the Sundarban, even up to the 16tli century, was 
well cultivated ; and the difficulty of identifying the mysterious names of the 
five Sundarban towns Pacaculi, Cuipitavaz, N oldy, Dipuria (or 
Dapara), and T i p a r i a, which are placed on the maps of De Barros, Blaev, 
and Van den Broucke close to the coast-line, has inclined people to believe 
that they represent “lost towns.” Now the first of these five towns, from 
its position, belongs to the Sundarban of the 24-Parganahs, and the second 
(Cuipitavaz) to that of Jessore District, whilst the remaining three lie 
east of it. But Pacaculi is either, as Col. Gastrell once suggested to me, a 
mistake for Pacacuti, i. e. pakkd kofhif a factory or warehouse, erected 
by some trading company, as we find several along the Hugh ; or it stands for 
Penchakuli, the name of the tract opposite the present month of the 
Damudar, or a little above the northern limit of the Sundarban. Cuipitavaz 
I have no hesitation to identify with Khalifatabad.§ Van den Broucke 
also places it correctly south-east of Jessore. Noldy is the town and mahall 
of Noldi (Naldi) on the Noboganga, east of Jessore, near the Madhumati. 
Dipuria is Dapara, or Daspara, south-east of Baqirganj station, near the 
right bank of the Titulia, still prominently marked on Pennell’s map ; and 
Tiparia cannot stand for anything else but the district of Tiparah, which is 
correctly placed north-east of Daspara. 
* Tsa Khan. Abul Fazl calls him c king of Bliati,’ and says that twelve zammdars 
were under him. He was powerful enough to make war with Koch Bihar. Vide Ain 
translation, p. 342, note. 
f Westland, Jessore Report, p. 231. 
t Houses are either kachcha [mud-houses], or 'pahlcd, brick or stone-built. 
§ The letter/often turns in Bangali top; hence Khalffatabad becomes Kolipit- 
abad. Thus l'iruzpur becomes Perojepore. 
