1873.] H. Blochmann —Geography and History of 13engal. 
Maimansingh to the right bank of the Brahmaputra near Chilmari, 
and from here along the river to Mahall Bhitarband, which formed the 
north-east frontier. The sirkars that lay along the boundary were Sunnar- 
gaon, Bazulia, Silhat, and G’horag’hat; and the neighbouring countries to 
the east were Tiparah, Kachliar (the old Hirumba), the territories of tlie 
independent Rajahs of the Jaintiali, Khasiah, and Garo Hills, and, on the left 
bank ol the Brahmaputra, the Karibari Hills, the zamindars of which were 
the Rajahs of Sosang. They depended in reality on the powerful kingdom 
of Koch Hajo,* * * § the ‘ Azo' or ‘ Asoe ’ of old maps, which extended along the 
left bank of the Brahmaputra to Kamrup. In the Karibari Hills, the 
Muhammadans possessed, opposite to Chilmari, the old frontier tlianah 
Hatsilah, which Rennell still marks as ‘ Hautchella.’ The north-eastern 
frontier was never absolutely fixed. Baritalah, on Van den Broucke’s map 
Bareithella , was looked upon as a frontier town till the beginning of Aurang- 
zib’s reign. 
The invasions on the part of the Asamese were as numerous as the 
inroads of the Muhammadans into Asam, which had commenced under the 
successors of Bakhtyar Khilji. During the reigns of Rajah Ivans and 
his son, the Asamese under Chudangplia (A. D. 1411 to 1425) conquered 
north-eastern Bengal as far as the Karataya ;fi and as about the same time 
Jaunpur was at the height of its power, successfully encroaching on the 
western frontier, and the Rajahs of Tiparah made likewise invasions,£ we 
may assume that Bengal under the kings of the Kans dynasty was most 
circumscribed. With the restoration of the Ilyas Slialii dynasty (about 
A. D. 1440) and the gradual downfall of Jaunpur, Bengal recovered her 
ancient limits, and entered upon her most flourishing period. The invasion 
of Husain Shah into Kamrup is well known ;§ but Kamrup was only perma¬ 
nently annexed in 1G37, when Gauhatti became the north-eastern frontier 
of Bengal. 
o 
Silhat, as we shall see below, was conquered in A. D. 1384, and the 
earliest inscription hitherto found there, belongs to the reign of Yusuf Shall 
(A. I). 1480). North-western Silhat had the name of Laud, or Laiir, and 
the tlianah which the Muhammadans established there, was under the 
commander of the £ iqii m Mu azzamabad, £ the territory ol Mu azzamabad, 
also called ‘ Mahmudabad.’ The exact extent of Mu’azzamabad is still un¬ 
known ; but the name occurs on coins and on Sunnargaon inscriptions, once in 
conjunction with Laur, and once with Tiparah, and it seems, therefore, as if 
the “ iqlim” extended from the Megna to north-eastern Maimansingh and 
* Vide Journal, A. S. Bengal, Part I, 1872, p. 53. 
t So according to the Asam Buranji ■, vide LJseiul Tables, p. 2/3. 
J Raj mala, J. A. S. B., XIX, 1850, p. 542. 
§ J. A. S. B., 1872, Part 1, pp. 70, 335. 
