Alternative name | Devkot, Kotivarsha, Devikota, Devakota, Diw-kot |
---|---|
Location | Gangarampur, West Bengal, India |
Coordinates | 25°24′45″N88°31′50″E / 25.41250°N 88.53056°E |
Type | Historical Place |
History | |
Founded | Earlier than 200 BC |
Bangarh is an ancient city situated in Gangarampur, West Bengal, India. Bangarh was the ancient city which was the administrative centre of Kotivarsha Vishaya (territorial division), itself part of the wider administrative unit of Pundravardhana Bhukti, which had Mahasthangarh as its capital [1] in the period of Chandras, Varmans and Senas. After the Senas were defeated by the Muslims under Muhammad Bakhtiyar Khalji, Devkot was established as their capital where Muhammad Bakhtiyar Khalji died. [2] [ full citation needed ]
The 12th-century writer Hemachandra wrote that the names Koṭivarṣa, Bāṇapura, Devīkoṭa, Umāvana, and Śoṇitapura all referred to the same place. A similar list was provided by Puruṣottama, except he had Uṣāvana instead of Umāvana.Bāṇapura is the apparent ancestor of the present name Bangarh; the place is supposed to be connected with the mythical king Bāṇa. The fort at Bangarh is also called "Damdamaḥ" in recent times. [3] : 216
Bangarh is located at 25°24′45″N88°31′50″E / 25.41250°N 88.53056°E
In the map alongside, all places marked on the map are linked in the full screen version.
The earliest mentions about the Kotivarsha town are found in the Vayu Purana (XXIII,209) and the Brihat Samhita (XI, II). Lexicographers, Hemchandra (the Abhidhanachintamani IV,977) and Purushottama (in his Trikandashesha) have mentioned the city by several names – Uma(Usha?)vana, Banapura, and Shonitapura. Sandhyakara Nandi in his Ramacharita described at length about the temples and the lakes of the city. [4] The ruins of the city are found in Bangarh, which is located at Gangarampur city, about 45 km south of Balurghat city, in Dakshin Dinajpur district of West Bengal state in eastern India. There was a Buddhist monastery at Devikota. [5]
Muslim rule was first established in Bengal in 1204 by Muhammad Bakhtiyar Khalji. The kingdom was called Lakhnawati or Lakhnauti. The capital was located sometimes at Lakhnawati and sometimes at Devkot.[ citation needed ] Bakhtiyar Khalji died at Devkot in 1205–06, possibly murdered by Ali Mardan Khalji, who was governor of Naran-Koh. [6]
Debīkoṭ was listed in the Ain-i-Akbari as a mahal in sarkar Lakhnauti (the name is spelled "Dihikoṭ" or "Dehīkoṭ" in extant copies of the Ain). [3] : 216 [7] : 43 The mahal of Debīkoṭ was listed with an assessed revenue of 31,624 dams. [8] : 131 It was also the seat of a juwār (subdivision between a sarkar and a mahal) including 6 other mahals, although none of the others have been located. [7] : 43
The earliest excavations at Bangarh was carried out by a team led by K.G. Goswami during 1938–41. Located on the bank of the Punarbhaba, the excavated site reflects its urban character. The site has its core in the form of a citadel surrounded by mud ramparts (area about 25 hectares) which dates from the earliest phase of the site. The earliest phase remains uncertain, as the excavations could not reach the natural soil. [1] The citadel area revealed five cultural phases dating from the time of the Mauryas to the medieval period. The initial phase (the Mauryan period) indicates that the city had a modest beginning in which it had probably a mud rampart wall. It was only in the following phase (the Kushana period, 200 BCE - 300 CE) a brick built wide rampart wall is found with drains, cesspits and residential buildings made of burnt bricks of a very large size, showing distinct signs of prosperity and burgeoning urbanism. The excavated materials of the Gupta period are not comparable with the richness and diversity of those belonging to Kushana cultural phase. Though the late Gupta phase of Bangarh is marked by decadence, particularly in terms of building activities, the Pala period (mid 8th century -12th century), in sharp contrast, indicates a picture of efflorescence. Rampart walls, compound walls, residential quarters, temples with ambulatory path and its enclosing walls, damp proof granaries, bathrooms, drains and ring wells suggest a prosperous condition of the city. [9]
Qutb ud-Din Aibak, was a general of the Ghurid emperor Muhammad Ghori. He was in charge of the Ghurid territories in northern India, and after Muhammad Ghori's assassination in 1206, he established the Delhi Sultanate (1206–1526), and started the Mamluk dynasty, which would rule the Sultanate until 1290.
The Sena dynasty was a Hindu dynasty during the early medieval period on the Indian subcontinent, that ruled from Bengal through the 11th and 12th centuries. The empire at its peak covered much of the north-eastern region of the Indian subcontinent. The rulers of the Sena Dynasty traced their origin to the south Indian region of Karnataka.
Thanesar is a historic city and Hindu pilgrimage centre in the Kurukshetra district of Haryana, India. It is located approximately 160 km northwest of Delhi. The city Kurukshetra's area merges with Thanesar.
The Ghurid dynasty was a Persianate dynasty of presumably eastern Iranian Tajik origin, which ruled from the 8th-century in the region of Ghor, and became an Empire from 1175 to 1215. The Ghurids were centered in the hills of Ghor region in the present-day central Afghanistan, where they initially started out as local chiefs. They gradually converted to Sunni Islam after the conquest of Ghor by the Ghaznavid ruler Mahmud of Ghazni in 1011. The Ghurids eventually overran the Ghaznavids when Muhammad of Ghor seized Lahore and expelled the Ghaznavids from their last stronghold.
Gauḍa is a historic city of Bengal in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent, and one of the most prominent capitals of classical and medieval India, being the capital city of Bengal under several kingdoms. The Gauḍa region was also a province of several pan-Indian empires. During the seventh century, the Gour Kingdom was founded by King Shashanka, whose reign corresponds with the beginning of the Bengali calendar. Gour gradually became synonymous with Bengal and Bengalis. It was conquered by Bakhtiyar Khalji, a lieutenant of the Ghurid ruler Muhammad of Ghori in 1203.
Quṭb al-Aqṭāb Khwāja Sayyid Muḥammad Bakhtiyār al-Ḥusaynī, Quṭb al-Dīn Bakhtiyār Kākī was a Sunni Muslim Sufi mystic, saint and scholar of the Chishti Order from Delhi, India. He was the disciple and the spiritual successor of Mu'in al-Din Chishti as head of the Chishti order. Before him the Chishti order in India was confined to Ajmer and Nagaur. He played a major role in establishing the order securely in Delhi. His dargah located adjacent to Zafar Mahal in Mehrauli, and the oldest dargah in Delhi, is also the venue of his annual Urs festivities. The Urs was held in high regard by many rulers of Delhi like Iltutmish who built a nearby stepwell, Gandhak ki Baoli for him, Sher Shah Suri who built a grand gateway, Bahadur Shah I who built the Moti Masjid mosque nearby and Farrukhsiyar who added a marble screen and a mosque.
Bikrampur was a pargana situated 19 kilometres (12 mi) south of Dhaka, the modern capital city of Bangladesh. In the present day, it is known as the Munshiganj District of Bangladesh. It is a historic region in Bengal and was a part of the Bhawal Estate.
Shergarh is a town and a nagar panchayat in Bareilly district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is a small town known for rice and sugarcane.
Ikhtiyār al-Dīn Muḥammad Bakhtiyār Khaljī, also known as Bakhtiyar Khalji, was a Turko-Afghan military general of the Ghurid ruler Muhammad of Ghor, who led the Muslim conquests of the eastern Indian regions of Bengal and Bihar and established himself as their ruler. He was the founder of the Khalji dynasty of Bengal, which ruled Bengal for a short period, from 1203 to 1227 CE.
The Malwa Sultanate was a late medieval Islamic sultanate in the Malwa region, covering the present day Indian states of Madhya Pradesh and south-eastern Rajasthan from 1401 to 1562. It was founded by Dilawar Khan, who following Timur's invasion and the disintegration of the Delhi Sultanate, in 1401, made Malwa an independent realm. In 1562, the Sultanate was conquered by the Mughal empire from its last ruler, Baz Bahadur and it became a subah of the empire. The Sultanate was predominantly ruled by Afghan, and Turco-Afghan dynasties throughout its existence.
Ghoraghat is an upazila of Dinajpur District in the Division of Rangpur, Bangladesh.
The Munger Fort, located at Munger, in the state of Bihar, India, is built on a rocky hillock on the south bank of the Ganges River. Its history is not completely dated but it is believed that it was built during the early rule of Slave dynasty of India. The Munger town where the fort is situated was under the control of Muhammad bin Tughluq of Delhi. The fort has two prominent hills called the Karnachaura or Karanchaura, and the other a built up rectangular mound deduced to be the location of a citadel of the fort with historical links. The fort had a succession of Muslim rulers (Khaljis, Tughlaqs, Lodis, Nawabs of Bengal, followed by Mughal rulers, till it was finally acceded to the British by Mir Quasim, after unseating his father-in-law Mīr Jafar on the grounds of old age, for a monetary reward negotiated by Vansittart. This deal involved payment by the East India Company's merchants of an ad valorem duty of 9 percent, against an Indian merchant's duty of 40%. The fort became a place of considerable importance to the British in Bengal till 1947.
Ḥusām ad-Dīn ʿIwaz bin Ḥusayn Khaljī, later known by his regnal title as Ghiyāth ad-Dīn ʿIwaz Shāh, was a two-time governor of Bengal under the Delhi Sultanate, and a member of the Khalji dynasty of Bengal. During his second term, lasting from 1212 to 1227, Khalji declared himself as an independent ruler of Bengal.
Muḥammad Shīrān Khaljī, or simply Shiran Khalji, was the second governor of the Khalji dynasty of Bengal, based in Lakhnauti, Bengal, from 1206 until 1208.
Gauda, was a territory located in Bengal in ancient and medieval times, as part of the Gauda Kingdom.
Pundranagar in Paundrabhukti was the most important city in the ancient Bengal region, now identified with the current site of Mahasthan, located in Bogra, Bangladesh. It was a vibrant administrative, religious and cultural centre from the 3rd century BC to the 12th century AD that is from the Maurya Empire time to the Sena dynasty period. Archaeological remains and literary descriptions speak of a truly planned and magnificent city. City walls, elaborate gates, palaces, common dwellings, assembly halls, temples, viharas, shops, ponds and even suburban temples and viharas characterised the city; Chinese pilgrim, Xuanzang, visiting in the 7th century AD, particularly mentions ponds, orchards, flowers and pleasure gardens.
Barwala is a town situated 30 km northeast of Hisar city. It is one of the 4 sub-division of Hisar district in the state of Haryana, India.
The Khalji dynasty was the first Muslim dynasty to rule Bengal. The dynasty, which hailed from the Garmsir region of present-day Afghanistan, was founded in 1204 by Muhammad Bakhtiyar Khalji, a Muslim Turko-Afghan general of the Ghurid Empire. The Khaljis initially pledged allegiance to Sultan Muhammad of Ghor until his death in 1206, though their rule in Bengal was mostly independent. Under the rule of Iwaz Khalji, Bengal experienced major developments such as its first naval force, flood defence systems and linkage with the Grand Trunk Road. The dynasty was based in the city of Lakhnauti in northern Bengal, later expanding eastwards and southwards. Nasiruddin Mahmud, the son of Mamluk sultan Iltutmish of Delhi managed to conquer Bengal in 1227; although the Khaljis briefly reasserted their independence, they surrendered to the Mamluks in 1231, who replaced them with a series of regional governors.
ʿAlī Sher bin ʿIwaz Khaljī was a former governor of northwest Bengal (Birbhum) serving under his father, Sultan Iwaz Shah of the Khalji dynasty of Bengal. His name finds mention in the earliest known stone inscription mentioning a Muslim ruler of Bengal.
The Ghurid invasion of Bengal in 1202 was a military campaign of Ghurid dynasty led by Muhammad Bhakhtiyar Khalji against the Sena dynasty. Bakhtiyar Khalji emerged victorious in the campaign and subsequently annexed Nabadwip, a significant portion of the territory controlled by the Sena Dynasty. Following their defeat, Lakshmana Sena, the ruler of the Sena dynasty, retreated to the southeastern region of Bengal.