Janapads of ancient Bengal

Janapads

 From the century the names of the Janapada of ancient Bengal were obtained from stone inscriptions and literary works of the Gupta period, post Gupta period, Pala, Sena etc regime. It is not possible to say how much area these Janapadas covered. We can get an idea about their positions from the historical sources of the ancient age. Some Janapads are described below:

Gaur: Though the name Gaur seems familiar, there are many differences of opinions about which area was referred to as Gaur in the ancient time. Again it was also unknown why Gaur was first referred to in the book of Panini. In Kautilya's 'Arthasastra' there are references of many industrial and agricultural products of the country Gaur . In the book of Vatsayana there are also references of the luxurious life of the inhabitants of Gaur in the third and the fourth century. It is proved from the stone inscriptions of the time of Harshavardhana that the country of Gaur was not so far from the coast. From the description written by varaha Mihira in the sixth century it is seen that Gaur was different from other Janapads such as Pundra, Bengal, Samatata. In Vabishoy Purana it has been described as a region lying on the south of the Padma and on the north of Burdwan. There is much similarity between this comment and the descriptions of the people of the seventh century. In the seventh century the capital of Sasanka, the king of Gaur was Karnasubarna near Murshidabad. Not only Sasanka, in the later periods Gaur was the capital of many other kings. During Palaa dynasty Gaur had the most name and fame. Then the vast region of north India was included in Gaur. Being a center of the empire, it had irresistible power and strength. In the later periods the destiny of Gaur started to change with the change of the destiny of the Pala empire. Then the border of Gaur diminished. Some regions of present Maldah, Murshidabad, Birbhum and Bardwan were considered the border of Gaur. In the seventh century the capital of the king Sasanka of Gaur was Karnasubarno in the region of Murshidabad.The Lakhnauti in the region of Maldhaha was called Gour at the beginning of the Muslim period. Later, Gaur was meant as the wholeof Bengal.

Banga: Bengal was a very ancient Janapada. In the very ancient puthi(fairy tale) it was called neighbor of Janapadas Magodha and Kalinga. It is understandable from the references in Mahabharata that Bengal was a neighboring country of Pundra, Tamrolipto and Summa. Descriptions about this Jonapadaa are available in the stone inscriptions of Chandragupta, Vikramaditya, king of Chalukya,Rashtrakuta and in the books of Kalidas. A Janapada named Banga was built to the east and the south-east of present Bangladesh. It is surmised that a nation named Banga lived here. So, the Janapada was familiar as Banga. From the evidence of difference sources, it is thought that the area situated between the Ganges and the Bhagirathi was called Banga. The area of Banga shrank during the Pala and the Sena dynasty. In the eleventh century at the last phase of the Pala dynasty, Banga was divided in two parts and they became known as North Banga and South Banga respectively. The Padma was the north border of the northern region and the delta region of the South was the South Banga. In the later periods during the regime of Keshoba Senaa and Vishwarup Sena also two parts of Banga were noticed. But now their names were different - one was Vikrampura and the other was Navya. From the old stone inscription, we learn about two parts of Benga . One of them is Vikrampura and the other is Navya. The then Vikrampura comprised of present

Vikrompura and some parts of Idilpur Pargana. There is no existence of any place called Navya at present. It is thought that lower marshy places of Faridpur, Barisal, and Patuakhali are included in this Navya region. Banga consisted of greater Bogra, Pabna and western region of Mymensingh, Dhaka, Faridpur, Kushtia, greater Comilla and some parts of Noakhali. The nation 'Bangalee' was originated from 'Banga'.

Pundra: Pundra was one of the most important Janapads of ancient Bengal. It is said that a nation called Pundra built up this Jonapadaa. There are references of this nation in the Vedic literature and in the Mahabharata. Pundranagar was the name of the capital of the Pundras. In later periods, it became known as Mahasthangar. Probably during the reign of the Maurya emperor Ashoka (273-232B.C) ancient Pundra kingdom lost its independent entity. This Pundra kindom became Pundravardhana with the growth of its prosperity in the fifth - sixth century. Pundravardhana of that time was extended at least across the regions of Bogra, Dinajpur and Rajshahi. Probably the fairly whole north Bengal beginningfrom Rajmohal-Ganges- Bhagirathi to Korotoa was included in Pundrabardhana during that time. During the Senaa reign the most south border of Pundravardhana was extended through the Padma completely to Khari Bishoy (at present Khari Pargona of Chobbish Parganas) and to the seashore of Dhaka and Barisal. The experts infer that Mahasthangar, seven miles away from Bogra is the ruins of ancient Pundravardhana. It was Pundra which was the most prosperous Jonapada of the ancient Bengal from the perspective of evidences of ancient civilization. Probably the most ancient stone inscription inscribed on stone wheel obtained in Bangladesh have been discovered here.

Harikela: The writers of the 7th century have also described another region called Harikela. Chinese traveler Itsing said that Harikela was situated at the end of eastern India. But we can trace parts of present Chittagong in the description of Harikela in the write ups by others. In the analyses of all these data, it can be assumed that Harikela spread from Srihatta (Sylhet) in the east to some portions of Chittagong. Although in the middle was another kingdom named Samatata which can create a little confusion. In fact, loose administration used to prevail in places in the region at that time. Besides, despite Banga, Samatata and Harikela being separate kingdom, sometimes and in some places their identity presumably used to overlap due to their close proximity of borders. Factually, Harikela existed as a separate state from 7th to 8th century to 10th to 11th century A.D. But Harikela was assumed to be a part of Banga since the occupation of Chandradwip by King Trilakyachandra, the descendant of Chandra dynasty in eastern Bengal. Some others are there who assume Sylhet and Harikela to be the same.

Samatata: Samatata was situated in the east and south-east Bengal as a neighboring Jonapada of Banga. This region was a humid low lying land. Some think that Samatata was the ancient name of present Comilla. Again, some other think that Samatata comprised of Comilla and Noakhali region. Present Tripura region was one of the parts of Samatata from the seventh century till the twelveth century. Once upon a time the western border of this Jonapadaa was extended to the Khari Pargana of Chobbish Parganas. The coastal region extending from the eastern shore of Ganges-Bhagirathi to the tributary of the Meghna was probably called Samatata. In the seventh century its capital was the place named Bara Kamta, 12 miles west of Comilla city

Barendra: Another Jonapada of ancient Bengal could be known in the name of Varendree, Barendra, or Barendra Bhumi. It was also a Janapada of north Bengal. Barendra was the most important region of Pundravardhana Jonapada. Pundravardhana, the main city of the Janapada and the center of the provincial ruler during the Gupta regime, was also in this Barendra region. So, it cannot be called a Janapada. But once upon a time this region used to be introduced by this name. So, in the history of ancient Bengal it was given the dignity of a Janapada. It can undoubtedly be said that this Janapada was situated in region between the Ganges and the Karatoa. The Barendra region was extended across a vast area of Bogra, Dinajpur, and Rajshahi region as well as probably Pabna region.

Tamralipta: Tamralipta Jonapadaa was situated to the north of Harikela. Tomluk in the region of present Medenipur was the heart of Tamralipta. This coastal area was very humid and low lying. This place was the best for navigational Jonapadaa. In the ancient time Tamralipta was known to be an important center for river trade. This port stood on the river Rupnarayana, 12 miles away from the juncture of two rivers --- the Hoogly and the Rupnarayana. It started to be known as Dandobhukti since the seventh century. The prosperity of Tamralipta port was damaged just after the eighth century.

Chandradeep: Besides Janapadas mentioned above, there was another tinier Janapada in ancient Bengal. This was Chandradeep. The very Barisal region of today was the mainland and the heart of Chandradeep. This ancient Jonapadaa was situated in the place between the Baleshwar and the Meghna. Besides, in greater ancient Bengal there were some other Janapadas named Dandobhukti, North Rahr (the western part of present Murshidabad region, whole Birbhum region and Katoa Sub-division of the Budwan region), South Rahr (the southern part of present Budwan, many parts of Hoogly and Howrah region), Bangla (generally Sundarban forests of Khulna, Patuakhali and Barisal) etc. Thus different parts of ancient Bengal were known by different names from the ancient time till the sixth-seventh century. Basically, it was an economic and geographical division. At the start of the seventh century Sasanka after becoming the king of Gaur organized the total area from Murshidabad to Utkol (North orissa). After that Bengal used to be known by the name of three Janapada. These were Pundravardhana, Banga and Gaur. The existence of the left others were lost in them. Attempts to unite the divided Janapadas reached much of completeness during the regimes of the Pala and the Sena Kings. Though Sasanka and Pala kings were the kings of the whole of West Bengal, they familiarized themselves as 'King of Rarh' or 'King of Gaur'. As a result, the name 'Gaur' gained familiarity. We can get a fair conception of geographical shape, demarcation, political characteristics of the then Bengal from the Janapadas of ancient Bengal. Then there was no political unity in ancient Bengal. The powerful rulers would gain ruling power of more than one Janapada through executing their domination. Thus these Janapadas played roles as the first territorial unit or administrative unit in ancient Bengal and later helped form political unit