Geographical as well as Geo-political unit of Zone IV

The region was popularly known as Varendrī or Barind and apparently the ancient geo-political unit known as Puṇḍravardhana-bhukti corresponded to this region. The name Puṇḍravardhana is mentioned in different texts like the Mahābhārata (Ganguli 1883-1896: I Civ, 52-55; II, XXX), the Harivaṃśa (Jain 1944: XXXI, 33-42), the Jain Kalpa-Sūtra (Jacobi 1879: 288), the Rāmāyaṇa (Dutta 1891: IV, XL, 23-25) and others. However, none of the texts mention precisely the geographical denotation of the term Puṇḍra or Puṇḍravardhana. However, the Chinese pilgrim Hsuan Tsang’s accounts preserves some idea about the geographical boundary of Puṇḍra or Puṇḍravardhana. He mentions that “Ka-chu-wu-khi-lo, travelling east, he crossed the Ganges and after a journey of about 600 li reached the Pun-na-fatan-na country”, and that “from Pun-na-fa-tan-na the pilgrim travelled east above 900 li, crossed a large river, and came to Ka-mo-li-po’ (Watters 190405: 184-185).^[1] Thus, it is assumed that the Pun-na-fa-tan-na or Puṇḍravardhana was bounded by the main stream of Ganges on the west and Karatoya on the east. Samataṭa corresponded to lower and eastern Bengal and Karṇasuvarṇa lay to the south-east of Puṇḍravardhana included Malda, Dinajpur, Rajshahi, and parts of Bogra and Rangpur districts, situated to the west of the river Karatoya.

Figure 2.10. Map showing the zone IV of the present study area (with colour)

Administratively, the region was constituted as Puṇḍravardhana-bhukti when it became a province under the Guptas^[2]. This bhukti retained its existence till the end of the Pāla rule. When the jurisdiction of Puṇḍravardhana-bhukti, which covered Samataṭa and Śrīhaṭṭa from the beginning of the tenth century, was extended to Vaṅga and Puṇḍravardhana under the Senas^[3], this sub-region was designated as Varendra-maṇḍala within the bhukti. The centre of this sub-region was Puṇḍravardhana or Puṇḍranagara identified with present Mahasthangarh near Bogra (Bangladesh) since the third century BCE, as is indicated by the Mahasthan stone inscription (Bhandarkar 1984: 83-91; Majumdar 1971: 20).

Additionally, Koṭīvarṣa, identified with present Bangarh near Gangarampur in South Dinajpur district, was the secondary centre whose jurisdiction covered the viṣaya of its namesake. This was the largest administrative sub-division of the province of Puṇḍravardhana-bhukti and different Gupta inscriptions (Basak 1982:129-144) mention about this viṣaya. In the Vāyu Purāṇa there is a reference to a city of the name of Koṭīvarṣa (Tagare 1987: Chapter XXIII, V: 196). We can get a logical identification of Koṭīvarṣa in Puṇḍravardhana from Hemacandra (Abhidhāna Chintāmaṇi) who lists Devīkoṭa, Umāvana, Bāṇapura and Śoṇitapura as synonyms of Koṭīvarṣa (Sastri & Sastri 1964: IV-977).

Jainism was firmly established in Puṇḍravardhana as well as Koṭīvarṣa from the Mauryan period onwards and this is evident from one of the Jain tradition recorded in the Bṛhat Kathākośa of Hariṣeṇa, composed in CE 931. According to this document, the Jain preceptor and saint, Bhadravāhu, reputed as the spiritual guide of the Maurya emperor Chandragupta, the grandfather of Asokā was born in Devikoṭa in north Bengal, also known as Kotivarsa, which is identified with modern Bangarh in West Dinajpur district (Upadhye 1943; Jash 1989: 78 Fn. 50). Kalpa-Sūtra also mentions that Godasa, a disciple of Bhadravāhu, founded a school named after himself as Godasa-gaṇa. In course of time, this school had divided into four śākhās. These branches are known as Tāmraliptikā, Koṭivariṣīyā, Puṇḍravardhanīyā and Karvāṭīyā (Jacobi 1879: 79). The two branches Koṭīvariṣīyā and Puṇḍravardhanīyā undoubtedly belonged to North Bengal having ancient Koṭīvarṣa and Puṇḍravardhana within its realm. Location of two different branches of Jainism in North Bengal is a testament to its considerable influence and concentration in the area

The epigraphic as well as the textual records refer to ancient Devikoṭa or modern Bangarh as a developed city under Puṇḍravardhana. The earlier archaeological excavations at Bangarh have unearthed its earliest level of occupation during second century BCE if not earlier (IAR 2009-2010: 155). While recent excavations at the site unearthed the remains of the hitherto unknown Early Village Farming or Chalcolithic settlement and subsequently the series of excavations at this fortified site revels its rich historical importance also. On the other hand, Mahashthangarh, ancient Puṇḍranagara or the Nagara (city) of the Puṇḍras, was one of the largest early historic fortified city-sites of the sub-continent situated on the bank of the Karatoya River and to the east of the ancient Devikoṭa or modern Bangarh. The fortified enclosure at Mahasthangarh only served as the focus of a large number of early historic and later settlements of all types around it. Likewise, the site Bangarh or ancient Koṭīvarṣa, situated on the east bank of the river Punarbhaba, possibly an administrative unit under Puṇḍravardhana-bhukti with, served as the core area for the several early historic as well as the early medieval archaeological sites around it (Chakrabarti 2001: 61). Several explorations in and around both these major sites recorded many archaeological sites yielding varieties of antiquities, both secular and religious. We also get a good numbers of Jain antiquities from these sites.

Another geographical unit which was co-extensive with large tracts of North Bengal was Varendra or Varendrī. Several post-Gupta inscriptions refer to Varendra or Varendrī as a separate geographical unit within the Puṇḍravardhana-bhukti (A. Bhattacharyay 43-45). According to the Vallālacarita (ed. H.P.Shastri p. 14) Varendra or Varendrī was one of the constituent provinces of the empire of Vallālasena. In a recent lecture, Gerd J.R. Mevissen (2008: 10th Jain Studies Workshop at SOAS, London) opines that “ancient Varendra comprised the modern Rajshahi and Bogra districts and parts of Dinajpur and Rangpur districts in Bangladesh as well as the adjoining Malda, North and South Dinajpur districts in West Bengal, India”.

The remaining two geographical units in this zone are the Tarai and the Himalayan belt. The Tarai region incorporates the districts of Jalpaiguri and Cooch Behar and served as an intermediate zone between the plain and the Himalayan belt. Beyond the Tarai we have the Himalayan belt with the Darjeeling district being the main base of this hilly belt.

The present chapter has presented a brief outline about the overall geographical as well as geo-political setting of early Bengal and its relevance in the understanding the various aspects of settlement history of the concerned region. Different geographical factors undoubtedly have influenced the character of the settlement patterns and their association with different social groups in the different areas of early Bengal. The growth and development of different religious ideologies particularly the Jainism was closely associated with geographical settings of the different region of the study area. Among the four zones of the present study area Jainism was widely spread in the zone I i.e. the eastern fringes of the Chhotanagpur Plateau covering the present districts of Purulia, Bankura, western part of Burdwan and West Midnapur (ancient Suhma and Rāḍha). In the undulating land of the red lateritic soil, the vast expanses of which are guarded by forested hilly outcrops interspersed with lush green cultivated tracts, one is amazed by the silent grandeur of the abundance of Jain remains.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

Cunningham in his Ancient Geography of India identified the Ka-chu-wu-khi-lo with Kankjol, an important archaeological site situated about 18 mile to the south of Rajmahal, and Pun-na-fa-tan-na with Puṇḍravardhana (1871: 478-81).

[2]:

The Mahasthan stone inscription (c. third-second century BCE) is the earliest testimony to the term Puṇḍra, describes it as a city of northern Bengal (Bhandarkar 1984: 83-91; Majumdar 1971: 20). Subsequent epigraphic records of the Gupta period call this province as Puṇḍravardhana-bhukti.

[3]:

It is quite interesting from the early tenth century onwords three variants of this place name occur in Bengal inscriptions: a. Puṇḍravardhana b. Pauṇḍra and c. Paṇḍravardhana. These variations have been rightly explicated in terms of either expansion of this territory into south-southeastern Bengal, or occasional confinement in Southern Bengal (Sen 1942: 562).