Reconstruction of Mouths of Ganga (as identified by Ptolemy)

[Full title: Indian Subcontinent; 3: Eastern India (Andhra Pradesh, Orissa and Bengal); (1): Harbours and Coastal Settlements (4) Reconstruction of Mouths of Ganga, as identified by Ptolemy, on the basis of archaeological and geomorphic data]

Fig. 37 shows the spread of Early Historic coastal settlements from the Gangetic tidal zone to riverine sites located north of the delta. The location of Early Historic sites indicates the waterways in use. The concentration of riverine sites of lower Bengal points to the main points of ingress into the Gangetic delta which ancient ships must have used to reach these settlements Sengupta (1996:116-118) detailing the spread of Early Historic sites in Lower Bengal says: "Archaeological sites in Coastal Bengal are found distributed in three distinct clusters, situated either in the estuary or in the delta, rather than the sea proper. Chronologically, the earliest cluster of sites are located on the river Rupnarayan and Hooghli. Two other clusters are found along the river Vidyadhari and the old course of the Ganga. Considering that Ptolemy's mouths were a navigational rather than cartographic reality, the Early Historic coastal settlement clusters' identified by Sengupta must have been directly related to the points of ingress into the Gangetic delta. The cluster of sites on the Rupnarayan and the Hughli could be reached from the Bay of Bengal through the mouth of the Ganga which has Ganga Sagar Island at the point of confluence with the sea. This is the widest opening into the Ganga delta, approx. 20 km across (Dutta 1995:32). Obviously, this must be the mouth called Mega (Greek. great) by Ptolemy (Mouth B in Fig. 37). The Early Historic site of Kanthi on the coast right opposite Sagar island must have served as a halting station for ships entering the Hugli estuary Preliminary prospections at the site suggest that it was an important trade-port, perhaps rivalling Tamralipti (modern Tamluk) further inland (Sarkar 1990:3-54) After the long and hazardous journey from Sagar island or Kanthi, merchant ships must have reached near the point where the rivers Hughli, Damodar and Rupnarayan discharge their waters into the estuary. This second point of ingress is represented by the site of Harinarayanpur, just below Diamond Point (Fig. 37). It is at this juncture that navigators must have been confronted with 'choices' about their final destination The port of Tamralipti could be reached by sailing into the channel of the Rupnarayan The Hughli offered access to Early Historic settlements of Atghara, Boral and Chandraketugarh (the last could also be reached through the River Matla-

237 Vidyadhari opening) The Hughli waterway could be navigated far upstream to reach sites on the Bhagirathi such as Rajbadidanga (ancient Raktamrittika) Harinarayanpur is located near the old mouth of the Hughli (represented by the Atghara, Boral, Deolpota alignment, see Fig. 37) and is strategically placed on a bend of the estuary Though the sailing distance from Sagar island to Harinarayanpur is only 40 Km, nevertheless it was perhaps the most hazardous phase of the voyage for ships navigating into the main channels of the Rupnarayan and Hughli This estuarine zone is fraught with high tides, unpredictable currents and hidden shoals A seaman abroad the Charles Cooper, a steamship sailing for Calcutta in 1860 describes the passage through the Hughli estuary as the 'most difficult and dangerous passage in the world' where 'the current runs with great rapidity over treacherous shoals and quicksands' (Bound and McLeod 1992:464). Even today no movement of ships is possible in the Hughli estuary without the use of pilot-boats. The presence of pilot-boats is recorded for the Early Historic period in the term trappaka on a clay tablet from Chandraketugarh (Chakravarti 1992 155-160). We know the trappaka to be a pilot-boat from a reference in the Periplus (sec. 44) which informs of such a vessel engaged in directing merchant-ships from the mouth of the Gulf of Khambhat to the great port of Barygaza-on-Narmada Similarly. the trappaka operating in the Ganges estuary must have guided incoming ships from Sagar island to safety of riverine ports such as Tamralipti/Tamluk-onRupnarayan (for probable model of trappaka see Pl. XXVII) • So by the time the merchant vessels reached Harinarayanpur at the head of the Hughli estuary, the mariners must have put behind them the hardest part of the voyage Beyond this point the journey upstream on the Hughli or the Rupnarayan presented relatively safe passage. A record of tides in the Hughli at Kidderpore Docks of Calcutta between 1806-7 and 1825-26 reveals that only once, in 1823 did a tidal bore from the Bay of Bengal enter the fluvial channel (Kyd 1832/1980:260). So both from the point of view of sailing conditions and divergence of waterways towards the 'site-clusters' the Harinarayanpur/Diamond Point area must have been a major point of ingress after Sagar island. The existence of a maritime 'crossroad' at Harinarayanpur/Diamond Point suggests that one of Ptolemy's mouths may have been here. It is likely that Harinarayanpur/Diamond Point represents Kambyson, for as we notice above, Saint-Martin places the Kambyson mouth in the vicinity of Diamond Point on the basis of the Nungabusan toponym (Mouth A in Fig. 37). The next major opening east of Ganga Sagar estuary is the Matla-Vidyadhari estuary. We see a concentration of Early Historic sites just above this estuarine area,

238 This 'cluster', centred about the important settlement of ChandraketugarhBerachampa, has in proximity the sites of Haroa, Jhikra, Hadipur. This cluster indicates that the Matla-Vidyadhari estuary may have been the third navigable mouth of Ptolemy, i.e., Kamberikhon. In fact, Kamberikhon may have extended to the adjacent Kobbadak-Baraganga estuary if we take into account Dey's interpretation of Kamberikhon as Kumbirakhatun (Crocodile Channel) and the presence of toponyms of the latter along the old courses of the Ganga (discussion above, Mouth C in Fig. 37). Further east of the Baraganga estuary the fringes of the Gangetic delta is the Sunderbans proper, the thick mangrove forest area of deltaic Bengal. The many channels that wind among the shoals and mud-islands of the Sundarbans could easily convey, to sailors not familiar with the geomorphology of the area, the impression of navigable estuaries leading into the interior. However, the channels of the Sundarbans are extremely treacherous and unfit for heavy maritime traffic (Datta 1995:32). ancient times, these channels must have been regarded as deceptive and dangerous by mariners. Ptolemy, therefore, must have given to the swamy forested estuary of Sundarbans the name Pseudostomon or False Mouth (Mouth D in Fig. 37). In There is no convincing toponym for the identification of Ptolemy's fifth mouth, Antihole. Dey's association of Antibole with Atopur is based only on the slender resemblance of place names and seems far fetched. McCrindle's identification of Antibole with the Dhaka estuary only seem logical (Mouth E in Fig. 37).