History of ancient towns of Bangladesh

Town
An unbroken country called Bengal was not born at once. Its journey begins through the villages. ‍ About sixteen villages are known in the inscribed inscriptions and various literary works. However, the boundaries of each region have not always been the same. Sometimes the boundaries of a town have increased, sometimes they have decreased. Below are descriptions of some notable towns:

Gaur: Although the name ‘Gaur’ is well known, it is not known exactly where the town of Gaur was formed in ancient times.However, in the sixth century, in the northern part of East Bengal, an independent state called Gaur was known. In the seventh century, Shashanka was called Gaur Raja. At that time the capital of Gaur was Karnasuvarna. Its location was in the present Murshidabad district. Shortly before the Muslim conquest of Bengal, Lakshanavati in Malda district was also called Gaur.

Banga: ‘Banga’ is a very ancient town. To the east and south-east of present day Bangladesh a region called Banga Janapada was formed. It is believed that a nation called ‘Banga’ used to live here.That is why the town is known as ‘Banga’. Ancient inscriptions give the names of two regions of Bengal – Bikrampur and Navya. At present there is no such thing as navigable. It is believed that the low lying wetlands of Faridpur, Bakerganj and Patuakhali were included in this naval area.

Pundra: Pundra is one of the ancient villages of Bengal. It is said that a tribe called Pundra formed this town. This Pundra was formed with the present Bogra, Rangpur, Rajshahi and Dinajpur regions.The capital of the kingdom of Pundra was Pundranagar. Later it was called Mahasthangarh.

Scholars believe that Mahasthangarh is the ruins of the ancient city of Pundra. Pundrai was one of the richest cities in ancient Bengal in terms of ancient civilization. The inscription engraved on the stone disc is found here. It is thought to be the oldest inscription found in Bangladesh.

Harikela: Seventh century writers have described another town called Harikela.This town was located in the eastern part of Bengal. It is believed that this town was spread from modern Sylhet to Chittagong. Some people think that Samatat is the ancient name of present day Comilla. The coastal region from the east bank of the Ganges-Bhagirathi to the estuary of the Meghna was probably called Samatat.

Bara Kamata was its capital 12 miles west of Comilla town. A few ancient relics have been found at Mainamati in Comilla. Shalban Bihar is one of them. It is also a town in the north. Presumably, Barindra was located across a part of Pundra.

Many areas of Bogra, Dinajpur and Rajshahi districts and probably Barind area were spread over Pabna district.Tamralipta: Located south of Harikela. There was a copper-plated town. The heart of Tamralipta was in Tamluk in present day Midnapore district. From the seventh century onwards it came to be known as Dandabhukti.
Chandradwip: Another small town in ancient Bengal is called Paorya.

This is Chandradwip the present Barisal district was the mainland and heart of Chandradwip. This ancient town is situated between Baleshwar and Meghna.From the settlements of ancient Bengal we can get a rough idea of ​​the geographical features, boundaries, political features, etc. of Bengal at that time. There was no political unity in ancient Bengal then. Powerful rulers gained the power to rule more than one district by extending their dominance.

Collecting by Abu Hanif Biplab