Page:The Travels of Ludovico di Varthema (1863).djvu/370

 210 THE CHAPTER CONCERNING THE SHIPS WHICH ARE USED IN TARNASSARI.

These people make use of very large ships and of various kinds, some of which are made flat bottomed, because such can enter into places where there is not much water. Another kind are made with prows before and behind, and they carry two helms and two masts, and are uncovered. There is also mother kind of large ship which is called Giunchi and each of these is of the tonnage of one thousand butts, on which they carry some little vessels to a city called Melacha and from thence they go with these little vessels for small spices to a place which you shall know when the proper time comes.

THE CHAPTER CONCERNING THE CITY OF BANGHELLA, AND OF ITS DISTANCE FROM TARNASSARI.

Let us return to my companion, for he and I had a desire to see farther on. After we had been some days in this said city, and being, indeed, tired of that same service of whichyou have heard above, and having sold some of our merchandise we took the route towards the city of Banghella, Gour was undoubtedly the capital of Bengal at this period, but it appears that the name of tho province was very commonly applied to the city, more especially by foreigners. The following is from Barbosa:— "Beyond the Ganges, onward towards the East, is the kingdom of Bengala, wherein there are many places and cities, as well inland as on the sea-coast. Those in the interior are inhabited by Gentiles, who are subject to the king of Bengala, who is a Moor; and the stations on the coast are full of Moors and Gentiles, among whom are many merchants and traders to all parts. For this sea forms a gulf which bends towards the north, at the head of which is situated a great city inhabited by Moors, which is celled Bengala." (, vol. i. p. 330.) In 1537, during the viceroyalty of Nunno de Cunna, when the Portuguese first attempted to establish a fort in Bengal, "Gowro, the capital city, extended three leagues in length along the Ganges, and contained 1,200,000 families." (, vol. i. p. 84.) In Ralph Fitch's time, 1583–1591, Tanda appears to have succeeded Gour as the capital of the kingdom, which had then become tributary to the Moghul Emperor:— "From Patanau [Patna] I want to Tanda, which is in the land of Gouren. It hath in times past been a kingdom, but is now subdued by Zelabdim Echebar [Jalâl ed-Dîn, Akbar.] Great trade and traffic is here of cotton and cloth of cotton...It standeth in the country of Bengala...Tanda standeth from the Ganges a league, because in times past the river flowing over the banks in time of rain drowned the country and many villages, and so they remain. And the old way which the river Ganges was wont to run remaineth dry, which is the occasion that the city standeth so far from the water." (, ix. p. 414.) I conclude, therefore, that Mandelslo errs in enumerating Bengal as a city of that province distinct from Gour and '1'anda. He says: "En tirant vers le septentrional on trouve le royaume de Bengala, qui donne le nom au golfe que les ancicns appellent Sinus Gangeticus...0n trouve plusieurs belles villes dans ce royaume, comme sont celles de Gouro,d'Ougely, de Chatigan, de Bengala, de Tanda, de Daca, de Patana, de Banares, d'Elsabas, et de Ragmehela." (Voyages, p. 290.) The following is from Major Rannell on this subject:— "Gour, called also Lucknouti, the ancient capital of Bengal, and supposed to be the Gangia regia of Ptolemy, stood on the left bank of the Ganges, about twenty-five miles below Rajemal. It was the capital of Bengal 730 years B.C., and was repaired and beautified by Homayoon, who gave it the name of Jennuteabad, which name a part of the circar, in which it was situated, still bears. According to Ferishta's account, the unwholesomeness of its air occasioned it to be deserted soon after, and the seat of government was removed to Tandah or Tanrah, a few miles higher up the river. No part of the site of ancient Gour is nearer to the present bank of the Ganges than four miles and a half, and some parts of it which were regularly washed by that river are now twelve miles from it." ''Mem. of a Map of Hindostan, quoted in Hist of Bengal'', p. 44.