COME ACROSS THE CAPITAL OF VIJAYASENA: UNCOVER THE FORGOTTEN HISTORIC LANDSCAPES

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1 COME ACROSS THE CAPITAL OF VIJAYASENA: UNCOVER THE FORGOTTEN HISTORIC LANDSCAPES ABSTRACT Mizanur Rahman* The Barind tract is a well-known geological unit which encompasses several types of land formation as well as historically potent sites elsewhere. People found their livelihood as well as security in this land from the very beginning of human habitation in the Bengal delta. A reconnaissance archaeological survey had been divulged two ancient cities Vijayanagara and Kodom Sohor in the Deopara union of Godagari thana under Rajshahi district during the Sena king Vijayasena. The aim of this article is to amplify the spatial significance of Vijayanagara and Kodom Sohor apropos artifact and ecofacts as well as written and inscriptional sources. Inspite of having the paucity of archaeological investigation on this region, some scholars tried to establish the fact that Vijayanagara was a capital of the Sena king Vijayasena. The present study has revealed that Kodom Sohor was the centre of the capital of Vijayasena while Vijayanagara was used as a cantonment or defense centre as well as a river port. It is also a predominant goal of this research to prepare a map showing the location and extent of Vijayanagara and Kodom Sohor, the two important but less discussed pre-medieval urban centers of Bengal. Key Words: Vijayanagara, Kodom Sohor, Vijayasena, Sena, capital, Deopara Prososti INTRODUCTION In the ancient history of Bengal, capital city or any other city is important because of its pertinence with the human culture, political affiliation, pattern of life ways and so on. Kings generally used to live in the capitals, and issued copperplates 1 or the state poet also wrote prososti/praise on the kings and queens about their gallantry, benevolence, conquer variegated countries or regions etc. In some cases, prososti contains exaggerated acclamations which were likely adulation and sycophancy. It is widely described that there are manifold places 2 (Cited in Majumder 2003) in ancient Bengal where Sena capitals were located, likewise Vikramapura, 3 Nadiyā, 4 Lakshmanāvāti, 5 Navadvpa. 6 Vijayasena ruled over the North Bengal during c AD, succeeded by Hemantasena (Majumdar 2003). An inscription/prososti of Vijayasena had been found in Kodom Sohor of Deopara union under Godagari police station of Rajshahi district in 1865 by C.T. Metcalfe. It indicates that North Bengal was a the centre of administration of Vijayasena which could be termed as the capital. In the early Medieval history of Bengal, these are discussed in paltry without any spatial archaeological interpretations. Before this * Assistant Professor, Department of Archaeology, Jahangirnagar University. 69 Page

2 Green University Review of Social Sciences, Volume 03, Issue 01, June-2016 investigation, Rai Bahadur Ramaprasad Chanda visited the area in 1910 (Chanda 2005) and A K M Zakaria in the mid 70's (Zakaria 2007) whereas both did the job in culture historical approach 7 (Trigger 2002). Besides this, collectors from the Varendra Research Museum visited this area and collected varieties of artifacts for museum display 8 (Chanda 2005). Although Chandra (2005) suggested Vijayanagara as the capital of Vijayasena without any explanation which had been supported by Zakaria (Zakaria 2007) in later. Chakravarti (cited in Majumder 2003) and Majumdar (2003) differ with Chandra. There is no other hypothesis available here apropos the pre-medieval capital of Vijayasena. In our recent visits, a novel idea has been developed on the basis of archaeological and ecological 9 evidences. METHODOLOGY Before going to the field, pre-survey research had been conducted properly; meanwhile detail maps like topographic, land use, communication and administrative, mouza and google satellite image had been collected from SRDI, LGED, DSG and so on. It was judgment sampling (Haggett 1965) which had been followed in the survey. In an archaeological survey, plethora techniques are being used throughout the world while the most potent way of finding and recording sites are walking which were widely used in this research. It was widely practiced technique to find the site in this footstep which is called systematic surface survey. In this process, surveyors move forward by foot, slowly on the landscapes. Using transects system, surface artifacts were also collected from various points and places while it was tagged regarding site code, administrative area, type of site, and survey year. Moreover, GPS (Garmin 78s) was used to locate the site which also remained raw data for preparing map using Arc View. A literature review was also a part of the methodology while obtained data were being compared with that. KODOM SOHOR Kodom Sohor is situated at the Deopara mouza of Deopara union under Godagari police station of Rajshahi district, north of Jukhali river. The site is located at 24026'26.24'' N and 88030'26.24" E. In this elementary survey, Kodom Sohor seems square in shape while it was measured roughly one square kilometre. Presuamably, the name kodom Sohor comes from Pradyumneśhvara>Podumshar>kodom Sohor. 70 Page

3 Come Across the Capital of Vijayasena; Uncover the Forgotten Historic Landscapes Kakonhat-Dhamkura-Amnura pacca road crossed the site and it divides the site into two parts now. The site is approximately 4km north-east to Rajabari haat bus stoppage and it is almost 6km far from Rajshahi bypass bus stoppage towards the north-west. Source: Google Earth, 2016; Based on Field Survey and Analysis by Author, 2017 Map 1: Location, extent and size of Kodom Sohor Although, most of the landscape of western Barind is highly undulating kodom shohor is almost flat and present human settlement is traced as clustered. A large tank has been found here measuring almost 209m 163m (Map1) at the western side of Rajshahi-Dhamkura-Amnura road. At the eastern bank of the large tank, a few settlements have been developed where a notice board had been erected by the Archaeological Survey of India confirms that it was the found place of Deopara Prososti of Vijayasena. In the tank, some colossal stone pieces 10 are seen. Local people are inquisitive apropos the findings which have been found at the time of ploughing, digging a ditch, putting tube wells and so on. Some stone beads of carnelian and agate have been found by inhabitants. Moreover, fragments of stone sculpture had also been found by the residents what they showed us during exploration. In addition, remnants of hundreds of thousands of potsherds are visible on the bank of the tank. On the eastern opposite of the tank, some mammoth stone pillars are laid down in the crop field (Plate 1). 71 Page

4 Green University Review of Social Sciences, Volume 03, Issue 01, June-2016 Plate1: Stone Pillar of Pradyumneśhvara Temple (?) The gigantic stone pillars are meticulously decorated (Plate 1). Besides the fallen pillar, the large brick wall has been traced beneath the top soil. Furthermore, a plethora of black basalt stone fragments, presumably it was an offshoot of sculpture which had been made in this area, have been discovered here which indicates indubitably, the area used for manufacturing sculptures. In some places of Kodom Sohor, farmers are not able to plough land due to ample brick wall/brickbats as well as stone/stone fragments and that places are using for mango gardening by the local people. VIJAYANAGARA Vijayanagara is located on 24023''06'-24023''49' N and 88026''19'-88027''49' E. Administratively, Vijayanagara, is now a large modern village under the Deopara Union of Vijayanagara mouza at Godagari police station in Rajshahi district. The site is quite close to Rajshahi city towards Chapainawabganj before Godagari town and several government research organisations had established offices on the site, like Goat Research Centre, Dairy Research and Grass Research Centre as well. Once you start a journey from Rajshahi town to Chapainawabganj, Rajabari, a bus stop before Godagari town is suitable to reach Vijayanagara. 72 Page

5 Come Across the Capital of Vijayasena; Uncover the Forgotten Historic Landscapes Source: Google Earth, 2016; Based on Field Survey and Analysis by Author, 2017 Map 1: Location, extent and size of Vijayanagara The shape of Vijayanagara city is determined almost rectangular with slight curve in the southern end, inclined to the outline of a palaeochannel and an edge outlined from its mainland towards north (Map 2) which recognized quite aberrant from many other ancient cities like Mahasthangarh (Rahman 1999), Wari-Bateshwar (Rahman 2013) or Kotalipara/Chandra Barman Court (Rahman 2013). Presumably, the city was about 2 km long towards east-west and 0.75 km to the north-south. Eastern part of the city started from the eastern boundary of Goat Research Centre and at the time of foot walking survey, it was examined meticulously, no archaeological remains have been found beyond the city line. Western boundary located at the village of Kumorpur, where a large rampart like structure is visible which has been measured around 1 km in the north-south direction. The local people called it taksal (treasury/mint house). Despite the dearth of evidence on another three sides, it can be speculated that the rampart like structure could have been part of a fortification. It Might be that the other part of the rampart had been disappeared. The present state of our knowledge cannot decipher its earliest use scrupulously. In addition, a moat has been found inside the fortification (Map 2) unlikely other pre-medieval or Early Historic city areas (Rahman 1999, 2013; Rahman 2014). In our recent surveys in Vikrampura, for example, Vallalbari is assumed as the palace site of Sena king Vallal Sena, surrounded by a moat. 73 Page

6 Green University Review of Social Sciences, Volume 03, Issue 01, June-2016 Figure 1: Contour Map of Vijayanagara Mound 3 Figure 2: Distribution of Mound at Vijayanagara Behind the Goat Research Centre, the eastern part of the city, 5 small mounds had been located which all are not so distinctive due to annihilation of various ways (Figure 2). The most distinctive mound is VN-3, 1m high from adjacent flat land and it extents 150m 160m (Figure 1) while the other 4 mounds are small as well as low in height than VN-3. The mound VN-3 is featured by the presence of brick built wall (Plate 4), varieties of potsherds including black with slip and glaze which seems Northern Black Polished Ware (NBPW?), glazed colored pottery, iron slag, stone fragments and so on. Towards western side of the present Goat Research Centre, another mound is situated called Rajabari Vita (RV), 4 more vita have been found here while RV 2 mounds is more prominent among them and it figured out almost 1 meter high 74 Page

7 Come Across the Capital of Vijayasena; Uncover the Forgotten Historic Landscapes from the abut plain land (Figure 2). In addition, two more mounds have been located opposite to the dairy firm which is called Grass Research Centre. In Rajabari vita 1-4, plethora of artifacts like potsherds,brickbats, Shiblingya/Gouripattaya (measured by 3feet long, 2 feet width and 1 foot high (Plate 2)), lower part of the door with a sign of Khirki/Lock made of stone (Plate 5), a broken upper part of stone pillar (where abacus is distinct and the decoration of pillar is found Corinthian) (Plate 6), terracotta ball (Plate 3) etc have been found. Between the mounds, one large tank with plenty of abandoned artifacts is situated. Figure 2: Contour map of Rajabari Vita 2 Plate 2 : Fragments of Shiblingya from RV. Plate 3 : TC ball from VN. Plate 4: Brick wall visible at VN. 75 Page

8 Green University Review of Social Sciences, Volume 03, Issue 01, June-2016 Behind the dairy firm, in the southern side, a place known as Pathor Ghata is located (Map 2). This place is mostly important because of its geographical location. Pathor Ghata (PG) is classified in lower altitude than RV in the plain land of the Barind tract where an oxbow lake has been found abut to PG, originally was the Ganges flow and now it shifted more to the south. An Oxbow lake, usually, is a sign of palaeochannel and is especially important in archaeology because of its probability of being used by archaic people in variegated ways. The geographical position of Pathor Ghata clearly indicates that it was a river port or a landing station during the Sena period or from earlier. Presumably, the river had shifted a couple of centuries ago and a vast bar had been deposited between the oxbow lake and the present flow of the mighty Padma. In addition, myriad black basalt fragments/pieces have also been recorded from the surface of Pathor Ghata. The place could have been used to import stones from other places whereas hundreds of sculptures had been found elsewhere from northern Bangladesh and especially from Godagari-Tanore region. 11 In the western side of the dairy farm, it is being used as an agricultural land while some scarce houses are found, and it is also a part of ancient Vijayanagara. In the surface of plough land, plenty of potsherds, terracotta balls etc. have been found and this scenario is continued up to the Kumorpur mound. Kumorpur is completely different from other places of ancient Vijayanagara although it is presumed that Kumorpur was an integral part of Vijayanagara. Gorbaria, a place at Kumorpur is well-known to local people as a mint house/taksal. The Gorbari is a rampart-like feature which is about 1 km long from south to north and about 6 feet high as well as 10 feet wide. The structure is full of potsherds and in many places, brick has been found. Despite beliefs of local people, it is convoluted to presume it as a mint house without any methodological excavation. Gorbari might have remained the westernmost part of Vijayanagara. 76 Page Plate 5 : Khirki/Lock from RV. Plate 6:Broken stone pillar from RV.

9 Come Across the Capital of Vijayasena; Uncover the Forgotten Historic Landscapes DISCUSSION There is no quintessential piece of material to prove Vijayanagara as the capital of Vijayasena, inevitably. Paltry literary evidence with few hypotheses which are based on archaeological knowledge as well as geographical/ecological setting will be focused here that can be conducive to perceive the existence of the capital or not. Firstly, In Pavanaduta, ancient literary works had been written by Dhoyi (cited in Majumder 1929 ), where for the first time they have been known the name of the place Vijaypura as the capital. Then in 1910, Rai Bahadur Ramaprasad Chanda, conducted an archaeological exploration in the Godagari region and opined that the modern village Vijayanagara should be considered as the site of Vijaypura cited in Dhoyi's Pavanaduta and suggested that it was the capital of Vijaysena (Majumder 1929). Majumdar (2003) mentioned that Vijaypura was the capital of Lakshmanasena. Besides this, Chakravarti (cited in Majumdar 2003) opined that the Vijaypura of Dhoyi's Pavanaduta is similar to Nadiyā. In addition, Majumdar believed that the identification of Vijaypura is more preferable to Nadiyā than that of Vijayanagara of Godagari, Rajshahi. If the explanation could be taken as true then where was the centre of Vijayasena's administration? Inscriptional analysis could be reliable to understand the possible place of capital of Vijayasena. Act upon discussion now Kodom Sohor is merely an alternative of the capital of Vijayasena in the north Bengal considering our present archaeological exploration. If the verse of the Deopara inscription of Vijayasena is considered, then it will be more conducive to perceive that Pradyumneśvara>Padumshar was the centre of the capital of Vijayasena which might be locally known as Kodom Sohor. It is hypothesized because, firstly, the Sena king Vijayasena (Verse-28) erected a temple Pradyumneśvara and a large tank for water; secondly, Deopara inscription was found in this place; thirdly, during the survey, large number of brick structure had been traced beneath the surface soil at Kodom Sohor which indicates that large number of brick built edifices including the palace (?) of the kings. Moreover, variegated semi-precious stone beads have been found in Kodom Sohor during the visit and few local enthusiastic collectors also showed some beads to the survey team. Finding such type of beads is inquisitive which indicates aristocrat people were living in that place. Act upon inscription, Vijayasena (Majumder 1929) constructed a temple Pradyumneśvara which was monumental in height and grandeur. "That Indra of the earth built a lofty edifice of Pradyumneśvara, the wings, the plinth and the main structure of which occupied the several quarters, and the middle and the uppermost parts stretched over the great ocean like space- (it is) the midday mountain of the rising and setting the sun who touches the eastern and western mountains, the 77 Page

10 Green University Review of Social Sciences, Volume 03, Issue 01, June-2016 supporting pillar of the house which is the three worlds and the one that remains of the mountains" (Majumder 1929). During the survey, two mammoth decorated pillar had been discovered in the crop field (Photo 1). No one should be confused that the decorated pillar laid down on the earth was an integral part of Pradyumneśvara temple. In addition, Sena rulers have adhered of Hinduism and they belonged to Brahmanya cast. It was more logical that, such temple would be erected at the capital where the king lived. A large tank was also visible at Kodom Sohor which had been described in the inscription. Alongside stone pillar and tank, myriad fragments of black basalt had been found in Kodom Sohor. The all are conducive to guess Kodom Sohor as the capital city of the king Vijayasena. The Senas were as brave as they fought against many neighbouring rulers like Nanya, Vira and the kings of a Gauda, Kamarupa and Kalinga (Majumder 1929). Besides, Vijayasena had a strong naval army and organized an attack against western rulers through the course of the river Ganges (Majumder 1929). If it is considered the fact is true, where was the garrison as well as a naval port? In addition, the significant number of trades had been conducted at that time between various destination including north and middle India specifically, they had to import the large number of stone which they used to build the gargantuan temple as well as other structures. In addition, some semi-precious stones had been imported here. So, it can be said that the place Vijaynagara could have been used as a garrison/cantonment and the port city as well. More specially, the eastern part of Vijaynagara might be used as a port city which covers the area of present Goat Research Centre, Dairy Firm and Grass Firm with Vijaynagara Primary School. Presumably, Pathar Ghata might be the port which was used for export and import. The Western part of Vijaynagara was a cantonment. Specifically, the name of the place Gorbari indicates a fortified area (Bandyopadhyay 2004). Moreover, size, shape, extent and location of Gorbari clearly indicate that it might be used for defensive purposes. CONCLUSION It is hypothesized that Kodom Sohor could have been the capital of Vijayasena where colossal temple, tank and probably kings palace (?) were over there. Moreover, Deopara stone inscription (prososti) had also been discovered in Kodom Sohor. It has a logic to believe that, (?) of the king Vijayasena was situated at Kodom Sohor and it was the centre of his administration. Probably, there were adept artisan community who were adroit manufacturing sculptures, beads and many other art objects. It is because of finding plethora stone fragments and art objects which certainly proved their existence at Kodom Sohor. If we consider the arguments 12 of Prasad (1984), Erdosy (1987) and childe (1969), it would be more favorable to understand the suitability of the place of Kodom Sohor as the capital 78 Page

11 Come Across the Capital of Vijayasena; Uncover the Forgotten Historic Landscapes city. Besides the capital Kodom Sohor, there was another city of Vijaynagara which could have been used as a cantonment and port city. Vijayanagara was consummate place as a naval defense system besides artillery because of proximity of large mighty river and fortification wall. In addition, Vijayasena had naval defense and he attacked and conquered some regions by navy (Majumder 1929). Alongside defensive use of Vijaynagara, it might have been utilized as a port, location of Pathor Ghata could indicate that. It is really a perplexing matter to find out ancient relics quintessentially only by exploration. It is firmly believed that proper archaeological excavations will remain boon for perceiving possible matters of the past time as well as culture. Endnotes 1. Copperplate is called Tamrosason in Bengali which is widely used to circulate royal order, declaration of land grant or acclamation of ruler. In some cases it's called prososti in Bengali while it describes acclamation of ruler. 2. There is no concrete evidence regrading the capital of Hemantasena, the founder of the Sena dynasty. It is assumed that first Sena capital was established in north Bengal. 3. Vikrampura is now located at Munshiganj district. Currently, a archaeological research has been conducting there and so as to vast architectural remains have already been uncovered. 4. This place is situated at West Bengal, India. 5. This place is situated at West Bengal, India. 6. This place is also situated at West Bengal, India. 7. Culture history is the traditional way that is used as a research methodology in archaeology; before advent of processual approach, it was merely followed by archaeologist. 8. By the grant of Zamindar of Dighapatia, Natore, archaeological exploration was conducted in that region. 9. In recent archaeological studies, ecology (landscape, river, palaeochannel, meteorological paradigm and so on) is highly considered for understanding past phenomenon. 10. The stones are so heavy that it is impossible to move it back and forth without using crane. 11. We met with Abdus Samad, Chief curator of Varendra Research Museum at the Museum premises during exploration time. He claimed that ample number of stone sculptures and fragments had been collected from this area led by him. He also said that a large number of sculptures have been preserved in Indian National Museum, Kolkata and manifold foreign museums which were collected from this area. Mr. Samad has been serving Varendra Research Museum for 79 Page

12 Green University Review of Social Sciences, Volume 03, Issue 01, June-2016 more than 40 years. 12. They opined some relevant matters which are obligatory to be a city for a place. Such as, use of iron, agriculture, skilled artisan community, trade and commerce and so on. References 1. Bandyopadhyay, H(2004) Bangiya Sabdakosh, Sahitya Academy, Kolkata. 2. Chanda, R(2005) Gaur Rajmala, Dey's Publishing, Kolkata. 3. Childe, G(1969) Man Makes Himself, The New American Library, London. 4. Erdosy, G(1987) Early Historic Cities of Northern India in South Indian Studies, v-3, Delhi. p Haggett, P(1965) Locational Analysis in Human Geography, London cited in Peter. L.D (2001) Field Archaeology an introduction, UCL, London. P Majumdar, R.C(2003) The History of Bengal, V-1, Hindu period. BR publishing Corporation, Kolkata. 7. Majumder, NG(1929) Inscriptions of Bengal, V.III, The Varendra Research Society, Rajshahi. 8. Prasad, K(1984) Cities, Crafts and Commerce Under the Kushanas, in South Indian Studies, v-3, Delhi. 9. Rahman, M(2014) An Archaeological Exploration at Chandravarman Court, Kotalipara, Gopalganj, Bangladesh in Cultural Contours of History and Archaeology, edited by Naik,K K and Reddy, E S, B.R. Publishing Corporation, India. 10. Rahman, SSM(1999) Archaeological Investigation in Bogra District, Bangladesh (From Early Historic to Early Medieval Period), International Centre for the Study of Bengal Art, Dhaka. 11. Rahman, SM and Pathan, HM(2014) Wari-Bateshwar; Shikorer Sondhane. Prothoma, Dhaka. 12. Trigger, BG (2002) History of Archaeological thought, Cambridge University Press, London. 13. Zakaria, AKM (2007), Bangladesher Pratno Sampad, Divya Prokash, Dhaka. 80 Page