The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1879-02-19
THE LOST CITY OF BENGAL.
A Wonderful but True Story of Dis
tant India.
A Ruined and Forgotten Capital That
Once COntafned Two Millions
OF Inhabitants.
London SPECTATOR

fully explained. As rule, they know moth |
ing about India. They know their work,
often admirably, and sometimes know the |
section of the people with whom they have
come in contact; but as a rule, with. of
couise, some brilliant exceptions, they know
AS little of India as al average Frerchmsn
knows of foreign countries. They are not
interested in it. aud do not study it, do net
take even the trouble to see the wonderful
things Of which the continent is full.
We should like 10 know how many Anglo
Bepgalees know anything of the marvellous
city of which the name stands ct the head OF
of Bengal, the Ganga Regia OF
Prolemy, where Hindoo kings are be
.ieved to have reigned 1900 years ago,
where semidependent Mussu,man rulers
undoubtedly governed Bengal before
Richard Ceur de Lion died, and where
Kai Klaus Shah in 1921 founded a sovereignty
which under different dynasties one of them
Abyssinian, endured to 1887. These kings
made Gour, by degrees one of the greatest
cities in the worid-greater, as far as size is
concerned, than Babylon or London. Mr..
Ravenshaw, q civilian who took photographs
graphs published since his death, believes
the ruins to cover a space of from Is TO 20
miles along the old bed of the river, by three
miles In depth, q space which, after allowing
for the rich native method of life, with its
endless gardens and necessity for trees, must
have sheltered a population of at least
100000 These kings must have been
among the richest monarchs of their time,
| for they ruled the rice garden of the world.
| Eastern Bengal where rice yields TO the
III
navigation OF tne Ganges. aud their domin-
| ion stretched down TO Orissa, where the ma
| tive princes-how strange II sounds now,
| when Orissa is province forgotten, except
| for an awful famine.-were always defeating
| their troops. They spent their wealth rec
| essarily manly on a mercenary army, often
| in revolt, for their Bengslees could not fight
the stalwart peasants who entered the
army OF the kings of Bshar, and
their fleet could not always protect the weak
| side of the capital; but they covered the
| city with great structures, opened broad,
straight streets, lined with trees" and built
| inner and outer embankments of this kind.
The boundary embaDkments still exists;
| they were works of vast labor. and were, on
| the average, about 10 feet in height, being
from $50 to 25o feet thick at the base The
| facing throughout wes of masonry, and nu-
merous buildings and edifices appear to have
| Gro Tned their SUBMITS; but the whole of
the masonry has nov disappeared, and the
embankments are overgrown with dense
jungle, impeDetrable TO man, and affording
| a safe retreat for various beasts OF prey. Tho
eastern embankment was double, deep
moat about 100 yards wide separating The
two lines. A main road ran north and
south through the city, its course being still
traceable by the remains of bridges and via
ducts. The western face of the city is now
open, and probably always was SO, having
been wen-pro,ected by the Ganges,
which, as already observed, ran
under its walls. In the center of the
| north and south embankments are openings,
showing that these fortifcationss had been
| perforated, TO afford ingress to and egress
there are no remains, but at the southern
still stands the ku.wali gate, beautiful
ruin measuring 81 feet in height, under the
archway. Within the space enclosed by
these embankments and the river stood the
| city of Gour proper, and in the southwest
corner was situated the fort, containing
the palace, of which it is deeply to
he regretted that so little is left.
Early in the present century there
was much to be found here worthy of notice,
including many elegantly carved marbles;
but these are said to have become the prey OF
the Calcutta undertakers and others for mon
| umental purposes. On the roadside, be
tween the place and the Bnsgirath river,
there now lies, split in twain, a vas. block
| of hornblende, which, having been carried
/
ken on the highway, to bear Its testimony
against the spoilers. Surrounding the
palace is an inner embankmeni
of similar construction TO that
which surrounds the city, and even more
| overgrown with jungle. A deep moat pro-
tectsi it on the outside Rsdisting north south
and east from the city. other embankments
| are to be traced running through the sub
| urbs and extending in certain directions fol
80 or 40 miles. These include the great
causeways or main roads leading to the city
| which were constructed by Sultan Ghivase
suddin. The greater part of them wer
| metaled, and here and there they are stll
used as roads, but most Of them are, like
those within the city, oyergrown with thici
jungle
| three, sthe kings constructed splendit
mosques by the dozen, palaces, public
buildings, deep and huge reservoirs
and SO many houses, that after three
centuries of spoliation there is not a vii
lsge. scarce house, in the district of Nal
dah (which is as big as an English county
or in the surrounding country
which does not bear evidence of having beer
| partially constructed from its ruins. Tht
cities OF Murshidabad, Maldah, Rajmaha
and Rangpur have almost entirely been bull
with materials from Gour, and even its few
remaining edifces are being daily despoiled'
4 The kings built IN brick and stone, and used
| for many mosques material which
Mr.. Revenshaw calls marble, but i.
more like what hard free-stone would be il
it could be deep coal black. The quarrie.
| from which this material was obtained are
, | still, as far we know, uncertain, but il
must have existed in enormous quantities
. it took the chisel perfectly, and il appear:
! inaccessible, even in that destructive
. climate, to the effect of time. We hav,
, seen a mantel-piece of it, engraved
. | with the Monammedan profession
of faith, known tobe 500 years old, and tn,
letters, cut to the depth of line, are a
! clear as II the work had been done yester
,, day. The Qour architects built splendit
: Saracenic arches, gateways and domes, ant
spared no expense or time on elaborate
decoration, in q style which deserved sep
arate study, for it marks the deep ia
fluence of HIndoo antiquities on mel
. who were certainly Mussulmans, ant
. s,xohal,lxr Alcoxa frnaaa 2raix, Tharn il All