Satgaon known as Saptagram (meaning seven villages) in ancient times, was an important port town in medieval Bengal. It was a seat of Hindu, Buddhist and Jaina cultures in the pre-Muslim period. It was situated on the southwestern bank of the now silted up Saraswati river near its junction with the Hughli river. It is believed that the Saraswati used to flow on the bed of the Rupnarayan river on which stood the port of tamralipta. Since the end of the seventh century AD, the Saraswati had begun to move towards the present course of the Hughli river.
By the early twelfth century, the Saraswati had come out of the Triveni junction (of the Ganges, the Saraswati and the Jamuna) and after a movement towards the west turned to the southeast to meet the Hughli again at Bettore opposite Howrah, thus forming a loop. Satgaon was situated on the upper part of the loop on the southern bank as is testified by the ruins seen in late nineteenth century. The contemporary Portuguese sketches also point to the same location. It has been surmised by some that the loop was the original flow of the Hughli and the present channel of the Hughli was then in the process of formation.
Saptagram came under Muslim occupation for the first time in 1298 AD during the time of Sultan ruknuddin kaikaus (1291-1300), the grandson of the Delhi Sultan ghiyasuddin balban. The conquest is connected with the name of the celebrated warrior-saint Zafar Khan Ghazi. During the time of Sultan shamsuddin firuz shah (1301-1322 AD) the city was used as a military base for the conquest of southeast Bengal, particularly sonargaon. In 1324, ghiyasuddin tughlaq conquered Bengal and placed Azam Khan as Governor. Muhammad bin Tughlaq divided Bengal into three parts, made satgaon the capital of southwestern part of Bengal and it was developed as a mint-town in 729 AH/1328-29 AD. This status it retained for more than one hundred years. With the establishment of the mint, traders and merchants had begun to settle here and with the transfer of the capital from pandua to gaur in the middle of the fifteenth century, the port of Satgaon started functioning as a seaport. The main items of export of this city included rice, cotton-stuffs, lac, sugar, long-pepper, dried myrabalans etc.
Seven inscriptions, dated between 1445 and 1505, are available from the Satgaon area. These referred to the headquarters at Sajla-Mankhabad in which Satgaon was included. The administrator of the area was styled as Commander and Wazir with extended powers. In the ain-i-akbari (1595-96), Abul Fazl placed Satgaon as one of the nineteen sarkars of Bengal and it had fifty-three mahals (revenue units) with an income of Rs 4, 16, 118. The revenue of the port of Satgaon was Rs 30, 000 annually. Satgaon had developed to a considerable extent to become the headquarters of the area before the Mughal conquest of Bengal.
The city also emerged as a seat of learning. It is learnt from the inscriptions (dated 1298 and 1313 AD) that Zafar Khan, the ruler of Satgaon, founded a mosque cum residential madrasa providing board and lodging for both teachers and students. It appears from the contemporary Bengali literature that Satgaon was also a centre of Sanskrit learning. According to Vipradasa, there were many Hindu ascetics and monasteries in Satgaon and many Brahmin Pandits well-versed in the shastras lived in that place in the fifteenth century. (1st of 2nd Part).
By the early twelfth century, the Saraswati had come out of the Triveni junction (of the Ganges, the Saraswati and the Jamuna) and after a movement towards the west turned to the southeast to meet the Hughli again at Bettore opposite Howrah, thus forming a loop. Satgaon was situated on the upper part of the loop on the southern bank as is testified by the ruins seen in late nineteenth century. The contemporary Portuguese sketches also point to the same location. It has been surmised by some that the loop was the original flow of the Hughli and the present channel of the Hughli was then in the process of formation.
Saptagram came under Muslim occupation for the first time in 1298 AD during the time of Sultan ruknuddin kaikaus (1291-1300), the grandson of the Delhi Sultan ghiyasuddin balban. The conquest is connected with the name of the celebrated warrior-saint Zafar Khan Ghazi. During the time of Sultan shamsuddin firuz shah (1301-1322 AD) the city was used as a military base for the conquest of southeast Bengal, particularly sonargaon. In 1324, ghiyasuddin tughlaq conquered Bengal and placed Azam Khan as Governor. Muhammad bin Tughlaq divided Bengal into three parts, made satgaon the capital of southwestern part of Bengal and it was developed as a mint-town in 729 AH/1328-29 AD. This status it retained for more than one hundred years. With the establishment of the mint, traders and merchants had begun to settle here and with the transfer of the capital from pandua to gaur in the middle of the fifteenth century, the port of Satgaon started functioning as a seaport. The main items of export of this city included rice, cotton-stuffs, lac, sugar, long-pepper, dried myrabalans etc.
Seven inscriptions, dated between 1445 and 1505, are available from the Satgaon area. These referred to the headquarters at Sajla-Mankhabad in which Satgaon was included. The administrator of the area was styled as Commander and Wazir with extended powers. In the ain-i-akbari (1595-96), Abul Fazl placed Satgaon as one of the nineteen sarkars of Bengal and it had fifty-three mahals (revenue units) with an income of Rs 4, 16, 118. The revenue of the port of Satgaon was Rs 30, 000 annually. Satgaon had developed to a considerable extent to become the headquarters of the area before the Mughal conquest of Bengal.
The city also emerged as a seat of learning. It is learnt from the inscriptions (dated 1298 and 1313 AD) that Zafar Khan, the ruler of Satgaon, founded a mosque cum residential madrasa providing board and lodging for both teachers and students. It appears from the contemporary Bengali literature that Satgaon was also a centre of Sanskrit learning. According to Vipradasa, there were many Hindu ascetics and monasteries in Satgaon and many Brahmin Pandits well-versed in the shastras lived in that place in the fifteenth century. (1st of 2nd Part).
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