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History

Vikrampur (Munshigonj) the political and cultural centre of ancient Bengalsurvives only in the name of an area in the Munshigonj district ofBangladesh. The remains of the city of Vikrampur, the capital of the ancient

kingdoms of southeastern Bengal, are lost and its location can only beguessed on the basis of available data.

 The name of Vikrampur survived in the name of a pargana in the Mughalperiod. t appears in Todarmal!s settlement in the "#th century yieldingrevenue of $s %&,&'#. By "'% the revenue had increased to $s ",&,",and to decrease again in "'#& to $s *,+#%, partly due to creation of tone parganas, $ajnagar and Baikunthapur, out of it and partly due to thedestructive activity of the -adma. Today the name does not eist eveno/cially0 but the inhabitants of a vast tract of land in the Munshigonj districtstill feel pride in saying that they belong to Vikrampur, hich, of course,emanates from the past glory of the area.

n the ancient period Vikrampur as undoubtedly the most importantpolitical centre in the vanga janapada. ndeed, it as the capital city of the1handra, Varman, 2ena, rulers, from the beginning of the "th century 34 tothe beginning of the "&th century 34. Vikrampur appears for the 5rst time inthe copperplates of 2hrichandra as sa 6halu 2hriVikrampura 2amavasita2hrimajjayaskandhavarat (from the royal camp of victory or capital situatedat Vikrampur) and it held that position through the rule of the subse7uentVarman and 2ena dynasties.

8ven during the rule of the 2enas, ho held say over practically the holeof Bengal, Vikrampur continued to be their capital, and laksmanasena cameto this place after his defeat at 9adia at the hands of the Muslim invaderbakhtiyar khalji, here his to sons, Vishvarupasena and 6eshavasena ruledfor a short period. Though the copperplates of Vishvarupasena and6eshavasena do not mention Vikrampur as the capital, but the land grantedby them lay in Vikrampur bhage, indicating their hold over the area.Vikrampur!s eminence continued till the early "%s, hen 4anujamadhava4asharathadeva or danuj rai of :iauddin Barani transferred his capital tonearby 2uvarnagrama (sonargaon). ;rom then onards, throughout the2ultanate period, it remained in oblivion, only to make a comeback as thename of a pargana in the Mughal revenue roll. The heroic resistance toMughal aggression put up by chand rai and kedar rai, the

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-adma. ?oever, it must be said that it is di/cult to ascertain the eactboundary of the territorial unit of that name. @n the basis of the geophysicalcharacteristics of the area an attempt can be made ithout any claim foreactitude. n the Thakbast 2urveys map ("%*+="%'') there is no mention ofthe 6irtinasha (the -adma just before meeting the Meghna). Vikrampur

comprised the area ith the -adma on the est, the 4halesari on the northand east, and the conAuence of the 3rial river and the Meghna on the south.3 local poet ala $amgati in his Mayatimirachandrika mentions that Brahmin-undits abound in the beautiful rajya named Vikrampur, hich lies beteenthe Brahmaputra mahatirtha on the east and the -admavati on the est.

 The small river 6aliganga (shon in Cames $ennel!s map of "'%") Aoedthrough the middle of the tract, and on its either bank gre the prosperousvillages of drakpur (Munshigonj), ;iringiba

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ndian Museum. 3n eleventh century divine nymph (surasundari) hen out of a long ooden pillar and forming a part of a column (no preserved in theBangladesh 9ational Museum) is considered to be a uni7ue 5nd in the holesubcontinent. To other ooden pillars ith sculptural decorations erefound from the famous $ampal 4ighi ( ft %* ft). Though the present

landscape around $ampal ould not give any indication of the eistence of ametropolis in the distant past, the 5nd of the anti7uities and the legendsaround speak of the past glory of the ancient city. The river system aroundmight have also contributed to the etinction of the once prosperous city.?oever, the medieval ruins of a mos7ue and tomb of baba adam shahid at$ampal no stand as the only visible historical monuments in the area.

Hhether the name of the village $ampal has any connection ith the famous-ala king of that name is di/cult to ascertain. t is knon from epigraphicalrecords that the Varman king Bhojavarman or 2amalavarman propitiated thefriendship of the -ala king, $amapala by oIering him elephants and chariots.

t may be that $amapala visited Vikrampur and the area near the palacehere he as ceremoniously received as developed and named after him.t is unlikely that $amapala had Vikrampur area under his control. There is alocal tradition that the area as named $ampal after a local merchant.$amananda -al, popularly called $amapala, as the grocer to the royalfamily during Vallalasena!s rule, and he amassed ealth, settled don in theneighbourhood of the royal palace and came to be recognised as arespectable person. Hhen Vallalasena dug his dighi, it stretched up to$amapala!s house. 3 local proverb goes like thisE Vallal katay dighi name$ampal (the tank as ecavated by Vallal, but it got the name of $ampal).

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