Rangamati Town
This article has been extracted from THE IMPERIAL GAZETTEER OF INDIA , 1908. OXFORD, AT THE CLARENDON PRESS. |
'Note: National, provincial and district boundaries have changed considerably since 1908. Typically, old states, ‘divisions’ and districts have been broken into smaller units, and many tahsils upgraded to districts. Some units have since been renamed. Therefore, this article is being posted mainly for its historical value.
Rangamati Town
Ancient town in the Berhampore subdivision of Murshidabad District, Bengal, situated in 24 i' N. and 88 ri' E., on the right bank of the Bhaglrathi, 6 miles south of Berhampore. Population (1901), 400. The clay here rises into bluffs 40 feet high, which form the only elevated ground in the neighbourhood, and are very conspicuous fiom the river. Few remains have been found except pottery and the traces of buildings, tanks, and wells \ but Rangamati is rich in traditional history. The legend respecting the origin of the name, which means c red earth,' is that Bibhlshana, brother of Ravana, being invited to a feast by a poor Brahman at Rangamati, rained gold on the ground as a token of gratitude. By others the miracle is referred to Bhu Deb, who through the power of his austerities rained gold. Rangamati has been identified by Mr. Bevendge with the city of Kama Suvarna, the capital of the old kingdom of the same name visited by the Chinese pilgrim Hiuen Tsiang about A.D. 639. It may also have been the site of the chief of the monasteries mentioned by Hiuen Tsiang as Lo-to-wei-chi-seng-kia-lan, a phonetic rendering of the Sanskiit Ractamti sanghdrdma.
After the Muhammadan conquest in 1203, Rangamati (according to Mr. Long) fonned one of the tenfaiyddris into which Bengal was then divided. Its Hindu zamtnddr was a considerable person, and on the occasion of the great puny a at Motijhil in 1767 he received a khilat worth Rs. 7,278, or as much as the zamlnddr of Nadia. The site of Rangamati was at one time selected in preference to Berhampore as a healthy spot for the erection of barracks. The East India Company formerly had a silk factory here. All that is now left of this ancient town is a bungalow and a silk filature belonging to the Bengal Silk Company.
[H Beveridge, 'The Site of Kama Suvarna/ Journal -of the Asiatic Society, Bengal, vol Ixii, pt i, No. 4 ; Capt. Wilford, Asiatic Researches ', vol. ix, p. 39 ; and Capt. Layard, Journal of the Asiatic Society, Bengal, vol. xxii.]
