PIRTALA BhagirathiBhagirathi RiverRiver andand itsits changechange ofof CourseCourse

BHAGWANGOLA NN

MALDA

MOTI JHEEL j¢a¢Tm 1 Cossimbazar rail station 2 Cossimbazar Palace 3 Pataleshwar temple & Satidaha Ghat 4 French Factory at Farash Danga 5 Dutch Factory at Kalkapur (L¡¢mL¡f¤l) 6 English Factory NALHATI 7 Old English Cemetery 8 Dutch Cemetery 9 Armenian Church and settlement at Saidabad (°pc¡h¡c)

R E 1688 AD JIAGANJ V K JIAGANJ I 4 A R ANGA T H D I I AS G L¡¢VN‰¡ CHUNAKHALI AR F 5 6 A H gl¡pX¡‰¡ 1632-66 AD 1658 AD N Q¥e¡M¡¢m AZIMGANJ T GA A H SAIDABAD 3 11 A R

L I °pc¡h¡c 7 L

U G 18 N 9 A A 1 2 R 1665 AD B H O

G

B COSSIMBAZARCOSSIMBAZAR

L

KIRITESHWARI L L¡¢njh¡S¡l I MALDA B DAHAPARA HALT BANJETIA R KUMORPARA ¢ho·¥f¤l ¢hmU NH h¡e−S¢Vu¡ 34 P B IS N U 11 LALBAGH COURT RD j¤¢nÑc¡h¡c TOPEKHANA

hy¡nh¡s£ ¢hm j¢a¢Tm BASBARI BILL COSSIMBAZAR FACTORIES MOTI JHEEL 1 AND THE OLD COURSE 2 NH KARBALA 34 OF BHAGIRATHI / AYESHBAGH L

B−uph¡N L I

B

I COSSIMBAZAR RIVER

L A B K 11 A A T DANG L¡¢VN‰¡ BALIRGHAT SH I RA G CHUNAKHALI FA A 4 N GA Q¥e¡M¡¢m R BILL 11 KA L −amLl ¢hm E COSSIMBAZAR NH

T 34 3 L¡¢njh¡S¡l

L L HATINAGAR

I BANJETIA CHATRA BILL B KHAGRAGHAT q¡a£eNl R h¡e−S¢Vu¡ ROAD U P B IS N U 11 ¢ho·¥f¤l ¢hm NH 34 LL BI A L MADAPUR N L PANCHANANTOLA f’¡eeam¡ j¡c¡f¤l 11 fy¥¢V−S¡m ¢hm PUTIJOL BILL

BANKI RIVER

Q¡m¢au¡ ¢hm TARAKPUR BHOLLA C 11 JIBANTI HALT H A LTIA BILL −i¡me¡ / −i¡õ¡

NH 34

L KANDI L L I L B I R B

E Qy¡−cl ¢hm GOKARNA PASCHIMGAMINI D A N I f¢ÕQjN¡¢je£ A L C H A R KAYA O B −h¡u¡¢mu¡ ¢hm E Lu¡

V A

I H q¢lqlf¡s¡ i¡úlcq A LeÑp¤¤heÑ D R R KARNASUBARNA B HA K A I CHIRUTI

H MANKARA

T jeLl¡ NH LEGENDS

34 A

DABKAI R I The Oldest known channel of Bhagirathi was through ‘Moti-jheel’ lake situated

1 on the north of Murshidabad town, owing to ‘Boalia Bill.’ G SARGACHI

A The second ow of Bhagirathi was through the south of ‘Moti-jheel’ lake. It owed

H 2 through the path of Kati-Ganga , Bisnupur Bill towards Tarakpur and Kaya. B A portion of this track is presently known as ‘Chander Bill’, and another track from GANGAPUR the south of Chander Bill, owing east 5 miles joined with ‘Bhandardaha bill.’

BANKI RIVER The river owed along the path of present Bisnupur Bill and Chaltia Bill and then

L towards Haridasmati on south. L 3

I

B The river changed its course and started owing straight through Farashdanga

MAHULA A 4 on east and almost following the present course. Another channel advanced

H straight far west and formed the Telkar Bill.

A

D R ¢hm i¡ä¡lcq

A

D

BHABTA N

A

H B Murshidabad.net IVER I R H S K NH A 34 R

U

Y A

M The common name for the Bhagirathi in English records down

to the early years of the nineteenth century was the Cossimbazar

R river; and the triangular tract enclosed by the Bhagirathi, Padma, E

V and was known in the early days of the Company as the I R

Island of Cossimbazar. A K

R A After the famine of 1770 the cultivated area in its neighbourhood W D shrank and the greater part of the surrounding country was CHOWRIGACHA described as "a wilderness inhabited only by beasts of prey."

NH 34 In 1813 AD the ruin of the town was effected by a change in the BELDANGA course of the Bhagirathi, which suddenly deserted its ancient bed and, instead of following its former bend to the east, took a sweep to the west; flowing 3 miles from the site of the old town. The channel infront of the warehouses of Cossimbazar became a pestiferous marsh, a malarious fever broke out, and the place gradually became depopulated. KOLKATA

NH 34