COME ACROSS THE CAPITAL OF VIJAYASENA: UNCOVER THE Kakonhat-Dhamkura-Amnura pacca road crossed the site and it divides the site from the abut plain land (Figure 2). In addition, two more mounds have been locat- DISCUSSION supporting pillar of the house which is the three worlds and the one that remains of city. Besides the capital Kodom Sohor, there was another city of Vijaynagara which more than 40 years. FORGOTTEN HISTORIC LANDSCAPES investigation, Rai Bahadur Ramaprasad Chanda visited the area in 1910 (Chanda into two parts now. The site is approximately 4km north-east to Rajabari haat bus ed opposite to the dairy firm which is called Grass Research Centre. In Rajabari vita the mountains" (Majumder 1929). During the survey, two mammoth decorated could have been used as a cantonment and port city. Vijayanagara was consummate 12. They opined some relevant matters which are obligatory to be a city for a place. Mizanur Rahman* 2005) and A K M Zakaria in the mid 70's (Zakaria 2007) whereas both did the job in stoppage and it is almost 6km far from Rajshahi bypass bus stoppage towards the 1-4, plethora of artifacts like potsherds,brickbats, Shiblingya/Gouripattaya (mea- There is no quintessential piece of material to prove Vijayanagara as the pillar had been discovered in the crop field (Photo 1). No one should be confused place as a naval defense system besides artillery because of proximity of large Such as, use of iron, agriculture, skilled artisan community, trade and culture historical approach7 (Trigger 2002). Besides this, collectors from the Varen- north-west. sured by 3feet long, 2 feet width and 1 foot high (Plate 2)), lower part of the door capital of Vijayasena, inevitably. Paltry literary evidence with few hypotheses that the decorated pillar laid down on the earth was an integral part of Pradyumneś- mighty river and fortification wall. In addition, Vijayasena had naval defense and commerce and so on. ABSTRACT dra Research Museum visited this area and collected varieties of artifacts for with a sign of Khirki/Lock made of stone (Plate 5), a broken upper part of stone which are based on archaeological knowledge as well as geographical/ecological vara temple. In addition, Sena rulers have adhered of Hinduism and they belonged he attacked and conquered some regions by navy (Majumder 1929). Alongside museum display8 (Chanda 2005). pillar (where abacus is distinct and the decoration of pillar is found Corinthian) setting will be focused here that can be conducive to perceive the existence of the to Brahmanya cast. It was more logical that, such temple would be erected at the defensive use of Vijaynagara, it might have been utilized as a port, location of References The Barind tract is a well-known geological unit which encompasses several types of (Plate 6), terracotta ball (Plate 3) etc have been found. Between the mounds, one capital or not. Firstly, In Pavanaduta, ancient literary works had been written by capital where the king lived. A large tank was also visible at Kodom Sohor which Pathor Ghata could indicate that. It is really a perplexing matter to find out ancient land formation as well as historically potent sites elsewhere. People found their Although Chandra (2005) suggested Vijayanagara as the capital of Vijayase- large tank with plenty of abandoned artifacts is situated. Dhoyi (cited in Majumder 1929 ), where for the first time they have been known the had been described in the inscription. Alongside stone pillar and tank, myriad relics quintessentially only by exploration. It is firmly believed that proper archaeo- 1. Bandyopadhyay, H(2004) Bangiya Sabdakosh, Sahitya Academy, Kolkata. livelihood as well as security in this land from the very beginning of human habita- na without any explanation which had been supported by Zakaria (Zakaria 2007) in name of the place Vijaypura as the capital. Then in 1910, Rai Bahadur Ramaprasad fragments of black basalt had been found in Kodom Sohor. The all are conducive to logical excavations will remain boon for perceiving possible matters of the past time 2. Chanda, R(2005) Gaur Rajmala, Dey's Publishing, Kolkata. tion in the Bengal delta. A reconnaissance archaeological survey had been divulged two ancient cities Vijayanagara and Kodom Sohor in the Deopara union of Godagari later. Chakravarti (cited in Majumder 2003) and Majumdar (2003) differ with Chan- Chanda, conducted an archaeological exploration in the Godagari region and guess Kodom Sohor as the capital city of the king Vijayasena. as well as culture. 3. Childe, G(1969) Man Makes Himself, The New American Library, London. thana under Rajshahi district during the Sena king Vijayasena. The aim of this article dra. There is no other hypothesis available here apropos the pre-Medieval capital of opined that the modern village Vijayanagara should be considered as the site of 4. Erdosy, G(1987) Early Historic Cities of Northern India in South Indian Studies, is to amplify the spatial significance of Vijayanagara and Kodom Sohor apropos Vijayasena. In our recent visits, a novel idea has been developed on the basis of Source: Google Earth, 2016; Based on Field Survey and Analysis by Author, 2017 Source: Field Survey, 2017 Vijaypura cited in Dhoyi's Pavanaduta and suggested that it was the capital of The Senas were as brave as they fought against many neighbouring rulers Endnotes v-3, Delhi. p-62-63. artifact and ecofacts as well as written and inscriptional sources. Inspite of having archaeological and ecological9 evidences. Map 1: Location, extent and size of Vijayanagara Figure 1: Contour Map of Vijayanagara Mound 3 Behind the dairy firm, in the southern side, a place known as Pathor Ghata Vijaysena (Majumder 1929). Majumdar (2003) mentioned that Vijaypura was the like Nanya, Vira and the kings of a Gauda, Kamarupa and Kalinga (Majumder 5. Haggett, P(1965) Locational Analysis in Human Geography, London cited in the paucity of archaeological investigation on this region, some scholars tried to is located (Map 2). This place is mostly important because of its geographical capital of Lakshmanasena. Besides this, Chakravarti (cited in Majumdar 2003) 1929). Besides, Vijayasena had a strong naval army and organized an attack against 1. Copperplate is called Tamrosason in Bengali which is widely used to circulate Peter. L.D (2001) Field Archaeology an introduction, UCL, London. P-42-45. establish the fact that Vijayanagara was a capital of the Sena king Vijayasena. The The shape of Vijayanagara city is determined almost rectangular with slight royal order, declaration of land grant or acclamation of ruler. In some cases it's 6. Majumdar, R.C(2003) The History of Bengal, V-1, Hindu period. BR publishing present study has revealed that Kodom Sohor was the centre of the capital of METHODOLOGY location. Pathor Ghata (PG) is classified in lower altitude than RV in the plain land opined that the Vijaypura of Dhoyi's Pavanaduta is similar to Nadiyā. In addition, western rulers through the course of the river Ganges (Majumder 1929). If it is Vijayasena while Vijayanagara was used as a cantonment or defense centre as well curve in the southern end, inclined to the outline of a palaeochannel and an edge of the Barind tract where an oxbow lake has been found abut to PG, originally was Majumdar believed that the identification of Vijaypura is more preferable to Nadiyā considered the fact is true, where was the garrison as well as a naval port? In addi- called prososti in Bengali while it describes acclamation of ruler. Corporation, Kolkata. as a river port. It is also a predominant goal of this research to prepare a map show- Before going to the field, pre-survey research had been conducted properly; outlined from its mainland towards north (Map 2) which recognized quite aberrant the Ganges flow and now it shifted more to the south. An Oxbow lake, usually, is a than that of Vijayanagara of Godagari, Rajshahi. If the explanation could be taken as tion, the significant number of trades had been conducted at that time between 2. There is no concrete evidence regrading the capital of Hemantasena, the found- 7. Majumder, NG(1929) Inscriptions of Bengal, V.III, The Varendra Research ing the location and extent of Vijayanagara and Kodom Sohor, the two important but meanwhile detail maps like topographic, land use, communication and administra- Source: Field Survey, 2017 from many other ancient cities like Mahasthangarh (Rahman 1999), Wari-Batesh- sign of palaeochannel and is especially important in archaeology because of its true then where was the centre of Vijayasena's administration? Inscriptional analy- various destination including north and middle India specifically, they had to er of the Sena dynasty. It is assumed that first Sena capital was established in Society, Rajshahi. less discussed pre-Medieval urban centers of Bengal. tive, mouza and google satellite image had been collected from SRDI, LGED, DSG Plate1: Stone Pillar of Pradyumneśhvara Temple (?) war (Rahman 2013) or Kotalipara/Chandra Barman Court (Rahman 2013). Presum- probability of being used by archaic people in variegated ways. The geographical sis could be reliable to understand the possible place of capital of Vijayasena. Act import the large number of stone which they used to build the gargantuan temple north Bengal. 8. Prasad, K(1984) Cities, Crafts and Commerce Under the Kushanas, in South Key Words: Vijayanagara, Kodom Sohor, Vijayasena, Sena, capital, Deopara Prososti and so on. It was judgment sampling (Haggett 1965) which had been followed in the ably, the city was about 2 km long towards east-west and 0.75 km to the position of Pathor Ghata clearly indicates that it was a river port or a landing station upon discussion now Kodom Sohor is merely an alternative of the capital of as well as other structures.