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0369 Southern Tibet : vol.1
Southern Tibet : vol.1 / Page 369 (Color Image)

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doi: 10.20676/00000263
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BARROS, GASTALDI, RAMUSIO.   233

which dischargeth it seife in Ganges, beginnes in it.» He adds that it belongs to

the N.E. bounds of Great Mogul.   Roe says that Gor lies »toward the head of

Ganges.» 2 On Roe's map 3 Gor is not at all near the head of Ganges, but on the upper course of Sersily flu., which is shown as a very considerable tributary from the northern mountains. But as Patna is placed on this same river, the Sersily is in fact identical with the Ganges, as Roe's hydrography is very confused.

The Ain-i-Akbari 4 informs us that »Jannatåbåd is an ancient city : for a time, it was the capital of Bengal and was widely known as Lakhnauti and for a while as Gaur. His Majesty the late Emperor Humåyûn distinguished it by this title of Jannatåbåd.» In the beginning of the thirteenth century Mussulman India could indeed be divided into two separate regions, the Kingdom of Delhi, and the Kingdom of Gour, and on one occasion a Sultan of Gour conquered all Hindustan and the Panjab.5

The ruins of Gaur are situated on the left bank of the Ganges, a little east of 88° E. long., and therefore at a considerable distance below Patna, not above it as on Roe's map. This place belongs, as for instance Kashgar and Khotan, to the wandering cities on ancient maps, and on several maps it appears twice, as on Gastaldi's, (Pl. XVII), where we find a city Gaur on the westernmost branch in the Ganges delta; this Gaur therefore comes nearer to the real site. Still I believe that Barros' and Gastaldi's Caor or Gor, cannot be anything but the ancient kingdom and city of Gaur. One should therefore conclude that the river of Caor were the Ganges. But that would, of course, be absurd, as Ganges was known, the existence of Gaur, Caor, Gor also known, but its situation unknown. On Pl. XVII Gor has been taken from the Ganges and transplanted to the Brahmaputra. And still a hundred years later the Ganges was reported to come from the Chiamay lake.

As to Camotay I think it must be identical with Hiuen Tsang's Kia-mo-leu-po or Kâmarupa, which is the Sanscrit name of Assam. According to Cunningham the valley of the Brahmaputra was anciently divided into three tracts, which he describes as the Eastern, Middle, and Western districts, namely, Sadiya, Assam Proper, and Kamrup. The old capital of Kamrup was situated on the south bank of the Brahmaputra, and had another name.6 The Ain-i-Akbari tells us that the country of Kamrup was »commonly called also Kaonru and Kamta». This Kamta may easily be Gastaldi's kingdom and city Camotay, a surmise which, if correct, confirms the identification of Gastaldi's Caor river with the Brahmaputra in Assam, for Kamta is the same as the present Assam.7

I Purchas, IX, p. 16.

2 Purchas, IV, p. 432.

3 Ibidem. This part falls outside the margin of my reproduction of Roe's map, P1. XXXVII.

4 Vol. II, translated by H. S. Jarrett, p. 122.

5 Wheeler's History of India, Vol. IV, p. 45.

6 The Ancient Geography of India, p. 500.

7 Nowadays Assam is divided into II districts, each under a Deputy Commissioner. One of these districts is still called Kamrup, and is situated on the right or North bank of the Brahmaputra.

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