The Foundation of Muslim Rule in India: A History of the Establishment and Progress of the Turkish Sultanate of Delhi, 1206–1290 A.D. c10.18

c10.18

The inclusion of the name of “Nodia” by Yuzbak in the commemorative coin mentioned above, is the only definite evidence of territorial extension after Bakhtiyar’s occupation of the Lakhanor-Lakhnauti-Devkot area. Whether after Lakshmanasena’s death the Senas permanently retired from southwest Bengal is a moot point; there is certainly no evidence of Muslim occupation of the Bhagirathi region after Bakhtiyar’s return from Nadia. Petty princes, independent after Lakshmana’s death, ruled in Southern Bengal and an extension of their dominion over Nadia and its neighbourhood, cannot be ruled out. On the other hand, the Ganga kings of Orissa held the greater portion of the *Rarh* country and were as yet in full possession of their power. Their past hostility with the Senas, the contiguity of their possessions with Nadia and the frequent references to their ‘reaching the Ganges’,—meaning undoubtedly the Bhagirathi—all point to the probability that they took advantage of the Sena weakness and occupied the Suhma country. The mention of “Nodia” along with “Arzbadan”—if the latter is really to be identified with Umardan of the chronicle—also seems to suggest that both the places were captured from the same enemy and probably in course of the same war. The mention of revenue (*kharaj*) being collected from Nadia, as also from Arzbadan, should perhaps indicate direct annexation.