The History of Bengal (Vol. I: Hindu Period; Vol. II: Muslim Period 1200–1757) v1.c19.s8.t2.7

v1.c19.s8.t2.7

In later centuries the overseas trade of Bengal seems to have increased both in volume and extent. This is probably the chief reason of the phenomenal growth of Tāmralipti as a port of first-rate importance.⁵ It is hardly necessary to stress the fact that in all periods the city which controlled the mouth of the Ganges was commercially the most important in Eastern India, just as the city which controlled the gates of the Euxine was commercially the most important in Hellas. We can trace a succession of such dominant cities: Tāmralipti down almost to the end of the Hindu period; later, Saptagrāma till the close of the sixteenth century; then Hooghly, and finally Calcutta.