Historical Geography of Ancient India c8.494

c8.494

*Tāmralipti*.—Tāmralipti is the same as Tamluk in the Midnapur district of Bengal, about twelve miles from the junction of the Rūpnārāyaṇa with the Hooghly. It is now situated on the western bank of the Rūpnārāyaṇa formed by the united stream of the Silai (Silāvatī) and Dalkisor (Dvārikeśvarī) in the district of Midnapur. According to the *Raghuvamśa* (IV. 38) Tamluk is situated on the bank of the river Kapiśā identified by Pargiter with the Kasai flowing through the district of Midnapur. This ancient city is mentioned in the *Mahābhārata* (Bhīṣmaparva, Ch. 9; Sabhāparva, Ch. 29, 1094–1100), according to which Tāmralipta and Suhma were two distinct countries. It is called Tamalites by Ptolemy. According to the Dudhapani Rock Inscription (*E.I.*, II, pp. 343–45), three brothers went to Tāmralipti from Ayodhyā to trade and they made plenty of money. It was the capital of the ancient kingdom of Sumha in the 6th century of the Christian era, and it formed a part of the Magadhan kingdom under the Mauryas (Smith, *Aśoka*, p. 79). According to Daṇḍin, the author of the *Daśakumāracarita*, who flourished in the 6th century A.D., the temple of Binduvāsinī was situated at Tāmralipti which was visited by the Chinese pilgrims Fa-hien in the 5th century and Hiuen Tsang in the 7th century A.D. This ancient temple was destroyed by the action of the river Rūpnārāyaṇa.