Studies in the Geography of Ancient and Medieval India c10.31

c10.31

Portuguese writers, when they speak of a voyage to Bengal, usually refer to the Great Port as well as the Porto Pequeno = Portus Parvus = Little Port. Portuguese *porto* is usually understood in the sense of English *port*, and the Little Port is identified with Hooghly or Sātgāon while the Great port is located near Chittagong. Moreland has however shown that ‘the word *porto* in the mouth of the sea-faring Portuguese at the period referred primarily to a gap in the coast line and not, as landsmen are apt to assume, a town on the sea-shore; in other words, *porto* might signify a gulf or estuary which might contain several sea ports.’³ He has pointed out that sometimes the Little Port indicated the Hooghly estuary, and the Great Port meant the Meghnā estuary and included both Chittagong and Śrīpur (in the Dacca District). The location of the Great Port therefore does not help us materially in locating the City of Bengala.