Studies in the Geography of Ancient and Medieval India c24.11

c24.11

The name *Ḍhākā* (Dacca) is apparently a Prakrit corruption of Sanskrit *ḍhakka* (or possibly *ḍhakkaka*). As a matter of fact, this form of the name (together with the variant *ḍhakkā*) is found in a large number of records belonging to the late medieval period. The word *ḍhakkā* is no doubt derived from Sanskrit *ḍhakka*, meaning ‘a drum’, and it is interesting to note that the celebrated Kashmir chronicle, the *Rājatarangiṇī* composed by Kalhaṇa about the middle of the twelfth century, uses the word in the technical sense of a ‘drum-station’ or ‘watch-station’.