Studies in the Geography of Ancient and Medieval India c8.s3.118

c8.s3.118

It is said that Gauḍa (comprising Navadvīpa, Śāntipura, Maulapattana and Kaṇṭakapattana) lies between the river Padmā and the Vardhamāna district and forms a part of Puṇḍra, a name here used to indicate Bengal without its south-eastern part, but with some parts of Bihār and Orissa. The southern part of the Malda District comprising the site of the city of Gauḍa (Gauṛ) seems to have been to the south of the Ganges and included in the Gauḍa country in the early medieval period, and the capitals of some of the Pāla and Sena kings in Gauḍa were situated near the modern site of Gauṛ. Our work divides Bengal in two broad divisions, viz. East Bengal (Vaṅga) and West Bengal (Gauḍa). It is interesting in this connection to note that Mulsim historians sometimes called this country ‘Gaur-Bangāl.’ Gauḍa offers one of the numerous instances of the expansion of the connotation of a geographical term.¹