Vikramapura the political
and cultural centre of ancient Bengal survives only in
the name of an area in the Munshiganj district of Bangladesh.
The remains of the city of Vikramapura, the capital of
the ancient kingdoms of southeastern Bengal, are lost
and its location can only be guessed on the basis of available
data.
The name of Vikramapura survived in the name of a pargana
in the Mughal period. It appears in Todarmal's settlement
in the 16th century yielding revenue of Rs 83,376. By
1728 the revenue had increased to Rs 1,03,001, and to
decrease again in 1763 to Rs 24,568, partly due to creation
of two new parganas, Rajnagar and Baikunthapur, out
of it and partly due to the destructive activity of
the Padma. Today the name does not exist even officially;
but the inhabitants of a vast tract of land in the Munshiganj
district still feel pride in saying that they belong
to Vikramapura, which, of course, emanates from the
past glory of the area.
In the ancient period Vikramapura was undoubtedly the
most important political centre in the vanga janapada.
Indeed, it was the capital city of the Chandra, Varman,
Sena, rulers, from the beginning of the 10th century
AD to the beginning of the 13th century AD. Vikramapura
appears for the first time in the copperplates of Shrichandra
as sa khalu shrivikramapura samavasita shrimajjayaskandhavarat
(from the royal camp of victory or capital situated
at Vikramapura) and it held that position through the
rule of the subsequent Varman and Sena dynasties.
Even during the rule of the Senas, who held sway over
practically the whole of Bengal, Vikramapura continued
to be their capital, and laksmanasena came to this place
after his defeat at Nadia at the hands of the Muslim
invader bakhtiyar khalji, where his two sons, Vishvarupasena
and Keshavasena ruled for a short period. Though the
copperplates of Vishvarupasena and Keshavasena do not
mention Vikramapura as the capital, but the land granted
by them lay in Vikramapura bhage, indicating their hold
over the area. Vikramapura's eminence continued till
the early 1280s, when Danujamadhava Dasharathadeva or
danuj rai of Ziauddin Barani transferred his capital
to nearby Suvarnagrama (sonargaon). From then onwards,
throughout the Sultanate period, it remained in oblivion,
only to make a comeback as the name of a pargana in
the Mughal revenue roll. The heroic resistance to Mughal
aggression put up by chand rai and kedar rai, the zamindars
of Vikramapur (two of the illustrious bara-bhuiyans
of Bengal) added short-lived glory to Vikramapura.
Today Vikramapura is an extensive region of the Munshiganj
district, and at some point of time it extended over
some parts of Faridpur across the Padma. However, it
must be said that it is difficult to ascertain the exact
boundary of the territorial unit of that name. On the
basis of the geophysical characteristics of the area
an attempt can be made without any claim for exactitude.
In the Thakbast Surveys map (1845-1877) there is no
mention of the Kirtinasha (the Padma just before meeting
the Meghna). Vikramapura comprised the area with the
Padma on the west, the Dhaleswari on the north and east,
and the confluence of the Arial river and the Meghna
on the south. A local poet Lala Ramgati in his Mayatimirachandrika
mentions that Brahmin Pundits abound in the beautiful
rajya named Vikramapura, which lies between the Brahmaputra
mahatirtha on the east and the Padmavati on the west.
The small river Kaliganga (shown in James Rennel's
map of 1781) flowed through the middle of the tract,
and on its either bank grew the prosperous villages
of Idrakpur (Munshiganj), Firingibazar, Abdullapur,
Mirganj, Serajdi, Sekernagar, Hasara, Sholaghar, Baraikhali,
Thaodiya, Baligaon, Rajabadi etc on the north and Mulfatganj,
Karatikal, Japsa, Kandapada, Shyamsundar, Khilgaon,
Sarenga, Chikandi, Ganganagar, Radhanagar, Rajnagar,
Ghagariya, Larikul etc on the south. The Padma, however,
played havoc in the area in the 17th century and by
devouring the glorious deeds of Chand Ray and Kedar
Ray earned the epithet of Kirtinasha, the destroyer
of relics. The Kaliganga cut through the middle of the
tract dividing it into two parts: Uttara Vikramapura
and Daksina Vikramapura. About 200 years ago Vikramapura
was about 30 to 40 miles from east to west and about
8 to 10 miles from north to south.
The site of the city of Vikramapura has been identified
with the Rampal area not far from the modern town of
Munshiganj. It has been estimated on the basis of the
archaeological exploration of the area that the ancient
capital covered about 15 square miles, on which are
situated some 17 or 18 villages. To the north is the
Ichhamati river, and there still stand the remains of
a very high parapet running east to west, parallel with
the ancient course of the river. To the east is the
ancient stream of the Brahmaputra. There are two wide
moats, one on the west and one on the south, which in
present times are known respectively as the Mirkadim
canal and the Makuhati canal. The royal palace, known
as the Vallalbadi, on high ground within the mud-fort
citadel, with a 200 feet wide ditch around it, is now
in ruins.
A large number of tanks, mostly dating from pre-Muslim
period, can be seen around Rampal, but hardly any building
of that period except the derelict ruins of temples;
NK Bhattashali identified in 1929 the remains of as
many as 30. Dhipur and Sonarang are the two important
temple sites mentioned by him. RD Banerji also noticed
structures in nearby Raghurampur. Vajrayogini, a nearby
village, was the birthplace of famous Buddhist scholar
atish dipankar srijnan. The whole area yielded highly
valuable antiquities: sculptures of exquisite quality
(both Hindu and Buddhist), objects of precious metals.
A silver Visnu image from this area (Churain) is now
preserved in the Indian Museum. An eleventh century
divine nymph (surasundari) hewn out of a long wooden
pillar and forming a part of a column (now preserved
in the Bangladesh National Museum) is considered to
be a unique find in the whole subcontinent. Two other
wooden pillars with sculptural decorations were found
from the famous Rampal Dighi (2200 ft x 840 ft). Though
the present landscape around Rampal would not give any
indication of the existence of a metropolis in the distant
past, the find of the antiquities and the legends around
speak of the past glory of the ancient city. The river
system around might have also contributed to the extinction
of the once prosperous city. However, the medieval ruins
of a mosque and tomb of baba adam shahid at Rampal now
stand as the only visible historical monuments in the
area.
Whether the name of the village Rampal has any connection
with the famous Pala king of that name is difficult to
ascertain. It is known from epigraphical records that
the Varman king Bhojavarman or Samalavarman propitiated
the friendship of the Pala king, Ramapala by offering
him elephants and chariots. It may be that Ramapala visited
Vikramapura and the area near the palace where he was
ceremoniously received was developed and named after him.
It is unlikely that Ramapala had Vikramapura area under
his control. There is a local tradition that the area
was named Rampal after a local merchant. Ramananda Pal,
popularly called Ramapala, was the grocer to the royal
family during Vallalasena's rule, and he amassed wealth,
settled down in the neighbourhood of the royal palace
and came to be recognised as a respectable person. When
Vallalasena dug his dighi, it stretched up to Ramapala's
house. A local proverb goes like this: Vallal katay dighi
name Rampal (the tank was excavated by Vallal, but it
got the name of Rampal).
Courtesy: Banglapedia, Asiatic Society of Bangladesh.
