History

Vikrampur (Munshigonj) the political and cultural centre of ancient Bengal

survives only in the name of an area in the Munshigonj district of
Bangladesh. The remains of the city of Vikrampur, 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 Vikrampur survived in the name of a pargana in the Mughal
period. It appears in Todarmals 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 Munshigonj district
still feel pride in saying that they belong to Vikrampur, which, of course,
emanates from the past glory of the area.
In the ancient period Vikrampur 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. Vikrampur appears for the first time in
the copperplates of Shrichandra as sa Khalu ShriVikrampura Samavasita
Shrimajjayaskandhavarat (from the royal camp of victory or capital situated
at Vikrampur) 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, Vikrampur 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 Vikrampur as the capital, but the land granted
by them lay in Vikrampur bhage, indicating their hold over the area.
Vikrampurs 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
Vikrampur (two of the illustrious bara-bhuiyans of Bengal) added short-lived
glory to Vikrampur.
Today Vikrampur is an extensive region of the Munshigonj district, and at
some point of time it extended over some parts of Faridpur across the
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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). Vikrampur
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 Vikrampur, which lies between
the Brahmaputra mahatirtha on the east and the Padmavati on the west.
The small river Kaliganga (shown in James Rennels map of 1781) flowed
through the middle of the tract, and on its either bank grew the prosperous
villages of Idrakpur (Munshigonj), 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 Vikrampur and Daksina Vikrampur. About 200 years ago Vikrampur
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 Virampur has been identified with the Rampal area not
far from the modern town of Munshigonj. 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
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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 Vikrampur and the area near the palace
where he was ceremoniously received was developed and named after him.
It is unlikely that Ramapala had Vikrampur 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 Vallalasenas 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
Ramapalas 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).

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