A short trip to Gour ,a historical place in Malda,West Bengal,India.
The gateway of North Bengal, Malda, once the capital of Gour-Banga with its 3456 sq kms lay of the land ,awaits the advent of tourists and people of archeological interest with its wealth to be enjoyed and its huge potential to be explored.There are number of places to visit at Malda which has some historical importance. The main among them is GOUR,
Gour, also known as Lakhnauti, is a ruined city on the India-Bangladesh border, most of the former citadel is located in present-day the Malda district of West Bengal, India, while a smaller part is located in Nawabganj District of Bangladesh. This city was on the east bank of the Ganges(mahananda) river, 40 kilometres (25 mi) downstream from Rajmahal, 12 km south of Malda. Howeverver, the current course of the Ganges is far away from the ruins.
গৌড় বাংলার এককালীন রাজধানী এবং অধুনা ধ্বংসপ্রাপ্ত একটি নগর যার অবস্থান বর্তমান ভারত-বাংলাদেশ সীমান্তবর্তী অঞ্চলে। এটি লক্ষনাবতী নামেও পরিচিত।সেন শাসনামলে লক্ষনাবতী বা লখনাউতি উন্নতি লাভ করে। অনেকে ধারণা করেন লক্ষনাবতী নগরের নামকরণ করা হয়েছে সেন রাজা লক্ষন সেন - এর নামানুসারে। সেন সাম্রাজ্যের গোড়াপত্ত্বনের আগে গৌড় অঞ্চলটি পাল সাম্রাজ্যের অধীনের ছিল এবং সম্ভবতঃ রাজা শশাঙ্কের রাজধানী কর্ণসুবর্ণ ছিল এর প্রশাসনিক কেন্দ্র। পশ্চিমবঙ্গের মালদহ শহর থেকে দশ কিলোমিটার দক্ষিনে অবস্থিত প্রাচীন বাংলার রাজধানী গৌড় ও পান্ডুয়া (প্রাচীন নাম গৌড়নগর ও পান্ডুনগর )।[১] অষ্টম থেকে দ্বাদশ শতাব্দীতে বৌদ্ধ যুগে পাল বংশের রাজাদের সময় থেকে বাংলার রাজধানী ছিল গৌড়। ১১৯৮ সালে মুসলমান শাসকেরা গৌড় অধিকার করবার পরেও গৌড়েই বাংলার রাজধানী থেকে যায়। ১৩৫০ থেকে রাজধানী কিছুদিনের জন্য পান্ডুয়ায় স্থানান্তরিত হলেও ১৪৫৩ সালে আবার রাজধানী ফিরে আসে গৌড়ে, এবং গৌড়ের নামকরণ হয় জান্নাতাবাদ।
Historical importance of Gour-----Gour[1], also known as Lakhnauti, is a ruined city on the India-Bangladesh border, most of the former citadel is located in present-day the Malda district of West Bengal, India, while a smaller part is located in Nawabganj District of Bangladesh. This city was on the east bank of the Ganges(mahananda) river, 40 kilometres (25 mi) downstream from Rajmahal, 12 km south of Malda. Howeverver, the current course of the Ganges is far away from the ruins.
Lakshmanavati or Lakhnauti gathered prominence during the Sena dynasty, with the name of the city, often attributed to the Sena king Lakshman Sena. Prior to the accession of the Sena dynasty, Gauda region was under the control of the Pala dynasty and, in all probability, Karnasuvarna, the capital of Shashanka, served as the administrative headquarter However, its most well documented history begins with its conquest in 1198 by the Muslims, who retained it as the chief seat of their power in Bengal for more than three centuries. Around the year 1350, the Sultans of Bengal established their independence, and transferred their seat of government to Pandua (q.v.), also in Malda district. To build their new capital, they plundered Gauḍa of every monument that could be removed. When Pandua was in its turn deserted (1453), Gauḍa once more became the capital under the name Jannatabad; it remained so as long as the Muslim kings retained their independence. In 1565 Sulaiman Khan Karrani, a Pashtun ruler, abandoned it for Tanda, a place somewhat nearer the Ganges. Gauḍa was sacked by Sher Shah in 1539, and was occupied by Akbar's general Munim Khan in 1575, when Daud Khan Karrani, the last of the Afghan dynasty, refused to pay homage to the Mughal emperor. This occupation was followed by an outbreak of the plague and course change of the Ganges, which completed the downfall of the city. Since then it has been little better than a heap of ruins, almost overgrown with jungle.
By the way,The best tourist-sights of present day Gour are as follows-------
A small village on the way to Gour, Ramkeli is famous for being the temporary home of Sri Chaitanya, the great religious reformer of Bengal,
The historical architectures are like -
Baroduari / Boro Sona Mosque,
Dakhil Darwaja,
Firoz Minar,
Chamkati Masjid
Chika Mosque
Luko Churi Gate,
Kadam Rasul Mosque,
Lattan Mosque
,Kotwali Dara
etc
Go and visit the ruins of Gour-You will feel-'the history is still alive there'.