Identification of Vyaghratati Mandala

Summary

Aparna Banerji addresses the problem of locating the Vyāghraṭaṭī maṇḍala mentioned in several medieval Bengali inscriptions. Earlier scholars, notably N. G. Majumdar, identified Vyāghraṭaṭī with Lower Bengal and connected the modern toponym Bāgdi with the Sanskrit word vyāghra (tiger). This view led to the assumption that many copper plate charters referring to the Vyāghraṭaṭī maṇḍala concerned areas in the south of Bengal. Banerji re‑examines the evidence and argues that the maṇḍala belonged instead to the Puṇḍravardhana bhukti in the north. She bases her argument on analysis of measurement systems recorded in the inscriptions. Lands in Puṇḍravardhana were measured by the Samatāśīya‑nala system, while those in Vyāghraṭaṭī were measured by the Vṛṣabha‑Saṅkara‑nala, as seen in the Ānuliā copper plate of Lakṣmaṇasena. The Tarpaṇādiṣṭhī grant of Lakṣmaṇasena shows that different standards coexisted in different parts of Bengal, and the Vyāghraṭaṭī maṇḍala followed the Vṛṣabha‑Saṅkara‑nala like the Uttara‑Rāḍha maṇḍala of the Vardhamāna bhukti. Banerji notes that the Vyāghraṭaṭī maṇḍala is nowhere described as adjoining the sea, as would be expected if it were in the delta; instead, several records associate it with the inland Puṇḍravardhana region. She critiques the supposed derivation of Bāgdi from vyāghra, calling it a crude resemblance. The article concludes that the Vyāghraṭaṭī maṇḍala was likely situated in north Bengal, perhaps encompassing parts of modern Bogra or Rajshahi districts, and urges scholars to reconsider long‑standing geographical assumptions in light of careful epigraphic analysis.