Some old Documents in Barisal, East Bengal

Summary

This study publishes and interprets a set of hitherto unknown historical documents from the Barisal (Bakerganj) region of East Bengal, demonstrating their value for reconstructing local history. Barisal, which once formed part of the early Bengal empires of the Palas and Senas, preserved a copperplate found in present‑day Mehendiganj upazila that records a land grant by King Keshab Senhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barisal_District#:~:text=ancient%20Gangaridai%20%20empire,the%20inhabitants%20from%20outside%20influence. The district lay on the fringe of the Gangaridai empire and remained partially independent under the rajas of Chandradwip until the Mughal conquest, when it was incorporated as Bakla Sarkar; dense forests and Portuguese and Arakanese raids insulated its inhabitants from outside influencehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barisal_District#:~:text=ancient%20Gangaridai%20%20empire,the%20inhabitants%20from%20outside%20influence. The documents translated in this paper include a twelfth‑century copperplate charter granting land to a Brahmin, several Persian farmāns from the Mughal governors regulating revenue and land tenure, and genealogical records of a local family. Through paleographic analysis and comparison with known charters, the author dates each document and discusses its administrative terminology. Together, the documents reveal how rulers allocated land to temples and officials, how revenue assignments were made, and how local elites negotiated their privileges under changing sovereigns. They also provide rare glimpses of the social composition of Barisal, including the presence of both Hindu and Muslim communities and the impact of maritime trade. By situating the documents in the larger political history of Bengal, the author shows that the Barisal region, though peripheral, participated in the economic and cultural currents of the delta. The paper calls attention to the importance of preserving local archives and suggests that more such discoveries could substantially enrich our understanding of eastern Bengal’s medieval and early modern history.