Abstract:
T h e district of-Rangpur in the Rajshahi division of the Province
of Eastern Bengal and Assam is situated between 25°3' and 26°
19' north latitude and 88° 44' and 89° 53' east longitude. It
comprises an area, according to the latest survey, of 3,493 square
miles and contains a population, as ascertained at the census of
1901, of 2,154,181 souls. The principal civil station, which is
also the chief town, is Rangpur, on the Ghaghat, in 259 45' north
and 89° 18' east longitude. ' . .
The generally accepted derivation of the name Rangpur is
ranga, pleasure; and pur, place; that is, the place of pleasure
or the abode of bliss. It is supposed that Raja Bhagadatta, the
mythological king of Kamrup, whose feats are recorded in the
Mahabhdrata, possessed a country residence here on the banks of
the Ghaghat. Pargana Pairaband, which lies seven miles
south of Rangpur, is said to be named after Pairavati, a daughter
of Bhagadatta. Included in the area of the town are portions of
four Revenue Survey mauzds known as Khord Rangpur, Hat
Kangpur, Bara Rangpur and Chhota Rangpur, which are purely
rural villages. No traces of a royal country residence remain in
any of these mamas or elsewhere in the town, nor are there any
local traditions which indicate its existence in former times. On
‘^he contrary, the very name of Rangpur appfiars to Tiave been
unknown until comparatively recent times. No mention of it
can be found in the Mahabhdrata or any other work of Sanscrit
literature. There is an uncorroborated statement in the Tarilch-
Farishtah to the effect that Rangpur was founded is 1203 A.D.
by tup Muhammadan general Bakhtyar Khilji. As will be shown
in a later chapter this statement is not worthy of credit.
