Rarh Region - Geography

Geography

Western parts of Rarh merging with the Chota Nagpur Plateau was historically called Vajjabhumi a definition demarcating it from the eastern part of Rarh which was called Subbhabhumi, Sumhabhumi or Suhmo. There are many descriptions of the geographical area called Rarh or Gangaridae, some being quite imprecise they are capable of indicating a very large area and some though being precise, differ in their descriptions. Most precise descriptions of Rarh seem coextensive with West Bengal. More imprecise descriptions denoting larger areas usually derive from Western sources describing Gangaridae. Some sources describe a smaller area while referring to Rarh as a geographical area and a larger description comes with Rarh defined as a geopolitical unit.

According to the Encyclopædia Britannica, Rarh is mainly Murshidabad's surrounding region, a high, undulating continuation of the Chota Nagpur plateau to the West, and the Bagri, a fertile, low-lying alluvial tract, part of the Ganges (Ganga)-Brahmaputra delta, to the East. Banglapedia says that Rarh is consisted of a large part of West Bengal. And according to West Bengal Travel & Tourism Guide, the northeastern border of Rarh is located within Birbhum.

Historically, a statement in Digvijayaprakasha locates Rarh as from the north of the Damodar River and to the west of Ganges in the south. Even though earliest written documents divides Rarh as West Rarh and East Rarh, later documents starting from the 9th and 10th century AD, divides it to Daksina Radha (Northern Rarh) and Uttara Radha (Southern Rarh). However as inferred from later documents, this newer distinction (North/South) is not based on geography but two political states. Southern Rarh included different large settlements of the modern districts of Howrah, Hooghly and Burdwan in West Bengal, or considerable portions of West Bengal lying between the rivers Ajay and Damodar. The Ajay river is usually regarded as constituting the boundary line between Northern and Southern Rarh. Based on different epigraphic records, it is suggested that Northern Rarh included the western parts of the modern district of Murshidabad, the entire district of Birbhum, including some parts of Santhal Pargana, and the northern part of the Katwa sub-division of Burdwan district. There are many archaeological sites in many parts of Rarh, where studies are going on.

Historian P. R. Sarkar, who has been doing research around most of those archaeological sites, gives a very detailed account of Rarh's geography, using the old geographical definitions of West/East Rarh. According to this definition:

• East Rarh consists of roughly of the following districts:
  1. Western Murshidabad
  2. Northern Birbhum
  3. Eastern Burdwan (Bardhaman)
  4. Hooghly
  5. Howrah
  6. East Midnapore (Medinipur)
  7. Indas of Bankura district

• West Rarh consists of the following districts:
  1. Old Santhal Pargana district (today 6 districts: Godda, Deoghar, Dumka, Jamtara, Sahibganj and Pakur)
  2. Most parts of Birbhum
  3. Western Burdwan
  4. Bankura district except for Indas
  5. Purulia
  6. Dhanbad
  7. Most parts of Giridih
  8. Four block of Ranchi, namely Silli, Sonahatu, Bundu and Tamar
  9. Singhbhum
  10. Jhargram subdivision of West Midnapore

History of Rarhi people also called the Gangarides in Greek sources, shows that they have expanded their territory with time. This might explain why most of the Western description of Gangaridae includes a broader region.

Gangaridae was first described by the Greek traveller Megasthenes in his work Indica. Many Western writers followed him. Many of the descriptions also comprises parts of the area of today's Bangladesh.

Ptolemy (c.90 – c.168), wrote that the Gangaridai occupied the entire region about the five mouths of the Ganges and that the royal residence was in the city of "Ganges" or "Gange". The five mouths according to Ptolemy are:

1. The Kambyson
2. The Mega
3. The Kamberikon
4. The Pseudostomon
5. The Antebole

The Periplus refers Gangaridae to be located on the Bay of Bengal north to the port city of Dosarne in Kalinga (ancient Orissa). Its main city, with the same name as the river Ganges, was on the bank of the river. Strabo, Pliny, Arrian, et al. compiled a map of India as known to the early Greeks, based on Indica of Megasthenes (4th century BC), where the Gangaridae state has been shown in the lower Ganges and its tributaries. However, all the Greek, Latin and Egyptian accounts about Gangaridae suggest that the country was located in the deltaic region of Southern Bengal.

Periplus mentions the city of Pataliputra (today Patna), which is north of Tosali or Dosarne, and which based on the map, lies next to the Ganges and is at the heart of Ganga as it flows from the Himalayas to the sea.

Rarh region is believed to be created from the soil from the Deccan plateau. Red coloured laterite soil is predominant. West Rarh's Bagri river is a fertile, low-lying alluvial tract. Rice, jute, legumes, oilseeds, wheat, barley, and mangoes are the chief crops in the east; extensive mulberry cultivation is carried out in the west.

The ancient snowcovored mountain peaks of Rarh gave birth to numerous rivers. These rivers, fed by melting snow flowed to the east and south east towards the ocean. The most notable rivers are Damodar, Ajay, Mayurakshi, Dwarakeswar, Shilai and Kasai. All the river originates from Chota Nagpur Plateau and flows towards east or south-east finally to meet the River Hooghly. The river Subarnarekha flows through some parts of the region and ends at the Bay of Bengal. In the past, some of the rivers were notorious for causing flood. With the construction of several dams, the floods have been somewhat controlled.