Bikrampur

Bikrampur ("City of Courage") is a pargana situated 12 miles (19 km) south of Dhaka, the modern capital city of Bangladesh. It lies in the Munshiganj District of Bangladesh. It is a historic region in Bengal. The region is famous for its early Buddhist scholarship and in the later period for its cultural influences.

Today there is no official recognition of Bikrampur area. People from an extensive region of the Munshiganj District claim as to be residents of Bikrampur. Roughly the town comprised the area with the river Padma on the west, the Dhaleshwari River on the north and east, and the confluence of the Arial Kha river and the Meghna River on the south.

According to a map from 1781, the Kaliganga River ran through the middle of the region creating the two parts – Uttara (North) Bikramapur and Daksina (South) Bikramapur. It stretched 30 to 40 miles from east to west and about 8 to 10 miles from north to south.

Bikrampur proper, referring to the town and historic urban centre with historic antecedents and not the rural hinterland of Munshiganj, is reportedly well on its way to being destroyed due to river erosion. It should be noted this is a common theme in Bengal historically due to the changing courses of rivers over time.

Ashoka, the emperor of the Maurya Dynasty, ruled all of the Indian subcontinent from ca. 269 BC to 232 BC. Being a devotee of Gautama Buddha, he propagated Buddhism across his kingdom which included Bikrampur to the east. Following the high ideals of this religion, Pala Kings came to Bikrampur to rule the region.

The second ruler of Pala Empire, Dharmapal, built a Buddhist monastery in Bikrampur during his reign in 770–810. After his death, his son, Devapala ruled this area until 850 CE. Then the region is successively ruled by Vigrahapala I, Narayanapala, Rajyapala, Gopala II, Vigrahapala II, Mahipala, Naya Pala, Vigrahapala III, Mahipala II, Shurapala II, Ramapala, Kumarapala, Gopala III and Madanapala.Pala empire disintegrated in 1174 weakened by attacks of the Sena dynasty.

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Wikipedia