Satgaon

Saptagram (Bengali: সপ্তগ্রাম; colloquially called Satgaon) was a major port, the chief city and sometimes capital of southern Bengal, in ancient and medieval times, the location presently being in the Hooghly district in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is about 4 km from Bandel, a major rail junction. By the early twentieth century, the place had dwindled to a group of insignificant huts. The port had to be abandoned because of the silting up and consequent drying of the Saraswati River. It influenced the subsequent development and growth of Kolkata. H. E. A. Cotton writes, “Here then may be traced nucleus of the future city of Calcutta, and as time went on the silting up of the river opposite Satgaon still further favoured her fortunes.”

The word Saptagram means seven villages. These are identified as Bansberia, Kristapur, Basudebpur, Nityanandapur, Sibpur, Sambachora and Baladghati.

There is a mythological story attached to the name. King Priyabanta of Kannauj had seven sons – Agnitra, Medhatithi, Bapusman, Jyotisman, Dutisman, Saban and Bhabya. They were not happy with the royal life and so they set out in search of a place where they could carry out their meditation. When they came to the confluence of the Ganges, Jamuna and Saraswati, they liked the place and settled down in seven villages to a hermit’s life. Thus grew Saptagram around the seven villages.

Saraswati River, which used to take off from Hooghly River at Tribeni, 50 km north of Kolkata, ran parallel to the Hooghly River on its west. Saraswati started drying up from the 17th century and ships, which navigated up the river, could no longer do so.

Around the time when Bakhtiyar Khilji (1204–1206) came to Bengal, the region was divided into five parts – Rarh, Bagri, Vanga, Barendra, and Mithila. Vanga was further subdivided into three parts – Lakhanabati, Subarnagram and Saptagram. When the frontiers of Bengal were expanded during Mughal rule, there were three prominent administrative zones in the area – Sirkar Satgaon, Sirkar Selimabad and Sirkar Mandaran.

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Wikipedia