Betor was a major trading centre, the location being around present Shibpur in Howrah district in the Indian state of West Bengal. Betor rose into the trading zone during the rule of Delhi Sultanate in medieval era and later declined when Armenians, Portuguese East India Company, Dutch East India Company, French East India Company and British East India Company rose as the business area in Kalikata, Gobindapur and Sutanati.
History of Betor
Betor was well known as a tourist centre in medieval Bengal. This place consisted of Sutanuti, Gobindapur and Kalikata around which the city of Kolkata has grown up, must be added to at least four others as the elementary constituents of the city (including Howrah on the opposite bank.) These are Chitpur, Salkia, Kalighat and Betor. Out of these four, Betor, which was the focus of trade once upon a time, vanished in the seventeenth century.
Betor in Indian literature
At the end of the fifteenth century, a poem in praise of the serpent-goddess written by Bipradas Pipilai gives us the first authentic glimpse of the area. Satgaon or Saptagram on the west bank of the Hooghly, between Bandel and Tribeni was a great port. Lower down the river, on the same bank, Betor was a large market town, where travellers paused to buy provisions and worship the goddess Chandi.
Neighbourhood of Betor
Chitpur and Kalikata were neighbouring villages passed just before reaching Betor. Gobindapur and Sutanuti did not exist. Kalighat was a small sanctuary claiming just a bare mention. Betor was declined when Kolkata rose into prominence by the hands of British East India Company.
Account of Betor
Caesar Frederick, a Venetian who had travelled in the East from 1563 to 1581 and has left behind an account about some important cities, ports and business centres of India and of Bengal, mentions, "A good tides rowing before you come to Satgan, you shall have a place which is called Buttor, and from thence upwards the river is very shallow, and little water."
Botai Chandi temple in Betor
From the medieval era, a temple still exists in Betor. It is known as Betaichandi Temple.
Related Articles
Sutanuti
History of Howrah District
Saptagram
Gobindapur
West Bengal
Cities of West Bengal
Tourism In West Bengal
History of Kolkata
Modern History of Kolkata
Kolkata
