Pandua, Malda District, West Bengal

Pandua is a town situated in the Malda District, in the state of West Bengal at about 20 miles away from Gaur and twelve miles from Malda town. In the ancient past, 1342-1358 AD, during the period of Shamsuddin Iliyas Shah it was the capital of Bengal and had also emerged as mint town. Hindu myths claim that the name of the place has been derived from `Pandus` whereas Alexander Cunningham had contradictory beliefs that the place got its name from `Pandubis` or water fowls, which were found abundantly in Pandua. Before gaining the status of the capital in 1342, the place had already acquired substantial prominence owing to the presence of numerous Hindu sculptural and architectural remains. These also testify the town`s antiquity. The town was however small having a width of about two miles and length of half a mile. In 1353 the town was renamed as Firuzabad by Iliyas Shah in the honour of a former sultan of Bengal, Shamsuddin Firuz Shah (1301-1322 AD).

Pandua also finds mention in Chinese accounts belonging to fifth century which bears descriptions of imposing walls and impressive suburbs of the town. The markets or bazaars of the town were excellently organized with series of shops having goods of varied kinds. Up to the middle of fifth century the town was regarded as the seat of government. It earned popularity as a mint town during the period of Sher Shah (1540-1545 AD) when silver coins were minted here, dated 1540-41 AD. Saints such as Jalaluddin Tabrizi and Nur Qutb Alam were greatly attracted towards the suburbs of Pandua and had established their `khanqah` there. This also made the town popular as Hazrat Pandua.

Around 1450, the capital of Bengal was shifted to Gaur which led to the decline of Pandua. In the early 19th century, 1808 AD, relics of the gates, bridges, forts, palaces of the town were noticed by Buchanan Hamilton. These remains presently do not exist. However ruins of a few monuments such as the Adina Mosque, tombs of saints (besides Maldah road) and Eklakhi Mausoleum (Maldah-Devkot road), Satashgarh Dighi and Danuj Dighi can still be found in Pandua.

Monuments in Pandua include some of the earlier Indo-Islamic architecture. Pandua is situated at a distance of about seven miles to the north-east of Old Malda. Along with Gaur, it is one of the ancient capitals of Bengal. Pandua is a town in the district of Hooghly in the West Bengal state and also a police station in the subdivision of Chinsura. The town is sixty one kilometers away from Howrah Railway station and twenty one kilometers away from Bandel along the Howrah-Bandel line of the Eastern railway and also forms a part of the Suburban Railway system.

There is a saying that the city of Pandua was called Pandunagar during the era of Mahabharata and was being ruled by the Pandavas of Mahabharata. An abandoned house is there in Pandua. The name of the house is Pandav-raj Dalan, which means the Palace of Pandavas.

A road paved with brick of about 3.65 meter in width ran through the town, which stretches for about 9.65 kilometers in length. The town was the capital of Bengal from about 1338 to 1500, after which it was progressively deserted in favour of Gaur and abandoned to the jungle. Most of the surviving ruins are situated close to the Dinajpur Road. Approaching from the south a series of shrines can be seen. These are mostly from the seventeenth century, the most important being those of Makhdum Shah Jalal and Qutb Alam Shah. To the north stands the Qutb Shahi Mosque or Golden Mosque, constructed by Makhdum Shah and located close to his tomb. It is faced in stone with five entrance arches. Originally, the crowns of the minarets were glazed yellow and the roof was covered with ten small domes.

Beyond the mosque is the Eklakhi Tomb. The tomb was supposed to be the burial place of Sultan Jalal-al-Din, it is one of the first square brick tombs in West Bengal. It is a massive structure, crowned by a plain dome and carved with brick ornament. Inside, the chamber is octagonal in shape, crowned by a ribbed dome carried on eight squinches. There are three tombs. At a distance of one mile is an old bridge with a carved figure of Lord Ganesh, the elephant god.

One mile from the bridge is the Adina Mosque. This mosque was erected by Sikander Shah. It is considered to be one of the best surviving examples of early Indo-Islamic architecture in India, with a plan and dimensions similar to the great mosque at Damascus. It was once the largest mosque in the subcontinent and it incorporates earlier Hindu and Buddhist masonry probably taken from Gaur. Although ruined, enough remains to discern its original form. The walls of the mosque enclose a space of 1524 meter long from north to south, and 91.4 meter wide from east to west. The north, east and south sides had windows, the west led to a chamber containing the tomb of Sikander Shah. Inside and following the outer walls was a series of cloisters enclosing an open quadrangle. The mosque proper lay on the western side of the quadrangle. The surviving portions are the outer walls, the royal platform with its domes, the pulpit and part of the outer chamber. The qibla and mimbar exhibit fine carved stone detail.

The west wall of the nave and the royal platform are faced in polished black stone inscribed with texts from the Holy Quran. In the outer chamber is an inscription to Sikander. The barrel-vaulted central bay of the prayer chamber was unique in India at this time. Usually this was domed, but the precedent was copied later elsewhere in Bengal, at Raj-mahal and Old Malda, for instance, and it allowed an unimpeded view of the central mihrab. Adjoining the north bay of the mosque is a small square chamber or takht approached by a ramp. The doors are constructed of reused Hindu masonry. It is reputed to be the tomb of Sikander Shah.

The Choti Dargah of the 15th century contains the grave of Nur Qutb Alam, a local Muslim saint. About one mile to the east of the Adina Mosque is the Sataisghar or old palace of Sikander. Only two small ruins survive, used as bath houses. While on a tour of West Bengal one can visit Pandua to enjoy the famous historical monuments of the place.