described by him 1. There is a shrine of a Muhammadan saint named Mahisawar Sultan here, but no Arabic inscription seems to have been discovered at this place before this. The inscription is one of the oldest records that has been found in Bengal proper. It was incised in A.H. 700=1300 A.D., i.e. during the reign of Sultan Shams-ud-din Firüz Shah, son of Sultan Nasir-ud-din Mahmud Shah (Bughda Khan, the youngest son of Sultan Ghiyās-ud-din Balban of Delhi. It records the erection of a tomb of the exalted and benevolent Namwar Khān in the month of Shawwal in 700 A.H.=1300 A.D. II.-Inscription from the Salik Masjid, Basirhat. This inscription was found in the interior of a Masjid in the town of Basirhat, District 24-Parganas of Bengal. The Masjid is situated at a distance of about one mile from the railway station and is in good preservation. It appears that a 1 Archæological Survey Reports, Vol. XV, pp. 104-116. Masjid was built in the year 871=1466-67 A.D. from materials taken from a stonebuilt Hindu temple; later on this ancient masjid was surrounded by a brick wall with modern doors and windows. A facsimile of the inscription, taken by me, was published by Rai Monomohan Chakravarti Bahadur in his article on "Pre-Mughal Mosques of Bengal". The inscription is stuck in the interior of the mosque between two stone pillars, taken from some Hindu temple, close to the roof. The pillars are in good preservation with figures of ganas or dwarfs on the bracket capitals over it. Only these two pillars and the inscription have escaped modernization and white-wash. The inscribed surface measures 1'1" by 63". It records the erection of a mosque by a person with the title "the benevolent and exalted Majlis, the great Majlis" in the year 871 A.H.=1466 A.D. In this year Sultan Rukn-ud-din Bārbak Shah, son of Nasir-ud-din Mahmud Shāh was reigning in Bengal. It was during his reign that the Hindu kingdoms on the Southern coast, which were so long protected from conquest by the impenetrable barrier of forests, were overthrown. Two records of this prince has been discovered in Southern Bengal; the first one is the Mirzagunj inscription of the year 8703 and the second record is the present one from Basirhat, of the year 871 A.D. The builder of this mosque appears to be the same person as that of the Bais-darwaza masjid at Pandua. In the Pandua inscription of 882 A.H. more elaborate titles are given but the proper name has been omitted.3 TEXT. لا اله الله محمد رسول الله بنى هذ المسجد مجلس المعظم والمكرم مجلس اعظم داست عظمته سنه احدى وسبعين وثما نماية 1 Journal and Proceedings of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, New Series, Vol. VI, p. 29 and note 1, plate. 2 2.407. Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, old Series, Vol. XXIX, |