Ganga-Brahmaputra Delta - 19th century

Stretching through 2,520 km and 3,848 km, the Ganga and Brahmaputra rivers are two of the largest rivers in Asia, ranking 16th and 6th respectively. Talking about world figures, the Brahmaputra river ranks 15th (along with the Yarlung Tsangpo, the name by which it is known in Tibet) between Niger (western Africa) and Murray-Darling-Culgoa-Balonne-Condamine rivers (in Australia) while the Ganga (or the Ganges) ranks 34th (along with Padma and Hooghly rivers) between the Vilyuy river of Russia and the Amu Darya-Panj in Central Asia. The Mouths of the Ganga opens at the Sunderbans, a wide range of forest marshes spread across the southern tips of West Bengal and Bangladesh. Mapping these tiny fragments of islands and a labyrinth of river-system forming the Ganga-Brahmaputra delta (which is the largest in the world), passing through India, Bangladesh and China, was quite a task especially in the colonial era. With whatever amount of navigation was conducted back then, here's a list of interesting nomenclatures of these rivers and the towns adjoining them, from a 19th-century map's perspective. 

Firstly, listing down the names of rivers as how they were pronounced by the British, at the Mouth of the Ganges: 

• Hoogly (Hooghly, West Bengal)
• Barratulla (Baratala or Channel Creek or Muri Ganga, West Bengal)
• Subtermooky (Saptamukhi, West Bengal)
• Jumerah
• Roymatla (Matla, West Bengal)
• Bangadoony (Bidyadhari, West Bengal)
• Gua Suba (Gosaba or Gochhba, West Bengal)
• Roymungul (Raimangal, Bangladesh)
• Mollinchew (Malancha, Bangladesh)
• Burrapungah
• Murjattah (Marjata or Kunga, Bangladesh)
• Bangarah (Bangra, Bangladesh)
• Hooringottah
• Rabnabad
• Megna (Meghna, Bangladesh)
• Chela

In today's time, some of the key towns in northeast India are Guwahati, Shillong, Tezpur, Sibsagar, Agartala etc. And if we have to include Bangladesh, then the major metropolis of Dhaka, Chatgram, Sylhet, Khulna etc. But going back to the 19th century, this region was sparcely populated. The Ahoms of modern day Assam were still out of British boundaries and mapping this region was interesting. There are a number of incorrect names that are now obsolete, but worth mentioning. Some of these settlements are listed down below with reference to an 1812 map by Daniel Lizars. The list here is restricted to the towns at the Brahmaputra River (mispronounced as Burrampooter) within the boundaries of the then British Bengal, which is majorly today's Bangladesh. 

• Mancacher / Mallychor (Meru Char / Malichar, Bakshiganj Upazila, Bangladesh)
• Saupmary (Supmari, Gangachara Upazila, Bangladesh)
• Newya 
• Goalpara (in Assam)
• Sankaaty 
• Gergonge (Garhgaon / Gargaon, in Sivasagar district, Assam. This was the capital of the Ahom Kingdom for many years)
• Teurmay
• Bosolandy
• Bisnee
• Tacpoy (Tezpur, in Assam)
• Rangamatty (Rungamatee, in Jalpaiguri district, West Bengal)
• Rungpoor (Rangpur, Bangladesh)
• Goragot (Ghoraghat Upzila, Dinajpur district, Bangladesh)
• Pikerra

If we have to talk about the entire northeastern region of a 19th century India, towns such as Dinagepoor (Dinajpur, Bangladesh), Jelpigory (Jalpaiguri, West Bengal), Nattore (Natore, Rajshahi Division, Bangladesh), Pucculoe (Paxil, Rajshahi Division, Bangladesh), Comillah (Comilla / Cumilla, Bangladesh) and Silhet (Sylhet, Bangladesh) would be the major ones, which in today's context are urbanised yet far from being a metropolis. Dhaka (or Dacca) and Chatgram (or Chittagong / Islamabad) were yet to develop into what they are today and even in the remaining part of Bengal, settlements that are of minor importance today were major towns in the 19th century. As we have just seen that the capital of the Ahom Empire was not Guwahati, but the settlement of Garhgaon and at various times, other places such as Charaideo, Rangpur and Jorhat. Even the capital of Bengal during Mughal-EIC times was not Calcutta, but Murshidabad. 

Coming to the Brahmaputra, its interesting as how the marking of the river changed with different era of Indian mapping. One of the most talked about feature is the existence of Lake Chiamay, a fictitious water body that is present on several 16th-17th century maps, which was once believed to be the source of rivers such as Brahmaputra, Yangtze, Mekong etc. The position of this lake would be somewhere north of today's Myanmar, in the Yunnan region of China. But as we know, it's Lake Mansarovar in Tibet, China. But as we approach more towards the 19th century maps, we would find the location of Mansaroar Lake somewhat around its current location. When it's in Tibet, it's known as Tsangpo (or how it was once spelt as Sanpoo) it would pass through settlements of Chiggatzee Jeung (referring to either Shigatse or Samzhubze, Tibet), Painom Jeung, Lassa (Lhasa) and Chamka. 

As mentioned above, the Rangamatty (not to be confused with Rangmati, Chittagong Hill Tracts, Bangladesh) division was  the bridge between Bengal and Assam in the 19th century and the Brahmaputra river would enter Assam through this point. The Garo tribe of today's Meghalaya is mentioned as Garrows while other regions such as Bisnee (near Bogribari, Kokrajhar district, Assam), Jammyra (Jamira, Hailakandi district, Assam), Measpara (Jogdai Meshpara, in Kokrajhar district, Assam), Howeragot (Howraghat, in Karbi Anglong district, Assam) and Beyhar (Koch Bihar, West Bengal) were the neighbouring areas. It's hard to believe but none of these places are as big today as they were back in the Raj era. 

Here's a resketched map of Brahmaputra river flowing out of Bengal in 1812 and the Ganga-Brahmaputra delta at the Mouths of Ganga. The original map was sketched by Daniel Lizars (1793 - 1875). A special mention to the map sketched by Aaron Arrowsmith, that has a much detailed information of India's map dating 1821.