Tamluk Town
This article has been extracted from THE IMPERIAL GAZETTEER OF INDIA , 1908. OXFORD, AT THE CLARENDON PRESS. |
Note: National, provincial and district boundaries have changed considerably since 1908. Typically, old states, ‘divisions’ and districts have been broken into smaller units, and many tahsils upgraded to districts. Some units have since been renamed. Therefore, this article is being posted mainly for its historical value.
Tamluk Town
Head-quarters of the subdivision of the same name in Midnapore District, Bengal, situated in 22" 18' N. and 87° 56' E. The population in 1901 was 8,085, compared with only 5,849 in 1872. Tamluk or Tamralipta, as it is called in Sanskrit, was the capital of an ancient kingdom known as Tamralipta or Suhma. The earliest kings belonged to the Peacock dynasty and were Rajputs by caste ; but on the death of Nisanka Narayan of this line, the throne was usurped by Kalu Bhuiya, the founder of the existing line of Kaibartta Rajas. Tamluk figures as a place of great antiquity in the sacred writings of the Hindus. It first emerges in authentic history as a port, being the place whence the Chinese pilgrim Fa Hian took ship to Ceylon in the early part of the fifth century. Another celebrated pilgrim from China, Hiuen Tsiang, speaks of Tamluk in the seventh century as still an important harbour, with ten Buddhist monasteries, 1,000 monks, and a pillar erected by king Asoka, 200 feet high. Indigo, silk, and copper (tamra) the last of which gave its name to the place, were the traditional articles of export from ancient Tamluk. Hiuen Tsiang found the city washed by the ocean ; the earliest Hindu tradition places the sea 8 miles off, and it is now fully 60 miles distant. The process of land-making at the mouth of the Hooghly has gone on slowly but steadily, and has left Tamluk an inland village on the banks of the Rupnarayan river. Under the rule of the ancient Peacock dynasty, the royal palace and grounds are said to have covered an area of 8 square miles, fortified by strong walls and deep ditches. No trace of the ancient palace is now discernible, except some ruins to the west of the palace of the present Kaibartta Raja, which is built on the side of the river, surrounded by ditches, and covers the more moderate area of about 30 acres. The old city lies under the river silt ; even the great temple is now partly underground, and the remains of masonry wells and houses are met with at 18 to 21 feet below the surface. A considerable number of old silver and copper coins bearing Buddhist symbols have recently been discovered in the midst of debris from the crumbling banks of the Rupnarayan. The principal object of interest at Tamluk is a temple sacred to the goddess Barga Bhlma, or Kali, situated on the bank of the Rupnarayan. The skill and ingenuity displayed in its construction still command admiration. The shrine is surrounded by a curious threefold wall which rises to a height of 60 feet, its width at the base being 9 feet. The whole is covered with a dome-shaped roof. Stones of enormous size were used in its construction. On the top of the temple, although dedicated to the wife of Siva, is the sacred disk (chakra) of Vishnu, surmounted by the form of a peacock. The idol is formed from a single block of stone with the hands and feet attached to it. The goddess is repre- sented standing on the body of Siva and has four hands. Outside the temple, but within its enclosure, is a keli-kadamba tree, supposed to have the virtue of redeeming wives from barrenness. Numbers of women flock hither to pray for offspring, suspending pieces of brick to the tree by ropes made of their own hair. There is also a Vaish- nav temple at Tamluk which, in shape and construction, resembles that of Barga Bhima.
Tamluk is still a place of considerable importance as the centre of the boat traffic on the Rupnarayan. It was constituted a municipality in 1864. The income during the decade ending 1901-2 averaged Rs. 7,900, and the expenditure Rs. 7,200. In 1903-4 the income was Rs. 9,000, of which Rs. 3,000 was derived from a tax on persons (or property tax) ; and the expenditure was Rs. 8,000. The town contains the usual public offices ; the sub-jail has accommodation for 15 prisoners.
[Sir W. W. Hunter, Orissa, vol. i (1872), and Statistical Accont of Bengal, vol. iii (1876).]
