Bengal 榜葛剌國

by Caroline Stone

The following is Mills' note on Bengal (Banggela, Pang-ko-la):

“Giles, nos. 8662; 6069; 6653; a transliteration of the Indian name Bangala; the region of the Gangs (Ganges) Delta (between 21° 31’ and 22° 38’ N and 88° 05’ and 90° 28’ E) and the districts immediately above it. At the time of Ma Huan’s visit in 1432, Bengal was an independent, powerful, and rich state, politically and economically important, with a well-organized military and civil administration; the rulers, with their capital at the famous city of Gaur, belonged to a family of Hindu origin, which was converted to Islam during the reign of Jalal-ud-din (1414-31). For Bengal see Hsiang Ta, Kung Chen, pp. 37-41; Fei Hsin, ch. x, pp. 38-43 (Rockhill, Part II, pp. 440-4); Ming shih, p. 7921, row 2; Pelliot, ‘Voyages’, pp. 315-16, 324; Duyvendak, ‘Dates’, p. 370, n. 4; Sir J. Sarkar, The History of Bengal (Dacca, vol. II, 1948), pp. 116-29; R. C. Majumdar and others, An Advanced History of India (London, pt. II, 1951), pp. 344-5, 397-8; Smith, pp. 271-2.”

- Ma Huan, translated in J. V. G. Mills, trans., ed., Ma Huan, Ying-yai Sheng-lan: The Overall Survey of the Ocean's Shores [1433], Hakluyt Society Extra Series 42 (Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press. 1970), "The Country of Pang-ko-la [Bengal], p. 159, n. 3