Saptagram - The Ancient Port-City of Bengal

⛵ Saptagram was an ancient port of India, located in Hooghly district of West Bengal. By 4th century, the town was a great trading centre. The name 'Saptagram' means seven villages and they are identified as:

Kristapur, Basudebpur, Nityanandapur, Sibpur, Sambachora and Baladghati, and Bansberia.


The port city was called 'Tcharitrapura' by Fa-Hien, it was called "a royal city of immense size" by Ptolemy in 2nd century. During the Pālā and Sena eras, the city must have had trade relations with SE Asia, China, Japan, Korea. It is also quite possible that the earliest Bengali merchants & missionaries have travelled from this port to as far as Japan to promote their trade & missionary activities.


In the contemporary Portuguese chronicles Saptagram is mentioned as "Porto de Pequeno". The way Vasco da Gama reached India, a microroute of the same can be seen how Portuguese settlers came from Goa to Bengal. Especially when they had established Saptagram as one of the ports in eastern India. 

First European settlement in Satgaon was 15th century when they took permission from Maharaja Satyanarayan Rayamukhuty in Bhurishreshta kingdom and built a settlement at Saptagram (Satgaon) port on the banks of the Hooghly River. In Mughal era, it was one of the 19 sarkars of Bengal & paid 30,000 rupees as revenue.


After the Delhi Sultanate conquest of Saptagram in 1294, Maharaja Bhudev Ray restored it after his victory in the Battle of Mahanad (1305). He defeated the Delhi army, beheaded Zafar Khan Ghazi and threw his head in the river Bhagirathi. The Hindu forces of Bardhaman conquered Tribeni shrine and Saptagram port, Hindu rule was re-established in Tribeni shrine.

Pancha-Gaudeshwar Rudranarayan Rayamukhuty, the king of Bhurishrestha reclaimed Saptagram after his victory in the Battle of Tribeni (1575). He constructed Gajagiri Ghaat & Damodara Vishnu mandir in Saptagram by banks of Ganga.

On the 1st day of the month of Magha, one day long 'fish fair' is being held near Sripat of Raghunath Dasa Goswami at Krishnapur, Saptagram, Hooghly for last 512 years.

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