Harikela
Kingdom in ancient Bengal
Harikela or Harkal (Bengali: হরিকেল বা হরকল) was an ancient kingdom located in the Bengal region of the Indian subcontinent. Originally, it was an independent township of ancient eastern Bengal, which had a continuous existence of about 500 years. The state of Harikal consisted of present-day Sylhet and Chittagong divisions of Bangladesh, as well as parts of former kingdom of Cachar (South Assam) and the Tripura state of India.
01History
Two seventh century Chinese travellers mention a kingdom of Harikela. Hemachandra, an 11th-century lexicographer described it as a synonymous term of Vanga in his book Abhidhanachintamani. The ancient Indian philosopher and scholar Yadava Prakasa also mentioned Harikela belongs to the territory of Vanga. The kingdom was ruled by the Chandra dynasty during the 10th century CE. They were overthrown by the Varman Dynasty of Southeast Bengal, who were in turn overthrown by the Deva dynasty.
02Geography
For a time its capital was near Chittagong before being moved to Munshiganj by the Candras. Arab traders recognised Harikela (known as Harkand in Arabic) as the coastal regions of Bengal (near Chittagong) in the early period and included Sylhet in the later period reaching as far as the ancient Sundarbans.
Sources and credits
This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Harikela”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.
Images, from Wikimedia Commons:
- Ancient Political Divisions.jpg by user:P.K.Niyogi, CC BY-SA 3.0
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