Decline of Bhagirathi-Hooghly Channel - The Ganga: Water Use in the Indian Subcontinent - page 63

movement to southwest, while the Ganga was flowing northwest. As the two rivers
joined, the movements apparently slowed near the confluence. Before the 16th cen-
tury, much of the Ganga flow discharged directly into the Bay of Bengal via the
Hooghly. Since then the channel shifted gradually to northeast, occupying and
giving up several prominent courses into its present position.
In the Bengali epic 'Chandimangal' written by Kabikankan Mukundaram in
1477 AD (mentioned earlier), the voyage of Chand Sadagar to Singhal (now Ceylon)
has been described along the Bhagirathi, which was quite deep and was carrying the
main flow of the Ganga. It shows that so recently as 500 years ago, the main flow
of the Ganga was through the Bhagirathi and Adi Ganga and thereafter the main
current of the Ganga started flowing gradually through the easterly directed branch
of the Ganga situated near Murshidabad.
Eminent Indian scientist, Meghnad Saha revealed an old map on the rivers of
Bengal, in which the Padma's south-eastern flow is not seen. It shows the Ganga
flowing along its present Bhagirathi bed. He argued that before the 15th century, the
Padma did not exist but came to be noticed only afterward. He says, all well-known
places of south Bengal were on the banks of the Bhagirathi-Hooghly. Secondly,
unlike the Ganga, the Padma was never deemed a sacred river; it was one of sorrow
and destruction.
South Bengal's king, Lakshman Sen fled to East Bengal (now Bangladesh) with
his family from Nabadweep by land, not by the river after being defeated by
Muslims from Arab. Experts like Travernier who visited India in 1666, Bernier
who travelled through Bengal in 1667, Rennel whose map on the rivers of Bengal
was published in 1769, Captain Sherwill, deputed in 1857 by the Government to
study the condition of the Hooghly and Fergusson who gave an account of Bengal
rivers to the Geological Survey of India in 1863 believed in the Hindu mythology
about the Ganga and drew conclusions from the events narrated in it as well as val-
ued the views of learned men, well-versed in Sanskrit. They all believed that the
Bhagirathi was the main flow of the Ganga in olden days. These experts argued that
the main Ganga took a south-easterly turn beyond the Koshi in Bihar and moved
up to Rajmahal Hills. It then swang south, keeping the hills at right and flowed on
the present Bhagirathi-Hooghly course to the Bay of Bengal. Before the 16th cen-
tury, this was its main course and major riverine transportation up to the sea was
carried on this channel. The Padma was then a minor tributary of the Ganga and
no important town came up on its bank because of uncertainty of discharge, shallow
and unstable banks and proneness to flood. At that time, the Bhagirathi was a deeper
river with more stable banks and high water-flow round the year. Noted towns and
places came up and flourished on its banks, like Azimganj, Beharampore, Palasi,
Katwa, Kalna, Nabadweep, Halisahar. The French, the Portuguese, the Dutch and
the British who came to this part of India to trade, sailed from the sea through
the Ganga's waterway and settled on its prosperous banks, in places like Kolkata,
Hooghly, Chinsurah, Chandan Nagar and Bandel. They further developed these
towns and cities, using the large and deep waterway which also provided fast and
easy access to the sea for retreat. Diversion of its flow to create the Padma began
probably in the 16th century AD, following some tectonic changes, or a major