সপ্তগ্রাম | |
 Saraswati River at Saptagram | |
  Saptagram Location of Gauḍa in West Bengal, India Show map of West Bengal Saptagram Location of Gauḍa in India Show map of India | |
| Alternative name | Satgaon |
|---|---|
| Location | Hooghly district,West Bengal,India |
| Coordinates | 22°58′00″N88°23′00″E / 22.9667°N 88.3833°E /22.9667; 88.3833 |
| Type | Port, settlement |
| History | |
| Founded | Prior to 9th century |
| Abandoned | Started declining 17th to 18th century |
Saptagram (colloquially calledSatgaon) was an ancient major port, the chief city and sometimes capital of southernBengal, in ancient and medieval times ofBengal, the location presently being in theHooghly district in the Indian state ofWest Bengal. It is about 4 km fromBandel, a major rail junction. By the early twentieth century, the place had dwindled to a group of insignificant huts.[1] The port had to be abandoned because of the silting up and consequent drying of theSaraswati River.
The wordSaptagram means seven villages. These are identified asBansberia, Kristapur, Basudebpur, Nityanandapur, Sibpur, Sambachora and Baladghati.[2][3]
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According toBinoy Ghosh,Tamralipta, the ancient port, started declining from the 8th century, owing to river silting, and Saptagram possibly started gaining in importance as a port from the 9th to 10th century. The Saptagram port, along with its business centre, had become important in the pre-Muslim era, during the rule of thePalas andSenas. In the Muslim era, Saptagram was an important administrative centre right from the beginning, and the period 14th to 16th century was considered the golden age of Saptagram. In 1565, MaharajaRudranarayan ofBhurshut annexed it from thePathans. In 1592, Saptagram was recaptured by the Pathans. In the 17th century,Bandel-Hooghly-Chinsurah started gaining in importance. From the 18th century,Kolkata started emerging as the main business and cultural centre of Bengal.[4]
