¹ This literature is large and growing larger. A few representative examples include, Alam, Muzaffar, ‘The Culture and Politics of Persian in Pre-Colonial Hindustan’ in Pollock, Sheldon (ed.), Literary Cultures in History. Reconstructions From South Asia, University of California Press, Berkeley, 2003, pp. 131–198Google Scholar; Guha, Sumit, ‘Transitions and Translations: Regional Power and Vernacular Identity in the Dakhan: 1500–1800’, Comparative Studies of South Asia, Africa and the Middle East, 24, 2, 2004, pp. 23–31CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Asher, Catherine B., The Architecture of Mughal India, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1992CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Francoise ‘Nalini’ Delvoye, ‘The Image of Akbar as a Patron of Music in Indo-Persian and Vernacular Sources’ in Habib, Irfan (ed.), Akbar and His India, Oxford University Press, Delhi, 1997, pp. 188–214Google Scholar; Brown, Katherine Butler, ‘Did Aurangzeb Ban Music? Questions for the Historiography of his Reign’, Modern Asian Studies, 41, 1, 2007, pp. 77–121CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Minkowski, Christopher and O'Hanlon, Rosalind, ‘What Makes People Who They Are? Pandit Networks and the Problem of Livelihoods in Early Modern Western India’, Indian Economic and Social History Review (IESHR), 45, 3, 2008, pp. 381–416.Google Scholar

² See in this connection, Kumkum Chatterjee, ‘Cultural flows and Cosmopolitanism in Mughal India: the Bishnupur Kingdom’, IESHR, 46, 2, 2009, pp. 147–182.

³ This literature is too large to permit comprehensive citation. Selective examples include, Kinsley, David R., Hindu Goddesses: Visions of the Divine Feminine in the Hindu Religious Tradition, University of California Press, Berkeley, 1986Google Scholar; Bayly, Susan, Saints, Goddesses and Kings: Muslims and Christians in South Indian Society, 1700–1900, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1989Google Scholar; Pinchtman, Tracy, The Rise of the Goddess in the Hindu Tradition, SUNY Press, Albany, 1994Google Scholar; Erndl, Kathleen M., Victory to the Mother: The Hindu Goddess of North-West India in Myth, Ritual and Symbol, Oxford University Press, New York, 1993Google Scholar; Rodrigues, Hillary Peter, Ritual Worship of the Great Goddess: The Liturgy of Durga Puja With Interpretations, SUNY Press, Albany, 2003Google Scholar; Bhattacharjee, Sukumari, Legends of Devi, Orient Longman, Mumbai, 1998Google Scholar; Bannerjee, Sudeshna, Durga Puja: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow, Rupa and Company, New Delhi, 2004Google Scholar; Acharya, Haripada, Mahalaya Theke Bijoya, Sri Ramakrishna Mission Ashrama, Narendrapur, 1991Google Scholar; Prajnananda, SwamiMahisasuramardini Durga, Sri Ramakrishna Vedanta Math, Calcutta, 1990Google Scholar; Chakrbarty, Kunal, Religious Process. The Puranas and the Making of a Regional Tradition, Delhi, Oxford University Press, 2001Google Scholar; McDaniel, June, Offering Flowers, Feeding Skulls. Popular Goddess Worship in Bengal, Oxford University Press, New York, 2004.CrossRefGoogle Scholar There are countless internet websites about the history and traditions of goddess worship in different parts of India including Bengal as well as Bengal's Durga puja.

⁴ Narayana Rao, V. and Richards, J. F., ‘Banditry in Mughal India: Historical and Folk Perceptions’, IESHR, 17, 1980, pp. 95–120Google Scholar; Busch, Allison, ‘Brajbhasha Poets at the Mughal Court’, Hidden in Plain view: Brajbhasha Poets at the Mughal Court’, Modern Asian Studies, 44, 2, 2010, p. 267–309.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

⁵ See footnote 3.

⁶ Pinchtman, Rise of the Goddess, pp. 1–5.

⁷ Pinchtman, Rise of the Goddess; Kinsley, Hindu Goddesses, Bhattacharya, Sudhibhushan (ed.), Dwija Madhava Rachita Mangalchandir Geet, Calcutta University Press, Calcutta, 1957Google Scholar: Preface; Bhattacharya, Ashutosh, Bangla Mangalkabyer Itihasa, A. Mukherjee and Company, Calcutta, 2002 (reprint)Google Scholar.

⁸ Pinchtman, Rise of the Goddess, p. 5.

⁹ S. Bhattacharya (ed.), Mangalchandir Geet: Preface.

¹⁰ K. Chakrabarty, Religious Process.

¹¹ Kinsley, Hindu Goddesses, pp. 95–97.

¹² See Coburn, Thomas B., Devi Mahatmya. The Crystallization of the Goddess Tradition, South Asia Books, Columbia, Missouri, 1985, pp. 89–208Google Scholar, for a thorough analysis of all the epithets used in the Devi-Mahatmya to describe the goddess.

¹³ Kinsley, Hindu Goddesses, p. 95.

¹⁴ Coburn, Thomas B., Encountering the Goddess. A Translation of the Devi Mahatmya and a Study of its Interpretation, SUNY Press, Albany, 1991, p. 40.Google Scholar

¹⁵ Banerjee, Durga Puja, pp. 5–7.

¹⁶ Ibid. p. 7.

¹⁷ Coburn, Encountering the Goddess, pp. 20, 78; Banerjee, Durga Puja, p. 5.

¹⁸ Coburn, Encountering the Goddess, p. 78: 11.45.

¹⁹ Kinsley, Hindu Goddesses, pp. 126, 147.

²⁰ Ibid., pp. 16–118.

²¹ McDermott, Rachel Fell, ‘The Vaishnavized Uma of Bengali Devotionalism’, Journal of Vaisnava Studies, 8, 2, 2000, pp. 131–146.Google ScholarMother of My Heart, Daughter of My Dreams. Kali and Uma in the Devotional Poetry of Bengal, Oxford University Press, New York, 2001.

²² Sen, Sukumar (ed.), Kabikankan Birachita Chandi, Ananda Publishers, Calcutta, 1993, p. 64.Google Scholar Interestingly, Dwija Madhav's Mangalchandir Geet (ed. S. Bhattacharya) composed slightly before Mukunda Chakrabarti's Chandimangal describes the goddess as ‘dasabhuja’ (p. 65) i.e. ten-armed, but contains no explicit reference to being surrounded by her offspring gods and goddesses.

²³ Bhattacharya, Tithi, ‘Tracking the Goddess: Religion, Community and Identity in the Durga Puja Ceremonies of Nineteenth Century Calcutta’, Journal of Asian Studies, 66, 4, 2007, pp. 919–962.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

²⁴ McDermott, Mother of My Heart, p. 3.

²⁵ Ibid.

²⁶ Datta, Bimala Chandra, Durga Puja. Sekaal Theke Ekaal, Ramakrishna Vivekananda Institute of Research and Culture, Calcutta, 1986Google Scholar; Haripada Acharya, Mahalaya theke Vijaya, p. 12; Swami Prajnananda, Mahisasuramardini Durga, p. 246; Banerjee, Durga Puja, p. 89, endnote 1.

²⁷ Bidyanidhi, Jogesh Chandra Roy, Puja Parban, Viswabharati Press, Calcutta, 1951.Google Scholar

²⁸ K. Chakravarty, Religious Process, p. 201.

²⁹ Simha, Maniklal, Pashchim Rarh Tatha Bankura Samskriti, Chittaranjan Dasgupta, Bishnupur, 1384 B.S., pp. 82–89.Google Scholar

³⁰ Datta, Sekaal Theke Ekaal, p. 173.

³¹ Simha, Bankura Samskriti, pp. 82, 92.

³² Ibid., p. 89. According to Maniklal Simha, many village goddesses who were worshipped particularly in the Northern parts of the Bankura district were originally Buddhist deities (pp. 86–87).

³³ K. Chakrabarty, Religious Process, p. 177.

³⁴ Datta, Sekaal Theke Ekaal, p. 198.

³⁵ Basu, Jogeshchandra, Medinipurer Itihasa, Sen Brothers and Company, Calcutta, 1940, p. 314Google Scholar. See also Simha, Bankura Samskriti, pp. 82–87.

³⁶ Oman, John Campbell, The Brahmans, Theists and Muslims of India, George W. Jacobs and Company, Philadelphia, 1907, p. 20Google Scholar.

³⁷ Kinsley, Hindu Goddesses, pp. 83–84.

³⁸ Eaton, Richard M., The Rise of Islam and the Bengal Frontier, 1204–1760, Oxford University Press, Delhi, 1994, pp. 58–59.Google Scholar

³⁹ Ibid., p. 109.

⁴⁰ Basu, Medinipurer Itihasa, pp. 350, 531–533.

⁴¹ Ibid. pp. 128–129.

⁴² Dasgupta, Chittaranjan, Bharater Shilpa Samskritir Patabhumikaye Bishnupurer Mandir Terracotta, Sushama Dasgupta, Bishnupur, 2000, pp. 289–290.Google Scholar

⁴³ Chowdhury, Saifuddin, Fazl, Mohammed Abulet al. (eds), Varendra Anchaler Itihasa, Office of the Divisional Commissioner, Rajshahi, 1998, p. 792.Google Scholar

⁴⁴ Pollock, Sheldon, The Language of the Gods in the World of Men. Sanskrit, Culture and Power in Premodern India, University of California Press, Berkeley, 2006.Google Scholar

⁴⁵ S. Sen (ed.) Chandimangal, p. 63.

⁴⁶ C. Dasgupta, Bishnupurer Mandir Terracotta, pp. 286–287.

⁴⁷ Sen, Sukumar, History of Bengali Literature, Delhi, Sahitya Akademy, 1979Google Scholar.

⁴⁸ Banerjee, Durga Puja, pp. 35–41; Datta, Ekaal theke Sekaal, pp. 175–177, 200–203.

⁴⁹ S. Bhattacharya, Mangalchandir Geet.

⁵⁰ A. Bhattacharya, Bangla Mangalkavyer Itihasa, p. 448.

⁵¹ Ibid., pp. 488–490.

⁵² S. Bhattacharya, Mangalchandir Geet, pp. 7–8.

⁵³ Ibid. pp. 15–16.

⁵⁴ Ibid., p. 19.

⁵⁵ A. Bhattacharya, Bangla Mangalkabyer Itihasa, p. 448.

⁵⁶ S. Bhattacharya, Mangalchandir Geet, p. 19.

⁵⁷ See Chattopadhyaya, B. D., Representing the Other? Sanskrit Sources and the Muslims, Delhi, Manohar, 1998.Google Scholar

⁵⁸ See also, Karim, Abdul, Social History of the Muslims in Bengal (Down to 1538 AD), The Asiatic Society of Pakistan, Dacca, 1959, p. 147.Google Scholar

⁵⁹ Biswas, Achintya (ed.), Bipradas Pipilaier Manasamangal, Ratnabali, Calcutta, 2002, p. 135.Google Scholar

⁶⁰ Chaudhuri, Sushil, ‘The Rise and Decline of Hugli’, Bengal Past and Present, 86, 161, 1967, pp. 33–67Google Scholar, Trade and Commercial Organization in Bengal 1650–1720, Firma K. L. Mukhopadhyaya, Calcutta, 1975.

⁶¹ Mukhia, Harbans, The Mughals of India, Blackwell, Bodmin, Cornwall, 2004, pp. 2–3.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

⁶² Karim, Social History of the Muslims of Bengal, pp. 154–155; Tarafdar, M. R., Husain Shahi Bengal, 1449–1538: A Socio-Political Study, Asiatic Society of Pakistan, Dacca, 1965, pp. 311–312Google Scholar. For Tarafdar's more detailed explanation as to why the term ‘Mongol’ or ‘Mangal’ could have been used in the late fifteenth century to denote the Mughals, see p. 312.

⁶³ Well-known Bengali narratives of the sixteenth century and beyond attest to use of the term ‘Mughal’ rather than ‘Mongol’. See for example, Kabikankan Mukundaram Chakrabarty's ‘Chandimangala’, probably of the late sixteenth century, and Bharatchandra Roy's ‘Annadamangala’ of the mid eighteenth century.

⁶⁴ The well-known ‘Ramacharita’ of Sandhyakara Nandy, composed in Bengal during the Pala period was, for instance, entirely in slesha. See Shastri, Haraprasada (ed.), revised with English translation and notes by Basak, Radhagovinda, Ramacharita of Sandhyakaranandin, Asiatic Society, Calcutta, 1969Google Scholar. For the legacy of Sanksrit literary conventions on Mangalkavyas, see, A. Bhattacharya, Bangla Mangalkavyer Itihasa; also see Chatterjee, Kumkum, The Cultures of History in Early Modern India, Oxford University Press, Delhi, 2009, pp. 91–92CrossRefGoogle Scholar; for the exchange via double entendre between the goddess and the boatman, see, ‘Annadamangala’, pp. 156–160 in Brojendranath Bandyopadhyaya and Sajanikanta Das (eds), Bharatchandra Granthabali, Bangiya Sahitya Parishat, Calcutta, 1369 B.S. For the importance and use of slesha in Indic literature see, Bronner, Yigal, Extreme Poetry: The South Asian Movement of Simultaneous Narration, Columbia University Press, New York, 2010.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

⁶⁵ S. Sen (ed.), Chandimangala, p. 28. It should be noted that Sen refers to two eighteenth century copies of Dwija Madhava's composition, but was of the opinion that it was not possible to ascertain a more precise date for the actual composition of this work. I find the careful and much more detailed scholarship of S. Bhattacharya about this work to be more convincing in this regard and have therefore accepted Bhattacharya's assignation of the date of this work to be 1579 AD See S. Bhattacharya, Mangalchandir Geet: Preface. A. Bhattacharya, Bangla Mangalkavyer Itihasa, p. 490, attributes this Mangalkabya to the late sixteenth century also, and is thus in agreement on this point with S. Bhattacharya.

⁶⁶ K. Chatterjee, The Cultures of History in Early Modern India, pp. 24–61.

⁶⁷ Representative examples include, Raychadhuri, Tapan, Bengal Under Akbar and Jahangir. An Introductory Study in Social History, Munshiram Manoharlal, Delhi, 1969Google Scholar; Sen, Dinesh Chandra, Banga Bhasha O Sahitya, vol. 2Google Scholar; Bandyopadhyaya, Asit Kumar (ed.), Pashchim Banga Rajya Pustak Parshat (reprint), Calcutta, 2002, pp. 555–707Google Scholar, Ashutosh Bhattacharya, Bangla Mangalkavyer Itihasa, pp. 804–806, Zbavitel, Dushan, History of Bengali Literature, Otto Hassarovitz, Weisbaden, 1976, pp. 165–166Google Scholar; Ghosh, Pika, Temple to Love. Architecture and Devotion in Seventeenth Century Bengal, Indiana University Press, Bloomington, 2005.Google Scholar Two more nuanced and balanced views of the Mughal conquest of Bengal are to be found in Sir Sarkar, J. N. (ed.), History of Bengal Muslim Period, 1200–1757 Patna, 1973Google Scholar and Eaton, Rise of Islam and the Bengal Frontier.

⁶⁸ Chatterjee, K., The Cultures of History; and ‘Cultural Flows and Cosmopolitanism in Mughal India: The Bishnupur Kingdom’, IESHR, 46, 2, 2009, pp. 147–182.Google Scholar

⁶⁹ Nathan, Mirza, Baharistan-i-Ghaibi (trans.), Borah, M. I., Gauhati, 2 volumes, 1936, book 1, p. 13Google Scholar.

⁷⁰ Eaton, Rise of Islam and the Bengal Frontier, pp. 151–153; Eaton, Richard M., ‘Kiss my Foot’ Said the King: Firearms, Diplomacy and the Battle for Raichur, 1520’, Modern Asian Studies, 43, 1, 2009, pp. 289–313.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

⁷¹ Karim, Abdul, Corpus of Arabic and Persian Inscriptions of Bengal, Dhaka, Asiatic Society of Bangladesh, 1992, pp. 383–386.Google Scholar

⁷² Karim, Abdul, Banglar Itihasa: Sultani Amal, Dhaka, Bangla Academy, 1977.Google Scholar

⁷³ C. Dasgupta, Bishnupurer Mandir Terracotta; Simha, Bankura Samskriti.

⁷⁴ Mirza Nathan, Baharistan-i-Ghaibi, book 1, p. 7.

⁷⁵ Bharistan-i-Ghaiibi, vol. 1, Book 1, p. 2; See also Raychaudhuri, Bengal Under Akbar and Jahangir, p. 84.

⁷⁶ Banerji, R. D., History of Orissa. From The Earliest Times to the British Period, Bharatiya Publishing House, Delhi,1980, volume 2, pp. 1–65.Google Scholar

⁷⁷ Simha, Bankura Samskriti, p. 201.

⁷⁸ There are other examples within the Mangalkavya tradition where evil and dangerous entities—whether invading armies or, infectious diseases—were represented as monsters. See for example, Ralph Nicholas, ‘The Fever Demon and the Census Commissioner: Sitala Mythology in eighteenth and nineteenth Century Bengal’, in Nicholas, Ralph, Fruits Of Worship: Practical Religion in Bengal, Chronicle Books, New Delhi, 2003, pp 105–163.Google Scholar

⁷⁹ Banerji, R. D., History of Orissa, volume 2, pp. 3, 19Google Scholar.

⁸⁰ These refer to the shrine of Joychandi near Mughalmari village in the Keshiari area of Midnapur, and to shrines to Boanichandi and Amraichandi near another village called Mughalmari in the boundary area between Bankura and Burdwan districts of West-Bengal. C. Dasgupta, Bishnupurer Mandir Terracotta, pp. 291–292.

⁸¹ Ibid.

⁸² For a discussion of the general character of the Mangalkavya genre, see A. Bhattacharya, Bangla Mangalkavyer Itihasa; Curley, David L., Poetry and History. Bengali Mangal-kabya and Social Change in Pre-Colonial Bengal, New Delhi, Chronicle Books, 2008.Google Scholar

⁸³ For a discussion of certain historiographical, political and cultural themes in these two Mangalkavys, see Chatterjee, K., ‘The Persianization of Itihasa: Performance narratives and Mughal Political Culture in Eighteenth Century Bengal’, Journal of Asian Studies, 67, 2, 2008, pp. 513–543.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

⁸⁴ All references to the Annadamangala are based on Brojendranath Bandyopadhyaya and Byomkesh Mustafi (eds), Bharatchandra Granthabali, Bangiya Sahitya Parishat, 1369 B.S.

⁸⁵ ‘Annadamangala’, pp. 156–160. The description of this trip in the Annadamangal constitutes one of the best-known passages of Bengali literature.

⁸⁶ Basu, Ramram, Raja Pratapaditya Charitra, Mission Press, Searampore, 1801Google Scholar.

⁸⁷ ‘Annadamangala’, pp. 316–320.

⁸⁸ Ibid., p. 320.

⁸⁹ All references to this text are based on Dimock, Edward C. Jr. and Gupta, Pratul Chandra translated, annotated and with an introduction, The Maharashtapurana. An Eighteenth Century Bengali Historical Text, Orient Longman, Calcutta, 1985Google Scholar. For discussion of background and circumstances of Gangarama, and whether this narrative can be regarded as a Mangalkavya or not, see Chatterjee, ‘The Persianization of Itihasa’.

⁹⁰ Maharashtapurana, pp. 35–36.

⁹¹ On this point see, Chatterjee, Cultures of History and ‘Cultural Flows and Cosmopolitanism in Mughal India’.

⁹² For example, Dasgupta, Shashi Bhushan, Bharater Shakti Sadhana O Shakta Sahitya, Sahitya Samsad, Calcutta, 1367 B.S., p. 74Google Scholar; Datta, Sekaal Theke Ekaal, pp.109–111; Banerjee, Durga Puja, pp. 31–32; T. Bhattacharya, ‘Tracking the Goddess’, pp. 933–934; Chakrabarty, Aloke Kumar, Maharaja Krishnachandra O Tatkalin Banga Samaj, Progressive Book Forum, Calcutta, 1989Google Scholar; Chowdhury, Bhabani Roy, Bangiya Sabarna Katha. Kalikshetra Kalikata, Manna Publications, Calcutta, 2006Google Scholar; Saifuddin Chowdhury et al. (eds), Varendra Anchaler Itihasa, pp. 756–757; Pal, Samar, Tahirpur Rajvamsa, Dhaka, Dhaka, 2007Google Scholar. There are multiple contradictory accounts of the history/chronology of the Tahirpur rajas. Samar Pal, who has carried out the most intensive research about this family, in his latest reconstruction of their history, places Raja Kangshanarayan in the early rather than late sixteenth century. Pal however attests to the close relationship of this family with the Mughals and associates them with having performed the so-called ‘first’ Durga puja. There are also many internet websites which associate these three rajas with performing the ‘first’ Durga puja.

⁹³ Roy Chowdhury, Bangiya Sabarna Katha; Saifuddin Chowdhury (et al.), Varendra Anchaler Itihasa; Pal, Tahirpur Rajavamsa; Roy, A. K., Lakshmikanta. A Chapter in the Social History of Bengal, Mahamandal Press, Benaras, 1928Google Scholar; Pertsch, W. (ed.) Kshitishvamsavalicharitam: A Chronicle of the Family of Raja Krishnachandra of Nadia in Roy, Mohit (ed.), Kshitishvamsavalicharit, Manjusha, Calcutta, 1986Google Scholar; Mukhopadhyaya, Rajiblochan, Maharaja Krishnachandra Roysya Charitram, Mission Press, Searampore, 1805.Google Scholar

⁹⁴ Banerjee, Durga Puja, pp. 31–32. The sources mentioned in footnotes 92 and 93 are more or less in agreement with the dates given by Sudeshna Banerjee. As noted in footnote 92, Samar Pal, in his latest work on the Tahirpur rajas, is the only one to place Kangshanarayan a few decades earlier, in the early sixteenth century.

⁹⁵ Ramacharitam of Sandhyakaranandin, Chapter 3, verse 25B.

⁹⁶ Datta, Sekaal theke Ekaal, pp. 41–46.

⁹⁷ Ibid.

⁹⁸ Ibid. There are plenty of scattered references to this feature.

⁹⁹ A. Chakrabarty, Maharaja Krishnachandra; Roy Chowdhury, Bangiya Sabarna Katha; Pal, Tahirpur Rajvamsa.

¹⁰⁰ Santra, Tarapada, Krishnanagarer Mritshilpa O Mritshilpi Samaj K. P. Bagchi, Calcutta, 1985Google Scholar; Santra, Tarapada, Pashchimbanger Lokashilpa O Shilpisamaj, Pashchim Banga Sarkar Tathya O Samskriti Bibhag, Calcutta, 2000.Google Scholar

¹⁰¹ Datta, Sekaal Theke Ekaal, p. 63.

¹⁰² Banerjee, Durga Puja, pp. 33–34.

¹⁰³ Personal communication from Mr Devarshi Roy Chowdhury of the Sabarna-Chowdhury family of Barisha, 30 July 2009, but to date, I have been unable to discover the significance of the goddess Durga riding a ghora-simha rather than a lion.

¹⁰⁴ Datta, Sekaal Theke Ekaal, footnote 2, p. 192.

¹⁰⁵ Nag, Arun (ed.), Satika Hutom Pyachar Naksha, Subarnarekha, Calcutta, 1991, pp. 60–122.Google Scholar

¹⁰⁶ Datta, Sekaal Theke Ekaal, pp. 159–160.

¹⁰⁷ Pal, Tahirpur Rajvamsa, pp. 40–42.

¹⁰⁸ Banerjee, Durga Puja, pp. 37–44; T. Bhattacharya, ‘Tracking the Goddess’.

¹⁰⁹ Banerjee, Durga Puja, pp. 43–45.

¹¹⁰ Ramacharita of Sandhyakaranandin, chapter 3, verse 25B.

¹¹¹ Datta, Sekaal Theke Ekaal, p. 2.

¹¹² http://www.clayimage.co.uk/bengal/Thakur%20dalan.html, [accessed 25 January 2013].

¹¹³ Nazimuddin Ahmed, ‘Barendra Anchaler Mandir Sthapatya’ in Saifuddin Chowdhury et al. (eds), Varendra Anchaler Itihasa, pp. 390–425.

¹¹⁴ Datta, Sekal Theke Ekal, p. 82.

¹¹⁵ http://www.clayimage.co.uk/bengal/Thakur%20dalan.html, [accessed 25 January 2013]; A. Chakrabarty, Maharaja Krishnachandra, p. 157.

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¹¹⁸ Ibid., p. 77.

¹¹⁹ Datta, Sekaal Theke Ekaal, p. 2.

¹²⁰ Cited in Ibid., p. 83, also p. 84, footnote 8.

¹²¹ Datta, Sekal Theke Ekaal, mentions many Durgamelas founded by local zamindars.

¹²² A. Chakrabarty, Maharaja Krishnachandra.

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¹³¹ Standard accounts of Mughal religious policy and political ideology are to be found in Sri Ram Sharma, Religious Policy of the Mughal Emperors, Asia Publishing House, New York, 1962; and J. F. Richards, The Mughal Empire. For a more sophisticated treatment of Mughal political-cultural ideology see Alam, Muzaffar, The Languages of Political Islam in India: 1200–1800, University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 2004Google Scholar; and Alam, Muzaffar, ‘The Mughals, the Sufi Shaikhs and the Formation of the Akbari Dispensation’, Modern Asian Studies, 43, 1, 2009, pp. 135–174.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

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¹³⁵ Prasad, Pushpa, ‘Akbar and the Jains’ in Habib, Irfan (ed.), Akbar and His India, Oxford University Press, Delhi,1997, pp. 97–108.Google Scholar

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¹³⁷ Ibid., pp. 20–24.

¹³⁸ Beglar, J. D., Report of a Tour Through the Bengal Provinces of Patna, Gaya, Mongir and Bhagalpur, the Santal Parganas Manbhum, Singhbhum, and Birbhum; Bankura, Ranigunje, Burdwan and Hugli, Indological Book House, Varanasi, 1966Google Scholar; Prasad, Rajiva Nain, Raja Man Singh of Amber, Calcutta, 1966, pp. 130–170Google Scholar; Asher, Catherine B., ‘The Architecture of Raja Man Singh: A Study of Sub-Regional Patronage’ in Stoler Miller, Barbara (ed.), The Powers of Art. Patronage in Indian Culture, Oxford University Press, New Delhi, 1992, pp. 183–202.Google Scholar

¹³⁹ W. Pertsch (ed.), Kshitishvamsavalicharitam; Roy, Lakshmikanta; Roy Chowdhury, Bangiya Sabarna Katha, Pal, Tahirpur Rajavamsha.

¹⁴⁰ Chatterjee, ‘Cultural Flows and Cosmopolitanism in Mughal India’.

¹⁴¹ Basu, Medinipurer Itihasa, p. 185.

¹⁴² A. Chakrabarty, Maharaja Krishnachandra, pp. 184–185.

¹⁴³ Prasad, Raja Man Singh of Amber, p. 134.

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¹⁴⁶ Mukhia, The Mughals of India, pp. 63–64.

¹⁴⁷ Ibid., p. 62. See also C. M. Naim, ‘Popular Jokes and Political History: the Case of Akbar, Birbal and Mulla Do-Piyaza’, Economic and Political Weekly, 17 June, 1995, pp. 1456–1464; Sangari, Kumkum, ‘Tracing Akbar: Hagiographies, Popular Narrative, Traditions and the Subject of Conversion’ in Chandoke, Neera (ed.), Mapping Histories: Essays Presented to Ravinder Kumar, New Delhi, 2000, pp. 61–103.Google Scholar

¹⁴⁸ Pramathanatha Bishi, Chalan Beel cited in Saifuddin Chowdhury et al. (eds), Varendra Anchaler Itihasa, pp. 82–84.

¹⁴⁹ Mrityunjoy Vidyalankar, Rajavali, Mission Press, Searampore, 1808.

¹⁵⁰ Ibid., p. 84.

¹⁵¹ Muzaffar Alam and Sanjay Subrahmanyam (eds), The Mughal State; Mukhia, The Mughals of India.

¹⁵² Sanyal, Hiteshranjan, ‘Regional, Religious Architecture in Bengal: A Study in the Sources of Origin and Character’, Marg, 27, 2, 1974, pp. 31–43Google Scholar, ‘Social aspect s of Temple Building in Bengal, 1600–1900 AD’, Man in India, 46, 3, 1963, pp. 201–224; Michell, George, Brick Temples of Bengal: From the Archives of David McCutchion, Princeton, New Jersey, Princeton University Press, 1983Google Scholar; Pika Ghosh, Temple to Love; Pika Ghosh, ‘Problems of Reconstructing Bengali Architecture of the 14^th-16^th Centuries’, in Narain Lambah, Abha and Patel, Alka (eds), The Architecture of the Indian Sultanates, Mumbai, Marg Publications, 2006, pp. 92–103.Google Scholar

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¹⁵⁵ Chakrabarty, Ramakanta, ‘Gaudiya Baishnab Dharmer Itihasa’, in Sanyal, Abantikumar and Bhattacharya, Ashoke (eds), Chaitanya Deva. Itihasa O Avadana, Calcutta, Saraswat Library, no date, pp. 192–222Google Scholar; Chakrabarty, Ramakanta ‘Gaudiya Vaishnavism’ in Grewal, J. S. (ed.), Religious Movements and Institutions in Medieval India, Delhi, Oxford University Press, 2006, pp. 159–188.Google Scholar

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¹⁶⁰ Michell, Brick Temples, p. 10.

¹⁶¹ Michell, Brick Temples, pp. 6–9; also Hitesh Ranjan Sanyal’, Temple Promotion and Social Mobility in Bengal’, in Sanyal, Hitesranjan, Social Mobility in Bengal, Papyrus, Calcutta, 1981, pp. 65–112Google Scholar.

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¹⁶⁵ Hitesranjan Sanyal, ‘Social Mobility in Bengal: Its Sources and Constraints’, in Hitesranjan Sanyal, Social Mobility in Bengal, pp. 33–64.

¹⁶⁶ Michell, Brick Temples, pp. 48–50.

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