Devkot

Devkot stood on the Punarbhaba River in northern Bengal, at the site whose ruins are known as Bangarh. The old fortified settlement was also called Kotivarsa and served as an important centre before the Turkish conquest of Bengal. Excavated remains reveal a long-lived town with walls, a moat and objects made by skilled artisans.

After Muhammad Bakhtiyar Khalji’s conquest of Bengal in the early thirteenth century, Devkot became a major seat of his power. He returned there after his disastrous expedition towards Tibet and died at Devkot in 1205 or 1206. The Khalji rulers continued to use the town as a base until Ghiyasuddin Iwaz shifted the capital to Lakhnauti around 1220. Devkot’s earlier importance as a town and its position in northern Bengal had made it a natural stronghold for the new rulers.