Gaur,

Gaur, the medieval capital of Bengal, also called Lakhnauti, is said to have been founded by the Vaidya king Lakshmanasena, at the close of the 11th century, and, on the Mohammedan conquest, a hundred years later, became the chief seat of the viceroys who governed Bengal under the Pathan kings of Delhi, and afterwards (but not always) of the independent kings of Bengal. On the Mogul conquest in 1575 a terrible pestilence broke out at Gaur, and thousands of the inhabit- ants perished; and from that time the city disappears from history, and its place is taken successively by Tandan, Dacca, and Murshidabad. The ruins of Gaur still cover a space of seven miles by two, on a branch of the Ganges, and include Hindu buildings as well as several interesting 15th-century Mohammedan mosques, besides extensive reservoirs, channels, and embanked roads. The vast accumulations of brick testify to the former density of the population, while the neighbouring ruins of Panduah and Tandan point to the existence of important suburbs, many of which have wholly disappeared. See Ravenshaw, Gaur, its Ruins and Inscriptions (1878); Fergusson, History of Indian Architecture; Lane-Poole, Catalogue of Indian Coins in the British Museum.