Chandrakona

Chandrakona is a pretty town and a municipality in the Ghatal subdivision of Paschim Medinipur district in the state of West Bengal, India. The city is located between Ghatal and Garhbeta. Chandraketu was the founder of the kingdom of Chandrakona. In the Ain-E-Akbari, the 16th century Mughal document, it was mentioned as ‘Mana’.

==History== A traceable history of Chandrakona and its adjoining areas begins to emerge about 690 A.D. when the Malla Dynasty was founded at Bishnupur. It must have been at that time a prosperous place, but not much else is certain. Historically, it was turbulent times; the anarchical period known as Matsyanyaya (মৎস্যন‌্যায়) in the history of Bengal. But tucked into the less-populated, forest covered fringes of the Chotonagpur plateau, the kingdom of Bishnupur lived by its own standards. And thanks to its excellent supply-system of agriculturally rich areas irrigated by river Shilaboti and its canals, Chandrakona grew in eminence, though gradually. 17th century scholar Jagamohan Pandit, in his Sanskrit geography-text Deshavali Vivriti, described Chandrakona as an important place in Bhan Desh - a land lying between the rivers Kangsabati and Shilaboti; a rich land where quality jute grew in abundance and sustained a renowned jute-textile industry. Cotton also grew, and the cotton-textile industry was almost equally famous. Its rivers and waterbodies yielded abundant fish and sustained a large population of fishermen. This prosperity was gained even as the Mughals and the Pathans clashed over the terrain for dominance till the former emerged victorious. thumb|Chandrakona Jor Bangla temple The political stability required for this prosperity came Chandrakona's way as the chief of a Rajput contingent, Indraketu, established almost independent rule here in the early 15th century. At about the same time another Rajput, Gajapati Singh, assumed the rule of Bagri, lying west of Chandrakona. These two tiny kingdoms fought each other several times during the next centuries, so that their family trees and fate became inextricably entangled.