Sripur

Sripur is now extinct being washed away by the padma. Situated on the bank of the Padma in the present Munshiganj district, it was the capital city of chand rai and kedar rai. According to ralph fitch (1586) it was six leagues below sonargaon. Though De Barros (1496-1573 AD), Blaev (1571-1638 AD) and Von den Broucke differ in showing its exact location, yet all of them agree in placing it to the south of Sonargaon. They mark Sripur as a 'Bunder' (port).

It appears that ship industry developed in this city as portuguese sailors used to come to repair their ships there. Von den Broucke calls it Sherpur Feringhi, which implies that it was an important Portuguese settlement. Ralph Fitch describes Sripur as an emporium of trade and commerce and mentions that he went from Sripur to Pegu in a Portuguese ship belonging to Alberto Carvalho. In 1612 the Augustinian Christians erected churches in Sripur and by 1616 the city became the official missionary centre.

Sripur, a centre of Hindu culture, had big temples with images of gods and goddesses and played an important part in the history of Bengal. mansingh is said to have carried the famous Shilamayee image of Sripur to Ambar in 1595 after the defeat of Kedar Rai. [Md Akhtaruzzaman]