NADIYA, a small town on the west bank of the Bhagirathi, in lat. 23° 24' 55" N., long. 88° 25' 3" E., which gives its name to a district of Bengal. Nadiya is at the head of the Gangetic delta. Along the entire north-eastern boundary flows the wide stream of the Padma, which is now the main channel of the Ganges ; and all the remaining rivers of the district are offshoots of the great river. The Bhagirathi on the eastern border, and the Jalangi and the Mats bhanga meandering through the centre of the district, are the chief of these offshoots, and are called distinctively the Nadiya rivers. But the whole surface of the country is interlaced with a network of minor streams, communicating with one another by side channels. The Jalangi flows past the civil station of -Krisbnagar, and falls into the Bhagirathi opposite the old town of Nadiya. Of Plassey, the memorable scene of Clive's victory over 'Suraj-ud-Dowla, on the 23d June 1757, only a small fragment now remains. The Bhagirathi, on whose left, or cast, bank the battle of Plassey was fought, has eaten away the scene of the strife, as the Jalatigi river, in the same district, has eaten away the city of Nadiya. As early as 1801, the river had eaten away the actual field of battle ; and a traveller recorded in that year that ' a few miserable huts, literally overhanging the water, are the only remains of the celebrated Massey.' The neighbourhood relapsed into jungle, and was long a favourite haunt of river dacoits. Part of the site is now covered by the waters of the lihagirathi, the rest stretches out as a richly cul tivated plain, and the solitary surviving tree of the historic mango grove is held sacred by the tiliammadans.
It was the capital of Lakshman Sen, the last independent Hindu king of Bengal. It is the birthplace of Chaitanya, a 'great nimbi religious reformer in the end of the 15th century. The descendant of the rajas of Nadiya resides at • Krishnagar. The family is of great antiquity and sanctity. They trace descent in direct line from 13hattanarayan, the chief of the five Brahmans imported from Kanouj by Adisur, king of Bengal.
The aboriginal races are Chamar, Bagdi, Chandal, and Muchi. When Clive, in 1757, de feated the nawab Suraj-ud-Dowla, Maharaja Krishna Chandra. Raya aided the British. He was the Memenas of his age.
Nadiya is famous for its Sanskrit schools or tol. Nyaya Sastra or logic, and Smriti or juris
prudence, have been always sedulously and successfully cultivated here. Soon after the foundation of Nadiya, Abdihodh Yogi migrated there from the Upper Provinces. He was the first to set up a school of logic, for the cultivation of which the city has since been famous. His principal disciples were Sankar Tarkabagis and Baypti Siromani, both of whom wrote several works on logic.
Vasu Deva Sarbwabhauma was the founder of another ehatuspati, or regular school for logic, in the village of Vidyanagara, in the vicinity of Nadiya. Of the numerous students who matricu lated at the chatuspati, the most distinguished were Raghu Rama and Raghunatha Siromani. Raghu Rama's commentaries have earned for him a conspicuous place among Hindu juriscon sults. Raghunatha Siromani has left a commen tary on the Gautama Sutra, which, for profound knowledge of Nyaya and the subtlety of dialectics, and for felicity of illustration, challenges the admiration of the oriental world.
Raghunatha was the author of another work exposing the errors of the Chintamani, a standard treatise on the Nyaya Sastras, written by Ganges Upadltyaya. The work is entitled Didhiti, or a Ray of Light. Professing to be a critique and a commentary on Chintamani, it is one of the most exhaustive treatises on the Nyaya Sastras. Raghu natha proceeded to Mithila, and held a literary controversy with the pandits there. He carried away the palm, and his intellectual victory con ferred on Nadiya the power of bestowing degrees on successful students. It gave an unprecedented impetus to the progress of philosophical studies. Students flocked there from all parts of the country. Several of them ripened into profound and distinguished pandits, and the works pro duced by -them are considered of the highest authority. Among these works may be mentioned the Sabdasaktipraka.sika, by Jagadis Tarkalan kar ; the Saktipad and Muktipad, by Gadadhar Ilhattachariya ; and the annotations on Siromani, by Jagadis and by Gadadhar ; and the Siddhanta Muktabali of Viswanatha Nyayapanchanan.
The decadence of learning in Nadiya attracted the attention of the British Government as early as 1811. On the 16th March of that year, Lord Tinto recorded a minute advocating the establish ment of Sanskrit colleges in Nadiya and Tirhut — Cakteita Review, No. 109, p. 97.