Reconstruction of the 15th-Century Sacred Topography of Bengal: An Interdisciplinary Integration of Fluvial Geomorphology and Hagiography

The spatiotemporal reconstruction of 15th-century Nabadwip presents a profound challenge at the intersection of deltaic hydrodynamics and religious history. As the birthplace of the seminal reformer Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, Nabadwip stands as a vital locus of cultural heritage; however, the extreme fluvial instability of the Bhagirathi-Jalangi confluence has effectively erased the medieval landscape, fuelling a contentious debate between modern Nabadwip and Mayapur. This study employs an interdisciplinary deep mapping framework, synthesizing Historical GIS (HGIS), fluvial geomorphology, and hagiographical hermeneutics. By georeferencing 17th-century Dutch and 18th-century British cartography alongside a spatial translation of the Bhaktiratnākara (1760), we identify a large-scale "geomorphic flip" that transitioned the town from the eastern to the western bank through meander avulsion and channel capture. Quantitative analysis of the Nabadwip Parikramā route reveals a 72.02 km logistical anomaly, suggesting that Mayapur was historically a residential quarter within the urban archipelago of Nabadwip rather than an autonomous village. Furthermore, remote sensing data confirms paleochannels that correlate with abandoned 15th-century settlements. These findings demonstrate that the 19th-century rebranding of Mayapur was a strategic response to landscape opacity, providing a robust model for reconstructing lost heritage in dynamic riverine environments.