History & Background
Khan Jahan Ali, the 15th-century Sufi saint and administrator credited with clearing the forests of the Sundarbans region and founding the settlement that became Bagerhat, is buried in a domed mausoleum built in 1459 near the artificial Thakur Dighi lake he is said to have excavated. Local legend holds he brought two crocodiles to the lake, and their descendants, historically named Kalapahar and Dhalapahar, were considered sacred guardians of the shrine and fed by devotees for generations, though the population has dwindled in recent decades.