>Message: 3
> Date: Sun, 3 Apr 2005 10:44:12 -0700 (PDT)
> From: aletheia kallos <aletheiak@...>
>Subject: Re: Re: Tin Bigha
>
>here is another guess even more in line with arifs
>
>since 3bigha is also just another way of saying an acre as suggested by
>the data given here & elsewhere ive seen
>http://www.unc.edu/~rowlett/units/dictB.html
>then the comment made here
>http://banglapedia.search.com.bd/HT/E_0054.htm
>that an acre of land was agreed to be set aside for this corridor since
>1952 suggests to me that the parcel may actually have acquired its name in
>theory & principle & that it may actually have been in use for many years
>before it was determined exactly which acre or parcel it was to be
>& that when the actual parcel was finally agreed upon & laid out after
>having for some reason nearly quadrupled in size its functional name had
>already been determined & thus naturally continued to be applied even tho
>no longer literally applicable & my further guess is that the reason it
>nearly quadrupled in size may have been to permit a minimum feasible or
>practicable width for since its 178 meter length was already determined
>by the length of the gap it had to bridge its width would have had to
>shrink from its present 85 meters to less than 23 meters in order for its
>3bigha name to still have been true & all the stuff shown here might never
>have fit into so narrow a strip
>http://exclave.info/tin-bigha/tinbighamap.jpg
You misunderstand Prof. Elahi's article. 1952 was the date of the first
proposals for exchange of enclaves.
It was only post 1971 that the Berubari affair having stalled the exchange,
it was proposed that India keep Berubari, and in exchange, Bangladesh keep
Dahagram Angarpota, and this being the case, that India grant access across
a corridor at/near Tin Bigha (very much a highly local name not appearing
on any one inch or 1:50,000 maps I have seen), so that Bangladesh could
access this enclave it would now keep.
Whether we can locate where these 3 bighas actually were is like trying to
locate the original 29 Palms in California, and wondering whether the
current city limits include the land on which they all stood, or for
various reasons may not include all the 29 palms that once stood there (if
indeed they ever did), or whether the city has more than 29 palms within
its boundaries.
Ditto Sevenoaks, Twelvetrees, Threemile Island (English miles, or Swedish?)
etc.
Brendan