BORGHAT (Cave near)
25.161100,92.225000
Description
An unidentified and unspecified »cave« was said to be characterised by remnants of an abandoned railway track (Hiwot Passah, K C, from Jowai, 1995 March personal communication). ETYMOLOGY: No autochthonous, indigenous or locally known name has been identified for this cave called after the village (or town) of Borghat, Burghat, or Burkhat (note 1). The Hindi and Bengali "bar" is a word for the Indian fig-tree (Ficus indica or Ficus bengalensis Linne) and "ghat" signifies 1. landing place on a river; 2. bathing steps on the bank of a water reservoir or river; 3. pass up a mountain; 4. mountain range, especially applied to the Western and Eastern Ghats (note 2). SITUATION: Not only at an unidentified location but also in an unspecified spatial relation »near« Borghat, Burghat, or Burkhat on the Hari River. GEOLOGY: »Below Lakadong … passing from Burr-ghat [Borghat], where a thick coarse conglomerate [note 3] is seen (similar to that at the base of the sandstone group near Cherra), through a series of sandstones of varying mineral character, but markedly similar to the succession at Cherra [note 4]. The same varieties of organic remains are here found also: and the same beds marked by the presence of plicated oysters (O. allied to flabellatum) and of echini. These beds occur at about the same distance below the nummulitic limestone, over which the Coal of Lakadong is found [note 5]« (OLDHAM, T 1854 / 1984: 25; 1859: 131). »At Burr Ghât Mr Oldham observed that, "resting upon the low-lying limestone, there occurs a great thickness of sandstones of varying characters, with intercalates shales“ [note 6]. These are, in fact, the rocks which still more to the east form the Burrail (great ridge) range« (MEDLICOTT, H B 1865: 40 = 426). CULTURAL HISTORY - human use: K. C. Hiwot Passah (1995 March, personal communication) ascribed the railway to the East India Company. One or the other Mr. Inglis may have been involved. CAVE POTENTIAL: It takes a full-fledged train watching expedition to see a steam engine plying the abandoned railway track but only one or two cavers with time on their side to watch the subterranean dissolution of the interstratal limestone, which has been reported to occur at »Burghat on the Harri river« (LATOUCHE, T H D 1890: 14), where »… precisely as at Cherra Poonjee, great deposits of a nummulitic limestone are found at the base of the hills, so below Lakadong there is a great extent of similar limestone. This is seen on the banks of the Harry River [note 7], North of the village of Pichadar Poonjee [Pasadwar near ±1 km N25°08'45”: E092°12'40” WGS84]. The beds here dip at a high angle (55° to 65°) to the South, and support a great thickness of sandstones and shaly beds, which are all conformable to the limestone below« (OLDHAM, T 1854 / 1984: 30; 1859: 138). TACKLE: Trolley, inspection car.
NOTE 1: Borghat near (±250 m) N25°09'40”: E92°13'35” (WGS84 modified from N25°09'40”: E92°13'45” Everest 1830, Survey of India Half-Inch series sheet 83-C/SW edition 1922), which is indicated as »Borghat« not only on the Survey of India Half-Inch series sheet 83-C/SW (edition 1922) and on the AMS sheet NG46-10 Shillong (U502 series, 1959 edition) but also in the India Road Atlas (Eicher Goodearth 2006: 46 A4), is the same as Bur Poonjee ALLEN, W J (1858 appendix 6 limestone tract Jynteah Hills 3) Burghat OLDHAM, T (1854 / 1984: 10); OLDHAM, T (1859: 109); LATOUCHE, T H D (1890: 14) Burr Ghât MEDLICOTT, H B (1865: 426 = 40) Burr-ghat OLDHAM, T (1854 / 1984: 23, 25, 47, 48); OLDHAM, T (1859: 128, 131, 145, 167) Burrghat OLDHAM, T (1859: 181). Etymologically, "bor" (Bengali) or "ber" (Hindi) and ”u soh broi” (Khasi) is the name of »a thorny shrub bearing a fruit like a small plum, Zizyphus jujuba« (IMPERIAL GAZETTEER 1907-1909, 25: vi), »a thorny tree producing a fruit like a small plum, Zizyphus jujuba« (IMPERIAL GAZETTEER 1907-1909, 25: vii) and »the Indian Jujube; a Chinese date-plum« (SINGH, N 1906: 207). NOTE 2: The word "ghat" derives from the Sanskrit "ghatta" (to rub). The Hindi "ghat" generally refers to steps descending to water -- where people usually bathe / take baths and cavers wash their equipment, gear, or tackle. NOTE 3: »… thick coarse conglomerate« (OLDHAM, T 1854: 25; 1859: 131) or Bottom Conglomerate, renamed Weiloi Conglomerate Bed (Bhattacharya, U 1974 unpublished in: Bhattacharya & Bhattacharya 1978: 9) of the arenaceous Khasi Group. NOTE 4: »… succession at Cherra« (OLDHAM, T 1854: 25; 1859: 131):Lakadong Sandstone (Lower Eocene; Middle Sylhet Formation)Lakadong Limestone (Upper Palaeocene, Lower Sylhet Fm.)Therriah Sandstone (Lower Palaeocene, Lower Sylhet Fm.)Therria Limestone (Lower Palaeocene, Lower Sylhet Fm.)Langpar (Lower Palaeocene, Khasi Group), arenaceous limestones and calcareous sandstone, above the Mahadek Formation (Upper Cretaceous, Khasi Group), renamed from »Mahadeo band« (Medlicott 1869: 28 = 178)Bottom Conglomerate (Upper Cretaceous, Khasi Group).NOTE 5: The »nummulitic limestone« (OLDHAM, T 1854: 25; 1859: 131) or »nummulitic limestones of Cherra« (OLDHAM, T 1854: 30; 1859: 138) is the same as the Lower Sylhet stage »Lakadong Limestone« (ROY CHOWDHURY 1974: 76). NOTE 6: »Mem. Geological Survey, India, Vol. I., p. 138« (MEDLICOTT, H B 1865: 40 = 426) a.k.a. OLDHAM, T (1854: 131).NOTE 7: The Hari River (Anglo-Indian) or Hari Nala (Bengali), which known as the Myntdu (Khasi) in the Jaintia Hills, debouches near N25°07'45”: E092°12'40” (WGS84) and about 3 km or 4 km in a direct line south-west from Pasadwar (N25°08'45”: E092°12'40” WGS84) into the plains of Bangladesh. Hari R Survey of India 1922 Half-Inch sheet 83-C/SWHari R AMS 1959 U502 series sheet NG46-10 Shillong Harri River LATOUCHE, T H D (1890: 14)Harry River OLDHAM, T (1854 / 1984: 30, 47-48); OLDHAM, T (1859: 138, 167) Hurry River OLDHAM, T (1854 / 1984: 145) Mantedu OLDHAM, R D (1899 map 2) Mantideo HUNTER, W W (1879, 2: 211) Mentedoo OLDHAM, T (1854 / 1984: 10, 13, 26); OLDHAM, T (1859: 109, 114, 132) Myntdu N25°07'45”: E092°12'37” (Everest 1830, Survey of India 83-C/SW edition 1922).
Caves nearby
| Distance (km) | Name | Length (m) | Depth (m) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0.9 | KHLIEH AM (Krem) | ||
| 1.2 | BLAH, Kharkhana (Krem) | ||
| 1.2 | KHLAW AM (Krem) | ||
| 1.2 | KATDIN (Krem) | ||
| 1.5 | AM WAR, Thangsah (Krem) | ||
| 1.6 | AM LYNTI, Am War (Krem) | ||
| 1.8 | CHKI, Pasadwar, 1st (Krem) | ||
| 2.0 | AM WAR, Thangsah, 3rd cave (Krem pdeng) | ||
| 2.0 | AA CAVE (Dikstra 2014) |