Burdwan (Zamindari)
Encyclopedia
Zamindar
A Zamindar or zemindar , was an aristocrat, typically hereditary, who held enormous tracts of land and ruled over and taxed the bhikaaris who lived on batavaslam. Over time, they took princely and royal titles such as Maharaja , Raja , Nawab , and Mirza , Chowdhury , among others...
i of Burdwan was one of the largest and richest feudal estates in the province of Bengal
Bengal
Bengal is a historical and geographical region in the northeast region of the Indian Subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. Today, it is mainly divided between the sovereign land of People's Republic of Bangladesh and the Indian state of West Bengal, although some regions of the previous...
, Created under Mughal
Mughal Empire
The Mughal Empire , or Mogul Empire in traditional English usage, was an imperial power from the Indian Subcontinent. The Mughal emperors were descendants of the Timurids...
rule in the 17th century, the estate flourished under the British
British Raj
British Raj was the British rule in the Indian subcontinent between 1858 and 1947; The term can also refer to the period of dominion...
and was noted for its support of education and the arts.
History
The erstwhile Maharajas of Burdwan in BengalBengal
Bengal is a historical and geographical region in the northeast region of the Indian Subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. Today, it is mainly divided between the sovereign land of People's Republic of Bangladesh and the Indian state of West Bengal, although some regions of the previous...
belong to the Kapoor clan of the Khatri
Khatri
Khatri is a caste from the northern Indian subcontinent. Khatris in India are mostly from Punjab, region but later they migrated to regions like Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Jammu, Uttarkhand, Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Balochistan, Sindh and Khyber...
community, and hailed originally from the Punjab
Punjab region
The Punjab , also spelled Panjab |water]]s"), is a geographical region straddling the border between Pakistan and India which includes Punjab province in Pakistan and the states of the Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Chandigarh and some northern parts of the National Capital Territory of Delhi...
. Maharaja Bhadur Tedj Chand Ray adopted Chunilal Kapur who later assumed the Zamindari of Burdwan. Sangram Ray is said to have travelled eastwards on pilgrimage to the temple-town of Puri
Puri
Puri is district headquarter, a city situated about south of state capital Bhubaneswar, on the eastern coast of the Bay of Bengal in the Indian state of Orissa. It is also known as Jagannath Puri after the Jagannath Temple . It is a holy city of the Hindus as a part of the Char Dham pilgrimages...
in Orissa
Orissa
Orissa , officially Odisha since Nov 2011, is a state of India, located on the east coast of India, by the Bay of Bengal. It is the modern name of the ancient nation of Kalinga, which was invaded by the Maurya Emperor Ashoka in 261 BC. The modern state of Orissa was established on 1 April...
. Thereafter, he travelled further northeast and settled permanently at Baikunthpur near the town of Burdwan, where he and his son, Banku Bihari, prospered vastly as tradesmen and bankers.
Ennoblement
In 1657, during the rule of the mughal emperor JahangirJahangir
Jahangir was the ruler of the Mughal Empire from 1605 until his death. The name Jahangir is from Persian جهانگیر,meaning "Conqueror of the World"...
, Banku Bihari's son Abu Ray was appointed the officer in charge of revenue collection and of the maintenance of public order in two precincts (Rekabi Bazar and Mughultuli) of Burdwan district. He owed this appointment to his ability to supply the army passing through Burdwan with adequate provisions at short notice. The family continued to flourish in trade, and Abu Ray's son Babu Ray added further to the prestige of the family by acquiring large estates. He purchased Burdwan and three other estates from Ram Ray, an important Zamindar
Zamindar
A Zamindar or zemindar , was an aristocrat, typically hereditary, who held enormous tracts of land and ruled over and taxed the bhikaaris who lived on batavaslam. Over time, they took princely and royal titles such as Maharaja , Raja , Nawab , and Mirza , Chowdhury , among others...
of the area. His grandson Krishnaram Ray, son of Ghanashyam Ray, obtained letters patent
Letters patent
Letters patent are a type of legal instrument in the form of a published written order issued by a monarch or president, generally granting an office, right, monopoly, title, or status to a person or corporation...
from Aurangzeb
Aurangzeb
Abul Muzaffar Muhy-ud-Din Muhammad Aurangzeb Alamgir , more commonly known as Aurangzeb or by his chosen imperial title Alamgir , was the sixth Mughal Emperor of India, whose reign lasted from 1658 until his death in 1707.Badshah Aurangzeb, having ruled most of the Indian subcontinent for nearly...
in 1689 A.D., recognizing him as Zamindar of these estates and extending to Burdwan and some other areas the offices already held by the family in Rekabi Bazar and Mughultuli. The family thus entered the ranks of the nobility. Krishnaram Ray was ordered to not realize any new taxes from the peasantry but to encourage cultivation and maintain law and order. The nazarana for the land was set at Rs. 200,000/-. Zamindars are not to be confused with Indian royalty. The "Mahrajas" of Burdwan were basically large rent collectors for the British having bought this privilege at auction during the Permanent Settlement of Bengal; they were never members of the Chamber of Princes and had no treaties with the British Government. The lands that they collected rents from were directly administered by Indian Civil Service officers who themselves were part of the Bengal Presidency and later the State of Bengal. Thus Raja and Maharaja were titles that in many cases such as here had no reference to sovereignty. Nor were the "Maharajas of Burdwan" aristocrats in any sense of the word. They, however were extremely wealthy businessmen.
Late Mughal era
The family was however hard put to maintain their newly acquired estates. Lawlessness was rampant and grew worse during the governorship of Ibrahim Khan, an incompetent administrator who was appointed to that office by the mughal emperor in 1689, the same year in which letters patent were granted to Krishnaram Ray. In 1695, Shova Singh, the landlord of Chetua-Barda in what is today East Midnapore district, seized Krishnaram Ray's estates by force. He did this in alliance with Rahim Khan, an AfghanDemographics of Afghanistan
The population of Afghanistan is around 29,835,392 as of the year 2011, which is unclear if the refugees living outside the country are included or not. The nation is composed of a multi-ethnic and multi-lingual society, reflecting its location astride historic trade and invasion routes between...
strongman and mercenary of Orissa
Orissa
Orissa , officially Odisha since Nov 2011, is a state of India, located on the east coast of India, by the Bay of Bengal. It is the modern name of the ancient nation of Kalinga, which was invaded by the Maurya Emperor Ashoka in 261 BC. The modern state of Orissa was established on 1 April...
. Krishnaram Ray was slain in 1696 and all the other members of his family were held captive by Shova Singh. A number of ladies of the family committed suicide by taking poison. Krishnaram's daughter Satyabati is said to have herself killed Shova Singh with a dagger when he tried to molest her. She then killed herself. Krishnaram's son Jagatram Ray managed to escape as he had gone to Dhaka to seek the help of the governor, Ibrahim Khan. With the help of a mughal force garrisoned at Hooghly, and of the Dutchmen stationed at Chinsura, Jagatram Ray regained control of Burdwan.
Following this turmoil, the emperor Aurangzeb
Aurangzeb
Abul Muzaffar Muhy-ud-Din Muhammad Aurangzeb Alamgir , more commonly known as Aurangzeb or by his chosen imperial title Alamgir , was the sixth Mughal Emperor of India, whose reign lasted from 1658 until his death in 1707.Badshah Aurangzeb, having ruled most of the Indian subcontinent for nearly...
dismissed Ibrahim Khan and appointed his own grandson Azim-ush-shan
Azim-ush-Shan
Prince Azim-ush-Shan was the third son of Mughal emperor Bahadur Shah I, by his second wife, Maharajkumari Amrita Bai Sahiba. He was also the grandson of emperor Aurangzeb.-Reign:...
governor. However, the general lawlessness which was the hallmark of the last years of Aurangzeb's life, and which presaged the demise of the Mughal empire
Mughal Empire
The Mughal Empire , or Mogul Empire in traditional English usage, was an imperial power from the Indian Subcontinent. The Mughal emperors were descendants of the Timurids...
, was already rife over the land. Jagatram Ray was murdered in 1702. He left two sons, Kirtichand Ray and Mitrasen Ray. As the elder son, Kirtichand Ray inherited the estates, while Mitrasen Ray was granted a fixed annuity from the estate's exchequer. Kirtichand Ray made the best of the then prevalent lawless situation: he fought with the Rajas of Chandrakona, Barda and Bishnupur and added the parganas of Chitua, Bhursut, Barda and Manoharshahi to his fief. In 1736, he received a firman from the powerless, figurehead Mughal emperor Muhammed Shah, confirming him in his new acquisitions and recognizing him as Zamindar of Chandrakona. He died in 1740 and was succeeded by Chitrasen Ray, who was conferred the title of "Raja" by the emperor in 1740. Chitrasen Ray died childless in 1744 and was succeeded by his cousin's son Tilakchand Ray, who also received the title of Raja. At this time, some other estates were added to his fief.
The East India Company
It was during the era of Tilakchand Ray that the British East India CompanyBritish East India Company
The East India Company was an early English joint-stock company that was formed initially for pursuing trade with the East Indies, but that ended up trading mainly with the Indian subcontinent and China...
acquired Bengal. After the battle of Plassey
Battle of Plassey
The Battle of Plassey , 23 June 1757, was a decisive British East India Company victory over the Nawab of Bengal and his French allies, establishing Company rule in South Asia which expanded over much of the Indies for the next hundred years...
(1757), the revenue of the district was mortgaged to them; later, in September 1760, the entire district was ceded to the HEIC by Mir Qasim
Mir Qasim
Mir Qasim was Nawab of Bengal from 1760 to 1764. He was installed as Nawab by the British East India Company replacing Mir Jafar, his father-in-law, who had himself been installed by the British after his role in the Battle of Plassey...
, the Nawab of Bengal
Nawab of Bengal
The Nawabs of Bengal were the hereditary nazims or subadars of the subah of Bengal during the Mughal rule and the de-facto rulers of the province.-History:...
. This cession was confirmed by the mughal emperor Shah Alam II
Shah Alam II
Shah Alam II , also known as Ali Gauhar, was a Mughal emperor of India. A son of Alamgir II, he was exiled to Allahabad in December 1759 by Ghazi-ud-Din, who appointed Shah Jahan III as the emperor. Later, he was nominated as the emperor by Ahmad Shah.Shah Alam II was considered the only and...
by the treaty of Allahabad
Treaty of Allahabad
The Treaty of Allahabad was signed on August 16, 1765 between Mughal Emperor Shah Alam II and Lord Clive of the British East India Company after the Battle of Buxar . Based on the terms of the agreement, Shah Alam II granted Diwani rights or right to administer the territory and collect taxes to...
, 1765.
In the initial years, the HEIC and its officers was notoriously rapacious, both in exacting revenue for the company and "gifts" and trade concessions for the officers personally. The amount of revenue demanded by the company was set arbitrarily at an unreasonable figure and could not be paid regularly. When Tilakchand proved irregular in the payment of revenue, the HEIC threatened to deprive him of his fief. In alliance with the Zamindar of Birbhum, Tilakchand faced a British force at a ford on the river Banka near Sangotgola and was defeated. This was on December 29, 1760.
Tilakchand died aged 37, leaving a minor son, Tejchand. His widow, Rani Vishnukumari, managed the affairs of the estate between 1776 and 1779, before handing over charge to her 14-year-old son Tejchand. Under the terms of the Permanent Settlement
Permanent Settlement
The Permanent Settlement — also known as the Permanent Settlement of Bengal — was an agreement between the East India Company and Bengali landlords to fix revenues to be raised from land, with far-reaching consequences for both agricultural methods and productivity in the entire Empire and the...
of Bengal Act (1793), Raja Tejchand entered into an agreement with the HEIC to pay them an annual revenue of Rs.40,15,109/- and also a "bridge-building charge" of Rs. 1,93,721/-. These terms also proved impossible to meet, and payments soon fell into arrears. Soon enough, in 1797, the Board of Revenue ordered the sale of portions of the fief for realization of arrears of revenue. The Permanent Settlement effected by the British, with its unreasonable revenue demands, drained the province of its very sustanance. The pressure on the landlords to meet these unreasonable demands resulted in the gradual but inexorable immiseration of the peasantry.
British government rule
Zamindar
A Zamindar or zemindar , was an aristocrat, typically hereditary, who held enormous tracts of land and ruled over and taxed the bhikaaris who lived on batavaslam. Over time, they took princely and royal titles such as Maharaja , Raja , Nawab , and Mirza , Chowdhury , among others...
s of Burdwan." Their financial situation improved as certain revenue reforms were carried out by the HEIC. By 1911, their rent-roll was upwards of £300,000. The estate attained great prosperity due to the excellent management of Maharaja Mahtab Chand (born 1820, ruled 1832-1879), who held the estate when the British Crown assumed the government of India in 1858. Mehtab Chand's loyalty to the British, especially during the "Hul" (Santhal rebellion
Santhal rebellion
The Santhal rebellion , commonly known as Santal Hul was a native rebellion in present day Jharkhand, in eastern India against both the British colonial authority and corrupt upper caste zamindari system by the Santal people...
) of 1855-56 and the Indian rebellion of 1857
Indian Rebellion of 1857
The Indian Rebellion of 1857 began as a mutiny of sepoys of the British East India Company's army on 10 May 1857, in the town of Meerut, and soon escalated into other mutinies and civilian rebellions largely in the upper Gangetic plain and central India, with the major hostilities confined to...
, was rewarded with the grant of a coat of arms in 1868 . In 1864, Mehtab Chand was appointed as an additional member of the governor-general's Legislative Council. He was the first Bengali to receive that honour. One of his successors, Bijai Chand, (b. 1881, ruled 1887-1941), earned great distinction by the courage with which he risked his life to save that of Sir Andrew Fraser, lieutenant-governor of Bengal, when an attempt to assassinate him was made by malcontents on November 7, 1908.
India attained its independence in 1947. The family continued to hold the fief of Burdwan until Zamindaris were abolished by the government of India
Government of India
The Government of India, officially known as the Union Government, and also known as the Central Government, was established by the Constitution of India, and is the governing authority of the union of 28 states and seven union territories, collectively called the Republic of India...
in 1956.
Legacy
During the three centuries that they held the estate of Burdwan, the Kapoor family contributed richly to the development of Burdwan as a cultural center. In particular, Mehtab Chand Ray and Bijay Chand Ray are credited with having extended patronage to scholars and artists, including:- Paramhansa Yogananda, teacher of meditation and yoga
- Sadhak KamalakantaSadhak KamalakantaSadhaka Kamalakanta was a poet of India of the late 18th century. He is often considered to have followed the example of Ramprasad, both in his poetry and in his lifestyle.-Early life:...
, BengaliBengali languageBengali or Bangla is an eastern Indo-Aryan language. It is native to the region of eastern South Asia known as Bengal, which comprises present day Bangladesh, the Indian state of West Bengal, and parts of the Indian states of Tripura and Assam. It is written with the Bengali script...
poet and singer - Gopeswar Banerjee, noted musician of Vishnupur
- Dasharathi Roy, poet and composer of Panchali
- Padmalochan, a disciple of Sri Ramakrishna
In 1882, the Burdwan Raj College was started in Burdwan, which was supported entirely by the revenues of the estate.
The family also constructed several tanks and temples. Ghanashyam Rai, son of the founder Abu Ray, constructed a large tank, the Shyam Sagar. His son Krishanaram Ray constructed the Krishna Sagar tank. His grandson Kirtichand Ray, who founded the town of Kanchannagar, constructed the excavated the Yadeswardih tank. The Ranisagar tank was excavated by order of Kirtichand's mother Brajakishori, who also erected the Baikunthanath Siva temple at Kalna. Kirtichand's son Chitrasen Ray built the famous Siddheswari Temple in Kalna. During the rule of Chitrasen's son Tilakchand, several temples were built. His mother Lakshmikumari erected the Sri Krishna temple at Kalna, while his wife Chhangakumari erected the Jagannath temple at Kalna. Other legacies include the Sarbamangala temple, the Baikunthanath Siva temple, the Bijoy Toran and the Rajbadi (palace).
Antpur in the district of Hooghly in West Bengal has a number of terracotta temples that have won applause from lovers of antpur.
All the monuments in Antpur are located in land owned by the Mitra family, an erstwhile Zaminder of the area. To Krishnaram Mitra, a dewan of Maharaja Kirtichandara of Burdwan Raj, goes the credit of erecting the most richly decorated terracotta temple of Radha-Govinda.
This temple, founded in 1786, is of well-known Bengali hut atchata-type with a do-chala ante-chamber in the front. On three sides, east, south and west, is found opulence of carved terracotta figurines depicting legends from the Ramayana, Mahabharata and the Puranas. Battle scenes of Rama-Ravana confrontation are depicted on the central frieze of the south facade of the temple. The western facade depicts Kali killing demons in a fierce battle. There are also many secular scenes like hunting, soldiers marching, the local Zaminder or Raja being carried in a palanquin.
Outside the compound of the Radha-Govinda temple there are a few brick temples belonging to the second half of the eighteenth century.
In literature
In his "The Hungry Stones And Other Stories," Rabindranath TagoreRabindranath Tagore
Rabindranath Tagore , sobriquet Gurudev, was a Bengali polymath who reshaped his region's literature and music. Author of Gitanjali and its "profoundly sensitive, fresh and beautiful verse", he became the first non-European Nobel laureate by earning the 1913 Prize in Literature...
writes: "the Choctaw Lord had been heard to say that in all Bengal, the only really respectable families were those of the Maharajah of Burden's and the Babs of Naysayer."