Gouri Sen, Hari Ghosh, Banamali Sarkar, Gobindram Mitter, Umichand, and Huzoorimal are some legendary personalities, who have survived in public memory in 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...

 or what are now the Bengali

Bengali language

Bengali 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...

 speaking areas of India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

 and Bangladesh

Bangladesh

Bangladesh , officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a sovereign state located in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south...

 through popular rhymes or sayings. Some of them were based in Kolkata and others were linked to the growing metropolis.

Gouri Sen

Gouri Sen lived in the 18th century. He was born and hailed from Bally More ( Near Bandel Church) of Hooghly Town of Hooghly District, West Bengal. He was the son of Nandaram Sen. The family belonged to the Subarna Banik caste

Caste

Caste is an elaborate and complex social system that combines elements of endogamy, occupation, culture, social class, tribal affiliation and political power. It should not be confused with race or social class, e.g. members of different castes in one society may belong to the same race, as in India...

, people who are engaged in business. Gouri Sen earned enormous amounts of money from the family export-import business and was well known in business circles. He donated freely to repay debts of other people or to help those who were in trouble over payments to be made to the royal exchequer. This was the source of the Bengali saying laage taka debe gouri sen – “If money is required Gouri Sen will give it”. Many people think that he constructed the Gourishankar Shiva temple at his birth place at (Boral Lane) Hooghly and many people used visit this temple to offer puja.

Hari Ghosh

Hari Ghosh (? – 1806) was dewan of Munger

Munger

Munger town is the headquarters of Munger district, in the Indian state of Bihar. Historically, Munger is known for its manufacturing of iron articles such as firearms and swords. One of the major institutions in Munger is Bihar School of Yoga. It is one of the foremost learning center in the...

 fort of British East India Company

British 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...

. He had command over Bengali, Persian and English languages. On retirement, he settled down in Kolkata. He donated freely for social requirements. Many poor students, who went to the city for studies availed of the free facilities of food and lodging in his house in north Kolkata. Many people gathered in his sitting room to participate in idle discussions and then had dinner in his house. Thus arose the saying Hari Ghosher goal – “Hari Ghosh’s cattle shed”.

Rhyming proverb

There is a Bengali rhyming proverb:

Banamali Sarakrer bari

Gobindram Mitrar chhari

Umichander dari

Huzoorimaler kori

Ke na jane?

Banamali Sarkar’s house

Gobindram Mitter’s stick

Umichand’s beard

Huzoorimal’s money

Who does not know of these?

Banamali Sarkar

Banamali Sarkar was the first dewan to the resident at Patna

Patna

Paṭnā , is the capital of the Indian state of Bihar and the second largest city in Eastern India . Patna is one of the oldest continuously inhabited places in the world...

 and subsequently deputy trader to the British East India Company at Kolkata. His grand house was built in Kumartuli during the period 1740 to 1750.

Gobindram Mitter

Gobindram Mitter

Gobindram Mitter

Gobindram Mitter was one of the earliest Indian officials under the British rule and earned a reputation for his wealth and extravagance.- Early life :...

 was one of the earliest Indian officials under the British rule and earned a reputation for his tyranny, wealth and extravagance.

Umichand

Umichand (also known as Amin Chand or Amir Chand) was a Sikh businessman who had come to Kolkata from Amritsar when the British were just making forays into the country. He played a major role in establishing the British in India. He had earned fabulously in business with the British East India Company and donated all his wealth for religious purposes at the time of his death. He was known as 'the Rothschild of his day' - and lives in history by reason of his deception at the hands of Clive

Robert Clive, 1st Baron Clive

Major-General Robert Clive, 1st Baron Clive, KB , also known as Clive of India, was a British officer who established the military and political supremacy of the East India Company in Bengal. He is credited with securing India, and the wealth that followed, for the British crown...

.

Huzoorimal

Huzoorimal was a Sikh friend of Umichand. He had earned fabulously and was famous for acts of public beneficence – a tank at Baitakkhana, a bathing ghat south of where Howrah Bridge now stands (later known as Armenian ghat), the steeple of Armenian church, and a ghat near the Kali temple at Kalighat.