Raishahi Zamindars: a Historical Profile in the Colonial Period [1765-19471
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Raishahi Zamindars: A Historical Profile in the Colonial Period [1765-19471 Thesis Submitted to the University of North Bengal, Darjeeling, India for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy, History by S.iVI.Rabiul Karim Associtate Professor of Islamic History New Government Degree College Rajstiahi, Bangladesh /^B-'t'' .\ Under the Supervision of Dr. I. Sarkar Reader in History University fo North Bengal Darjeeling, West Bengal India Janiary.2006 18^62/ 2 6 FEB 4?eP. 354.9203 189627 26 FEB 2007 5. M. Rahiul Karitn Research Scholar, Associate Professor, Department of History Islamic History University of North Bengal New Government Degree College Darjeeling, West Bengal Rajshahi, Bangladesh India DECLARATION I hereby declare that the Thesis entitled 'Rajshahi Zamindars: A Historical Profile in the Colonial Period (1765-1947)' submitted by me for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in History of the Universit\' of North Bengal, is a record of research work done by me and that the Thesis has not formed the basis for the award of any other Degree, Diploma, Associateship, Fellowship and similar other tides. M^ Ro^JB^-vvA. VxQrVvvv S. M. Rabiul Karim (^ < o t • ^^ Acknowledgment I am grateful to all those who helped me in selecting such an interesting topic of research and for inspiring me to complete the present dissertation. The first person to be remembered in this connection is Dr. I. Sarkar, Reader, Department of History, University of North Bengal without his direct and indirect help and guidance it would not have been possible for me to complete the work. He guided me all along and I express my gratitude to him for his valuable advice and method that I could follow in course of preparation of the thesis. Those who specially inspired me and assisted me in various ways are Dr. Golam Kibria, Dr. Manzur Kadir, Dr. Shah Alam, Md. Delwar Hossain, Imroz Md. Shoeb, Md. Hafizur Rahman, Apex Club, Natore, Md. Bazlur Rahman, Deputy Secretary, Governmeni of Bangladesh, Dr. Monirudzaman, Dr. Zubaida Aysha Siddika, Md. Reazaul Kadir, Deputy Secretary, Government of Bangladesh who stood by me in many occassions and circumstances which I had to face during the period of my research. There are also Professor Moksudur Rahman, Department of Political Science, Professor Saifuddin Chaudhury, former Director of the Varendra Research Museum, Rajshahi and at present Chairman, Department of folk literature, Rajshahi University, Md. Zakaria, Md. Manirul Islam, Md. Abdus Samad, Md. Abdul Quddus and all officers and employees of the Varendra Research Museum who had not only inspired but helped me with many valuable books and documents related to my research. Their criticisms and suggestions did a lot to clarify many points under considerations. Professor Sharifuddin Ahmed, Director, National Archives, Dhaka, Bangladesh, N4r Kabirul Islam, Librarian, Asiatic Society, Dhaka, are worthy of mention for their academic advices in many occassions. Thanks are also due for the librarians and the staffs of the Rajshahi University, Rajshahi College, Rajshahi New Government College for their gesture and sympathy showed to me during the time of my collection of research materials. Beside this, I must acknowledge the debt for the cooperation of the staff and officers of the National Library, Kolkata, The Asiatic Society, Kolkata, Library of the Bangladesh Deputy High Commission, Kolkata, Granthagar, University of North Bengal, wiihoui which the thesio would not have come to the shape as per expectation. I feel obliged to Dr. Anil Bhuimali, Department of Economics, University of North Bengal, Professor R.R.Sanyal, the present chair person, Deptt. of History, University of North Bengal and all the teachers of Department of History namely Professor Mrs. M. Bhattacharyya (retired), Professor Chhanda Chakraborty, Dr. A.GGhosh. Mrs. Anita Bagchi, Mr. Kausik Banerjee and also Professor J. Kar who directly or indirectly inspired me all the time during my research period. I record my sincere thanks to Mr. Sanjay Debnath and his group of the Sanjay's Impression, Shixmandir, Darjeeling for undertaking the responsibility of printing the thesis and delivery of the same in time. Finally, I like to express my thanks to Mrs. Fahmida Nasreen, my wife and younger brother Sk. Md. Ramizul Karim, a Ph.D. Scholar of Rajshahi University who ever shared my feelings and desires over the years of my research. My younger sons Rafiq Fahmid, Rajib Fahmid and Rashik Fahmid had always been source of inspiration for the progress of this dissertation. May it be recorded that there may be some errors and mistakes for which the sole responsibility lies on me. S. M. Rabiul Karim I 3 <^1 ° ^ Department of History University of North Bengal Darjeeling, India Contents Introduction 1 ' IX Chapter - I Historical Background 1 -17 a. Physical Features and Locatioii of Rajshalii b. Rise of the Zamindars and Zamindari system in Historical Perspective Chapter - II Puthia Zamindari - Its Origin and Growth 18-95 Chapter - III Natore Raj - Its Rise, Stability and 96-151 Estate Management Chapter - IV Dighapaua Estate - A Historical 152 - 180 Reconstruction of the Zamindari Chapter - V Minor Zamindars of Rajshahi 181 - 247 Chapter - VI Social Idenurv' of the Zammdars of Rajshahi 248 - -^11 a. Social and Ethmc Composition of the Zamindars b. Socio-political Tensions and the Zamindars of Rajshahi Chapter - VII The Zamindar-Tenant Relations 273 - 298 Chapter - VIII The Zamindars of Rajshahi and the 299-315 Brithsh Ra) Chapter - IX Decune of the Zamindaris 316-325 Conclusion 326 - 332 Glossary 333 - 336 Bibliography 337 - 350 Appendices 351 - 364 Introduction It is said that by the year 1790, a dozen of zamindar families emerged in Bengal and used to control more than half of the landed properties of Bengal.' Among these families the Zamindars of Rajshahi comprising of Puthia, Natore, J")ighapatia, Taherpur, Dubalhati, Chaugram and so on played an important role in the economic life of Bengal. According to some the Rajshahi Raj (Natore) has been considered a single unit and has been taken to be the second largest - the first being the Burdwan Raj of Bengal.- It is something interesting that most of the Zamindars of Rajshahi assumed titles like 'Raja', Maharaja', 'Ray-Bahadur', 'Khan-Chaudhury\ etc. and in some cases a few outstanding spouses of these Zamindars adopted the titles of 'RanV and 'Maharani'. It is interesting to note that most of the available documents mention the Families of Zamindaris as 'Raj\ which seems to stand for zamindar. Thus, it maybe noted that although the heads of these estates of Rajshahi were Zamindars they were never enjoying the status and dignity of a king or emperoi' in usual terms. Naturally the estates were simply Zamindaris and not 'Raj' in any sense. In the present study all these terms have been used in the light of above explanation and meaning. The Zamindars as a class played a significant role in Indian history right from the medieval time down to the British and even today, it is a fact that the surplus of agricultural production exacted from the peasants was being distributed among the Emperor, his nobles and the Zamindars, by \anue of their rights and position and they could also exercise unlimited power over agricultural products, trade and in some economic transactions although according to S.Narul Hassan, there was a continuous clash of interest between the zamindars and the Mughal Govt., for a greater share of produce, the two were virtually partners of economic exploitation. '^ The situation of Rajshahi in terms of the origin and functions of the Zamindaris are H not different and in course of our study there would be an attempt to highlight the points in the light of the observation of S.Nurul Hassan. As it is known that the zamindar has had a role in the management of land," the word 'zamindar' is in fact, derived from a Persian word 'zamindar' which stands for owner of land or 'zamin'. But the status of a zamindar varied from time to time and for example, during the Mughals, they were not owners of land as like as Collectors of Revenue and accordingly they were simply caretakers and not absolute owners of land.^ It was customary that the zamindars would continue that position as long as the required land-revenues were paid to the state without fail. In addition to this custody they were also entrusted to look after local administration vis-a-vis law and order of his jurisdiction.*' Fact remains that this position of the zamindars began to change with the experiments of administrative setup under Murshid Kuli Khan with the beginning of 18th century. As it has been stated above like other parts of Bengal, the zamindars of Rajshahi had a significant role in the economic transformation of Bengal under consideration. The history of the zamindars of Rajshahi is so fascinating that it links up the history of the Zamindari system introduced by the Mughals and blossomed during the British period. But unfortunately, very little attention has been given by the historians to explore a comprehensive study on them. There are, however, some stray references as to rise and fall of these zamindar families but unfortunately historians are silent about many facets of their interesting role they played incontemporary Bengal. For example, while we come across the history and various activities of the Natore Raj, Puthia Raj or that of Dighapatia, we find hardly any exhaustive account of the Dubalhati family in the historical works of the region. Over and above many of the issues like the interaction with the British and its consequences have neither been dealt with by the historians, nor even they have highlighted the internal crisis as well as the external forces which led to the ultimate extinction of these families.