Sabarna Roy Choudhury

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Sabarna Roy Choudhury (Bengali: সাবর্ণ রায় চৌধুরী) family was the zamindar (landlord) of portions of the Kolkata (earlier known as Calcutta) area, prior to the arrival of the British.

Contents

[edit] Family history

Panchanan Gangopadhyay (Panchu Saktikhan) of the family acquired the Khan title from the Pathan rulers of the area in the fifteenth century. Around the middle of that century he was lord of Haveli Sahar or Halisahar. It was from Halisahar that the family spread far and wide, including Uttarpara, Kheput, Birati and Barisha.[1][2]

Lakhsmikanta Gangopadhyay (Majumdar), was given jaigirdari of a vast tract of land by Raja Man Singh, in 1608. He was also given the titles of 'Ray' and 'Choudhury' which later became the surname of his descendants. It is said that he constructed many temples at Halisahar, and the original centres of habitation of the family at Goghat and Amatia. The construction of the pilgrim path from Halisahar to Barisha is also credited to him. [2][3]

[edit] The British

The three villages of Sutanuti, Govindapur and Kalikata were part of a khas mahal or imperial jagir or an estate belonging to the Mughal emperor himself, whose zamindari rights were held by the Sabarna Roy Choudhury family. The British settlement was surrounded by thirty-eight villages held by others. Although in 1717, the British East India Company was permitted by the Mughal emperor Farrukhsiyar to rent or acquire zamindari rights in them, it was unable to procure the land from the zamindars or local landlords.[4]

The British ultimately got The 'Right to Rent' or lease of three villages for an annual rent of Rs. 1,300. The deed was in Persian. A copy of the deed can be seen at the Sabarna Sangrahashala at Barisha.[1]

[edit] Lal Dighi

Sabarna Roy Choudhury family had a kutchery (court-house) and a temple of its family deity Shyam Rai, near Lal Dighi (or red tank), that still stands in the middle of B. B. D. Bagh in the heart of commercial district of Kolkata. It was so named possibly because of the red colour the water acquired during dol, the festival of colours.[2] The court-house was first taken on rent and later purchased by the British East India Company.[2]

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b Sabarna Prithivi - website of the Sabarna Roy Choudhury family
  2. ^ a b c d Patree, Purnendu, Purano Kolkatar Kathachitra, (Bengali), pp. 154-5, 3rd edition, 1995, Dey’s Publishing, ISBN-81-7079-751-9
  3. ^ Bandopadhyay Debashis, Purano Kolkatar gharbari, (Bengali), pp. 1-2, second impression, 2002, Ananda Publishers Private Limited, ISBN 81-7756-158-8
  4. ^ Nair, P.Thankappan, The Growth and Development of Old Calcutta, in Calcutta, the Living City, Vol I, p. 11, edited by Sukanta Chaudhuri, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0195636961

[edit] See also