Rajmahal
| Rajmahal | |
|---|---|
| city | |
  Rajmahal | |
| Coordinates: 25°03′N 87°50′E / 25.05°N 87.84°ECoordinates: 25°03′N 87°50′E / 25.05°N 87.84°E | |
| Country |
 India |
| State | Jharkhand |
| District | Sahibganj |
| Population (2001) | |
| • Total | 17,974 |
| Languages | |
| • Official | Hindi, Santali |
| Time zone | IST (UTC+5:30) |
Rajmahal is a city and a notified area in Sahibganj district in the Indian state of Jharkhand. Rajmahal is the only sub-divisional town in Sahibganj district. It is one of the most historic place in Jharkhand. It includes many historical places such as Singidalan, Neel-Kothi, Jama-Masjid, Khaniyathan and China clay mines etc.
History
Neel-kothi is a historical place and it is located at the heart of the city of Rajmahal.It is built by Englishman on 24th. September 1796 to process Neel(Indigo) used for dying cotton cloth; Then British government was ruling Rajmahal.It is an historic town situated on the west bank of the Ganges, and located in the hills known as Daman-i-Khoh during the Muslim rule. The hills run north-south for 193 km from Sahebganj to Rampurhat. The earlier name of the place was Agmahal. Man Singh, on his return from the conquest of Orissa in 1592, named it Rajmahal. On 9 November 1595 Man Singh laid the foundations of a new capital of Bengal Subah there and named it Akbarnagar, after Akbar, the emperor.[1]
It appears to have been chosen as the site of the capital on account of its central position with reference to Bengal and Bihar and for its command of both the river Ganges and the pass of Teliagarhi. Man Singh built a palace, a fort, and also a Jama-i-Masjid (known as Hadafe Mosque). Soon, Rajmahal being a healthier site than Gaur, a city sprang up. The city, however, soon lost its strategic value. The river Ganges having receded nearly two miles, the city was no longer accessible to war-boats and it could not be defended on land and water. In 1608-09 Islam Khan transferred the capital to Jahangirnagar (Dhaka) in order to suppress the bara-bhuiyans and more effectively resist the growing power of the Portuguese and the Maghs. However, Rajmahal regained its administrative position in 1639, when Shah Shuja (1639-1660) set up his capital there. The prince built the famous palace called Sang-i-dalan (Stone Palace) for his own residence with an attached Diwan khana (audience hall).
On 20 January 1640, a fire caused immense destruction to the palace complex and claimed seventy-five lives of Shuja's harem. Shuja crowned himself in November 1657 in this city. It appears that he had extensive construction works done. At a considerable distance from the Sang-i-dalan is a ruin called the Phulbari (flower garden). Near this is the tomb of Bakht-Homa, widow of Shaista Khan. In the second half of the eighteenth century the city was 2.41 kilometre in length and 0.80 kilometre in breadth with numerous mosques and monuments.
The city's decline began when Mir Jumla II (1660-1663) transferred the capital again to Dhaka to check the Arakanese and the Portuguese pirates. The ruins of the old city are now covered with luxuriant jungle extended for about four miles to the west of the present sub-divisional town.
The first railway line from Howrah towards Delhi was routed through Rajmahal: the East Indian Railway line was completed in October 1859. The first train from Howrah to Rajmahal ran on 4 July 1860.
Demographics
As of 2001 India census,[2] Rajmahal had a population of 17,974. Males constitute 52% of the population and females 48%. Rajmahal has an average literacy rate of 48%, lower than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 55%, and female literacy is 39%. In Rajmahal, 19% of the population is under 6 years of age.
It has to be mentioned that RAJMAHAL appears to be one of the big towns of India during the Mughal period.It had ice factories in the eighteenth century.In the history of urbanisation in India Rajmahal has a great place as an example of a five town when the modern amenities could not be thought of.(sources Sarkar and dutta textbook of the modern Indian history vol 1.,page286. piyush)
Neel-Kothi was built by Englishman(British)for residence and a factory in the premises to process Neel(indigo used for dying cotton cloth)and not by Mansingh as mentioned in the first para.
See also
Rajmahal (Vidhan Sabha constituency)
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Wood, James, ed. (1907). "article name needed". The Nuttall Encyclopædia. London and New York: Frederick Warne.
References
- ↑ Sarkar, Jadunath (1984). A History of Jaipur, c. 1503-1938, New Delhi: Orient Longman, ISBN 81-250-0333-9, p.81
- ↑ "Census of India 2001: Data from the 2001 Census, including cities, villages and towns (Provisional)". Census Commission of India. Archived from the original on 2004-06-16. Retrieved 2008-11-01.
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