BARDDHAMAN, West Bengal

Main Attraction: The Curzon Gate

The Curzon Gate is the most prominent landmark of the Burdwan town, the head quarter of district Barddhaman. This memorial gate is located at the heart of the town at the crossing of the Bijoy Chand Road and the Grand Trunk Road. The Gate wasconstructed sometime in 1902/1903, by the then Maharaja ofBarddhaman, Bijoy Chand Mahatab, to celebrate his coronation. Laterit provided a convenient excuse for Lord Curzon to visit Barddhaman in1904 and the pomp and grandeur of that visit established the name ofthe Gate as Curzon Gate. The Gate is supported by two circularcoloumns (each) on the right and left, on both the east and west sides.The eight pillars support an arch. Three female figurines appear on thetop centre panel, with swords, boats, and sheaves of corn in their hands,signifying progress in agriculture and commerce. Also, there are twentyonecircles at the top, having twenty one illustrations. The words,“Heaven’s light-our guide”, are written at the head of the edifice. Thestructure was constructed by masons brought over from Italy. Becauseof its overwhelming similarity to the Gateway of India in Mumbai, it wasalso known as the Star of India. After Independence, the name BijoyToron is used to refer to the building, though the colloquial name still isCurzon Gate, being pronounced as ‘Korjon Gate’ in the vernacular. Thehistorical monument was defaced by posters and notices until 1974,when the then Public Works Minister of the Government of West Bengalarranged for a facelift. Thereafter the Gate is being maintained by the State Public Works Department.

Brief History

Barddhaman district is geographically a transition zone between the Jharkhand plateau which forms a shield in the west and the Ganga–Brahmaputra alluvial plains in the north and east. Towards south the alluvial plains merge with Damodar–Kasain-Subarnarekha deltaic plains. Owing to its position and natural advantages the region is believed to be the seat of settled civilization from pre-historic times. As noted in the ‘Burdwan District Gazetteer’ by C. K. Patterson (1905), the country with its ever changing courses of the rivers Damodar, Ajay and Ganga, is recorded in British chronicles as the richest tract in Bengal and the area of its oldest and most settled cultivation.

The name of the district is attributed by some historians to the 24th Jain Tirthankar ‘Vardhaman Swami’ Mahaveer who came to preach Jainism in the area. Alternatively its name came from the word ‘Bardhaman’ which means a prosperous and growing centre and the district was the frontier zone in the way of progress of Aryanisation from the upper Gangetic valley. The first epigraphic reference to its name is found in a 6th century AD copper plate found in the village of Mallasarul under Galsi Police Station.

The history of Barddhaman is traced to about the ‘Late Stone Age’or Mesolithic Age in the excavations of 1954 and 1957. The excavations at ‘Pandu Rajar Dhibi’ revealed that the people lived in planned towns with houses built of unfired clay and reinforced with reeds and having plastered walls. They knew the use of copper and their principal occupation were agriculture and trade. In early historical times, epigraphic evidence show Barddhaman as a famous bhukti or revenue tract and a part of ‘Radh’ ruled successively by the Magadhas, Mauryas, Kushanas and the Guptas. In the initial 6th century while Sasanka was ruler, this region was included in the empire of ‘Gour’.

The history of the district is blank from the middle of the 7th century till the rise of the ‘Pala’ dynasty. The Khalimpur copper plate of Dharampal, the son of Gopala-I - the first ‘Pala’ ruler, states that Gopala-I was elected king by the people of the country to save themselves from state of anarchy and invaders. After thedeath of Rampal, the last great ruler of the ‘Palas’at around 1130 A.D., the ‘Sena’ dynasty came to power. Vijaysena was the first Sena king according to the Deopar inscriptions. The Govindapur copper plate inscriptions clearly indicate ‘Bardhamanbhukti’ as under the control of Lakshmansena. Before the beginning of Muslim invasion the Sadgop dynasty of Gopbhum was a powerful community and this time provideda glimpse of a prominent settlement. The name of one ruler of this dynasty Mahendranath or locally known Mahindi Raja still survives. However it was the Khetri Maharajas(kings) who ruled Barddhaman for a long time and provided a resistance to the Muslims as far as possible.

The history of this region during the medieval period is distinct following the invasion by Muslim rulers. The first Muslim invasion took place during the reign of Lakshmansena by the Pathan ruler Bakhtiyar Khilji in 1199 AD. He captured northern and eastern side of Barddhaman. Subsequently the greater part of Bengal gradually came under the control of Muslim Governors who ruled at Gaur or Laknauti. During this period a splendid military road was built from Gaur and Rajmahal to Medinipur and Cuttack. The celebrated poet Ruparam who composed Dhramamangal lived at this time. In 1567, Suleman Karnani captured the western part of the district. His son Daud came to war with Todarmal, the Diwan(Prime Minister) of Bengal appointed by the Mughal ruler in Delhi. This war made the area famous in the history of Bengal.

After several such engagements over the years with Daud and his son Kuttu, finally in 1590, we find the mention of Barddhaman in the Ain-i-Akbari as a mahal or pargana of Sarcar Sharifabad assessed at 1,876,142 dams. In 1606 the famous Sher Afghan, the superintendent of district under Mughal Subedar of Bengal was attacked and slain just outside the town of Barddhaman under order of Jehangir who wanted to marry Sher Afghan’s wife, the beautiful Mehrunnessa. After Sher Afghan’s death Mehrunnessa was taken by Jehangir as his consort and named Noor Jehan or ‘Light of the World’. The unmerited misfortune of Sher Afghan, a Turkish gentleman of noble origin, his lofty character and courage and the beauty and exalted destiny of his wife render their story perhaps one of the most romantic in the history of Mughal Emperors.

In 1622 when Jehangir’s son Khurram, later Shah Jahan rebelled against his father, he acquired the fort of Barddhaman by force. After the death of Aurangzeb, the Mughal Empire became weak and Murshid Quli Khan became the Nawab(King) of Bengal. Although he owed suzerainty to the Mughals, he was an independent ruler for all practical purposes. Under him, Barddhaman was referred to as chakla instead of parganaas used by the Mughals. Shortly afterwards the great Burdwan (anglicised version of Barddhaman) House rose to power and henceforth its history became identical with that of the district. Raja Krishnarama Rai was the founder of the Raj family. He obtained a farman (royal decree) from Aurangzeb in 1689 AD by which he was made the Zamindar(land lord) and Chowdhury of Bardhaman. Even today, the large water tanks excavated by him viz. Krishnasayar (Krishna Sagar) and that excavated by his father Ghanshyam Rai viz. Shyamsayar (Shyam Sagar) stand in the heart of Barddhaman town. Raja Chitrasen Rai was the most powerful king of the Raj family. He built the famous Siddheswari temple at Kalna.

By 1740 Bengal saw the first onslaught of the Maratha invader or bargis who arrived to plunder the region. Time and again they had skirmishes with Alivardi Khan the Nawab of Bengal–Bihar–Orissa. They briefly held a certain part of the country especially the part near the Bhagirathi river at Katwa and proceeded to lootthe country and destroy crops. They committed unspeakable atrocities on the people which are documented in the literature of that period. Finally in 1751 Alivardi Khan conceded to pay a chauth(tribute) of 12 lakh rupees annually as a truce. Alivardi Khan died in 1756 and his successor was the weak and dissolute Siraj-ud-Daulah. Nevertheless, Siraj-ud-Daulah confronted the British led by Robert Clive in the Battle of Plassey in 1756. He lost the battle made famous as the first decisive victory of the British in its conquest of India and also by the treachery of Siraj-ud-Daulah’s army General Mir-Jafar. Mir-Jafar was made the Nawab by the British only to be ousted again and replaced by his nephew Mir-Qasim, again a British stooge. By 1760 the fertile district of Barddhaman alongwith Medinipur and Chittagong was ceded to the East India Company. The Rajas of Barddhaman did not take this down very well and British accounts are full of various ‘rebellions’ and ‘acts of insolence’ on their part.

‘The Famine of 1770’ remains one of the greatest horrors that the region experienced. One-third population of the country was wiped out. A graphic account of the conditions is given in Hunter’s ‘Annals of Rural Bengal’. Under the Permanent Settlement of 1793,Raja Tejchand entered into an agreement to pay a revenue of Rs. 40,15,109/- and in addition pulbandi(tank repairing charges) of Rs. 1,93,721/-. But like other zamindari estates of Bengal, dismemberment of the Barddhaman estate started soon and in 1797 the British Board of Revenue ordered sale of portions of the zamindari for realisation of arrears of revenue. Finally it led to the near ruin of the once powerful and influential authority of the Rajas of Barddhaman.

In 1857, the British Crown took over the administration of the country from the East India Company. During India’s freedom struggle the people of Bardshaman were actively involved. They reacted sharply to the Partition of Bengal in 1905. A number of Bandhs(strike) were observed. Students were expelled for chanting ‘Bande Mataram’. A national school was opened in Kalna in 1908. The Khilafat Movement also spread among the Muslims of the region. A hartal(strike) was observed throughout the district on 18th March 1923. National leader like Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose paid a visit to Barddhaman in December 1931 and addressed a meeting. The conditions were such that Bengal Public Security Act 1932 was promulgated in the Asansol Sub-division. Kazi Nazrul Islam, the noted Bengali poet, was born in Churulia in Raniganj. Political agitation continued in various forms till the eve of Independence.