The Bansberia Raj/Chapter I

by Shumbhoo Chunder Dey

CHAPTER I.

The Parent Family and Devaditya.

IN the good old days when the star of the Hindus was in the ascendant, when Northern India was for the most part ruled by Bijoy Sing and Bengal by Adisura, a person of the name of Devaditya Dutt bidding a long adieu to the magnificent city of Kanouj—the Kanyakubja, of the Sanscrit writers—was found slowly wending his way towards the south-east. Though he was accompanied by his family and was encumbered with the odds and ends of a Hindu household, still he found no difficulty in the way, and at last arrived at Mayapur^[1] in the Muxadavad^[2] district, but he did not settle there for good. Not long after, he moved to a place which he named after his patronynfic, Duttabati, not far from the capital of the Bengal king. Devaditya, possessed as he was of great sterling merit, highly distinguished himself, thereby casting the fame of his ancestors, whatever it was, in the shade. He had deep regard for his great sovereign who on his part held him in high esteem. Though not actually in name, he was virtually his Prime Minister, and his words of wisdom were always listened to with attention and respect. Thus, Devaditya became a power in the land and his influence for good or for evil was very great, indeed. Basking under the sunshine of royal favour he rose high in rank and position, and, at last, when his time came, departed this world leaving a very handsome legacy to his son, Binayak Dutt. The son, however, was not at all worthy of the sire, at any rate he could not gain distinction in any way whatever. He lived and died like an ordinary mortal, without doing anything which might attract notice or extort praise. Indeed, for five generations together the family did not produce any man of note until we come to Jadab Dutt. This remarkable character flourished in the time when Raja Ballal Sen was on the throne of Bengal. It is somewhat curious that this king ascended the throne in the very year in which William of Normandy having defeated and slain Harold took possession of the English throne. Jadab did not take service of any kind, and, surely, there was no necessity for it, as he was a man of substance and had considerable property. But though not a servant of the sovereign, he was one of his trusted friends and advisers, and his valuable counsel, was as a rule taken on all important affairs of state. When Ballal Sen proposed to make a classification^[3] of nobility, he asked Jadab as to the propriety of the measure. The latter apprehending the abuse of kulinism in the distant future gave a decidedly adverse opinion. Every means was employed to bring him over to the side of the king, but all to no purpose. Jadab, strong-minded as he was stood firm as a rock and did not budge an inch from the views which he had already expressed on the subject. The king was certainly displeased but the sturdy Kayastha of the bold Utter-Rarhi sept had greater regard for the still small voice of the "inner seer" than the mandate of a powerful liege-lord. The result was that the family of Jadab was not included in the classification of Ballal but stood aloof in "stately solitude" as Virgil would have said. This fact is alone sufficient to show that Jadab who made light of the frowns of royalty must have been a man of considerable importance. Indeed, he belonged to the class of land holders who possessed a large share of influence in Bengal. They were, as it were, the barons of the land, and the king could not make or unmake them at his will and pleasure. They had a position which even the sovereign power could not ignore. They were almost above the law and wielded very great powers in their little estates. They were only a step below the higher class of Zamindars and that step was a very short one. In the Mulfoozat Timooree or, memoirs of Timour, two kinds of Zamindars are taken notice of—one superior, having a country and subjects, and the other, inferior or dependent; and it is at least probable that the former may have been the successors of ancient Rajas, or rulers of the country, while the latter were subordinate chiefs, or perhaps landed proprietors, of the country. It would appear that both the superior and the inferior Zamindars had been left at the first conquest of the country in the possession of some of the powers which they originally held in their particular parganas, so far as was consistent with a general subjection to the conquerors^[4]. Judab was not a Zamindar in the highest sense of the term, and, as a matter of fact, it was pretty long before his family was honoured with that titular distinction between which and a petty prince there was not much to choose. But though not a Zamindar of the superior order, Jadab's position and influence was considerable. He lived his days in peace and glory, and when the "fatal sisters" cut the thread of his life, departed this world, leaving a numerous progeny, consisting of ten sons and seven grandsons. As ill luck would have it, this happy and flourishing family, in an evil hour, incurred the grave displeasure of the reigning sovereign, who, carried away by sudden gusts of anger, ordered their total destruction. The order being strict and peremptory, it was soon carried into effect, and, thus this prosperous family which to all appearance bade fair to have a long life, ran a very serious risk of being cut off root and branch. But man proposes, God disposes. It had, however, been ordained by the Great Disposer that the family should not cease altogether, so that in spite of the cruel resolve and strenuous efforts^[5] of Ballal Sen to the contrary, it was saved from the general massacre and it is very gratifying to observe that the parent tree still exists with all its noble branches and offshoots. One of the sons of Jadab was Maheswar, and though he himself could not escape from the horrible carnage, wonderful to say, his delicate wife who was big with child, saved her life by flight. In due time this helpless lady gave birth to a fine little son, who, in view of his miraculous deliverance was given the queer name of Ubaru. It does not appear where the daring mother had fled to, but there could be no doubt that it was an insignificant place, considerably remote from the royal seat. Poor Ubaru grew up in obscurity, and, as he was a friendless young man, could not do much to improve the condition in which he had been placed. He lived and died an ordinary mortal, leaving a son named Kulapati. Though the latter bore a high name, he too failed to give a better turn to the fortune of the family. Like his father, he died unnoticed and unknown. But what distinguishes his case from that of his father, Ubaru, is that he left a large progeny, consisting of nine children. Of these sons, the eldest, Kabi Dutt, was the ablest and most important. Fortune again smiled upon the family, and this worthy descendant of Devaditya rose sufficiently high. As was quite natural, he longed to go back to the place founded by his famous ancestor and in this he was also favoured by circumstances. By this time Raja Ballal Sen had gone to give his last account before a much higher Tribunal, leaving his throne to his worthy son Lakshman Sen. As the latter was a milder ruler than the ferocious Ballal, Kabi Dutt found no difficulty in gaining his favour, and, availing himself of it, managed to return to his ancestral abode at Duttabati. There he rose high in rank and influence and was honoured with the title of Khan. Thus, he came to be known as the Khan of Duttabati. Kabi had six sons, of whom Ishwar was the ablest and most influential. Like his grandfather Kulapati, Ishwar had a very large family consisting of eight sons and nine daughters. But it does not appear that they all survived him. At any rate, among the sons, only Kisu (Keshav) and Bisu (Bishen or Vishnu) rendered themselves famous. Like the unfading banyan tree, Kisu has been the prolific parent that has kept alive the old Patuli family in all its glory and magnificence. As for his younger Bishu, he distinguished himself in another way. He got a high appointment under the Mahomedan Governor of Bengal and acquired considerable property in the district of Dinajpur. Along with this rise in material condition, his social rank was heightened by his being honoured with the title of Thacoor Mahashai. He died, leaving a son, named Sreemanta, who, like him, was a high official in the service of the Provincial Governor. Sreemanta flourished towards the end of the fifteenth century when the seat of Government was at Rajmahal. He was a Canongoe, who, unlike the officers bearing the same name in the present day, was charged with the collection of the Imperial revenues and exercised both civil and military powers over the people in his jurisdiction. Sreemanta having lost his only son during his life-time, gave away his estate to his son-in-law, Hariram Ghose a Kulin Kayastha. Thus, Hariram became a very influential man, and lived in a rich style. He had two sons, of whom Sukhdeb succeeded to his property. The son became more famous than the father, and obtained from the ruling power the proud title of 'Raja.' Thus, the Dinajpur Raj dates from him. He also received a firman from Shah Shuja, Viceroy of Bengal, in 1063 B. S. The extended tank, Sukhsagar, which keeps his name afresh in the memory of the people, was excavated by him in 1677 A. D. He occupied the Gadi from 1644 to 1681, and died, leaving his estates to his second son, Jaydeva, his eldest son, Ramdeva, having died in his lifetime. Jaydeva, however, had a very short career. He died soon after his ascension to the Gadi, and was succeeded by his younger brother, Prananath. The latter's adopted son, Ramnath, got the title of "Maharaja Bahadur," and highly distinguished himself by his many good and pious acts. An idea of his vast estates might be formed from the simple fact that he had to pay over five lakhs of rupees in the shape of Government revenue. The present Maharajah, Girija Nath, who was adopted by Maharaja Tarack Nath's widow, Maharani Shyam Mohini, is the sixth in descent from Maharajah Ram Nath, the richest and most powerful of the Dinajpur Rajas.

1. There are several other places of the same name in Bengal, notably one in the district of Hooghly and one in 24 Parganas. The one below Achipur on the way to Diamond Harbour is noted for its powder magazine. The name Mayapur literally means the 'city of illusion.'
2. This old antique name was changed into its present name by Nawab Jafar Khan who called if after his own title— Murshid Kuli—in the first quarter of the eighteenth century.
3. In this matter of great importance Ballal was followed by the famous Raja Hara Sinha Deva of Mithila, who flourished in the first half of the fourteenth century. Like him the Maithil king divided the Brahmins and Rajpoots into different classes, and this classification is still observed in the modern district of Tirhut. The dynasty of Sheo Sing, the patron of Vidyapati, "the morning star" of Bengali poetry, followed that of Hara Sinha Deva, and was succeeded in its turn by the Darbhanga House. See Sarbadhicari's Tagore Law Lectures p. 396.
4. Vide Neil B. E. Bailie's Land Tax of India, pp. XXXVI and XXXVII 2nd Edition.
5. A more striking instance of Ballal Sen's violent temper is to be found in the case of his only son and heir, Lakshman Sen. Once on a time the Prince had given some offence to royalty and the king, his father, took it so much to heart that, carried away by his ruling passion which "like Aaron's serpent swallow'd all the rest," he readily ordered his decapitation. Lakshman, who then happened to be somewhat off from the royal presence, on hearing of this cruel order and knowings full well the nature of his royal sire, lost no time in making his escape into the territory of some neighbouring potentate. Being sorely affected by the absence of her lord, Lakshman's young wife gave vent to her borrow in a Sanscrit couplet which she took care to inscribe on the front wall of the Temple of the Family Idol, in the hope that it might attract the notice of the king. The verses were as follows: —

   পতত্য বিরতং বারি নৃত্যন্তি শিখিনে মুদা।
   অদ্য কান্তঃ কৃতান্তো বা দুঃখ শান্তিং করোতু মে॥

   (Rains are falling incessantly and peacocks are dancing in joy, this day my sorrow can only find relief either in my lover or in death.)

   Fortunately these pathetic lines soon caught the eyes of the king who, being moved by the tender feelings they so eloquently expressed, instantly ordered the boat-men to his presence and solemnly made this declaration before them, that whoever should succeed in bringing up his most beloved son within a specified time should have their prayers, whatever it was, fulfilled to the best of his power.

   Encouraged by the hopeful words of the king, some boatmen, bolder than the rest, offered to go in search of the Prince and launching a well-rigged vessel, at once started on their venturous quest, and, as good fortune would have it, erelong succeeded in their attempt. When Ballal Sen again sighted the face of his missing child whom he had almost taken for lost, his joy knew no bounds, and he readily asked the successful boatmen what their prayer was. They replied that their only request was that they might be permitted to wash his royal feet. The request, simple as it was, was there and then complied with and from that day the Kaibarthas whose water had hitherto been held polluted were permitted to serve the twice-born—a privilege which they still enjoy, even though Hindu rule has long since become a thing of the past. See Lai Mohan Vidyanidhi's Sammandha Nirnaya.