The Bansberia Raj/Chapter III
CHAPTER III.
Glorious progress under Udaya and Jayananda.
On Sahasraksha's death, his son, Udaya, succeeded to his rank and estate. The new Zamindar became more famous than his father. In his hand the family rose both in honor and opulence. In consequence of his having done some important services to the Mogul Government, Udaya gained the favour of the same Great Emperor who had been so kind to his father. Akbar conferred upon him the hereditary title of Raí[1], after which the family renouncing the humbler designation of Dutt assumed the prouder one of Raí. Udaya not only raised the social status of his family, he also considerably added to its estate. This he managed to do through the favour of Raja Man Sing who was a great favourite of Emperor Akbar. When that valiant Rajput who was the commander-in-chief of the Mogul forces was coming with a large body of followers to Bengal, he on his way stopped for sometime at Beneras with a view to paying his regards to his Guru (spiritual guide) Jiya (Jiva)[2] who was residing at that sacred city. It so happened that Lakshmikanta, the only son of the Guru, had been for some time passing his days incognito, unknown to the father, and as it was very probable that he might be travelling or toiling somewhere in the East, the wise old man, whose heart was still lit with the lambent love of kith and kin, earnestly directed Man Sing to find out, if he could, the whereabouts of his beloved child. The Mogul General who regarded his spiritual preceptor as his God on earth, never forgot his injunction, and, as a matter of fact, was always on the alert how to carry it out. As fortune would have it, while passing by the banks of the Bhagirathi he met the Patuli[3] Zamindar Udaya, and deeming him a fit person to enquire about the missing young man communicated his wish to him. The latter, anxious as he was to oblige the great General, took up the matter in right good earnest and after some enquiry found the missing boy in the vicinity of Kalighat, whom he readily presented to the Ambar Chief[4]. Man Sing was highly pleased with Udaya and in the ecstasy of joy, asked him how he might please him in his turn. Udaya submitted that he was quite content with what he had, but as he every now and then had to move up and down the holy river, Bhagirathi, and would very much like to die on its banks he would be greatly delighted if he could get some places by its side so that he might, not have to draw his last breath in the soil of somebody else. The grateful Rajput hero gladly acceded to his request and with the permission of his master, the Great Mogul, which he duly obtained, bestowed[5] on him some places on the banks of that river[6]. Like his father, Udaya when his time came, passed away in peace.
The deceased left four sons of whom Jayananda was the eldest. All his brothers having died childless, Jayananda came by the whole property left by his father. At that time Jehangir was on the throne of Delhi. It does not appear that Jayananda had received any marks of favour from that Emperor, but there is direct evidence to show that he received some very high favours from his son and successor. Indeed in the very year[7] in which Shah Jehan ascended the throne, honours and decorations flowed in as it were, upon the Zamindars of Patuli. The Emperor graced him with the title of Mazumdar[8] and granted him the Zamindari right of Pargana Kot Ectiarpur[9] as jaigir, while the Governor of Bengal, Kasim Khan Juwaini, following the example of his Imperial master, appointed him Canongoe or registrar of fiscal division. It is not clear whether Jayananda was made Sadar Canongoe, chief registrar at the seat of Government, or Pargana Canongoe, that is, registrar of fiscal division only. The probability, however, is that he was made the former, as the office of a common Canongoe was naturally inconsistent[10] with the position of a Zumindar. Jayananda was a contemporary of Bhabananda[11], the reputed founder of the Nadia House which is so well-known to fame. Indeed, the two families which graced the banks of the sacred Bhagirathi were closely bound by the ties of friendship and lived in amity and peace. At any rate, we know of no instance in which their mutual good feelings were disturbed, Jayananda departed this world probably in the third decade of the seventeenth century. So did his friend, Bhabananda of Nadia.
- ↑ Udaya's full title was Sabhapati Rai. And truly did he shed lustre on the Samaj of Patuli, for, as the Ghattack Karika has it:—
“পাটুলীতে দত্ত উদয় সভা শোভা করে।”
- ↑ Jiya (Jiva) renounced the world and led the life of an ascetic. He had a brother named Sheo (Shiva) who was a householder. The latter is commonly regarded as the ancestor of the well-known Ganguli Brahmans of Amatya, though that honor really belongs to his elder, Jiya.
- ↑ Patuli was not far from Amatya, the original residence of Jiya.
- ↑ It is, however, stated in the last Census Report—on what authority the writer does not say,—that Jiya's infant son had risen to be the chief officer of Maharaja Pratapaditya, 'the hero of the Sunderbuns', and that when Raja Man Sing was sent down to Bengal by Emperor Jehangir to punish Pratapaditya and bring him as a captive to Delhi, the Mogul General's first object was to withdraw his Guru's son from his service which object, it is said, he carried out through the help of Jayananda Sudramani. There is, however, no reliable evidence to show that Jiya's son ever served Pratapaditya or had anything to do with him. In fact that son who had been residing somewhere near the temple of the Goddess Kali at Kalighat was found out by the Patuli Zamindar, Udaya, and not by Jayananda, as the writer says. And it was not Jayananda, but Raghudeb who for a signal act of generosity was for the first time honoured with the title of "Sudramani." The writer has also erred in stating that Jayananda was taken into the service of Emperor Jehangir as "Majumadar" (collector), the fact being that that post was bestowed upon him by the next Emperor, Shah Jehan.
- ↑ For the assistance which Bhabananda had rendered to Man Sing in conquering Jessore and capturing its king Fratapaditya, the victor had him granted the Zamindari rights of fourteen Parganas. The grant was made by the Emperor, under a Sanad dated in the year 1015 H. E. corresponding to 1605 A. D. In the Sanscrit "Kshitish Vangsavali Charitam" it is stated that along with the said Zamindari the title of Raja was also conferred on Bhabananda. But the matter is not free from doubt. At any rate the Sanad makes no mention of it. See Kartikaya Rai's book, pp. 79,80.
- ↑ See Lai Mohan Vidyanidhi's Supplement to the "Sammandha Nirnaya" where appear the following verses:—
“মানসিংহ মহারাজ, কাশীতে আছিল।
জীয়োর নিকটে তিঁহ উপদিষ্ট হল॥
রাজারে কহিল দ্বিজ, শুন বাপধন।
করিতেছ শুনি, তুমি বঙ্গেতে গমন॥
মম পুত্রে গিয়া তুমি, ঠিকানা করিবা।
সেই কার্য্য করি বাপ, মোরে বাঁচাইবা॥
বঙ্গেতে আসিয়া রাজা, সে কার্য্য করিল।
প্রথমতঃ ঐ কার্য্য, পশ্চাৎ সকল॥
পাটুলীতে হয় শূদ্রমণি জমীদার।
তাঁহাকে ডাকায়ে রাজা, কহে সমাচার॥
রাজাজ্ঞা-মতেতে সেই, ঠিকানা করিল।
গুরু-বাক্য ঐক্য করি, ঠিকানা হইল॥
তারপর রাজা, গুরুপুত্র দরশন।
করিয়া, হইল অতি আনন্দিত-মন॥
শূদ্রমণি মহাশয়, করজোড় করি।
দেখেন রাজার মনে আনন্দ লহরী॥
রাজা বলে, ওহে তুমি যে কার্য্য করিলা।
তার পরিতোষ তুমি লহ এই বেলা॥
মহাশয় কহিলেন, আপন কৃপায়।
অভাব নাহিক কিছু এই বাঞ্ছা হয়॥
ঈশ্বরীর তীরে মম তরণী ভিড়ান।
নিজ দেহ নিজ স্থানে পায় যেন স্থান॥
মধ্যে মধ্যে আছে মম গমনাগমন।
দুই চারি দিন করি, নীরে যে ভ্রমণ॥
তথাস্তু বলিয়া রাজা, তাহাই যে করিল।
গঙ্গার পশ্চিম তটে বহু স্থান দিল॥The title "Sudramani," however, was not given either in the time of Akbar or it that of Jehangir; it was first bestowed on Raghudeb by Nawab Murshid Kuli Khaa in the first quarter of the eighteenth century.
- ↑ Shah Jehan ascended the throne in 1035 B. S. corresponding to 1628 A. D.
- ↑ The proper word, however, is Majumadar which means recorder of the "jama" of a Sarkar. Bhabananda as recorder of the jama of Sarkar Satgaon, held the title of Majumadar—a title so common among Bengal families, and generally corrupted to Mazumdar. See Hunter's Statistical Account of Bengal, Volume I. pp. 362-63.
- ↑ One of the "original" 24 Parganas.
- ↑ In 1783, Joy Narayan Ghosal of the Bhukoylas Raj family was dismissed from the office of Canongoe of Sandwip on the ground that the office was incompatible with the position of a Zamindar. The Canongoe had no fixed salary attached to his office, but was paid a commission (rasum) which in some cases rose to a very large figure. See Hunter's Statistical Account of Bengal Vol, VI. p. 182. Now-a-days, officers bearing that name are paid fixed salary, and their position is comparatively low.
- ↑ In the famous Fifth Report of the Select Committee, it is stated that Raghuram a lineal descendant of Bhabananda, "enlarged the jurisdiction of Nadia, to its present magnitude, in the Government of Jaffer Khan. The district gained some respectability under the long and crafty management of Kissen Chund; but is now in danger of being reduced or dismembered through the incapacity of his son Shib Chandra, the profligacy of his servants, and mode of realising balances." Vide Fifth Report p. 371 (1812).