Chandradweep kayastha kingdom
From 12th to 18th Century A.D., Chandradweep was ruled by three Bengali Kayastha families and by 15 Hindu kings. Below is the list of those dynasties and kings, as given in the famous book " Chandradweep er Itihas" ( History of Chandradweep ) by Brindavan Chandra Pututundu, published by Barishal Seva Samiti, kolkata in 1980. These three families were Deb , Basu and Mitra Mazumdar. They had matrimonial alliances with other leading kayastha families of Medieval Bengal. In Bengal, Bengali kings were mostly of kayastha origin.
( A ) DEB DYNASTY-- CAPITAL KACHUA
( 1 ) Danujmardan Deb of kachua ( circa 1199 A.D. )- Founded Chandradwip on the orders of his guru Chandrasekhar Bhattacharya, with kachua as capital. Head of the Kayasthas of East Bengal. Identified with Danuj Rai and Danujmadhav, but Satish Chandra Mitra wrote that Danuj Rai was an earlier king and Danujmardhan of silver coins was a later king. Vrindaban Ch Putatunda wrote that they were same and the king lived for more than 104 years.
( 2 ) Ramaballav Deb
( 3 ) Krishnaballav Deb
( 4 ) Hariballav Deb
( 5 ) Jagatballav Deb or Jaydeb, the last king of Deb Family- His daughter married Balabhadra Basu, and had a son Paramananda who became king after his death.
( B ) BASU DYNASTY-- CAPITAL KACHUA AND LATER MADHABPASHA
( 6 ) Paramananda Basu- Grandson of Jagatballav Deb. Father Balabhadra Basu and mother kamala Devi, daughter of king Jaydeb. In 1559, the Portuguese Viceroy of Goa concluded a commercial treaty with king Paramananda of Bakla, by which the Portuguese would be able to buy goods on payment of duties. During his time, Bakla faced a cyclone in 1584-85, which took 2 lakh lives, and according to Ain-i-Akbari, the king died in this cyclone. But Satish Ch Mitra showed that it was his son Jagadananda who died , not Paramananda. Mitra's views was also confirmed by Kulagrantha of Ghataks ( Jessore Khulnar Itihas by Mitra, Vol II, page 549 ). He was also kayastha kulapati of Bengal.
( 7 ) Jagadananda Basu-During his time, kamala Dighi was excavated by his daughter kamala, which cost 2 lakh rupees.
( 8 ) Kandarpanarayan Basu ( 1582-1598 )-Greatest of Chandradwip kayastha kings and one of the Baro Bhuiyans. Son of Jagadananda, he made alliance with Maharaja Pratapaditya of Jessore against the Muslims, Portuguese and Magh pirates. Pratap married his daughter Bindumati to his son Ramchandra in exchange of Chakshree Pargana which was then under the rule of kandarpanarayan. After this matrimonial alliance, Kandarpanarayan left kachua and Chakshree and transferred his capital at Rajnagar, Bisharikathi, khudrakathi and lastly Hosseinpur, where he died. Ralph Fitch and Fonseca visited his kingdom and left interesting accounts. He was ably assisted in administration by Sarai Acharya, his Chief Minister, Raghunandan, his Commander-in-Chief and Rammohan Mal, his bodyguard. His kingdom extended to Bagherhat in the west, Gopalganj in the north and Hatia-Sandwip in the east. According to Ain-i-Akbari, the Bakla king had 15000 foot soldiers, and 320 war-elephants.
( 9 ) Ramchandra Basu- Golden Age of Chandradwip. Assisted by Generals Rammohan Mal, Rameshwar Dutta, Bhagavan Das, Madan Singha, Nana Fernandes and Jean Garie, he defeated king Lakhsman Manikya of Bhulua ( Noakhali ) and conquered Greater Noakhali. Set up capital first at Hosseinpur, then Madhabpasha. Built Nayabari Fort on the banks of Guthis River. He increased his army to 1 lakh by recruiting Rajputs from West, Chhatris or Buxaris from Bihar, Portuguese, hilly tribes and adventurers. Jean Garie, the famous Portuguese adventurer joined his Army with 10,000 men. Besides he had cannons and many warships. Excavated Ramsagar and Sukhsagar to the west and east of Capital Madhabpasha. The Madhabpasha Rajbari was built during his time. Introduced new posts like Ghatak and Swarna-matya. The Khaskal and Kagaji Jatis settled in Bakla during his time.
( 10 ) Kirtinarayan- Portuguese Revolt under Jean Garie, who was defeated. The king ordered the Portuguese to leave his kingdom. Invited by Dhaka Nawab to assist him and was tactfully converted to Islam. Hence he placed his brother Basudebnarayan on throne and himself remained his advisor.
( 11 ) Basudebnarayan
( 12 ) Pratapnarayan, end of Basu Dynasty- During his time, Chandradwip became a " karad rajya" or tax-paying kingdom under the Muslims, who conquered parts of it in 1674 A.D. His son died during his lifetime. Hence his daughter's eldest son Udaynarayan became king.
( C ) MITRA MAZUMDAR DYNASTY--CAPITAL MADHABPASHA
( 13 ) Udaynarayan ( Bangabda 1130-75 )- First king of Mitra Mazumdar family in chandradwip, son of Bimala and Gouricharan Mitra Mazumdar of Ulail. His younger brother Rajnarayan was given a taluk named Rajmata and settled in a village north of
Madhabpasha. Soon Uday was deposed by his brother-in-law khadi Mazumdar by the conspiracy of Dhaka Nawab. He went to Nawab's court. Nawab told him to kill a
big tiger to prove that he was worthy of becoming a king. Uday did it single handedly. Pleased by this act, the Nawab returned his kingdom on certain conditions. He gave 5 sanand to 5 Brahman families and ordered the Portuguese to settle near Sahebganj. Set up kali temple at Nathullabad and Mahamaya temple at kashipur. The TALUK SYSTEM was introduced during his time which brought the downfall of Chandradwip kingdom. This system decreased the royal revenue and property andcreated petty zamindars. Royal lands were distributed among Paiks, Pyada, Tahsildar etc. It can be compared with Akbar's Mansabdari and Maratha Empire's land distribution system among the Chiefs.
( 14 ) Shibnarayan ( Bangabda 1175-84 )- known as MAD KING and his queen was known as kalarani. He gave the ijara satta of Sultan Pratap Pargana near Dhaka to a person named Ramgopal Dalal. This caused a family feud and a complain was made against him by Debiprasad Mitra Mazumdar of Ualil to the Dewani Court of Jahangir Nagar ( Dhaka ). The king ultimately lost the case. The court verdict dated 2nd December, 1772, was written in Bengali and Farsi. The Judges were Mr N. Grover and Ray Hariram Mullick. Seal Mughal Emperor Shah Alam and East India Company. The king lost the prestige due to this case and from his time, the East India Company started to interfere in kingdom's affairs. The king died issueless, making his Queen Durgavati the Regent. At the time of his death, the queen was pregnant who later gave birth to a son named Joynarayan. She sent Dewan Ramjiban Chakraborty to bring "sanand" of zamindari from Delhi and Dhaka. Ramjiban brought it in the name of " durga-cror-narayan ray". Few days after it Ramjiban died, and king Joynarayan was born.
( 15 ) Joynarayan ( Bangabda 1185-1220 )- During his time, Chandradweep Zamindari was sold due to Permanent Settlement of Lord Cornwallis. After it the rule of Chandradweep kings came to an end. It became a small principality. After Ramjiban's death, Shibshankar Das Bakshi, a Baidya, was made Dewan. He remained in this post for seven years. He and his relative Shibchandra Dasgupta illegally obtained and sold
Chandradwip's lands. Barishal Collectorate Tauji 1762 no Taluk was that property, with a revenue of 60,000 rs per year. This was later sold to Lakhutia Zamindar Ramchandra Ray Chaudhury...Rani Durgavati excavated Durgasagar, east of Rajbari. It had 4 villages on 4 corners-Madhabpasha in the west, pangsha in the north, solna in south, kaladema in east. In 1780, it was excavated AND THIS WAS CONSIDERED AS LAST GREAT ACHIEVEMENT BY CHANDRADWIP KINGS. Brahmans from all parts of Bengal, Mithila, South India, Varanashi, Western Bharat was invited to Madhabpasha. But suddenly an old woman of royal family died and king Joynarayan had to observe ashauch for one month and the Brahmanas had to wait one month. The whole arrangement for one month cost above Rs 3 lakhs and the royal treasury fell vacant. Few months after it,
Chandradwip was sold due to permanent settlement. Almost 39 Parganas like kotalipara, Idilpur, Sultanabad, Azimpur, Nazirpur, were separated from Chandradwip and Cornwallis sold these. After that, the total revenue of kingdom became 15 lakhs.
( 16 ) Nrisinghanarayan, minor under Queen Karunamoyee
( 17 ) Birsinghanarayan
( 18 ) Debendranarayan
From 12th to 18th Century A.D., Chandradweep was ruled by three Bengali Kayastha families and by 15 Hindu kings. Below is the list of those dynasties and kings, as given in the famous book " Chandradweep er Itihas" ( History of Chandradweep ) by Brindavan Chandra Pututundu, published by Barishal Seva Samiti, kolkata in 1980. These three families were Deb , Basu and Mitra Mazumdar. They had matrimonial alliances with other leading kayastha families of Medieval Bengal. In Bengal, Bengali kings were mostly of kayastha origin.
( A ) DEB DYNASTY-- CAPITAL KACHUA
( 1 ) Danujmardan Deb of kachua ( circa 1199 A.D. )- Founded Chandradwip on the orders of his guru Chandrasekhar Bhattacharya, with kachua as capital. Head of the Kayasthas of East Bengal. Identified with Danuj Rai and Danujmadhav, but Satish Chandra Mitra wrote that Danuj Rai was an earlier king and Danujmardhan of silver coins was a later king. Vrindaban Ch Putatunda wrote that they were same and the king lived for more than 104 years.
( 2 ) Ramaballav Deb
( 3 ) Krishnaballav Deb
( 4 ) Hariballav Deb
( 5 ) Jagatballav Deb or Jaydeb, the last king of Deb Family- His daughter married Balabhadra Basu, and had a son Paramananda who became king after his death.
( B ) BASU DYNASTY-- CAPITAL KACHUA AND LATER MADHABPASHA
( 6 ) Paramananda Basu- Grandson of Jagatballav Deb. Father Balabhadra Basu and mother kamala Devi, daughter of king Jaydeb. In 1559, the Portuguese Viceroy of Goa concluded a commercial treaty with king Paramananda of Bakla, by which the Portuguese would be able to buy goods on payment of duties. During his time, Bakla faced a cyclone in 1584-85, which took 2 lakh lives, and according to Ain-i-Akbari, the king died in this cyclone. But Satish Ch Mitra showed that it was his son Jagadananda who died , not Paramananda. Mitra's views was also confirmed by Kulagrantha of Ghataks ( Jessore Khulnar Itihas by Mitra, Vol II, page 549 ). He was also kayastha kulapati of Bengal.
( 7 ) Jagadananda Basu-During his time, kamala Dighi was excavated by his daughter kamala, which cost 2 lakh rupees.
( 8 ) Kandarpanarayan Basu ( 1582-1598 )-Greatest of Chandradwip kayastha kings and one of the Baro Bhuiyans. Son of Jagadananda, he made alliance with Maharaja Pratapaditya of Jessore against the Muslims, Portuguese and Magh pirates. Pratap married his daughter Bindumati to his son Ramchandra in exchange of Chakshree Pargana which was then under the rule of kandarpanarayan. After this matrimonial alliance, Kandarpanarayan left kachua and Chakshree and transferred his capital at Rajnagar, Bisharikathi, khudrakathi and lastly Hosseinpur, where he died. Ralph Fitch and Fonseca visited his kingdom and left interesting accounts. He was ably assisted in administration by Sarai Acharya, his Chief Minister, Raghunandan, his Commander-in-Chief and Rammohan Mal, his bodyguard. His kingdom extended to Bagherhat in the west, Gopalganj in the north and Hatia-Sandwip in the east. According to Ain-i-Akbari, the Bakla king had 15000 foot soldiers, and 320 war-elephants.
( 9 ) Ramchandra Basu- Golden Age of Chandradwip. Assisted by Generals Rammohan Mal, Rameshwar Dutta, Bhagavan Das, Madan Singha, Nana Fernandes and Jean Garie, he defeated king Lakhsman Manikya of Bhulua ( Noakhali ) and conquered Greater Noakhali. Set up capital first at Hosseinpur, then Madhabpasha. Built Nayabari Fort on the banks of Guthis River. He increased his army to 1 lakh by recruiting Rajputs from West, Chhatris or Buxaris from Bihar, Portuguese, hilly tribes and adventurers. Jean Garie, the famous Portuguese adventurer joined his Army with 10,000 men. Besides he had cannons and many warships. Excavated Ramsagar and Sukhsagar to the west and east of Capital Madhabpasha. The Madhabpasha Rajbari was built during his time. Introduced new posts like Ghatak and Swarna-matya. The Khaskal and Kagaji Jatis settled in Bakla during his time.
( 10 ) Kirtinarayan- Portuguese Revolt under Jean Garie, who was defeated. The king ordered the Portuguese to leave his kingdom. Invited by Dhaka Nawab to assist him and was tactfully converted to Islam. Hence he placed his brother Basudebnarayan on throne and himself remained his advisor.
( 11 ) Basudebnarayan
( 12 ) Pratapnarayan, end of Basu Dynasty- During his time, Chandradwip became a " karad rajya" or tax-paying kingdom under the Muslims, who conquered parts of it in 1674 A.D. His son died during his lifetime. Hence his daughter's eldest son Udaynarayan became king.
( C ) MITRA MAZUMDAR DYNASTY--CAPITAL MADHABPASHA
( 13 ) Udaynarayan ( Bangabda 1130-75 )- First king of Mitra Mazumdar family in chandradwip, son of Bimala and Gouricharan Mitra Mazumdar of Ulail. His younger brother Rajnarayan was given a taluk named Rajmata and settled in a village north of
Madhabpasha. Soon Uday was deposed by his brother-in-law khadi Mazumdar by the conspiracy of Dhaka Nawab. He went to Nawab's court. Nawab told him to kill a
big tiger to prove that he was worthy of becoming a king. Uday did it single handedly. Pleased by this act, the Nawab returned his kingdom on certain conditions. He gave 5 sanand to 5 Brahman families and ordered the Portuguese to settle near Sahebganj. Set up kali temple at Nathullabad and Mahamaya temple at kashipur. The TALUK SYSTEM was introduced during his time which brought the downfall of Chandradwip kingdom. This system decreased the royal revenue and property andcreated petty zamindars. Royal lands were distributed among Paiks, Pyada, Tahsildar etc. It can be compared with Akbar's Mansabdari and Maratha Empire's land distribution system among the Chiefs.
( 14 ) Shibnarayan ( Bangabda 1175-84 )- known as MAD KING and his queen was known as kalarani. He gave the ijara satta of Sultan Pratap Pargana near Dhaka to a person named Ramgopal Dalal. This caused a family feud and a complain was made against him by Debiprasad Mitra Mazumdar of Ualil to the Dewani Court of Jahangir Nagar ( Dhaka ). The king ultimately lost the case. The court verdict dated 2nd December, 1772, was written in Bengali and Farsi. The Judges were Mr N. Grover and Ray Hariram Mullick. Seal Mughal Emperor Shah Alam and East India Company. The king lost the prestige due to this case and from his time, the East India Company started to interfere in kingdom's affairs. The king died issueless, making his Queen Durgavati the Regent. At the time of his death, the queen was pregnant who later gave birth to a son named Joynarayan. She sent Dewan Ramjiban Chakraborty to bring "sanand" of zamindari from Delhi and Dhaka. Ramjiban brought it in the name of " durga-cror-narayan ray". Few days after it Ramjiban died, and king Joynarayan was born.
( 15 ) Joynarayan ( Bangabda 1185-1220 )- During his time, Chandradweep Zamindari was sold due to Permanent Settlement of Lord Cornwallis. After it the rule of Chandradweep kings came to an end. It became a small principality. After Ramjiban's death, Shibshankar Das Bakshi, a Baidya, was made Dewan. He remained in this post for seven years. He and his relative Shibchandra Dasgupta illegally obtained and sold
Chandradwip's lands. Barishal Collectorate Tauji 1762 no Taluk was that property, with a revenue of 60,000 rs per year. This was later sold to Lakhutia Zamindar Ramchandra Ray Chaudhury...Rani Durgavati excavated Durgasagar, east of Rajbari. It had 4 villages on 4 corners-Madhabpasha in the west, pangsha in the north, solna in south, kaladema in east. In 1780, it was excavated AND THIS WAS CONSIDERED AS LAST GREAT ACHIEVEMENT BY CHANDRADWIP KINGS. Brahmans from all parts of Bengal, Mithila, South India, Varanashi, Western Bharat was invited to Madhabpasha. But suddenly an old woman of royal family died and king Joynarayan had to observe ashauch for one month and the Brahmanas had to wait one month. The whole arrangement for one month cost above Rs 3 lakhs and the royal treasury fell vacant. Few months after it,
Chandradwip was sold due to permanent settlement. Almost 39 Parganas like kotalipara, Idilpur, Sultanabad, Azimpur, Nazirpur, were separated from Chandradwip and Cornwallis sold these. After that, the total revenue of kingdom became 15 lakhs.
( 16 ) Nrisinghanarayan, minor under Queen Karunamoyee
( 17 ) Birsinghanarayan
( 18 ) Debendranarayan