Murshidabad Town
This article has been extracted from THE IMPERIAL GAZETTEER OF INDIA , 1908. OXFORD, AT THE CLARENDON PRESS. |
Note: National, provincial and district boundaries have changed considerably since 1908. Typically, old states, ‘divisions’ and districts have been broken into smaller units, and many tahsils upgraded to districts. Some units have since been renamed. Therefore, this article is being posted mainly for its historical value.
Murshidabad Town
Head-quarters of the Lalbagh subdivision of Murshidabad District, Bengal, situated in 24° 12' N. and 88° 17' E., on the left bank of the BhagTrathi, The town, which possesses great historical interest, was formerly known as Makhsusabad or Maksudabad, and is stated by Tieffenthaler to have been founded by the emperor Akbar. In 1696 the Afghans from Orissa in the course of their rebel- lion defeated the imperial troops and plundered the place. In 1704 Nawab Murshid Kuli Khan moved the seat of government from Dacca to Maksudabad, which he then called, after himself, Murshidabad ; the old name, however, still lingers, and the spelling Muxudavad is found in the early English records as late as 1760.
Tradition relates that Murshid Kuli Khan moved his government to this place through fear of prince Azim-ush-shan, who had attempted to assassinate him at Dacca. It seems more probable that he was induced to do so by political considerations. Dacca had lost its importance, for the Maghs and the Portuguese were no longer dangerous ; and the banks of the Bhagirathi afforded a more central position for the management of the three provinces of Bengal, Bihar, and Orissa. The new city was also situated on the main line of communication between the Upper Ganges valley and the sea, along which the treasures of India were now begin- ning to find their way to the European settlements on the Hooghly ; and it commanded the town of Cossimbazar, where all the foreigners had important factories. Moreover, the situation in those days was regarded as very healthy. Murshid Kuli Khan, by birth a Brahman and by education a courtier, was one of the most able administrators that ever served the Mughal empire in time of peace. Second only to the Nawab in establishing the importance of Murshidabad was the Jain banker, Manik Chand Jagat Seth, by whose predominating influence as a financier the residence of the governor became also the centre of the revenue collections for Bengal, Bihar, and Orissa.
The dynasty founded by Murshid Kuli Khan did not continue in the direct line beyond two generations. All Vardi Khan won the governorship by conquest in 1 740. Troublous times followed ; in 1742 Maratha invaders sent by the Bhonsla Raja of Berar plundered the suburbs of Murshidabad and obtained a booty of 3 lakhs from Jagat Seth. In the next year two separate armies of Marathas came, and All Vardi avoided battle only by playing off one chief against the other, and at last got rid of the stronger by paying a large sum of money. From this date till 1751, when he ceded to the Marathas the province of Orissa and agreed to pay an annual tax of 1 2 lakhs, All Vardi was continually pressed by both the Marathas and the Afghans. He was succeeded in 1756 by his grandson Siraj-ud-daula, who in the following year captured the English factory at Cossimbazar, During this period the city itself never suffered either from domestic or foreign war. Each successive prince, after the Eastern fashion, built for himself one or more new palaces ; and the great family of Jagat Seth preserved their position as State bankers from generation to generation. On entering Murshidabad after the victory of Plassey, Colonel Clive wrote : —
This city is as extensive, populous, and rich as the city of London, with this difference, that there are individuals in the first possessing infinitely greater property than in the last city.' Even after the conquest of Bengal by the British, Murshidabad remained for some time the seat of administration. Plassey was fought in 1757, just beyond the present southern Hmits of Murshidabad District ; but that battle was not regarded at the time as interfering with the Muhammadan government, beyond the substitution of a subservient Nawab for the savage Siraj-ud-daula. The only apparent result was that the Commercial Chief of the factory at Cossimbazar was superseded by a Political Resident to the Darbar, who took up his quarters nearer the city, at MotijhTl ('the pearl lake'), in the palace of a former Nawab. In 1765 the East India Company received the grant of the Dlwani or financial administration of Bengal, Bihar, and Orissa from the Mughal emperor.
Shah Alam, as the prize of the victory at Buxar ; and in the following year Lord Clive, as Governor of Bengal, presided in person at the ptmyd or annual settlement of the revenues. But even on this occasion the young Nawab sat on the masnad, with the Governor on his right hand. The entire work of government still remained, without serious check or supervision, in the hands of the Muhammadan officials ; and Jagat Seth continued to be the State banker. The first great reform was effected in 1772 by Warren Hastings, who removed the supreme civil and criminal courts from Murshidabad to Calcutta. After an experience of three years, the tribunal of criminal justice was retransferred to Murshidabad ; and it was not till 1790, under Lord Cornwallis, that the entire revenue and judicial staff was ultimately fixed at the present capital of India.
The mint was abolished in 1799- About the same date, the civil head- quarters of the District were transferred to Berhampore, which had been from the first the site of the military cantonment. Murshidabad city, was thus left only as the residence of the Nawab Nazim, a descen- dant of MTr Jafar, who till 1882 retained certain marks of sovereignty within his palace, and received a pension of 16 lakhs a year. The last holder of the title was for many years resident in England. On his return to India, he abdicated his position in favour of his son, who succeeded him, but without any sovereign rights, and on a diminished pension. The title of the present descendant of the once independent rulers of Bengal, Bihar, and Orissa is now simply that of Nawab Bahadur of Murshidabad.
With the loss of its political importance the size and population of Murshidabad also declined. The largest dimensions of the city proper in 1759 are said to have been 5 miles along the Bhagirathi in length and 2^ miles in breadth on each bank of the river, while the circum- ference of its extensive suburbs has been put as high as 30 miles. In the beginning of the nineteenth century, by which time the decay of the city had already set in, we have several estimates of the population ; but we know neither the area which the city was then supposed to cover, nor the modes of enumeration adopted. In 1815 the number of houses was estimated at 30,000, and the total population at 165,000 souls. In 1829 the Magistrate, Mr. Hawthorn, returned the population at 146,176. In 1837 Mr. Adam found the inhabitants of Murshidabad city to amount to 124,804 persons, which shows a decrease of nearly 15 per cent, in eight years. At the time of the first regular Census in 1872 the population of the town was 46,182, and it has since still further diminished. In 1901, excluding its suburb Azimganj, which was formed into a separate municipality in 1896, its inhabitants numbered only 15,168.
Murshidabad exhibits at the present day but few traces of its former grandeur. The chief object of attraction is the palace of the Nawab Bahadur on the banks of the Bhaglrathi. This is an imposing pile of buildings in the Italian style, designed by Colonel Macleod of the Bengal Engineers, but executed entirely by natives and finished in 1837. The edifice itself is called the Hazar Duari, or 'house of one thousand doors,' and together with other buildings enclosed within the same wall is known as the Nizamat Kila or fort. The palace is 425 feet long, 200 feet wide, and 80 feet high. The ground floor is of stone, the first floor of marble, and the second floor of wood. The banqueting hall is 191 feet long and 55 feet wide. In the centre of the building is a dome, from which hangs a superb chandelier of no branches. The palace contains many rare old pictures, costly jewellery, china, and arms. The residences of the Nawab Bahadur and the members of the Nizamat family are a series of one-storeyed buildings, devoid of beauty and unsafe to live in.
The Imambara (house of prayer), which was built directly in front of the northern principal door in the year 1847, is a fine stru(?ture, considerably larger than the Imambara at Hooghly. It stands on the site of a more celebrated building erected by Siraj-ud-daula, which was accidentally burnt down in 1840.
About \\ miles to the east of the palace is the Topkhana, the site of the artillery park of the Nawab Nazim, and the east entrance to the old city. Here is a large gun, 17^ feet long with a girth of 5 feet at the breech, weighing 2\ maunds, which was made at Dacca during the reign of Shah Jahan. The gun is now embedded in papal tree, which has lifted it many feet above the ground. In the palace armoury is another gun, cast by Kishor Das Karmakar, formerly the property of Maharaja Krishna Chandra Rai of Nadia.
One and a half miles south-east of the palace is the MotijhTl (' pearl lake '), built in an old bed of the Bhaglrathi, in the shape of a horseshoe, by Nawazish Muhammad Khan, nephew and son-in-law of All Vardi Khan, who, with materials brought from the ruins of Gaur, built a stone hall (Sangi-Dalan), Mahalsarai (harem), a mosque and
out-offices, and lived here Avith his beautiful wife, Ghaseti Begam. Motijhil was taken by Siraj-ud-daula in 1756 on the death of Nawazish Muhammad, and it was from here that he marched for the battle of Plassey. Mir Jafar built a garden-house here in 1758. Lord Clive stayed at Motijhil in 1765 to negotiate the transfer of the Dlwani to the Company, and again in 1766, when the first EngHsh puny a or revenue collection was held here. Motijhil was also the residence of Warren Hastings when he became Political Resident at the court of Murshid- abad, and of Sir John Shore in a similar capacity.
A mosque at Katra to the north-east of Motijhil, about i^ miles from the town of Murshidabad, contains the mausoleum of Murshid Kuli Khan. This was for a long time the chief mosque of the city, and was a place of pilgrimage for devout Muhammadans, Murshid KulT Khan being regarded as a saint.
Jafarganj, situated at a distance of about a mile from the palace at Murshidabad, contains the old residence of Mir Jafar when he was commander-in-chief. His audience hall, since turned into an Imam- bara, and his dwelling-house still exist. Here the last secret conference before the battle of Plassey took place between him and Mr. Watts, the chief factor at Cossimbazar, who entered the house in a palanquin as 2i pardanishln woman. It is said that Siraj-ud-daula was murdered here.
The Mubarak Manzil is a garden-house 2^ miles south-east of the palace ; the main buildings and the out-offices were built by the East India Company, and the Sadar Dlwani Adalat was held here from 1765 to 1 781. Nawab Humayun Jah bought these buildings in the year 1831, and converted them, together with extensive adjoining lands, into a garden-house now known as the Lai Bangala ('red bunga- low'). On the terrace stood the throne of the Subahdars of Bengal, which was made in 1643 at Monghyr ; it is a round table of black stone 6 feet in diameter and 18 inches high, with four thick pedestals, the whole hewn out of one block. This has been removed to Calcutta, where it is to find a place in the Victoria Memorial Hall.
About 2 miles north of the city of Murshidabad is Mahimapur, once the residence of the famous banker Jagat Seth. Here Watts and Walsh met Mir Jafar and Raja Rai Durlabh, three days after the battle of Plassey, and conferred concerning payment of the amounts stipulated for by them before the battle was fought. Clive, Watts, Scrafton, Meeran, and Rai Durlabh were again present here on June 29, i757> when Clive repudiated the agreement with Umichand. A portion of the house has been washed away by the river ; the old place of worship, however, and some ruins remain to this day.
On the right bank of the river opposite Motijhil is the Khushbagh ('the garden of happiness'), the old cemetery of All Vardi Khan, Siraj-ud-daula, and their family. It consists of three walled enclosures, in the centre of which is the principal cemetery, containing the tombs of Ah Vardi Khan and Siraj-ud-daula. The grounds are laid out as gardens with hedges bordering the walks, and contain many fine trees. On the same side of the river, opposite Jafarganj, are the pleasure- grounds of Hirajhil ('lake of diamonds '), and the palace at Mansurganj constructed by Siraj-ud-daula before he became Nawab. It was at Mansurganj palace that Clive seated Mir Jafar on the masfiad of Bengal after the battle of Plassey. Near this was the palace of Murad- bagh, where Clive stayed on his entrance into the city after the battle. Only a portion of the foundation remains, and the greater portion of the Hirajhil has been cut away by the Bhagirathi. Also on the same side of the river is the Roshnlbagh, consisting of beautiful gardens contain- ing the mausoleum of Shuja Khan, Murshid Kuli Khan's son-in-law and successor.
The principal industries of Murshidabad are those fostered by the luxury of the native court. Carving in ivory is an old speciality of the place ; and the artificers, though now few in number, still produce highly finished work. Other manufactures are the embroidery of fancy articles with gold and silver lace, the weaving of silk goods, and the making of musical instruments and hukkas.
Murshidabad was constituted a municipality in 1869. The income during the decade ending 1901-2 averaged Rs. 24,000 and the ex- penditure Rs. 23,000. In 1903-4 the income was Rs. 19,000, of which Rs. 5,500 was obtained from a tax on persons; and the expenditure was Rs. 18,000. The official name for Murshidabad is Lalbagh as the head-quarters of the Lalbagh subdivision, and it contains subdivisional offices, a sub-jail with accommodation for 12 prisoners, and a dispensary with 22 beds. The most important educational institutions are the Nawab's madrasa, intended exclusively for the relatives of the Nawab Bahadur, and the Nizamat high school maintained by the Nawab.
