History North 24 Parganas district

1 history

1.1 ancient history
1.2 middle ages
1.3 british raj
1.4 after independence

history
ancient history

the baraha-mihir or khana-mihir mound @ berachampa. first excavated in 1956-57 revealing continuous sequence of cultural remains 11th century bc pre-mouryan period 12th century ad pala period.

according ptolemy s treatise on geography, written in 2nd century a.d., ancient land of gangaridi stretched between rivers bhagirathi-hoogly (lower ganges) , padma-meghna. modern-day 24 parganas southern , south-eastern territory of legendary kingdom.

archaeological excavation @ berachampa village in deganga ps proves though area not directly attached rule of guptas, yet not shun cultural influence. xuanzang (c. 629-685) visited 30 buddhist biharas , 100 hindu temples in india , of these in greater 24 parganas region.

the district not part of shashanka s unified bengali empire known gauda, assumed district south-west frontier territory of ancient bengal, comprised in under rule of dharmapala (estimated c. 770-810). pala rule not quite strong in part, no excavation uncovered of buddhist pala antiquities many hindu sena sculptures.

middle ages

in middle of 16th century, portuguese pirates began invade , plunder many of waterways , prosperous human settlements in lower delta region. people left these places out of fear of being murdered, raped, or captured sold slaves. basirhat sub-division of north 24 parganas suffered these torments.

shrihari (shridhar), kayastha, influential officer in service of daud khan karrani. on fall of daud fled away government treasure in custody. set kingdom himself in marshy land extreme south of khulna district (1574) , assumed title of maharaja. pratapaditya succeeded kingship in 1574. baharistan , travel diary of abdul latif , contemporary european writers, testify personal ability of pratapaditya, political pre-eminence, material resources. territories covered greater part of included in greater jessore, khulna , barisal districts. established capital @ dhumghat, strategic position @ confluence of jamuna , ichhamati before shifted ishwaripur.

maharaja pratapaditya, became 1 of 12 feudal lords of bengal not declared sovereignty mughal empire in ruling of jessore, khulna, barisal , greater 24 parganas, fought , resisted portuguese in years of 17th century. when defeated mughals. pratapaditya lost both battles of salka , magrahat. fate sealed , compelled tender submission islam khan @ dhaka. kingdom annexed. died @ benares on way delhi dhaka, prisoner. of war mughals.

after death, bhavanand majumdar, had been in service of pratapaditya, given throne raja man singh, , later became founder of nadiya raj family. laksmikanta gangopadhyay better known laksmikanta roy choudhury, known brahmin scholar son of great saint kamdev brahmachari , close associate of raja basanta ray, given tax free jaigir of 8 parganas, including areas in , around kalikatah gurudakshina raja man singh in 1608.

jashoreshwari kali temple (built pratapaditya), chanda bhairab mandir @ ishwaripur (built during sena period), 5 domed tenga mosque @ banshipur (mughal period), 2 big , 4 small domed hammankhana (constructed pratapaditya) @ bangshipur, govinda dev temple @ gopalpur (built basanta roy, uncle of maharaja pratapaditya in 1593), jahajghata port (khanpur), kalighat temple (owned laksmikanta roy choudhury) bear archaeological evidences of bhuiyan , majumdar kings.

british raj

the territory of greater 24 parganas under satgaon (ancient saptagram, in hoogly district) administration during mughal era , later included in hoogly chakla (district under post-mughal nawabi rule) during rule of murshid quli khan. in 1757, after battle of plassey, nawab mir jafar conferred zamindari of 24 parganas , janglimahals (small administrative units) upon british east india company. these amirpur, akbarpur, balia, birati, azimabad, basandhari, baridhati, bagjola, kalikata, garh, hatiagarh, islampur, dakshin sagar, kharijuri, khaspur, ikhtiarpur, magura, medanmalla, maida, manpur, barasat, muragachha, pechakuli, paikan, rajarhat, shahpur, shahnagar, satal, new barrackpore [aharampur] , uttar pargana. since then, entire territory known twentyfour parganas.

in 1751, company assigned john zephaniah holwell zemindar of district. in 1759, after bengali war of 1756-57, company assigned lord clive personal jaghir (zamindari) , after death again came under direct authority of company.

in 1793, during rule of lord cornwallis, entire sunderbans in twentyfour parganas. in 1802, parganas on western banks of river hoogly included it. these parganas in nadia earlier. in 1814, separate collectorate established in twenty-four parganas. in 1817, falta , baranagar , in 1820, potions of nadia’s balanda , anwarpur encompassed it. in 1824, portions of barasat, khulna , bakhargunge (now in bangladesh) included it. in 1824, district headquarters shifted kolkata baruipur, in 1828, removed alipore. in 1834, district split 2 districts – alipore , barasat, later these united again.

in 1905, portion of district around sunderbans detached , linked khulna , barishal. these parts remained in bangladesh territories jessore’s bangaon joined twentyfour pargana after 1947 partition.

after independence

in 1983, administrative reform committee under chairmanship of dr. ashok mitra suggested split district 2 , per recommendation of committee in 1986, 1 march 2 districts – north 24 parganas (24 pgs n) , south 24 parganas (24 pgs s) created. north 24 parganas included presidency division has been formed 5 sub-divisions of greater 24 parganas namely barasat (headquarters), barrackpore, basirhat, bangaon , bidhannagar (a satellite township of kolkata, popularly known salt lake).