CHAPTER II

HISTORY

RISE AND FALL OF THE BISHNUPUR RAJ

The history of Bankura, so far as it is known, prior to the period of British rule, is identical with
the history of the rise and fall of the Rajas of Bishnupur, said to be one of the oldest dynasties in Bengal.
"The ancient Rajas of Bishnupur," writes Mr. R. C. Dutt, "trace back their history to a time when Hindus
were still reigning in Delhi, and the name of Musalmans was not yet heard in India. Indeed, they could
already count five centuries of rule over the western frontier tracts of Bengal before Bakhtiyar Khilji
wrested that province from the Hindus. The Musalman conquest of Bengal, however, made no
difference to the Bishnupur princes. Protected by rapid currents like the Damodar, by extensive tracts of
scrub-wood and sal jungle, as well as by strong forts like that of Bishnupur, these jungle kings were
little known to the Musalman rulers of the fertile portions of Bengal, and were never interfered with. For
long centuries, therefore, the kings of Bishnupur were supreme within their extensive territories. At a
later period of Musalman rule, and when the Mughal power extended and consolidated itself on all
sides, a Mughal army sometimes made its appearance near Bishnupur with claims of tribute, and tribute
was probably sometimes paid. Nevertheless, the Subahdars of Murshidabad never had that firm hold
over the Rajas of Bishnupur which they had over the closer and more recent Rajaships of Burdwan and
Birbhum. As the Burdwan Raj grew in power, the Bishnupur family fell into decay; Maharaja Kirti
Chand of Burdwan attacked the Bishnupur Raj and added to his zamindari large slices of his
neighbour's territories. The Marathas completed the ruin of the Bishnupur house, which is an
impoverished zamindari in the present day.

ORIGIN OF THE RAJAS

"This ancient and renowned family is, of course, a Kshattriya family, and some thousands of
people living in all parts of Bankura district, and who are descended from the old servants or retainers,
soldiers or relations of the Bishnupur Rajas, are Kshattriyas also by caste... The story by which the
Bishnupur Kshattriyas connect themselves with the Kshattriyas of Northern India, is thus told in Dr.
Hunter's Annals of Rural Bengal:
'Raghunath Singh, the founder of the dynasty of Bishnupur, derives his origin from the kings of
Jainagar near Brindaban. The story of his parentage is as follows: The king of Jainagar, being
seized with a desire to visit distant countries, set out for Purushottam, and on his way thither
passed through Bishnupur. While resting at one of the halting places in the great forest of that
country, his wife gave birth to a son; and the king foreseeing the difficulty of carrying a child
with him, left the mother and her baby behind in the woods, and went forward on his journey.
Soon after the father had departed, a man named Sri Kasmetia Bagdi (an aboriginal inhabitant),
when gathering fire-wood, passed by the halting place, and saw the newly-born child lying
helpless and alone. The mother never was heard of; and whether she was devoured by wild
beasts, or found shelter with the natives, remains a mystery to this day. The woodman took the
infant home, and reared him till he reached the age of seven, when a certain Brahman of the
place, struck with his beauty and the marks of royal descent that were visible on his person,
took him to his house. Soon afterwards, the king (an aboriginal prince) having died, his
obsequies were celebrated with great pomp, and people from all parts went to the funeral feast.
The Brahman being very poor went among the rest, taking Raghu with him. When the Brahman
was in the middle of his repast, the late king's elephant seized Raghu with his trunk, and
approached the empty throne. Great was the consternation and terror, lest the elephant should
dash the boy to pieces; but when the royal animal carefully placed the lad on the throne, the
whole multitude, thunder-struck at seeing a deed so manifestly done by the will of God, filled
the place with their acclamations, and the ministers agreed to crown the boy on the spot.
Raghunath Singh, therefore, was the first king of Bishnupur.'

Such is the story of the descent of the Bishnupur Kshattriyas from the Kshattriyas of Northern India. If
it were not ridiculous to apply the rules of historical criticism to a story which is so apparently a myth,

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we would ask one or two questions. If Sri Kasmetia Bagdi, we would enquire, found the child by itself
in the forest, how did he (or any one else) know that it was the child of the queen of Jainagar, and not of
some unfortunate woman of the neighbourhood who might have better reasons for abandoning her
child. If the king of Jainagar, again, found it impossible to carry the new-born child with him, could he
not have left some part of his establishment with provision to take care of the queen and the, male child
until he returned from Purushottam. Is there any evidence, one is inclined to ask, beyond the signs
which the learned Brahman observed on the boy's forehead and the conduct of the inspired elephant, to
shew that the boy was a Kshattriya boy, and not a Bagdi boy ? And, lastly, is there anything to fix the
date or the authenticity of the story, or to show that it was not fabricated when the Rajas of Bishnupur
were powerful in Western Bengal and had assumed Hindu civilization, and were anxious, therefore, to
make out a respectable royal descent for themselves. But it is needless to make such enquiries; the story
is exactly such as is prevalent in all parts of India among semi-aboriginal tribes who connect themselves
with Aryan ancestors. The fact that the Rajas of Bishnupur called themselves Mallas (an aboriginal title)
for many centuries before they assumed the Kshattriya title of Singh, the fact that down to the present
day they are known as Bagdi Rajas all over Bengal, as well as numerous local facts and
circumstances—all go to prove that the Rajas of Bishnupur are Kshattriyas, because of their long
independence and their past history, but not by descent. The story of descent is legendary, but the
Kshattriyas of Bishnupur can show the same letters patent for their Kshattriyahood as the Rajputs of
Northern India or the original Kshattriyas of India could show, viz., military profession and the exercise
of royal powers for centuries."

The country over which these Rajas ruled is called Mallabhum, a term now used for the tract of
country comprised in the thanas of Bankura (excluding the Chhattna outpost), Onda, Bishnupur,
Kotalpur and Indas. Originally, however, the term was applied to a more extensive tract of country. To
the north it is believed to have stretched as far as the modern Damin-i-koh in the Santal Parganas; to the
south it comprised part of Midnapore, and to the east part of Burdwan; and inscriptions found at Panchet
in the Manbhum district show that on the west it included part of Chota Nagpur.

The term Mallabhum is said to mean the land of the wrestlers, and is explained by the legend
that the first Raja received the title of Adi Malla from his skill in wrestling. The name Malla (a wrestler)
is a Sanskrit one, but it appears more probable that the title is really an aboriginal one. "The name
Malla", writes Mr. W. B. Oldham, "is a title of the Rajas of Bishnupur, the acknowledged kings of the
Bagdis, and of the present Mals who are their neighbours, around whom are centred the most concrete
legends which refer to the connection between these two tribes. The Hindu genealogists of the house of
Bishnupur assert that this hereditary title Malla means the wrestlers, just as Manbhum should be
Mallabhum, the land of the wrestlers. As far as I know, except for the mere coincidence of sounds, both
assumptions are equally gratuitous." "There is," he further points out, "an intimate connection between
the Mals and the Bagdis. To this day they partake of the same hookah and admit a common origin, and,
in the case of Bishnupur, a common sovereign; and my observation of both people leads me to
conjecture that the Bagdis are the section of the Mals who have accepted civilization and life in the
cultivated country as serfs and co-religionists of the Aryans; while those Mals who are still found
scattered through the Bengal delta, and who are not clearly traceable to the Mals of the hills, are either
the descendants of isolated and conservative fragments of the race, or of those members of it who tried
to follow the example of the Bagdis, after the latter had become constituted as a recognized and
exclusive caste, and therefore failed."

To this it may be added that other portions of the district appear also to have been originally the
homes of aboriginal races and to have subdued by military adventurers, who were either aboriginals
themselves or Aryan immigrants. Such are Dhalbhum comprised in the Khatra thana, Tungbhum in the
south of the Raipur thana and Samantabhum in the Chhatna outpost. The legends connected with these
portions of the district will be found in the articles on them in chapter XIV, and it will be sufficient to
state that they were eventually overshadowed by the Malla kings of Bishnupur.

The names of some of these tracts are of considerable antiquity, being found in the Bramanda
section of the Bhavishyat Purana, which was probably compiled in the 1 5th or 16th century A.D.

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"Varahabhumi," it says, "is in one direction contiguous to Tungabhumi, and in another to the Sckhara
mountain; and it comprises Varabhumi, Samantabhumi, and Manbhumi. This country is overspread
with impenetrable forests of sal and other trees. On the borders of Varabhumi runs the Darikesi river. In
the same district are numerous mountains, containing mines of copper, iron and tin. The men are mostly
Rajputs, robbers by profession, irreligious and savage. They eat snakes, and all sorts of flesh; drink
spirituous liquors, and live chiefly by plunder or the chase. As to the women, they are, in garb, manners
and appearance, more like Rakshasis than human beings. The only objects of veneration in these
countries are rude village divinities." Among the chief villages of this tract we find mention of Raipur
and two Sarengas. It may be added that the name Varahabhumi appears to be preserved in the modern
Barabhum and that the Sekhara mountain is probably Parasnath. A portion of the Gangajalghati thana,
which is known as Mahiswara, forms part of Sekharbhum, or as it is known locally Sikharbhum.

LEGENDARY HISTORY
The following sketch of the traditional history of the Rajas of Bishnupur has been prepared
from an account furnished by the District Officer, which was based on the papers kept by the Raj family.
It differs materially from the Pandit's Chronicle given in the Statistical Account of Bengal and in the
Annals of Rural Bengal by Sir William Hunter.

In the year 102 of the Bengali era, i.e., in 695 A.D., a prince of one of the royal houses of
Northern India made a pilgrimage with his wife to the shrine of Jagannath in Puri. While on his way
thither, he halted, in the midst of a great forest, at the village of Laugram, 6 miles from Kotalpur, and
there left his wife who was about to give birth to a child, in the house of a Brahman named Panchanan,
after arranging that a Kayasth[a] named Bhagirath Guha should look after her. He then proceeded on his
way, and a few days afterwards his wife gave birth to a son. The mother and child remained at Laugrarn
in the care of the Kayasth, and when the boy reached the age of 7 years, the Brahman employed him as
a cowherd. One day, when overcome with fatigue, he had fallen asleep under a tree, two huge cobras,
raising their hoods above the sleeper's face, shaded him from the rays of the sun, till they were startled
away by the approach of Panchanan searching for the boy. Impressed at this wonderful sight, the
Brahman augured that it foretold the future greatness of the boy. Returning to his homestead, he gave
orders to his wife that in future the boy should never be given the leavings of their food, and obtained a
promise from his mother that, if her son ever become a king, he should be made his purohit and the
Kayasth his prime minister. From this time the boy ceased to be a cowherd. Another sign of the
greatness in store for him was soon forthcoming; for one day, while fishing with other boys of the
village, he caught gold bricks instead of fish. He now received the education of a warrior, and when he
was only 15 years old, had no equal in wrestling in all the country round. His skill in this manly art
endeared him to an aboriginal ruler called the Raja of Panchamgarh, and earned for him the sobriquet of
Adi Malla, the original or unique wrestler.

THE MALLA CHIEFS

Adi Malla soon became a chieftain owing to the favour of the Raja of Padampur, a place near
the modern village and police outpost of Jaypur, 8 miles from Laugram. This Raja gave a feast to all the
Brahmans round about, to which Panchanan went accompanied by Adi Malla. The boy, being a
cowherd, was not allowed to eat with the Brahmans, but sat outside in the courtyard. The Raja, attracted
by his beauty, held an umbrella over his head to protect him from the sun and rain, whereupon the
Brahmans declared that, since the Raja himself held the umbrella over him, the boy was destined to
become a king. He was then invested with the ensigns of Rajaship; and the Raja made him a grant of
Laugram and some villages in its vicinity. One of the first acts of Adi Malla, on returning home, was, we
are told, to install the goddess Dandeswari under the tree where the snakes had raised their hoods to
shade him from the rays of the sun. An opportunity for extending his small domains soon occurred,
when a neighbouring chief, Pratap Narayan of Jotbihar, withheld the tribute due to his suzerain, the Raja
of Padampur. Adi Malla successfully waged war against him and annexed his territories.

Adi Malla reigned in Laugram for 33 years and is known to this day as the Bagdi Raja, a
designation which seems to show that the district was then inhabited by aboriginal races, over whom he

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established his rule. He was succeeded by his son Jay Malla, who invaded Padampur and took the Raja's
fort, the possession of which in those days meant the government of the country. To avoid capture by
the conqueror, the Padampur royal family perished in the waters of tank, still in existence, which is
known by the name of Kanaisayar. Jay Malla, having extended his dominions on all sides, removed the
capital to Bishnupur.

Of the kings who succeeded him at Bishnupur we have only fragmentary accounts, which
serve, however, to show how steadily the borders of their kingdom were extended. The fourth of the
line, Kalu Malla, defeated the neighbouring chief of Indas and annexed his territories; the sixth, Kau
Malla, conquered the king of Kakalia; the seventh, Jhau Malla, overcame other neighbouring princes;
and the eighth, Sur Malla, subdued the Raja of Bagri (now a pargana in the north of Midnapore). A long
list of 40 kings then follows, but their reigns are barren in interest, the chronicles merely recording the
names of the chieftains they subjugated, the idols they set up, and the temples in which they enshrined
the gods. All these kings were known by the title of Malla or Mallabaninath, i.e., the lords of
Mallabhum or Mallabani; and the family records show them as exercising full sovereignty within their
domains and independent of all foreign powers. With the reign of the 49th Raja, Dhar Hambir, who is
said to have flourished in 993 B.S. (1586 A.D.,), we hear for the first time of the acknowledgment of the
suzerainty of the Muhammadan Viceroys of Bengal, to whom this prince paid an annual tribute of Rs.
1,07,000.

REIGN OF BIR HAMBlR

With the reign of his successor, Bir Hambir, we enter on more certain ground than that of
tradition, for this ruler of a border principality became involved in the struggle between the Mughals
and Afghans, and is mentioned by the Muhammadan historians. The Afghans had seized Orissa during
the revolt of the Mughal troops, and, under the command of Kutlu Khan, had extended their dominion
over Midnapore and Bishnupur, leaving the river Damodar as the barrier between them and the Mughals
(1582). Kutlu Khan was, however, forced to fall back by the Mughal general Khan Azam, and Bir
Hambir threw in his lot with the Mughals. He rendered them good service in 1591, when the Viceroy,
Man Singh, invaded Orissa. Kutlu Khan advanced to meet Man Singh, sending forward a large force to
Raipur; and a Mughal force under Jagat Singh, the son of the Viceroy, was detached to check this
movement. The Afghans offered to treat, but during the armistice treacherously delivered a night attack.
Jagat Singh had been warned by Bir Hambir of his danger, but, having disregarded his advice, was taken
by surprise and forced to abandon his camp. Bir Hambir rescued him in his flight and brought him
safely to Bishnupur. After this, Bir Hambir appears to have remained loyal to the Mughals, and suffered
for his loyalty; for two years later, when the Afghans again rose and he refused them any help, they
ravaged his territory.

Tradition says that Bir Hambir was as pious as he was powerful, and was converted to
Vaishnavism by Srinivasa. Two Vaishnava works, the Prema-vilasa of Nityananda Das (alias Balaram
Das) and the Bhakti-ratnakara of Narahari Chakravarti, relate that Srinivasa and other bhaktas left
Brindaban for Gaur with a number of Vaishnava manuscripts, but were robbed on the way by Bir
Hambir. This news killed the old Krishnadas Kabiraj, author of the Chaitanya-Charitamrita. But
Srinivasa bearded the king in his den, and so moved him by reading the Bhagavata that he became a
convert to Vaishnavism and gave his preceptor rich endowments of land and money. Two Vaishnava
songs are attributed to Bir Hambir, the originals of which are given in the Bhakti-ratnakara; and
tradition says that he introduced the worship of Madan Mohan in Bishnupur. From these references it
would appear that the reign of Bir Hambir fell between 1591 and 1616.

TRIBUTARY RAJAS
Bir Hambir is said to have been succeeded by Raghunath Singh, the first of the line to assume
the Kshattriya title of Singh. The Rajas of Mallabhum seem now to have entered on their palmiest days,
if we may judge by the exquisite memorials left by him and his descendants; and it is probably to this
period that we should refer the story that Bishnupur was formerly the most renowed city in the world,
more beautiful than the house of Indra in heaven. The beautifully carved temples erected by them shew

31
that the kings ruling in Bankura were pious Hindus; but the family records also make it clear that, while
they were busy building temples, these royal patrons of Hindu art and religion had lost much of their
independence and had sunk to the position of tributary princes. Even the title of Singh was, it is said,
conferred by the Nawab of Murshidabad. The story is that Raghunath neglected to pay his stipulated
tribute and was carried away prisoner to Murshidabad. There one day he saw one of the Nawab's horses,
well known for its savage temper, being taken by 16 soldiers to be washed in the river. The Raja scoffed
at the idea of so many men being required for one horse, and the Nawab thereupon challenged him to
ride the horse himself. This he did, and with the greatest ease rode an incredible distance in a short time,
a journey of 8 days, it is said, being finished within 9 hours. Pleased with his skill and courage, the
Nawab conferred on him the title of Singh, remitted the arrears of tribute, and allowed him to return to
Bishnupur. The evidence of inscription shews that Raghunath Singh built the temples of Shyamrai, Jor
Bangla and Kalachand between 1643 and 1656.

The Next prince was Bir Singh, who is said to have built the present fort, the site of which was
indicated by a sign from heaven; for when out hawking he let loose his hawk on a heron sitting on the
branch of a tree, and saw the heron strike down the hawk. This seemed an auspicious sign, and he built
the fort on the spot. He also had the seven big lakes or tanks, called Lalbandh, Krishnabandh,
Gantatbandh, Jamunabandh, Kalindibandh. Shyambandh, and Pokabandh excavated, and erected the
temple of Lalji in 1658; while his queen Siromani or Chudamani had the temples of Madan Gopal and
Murali Mohan built in 1665. While beautifying the town in this way, Bir Singh took care to keep the
subordinate chiefs in order; for, hearing that Moniram Adhvarjya of Maliara oppressed his people, he
marched against him, and defeated him in a bloody battle. Another story about this king does not shew
him in such a favourable light, for it is said that he ordered all his sons, eighteen in number, to be walled
up alive. The youngest, Durjan Singh, alone escaped, being kept in hiding by the servants. The end of
the Raja was a miserable one, for he committed suicide in horror and remorse in killing a Brahman boy.
He was succeeded by Durjan Singh, the builder of the Madan Mohan temple (1694); and after him the
principality was held by Raghunath Singh, who succeeded in overrunning the Chetebarda (or
Chhotabarda) estate in Midnapore for the Muhammadans, who, it is said, had not been able to conquer it
themselves and therefore sought the assistance of the Raja.

RELATIONS WITH THE MUHAMMADANS

It seems clear from the family records that though the Bishnupur Raja still continued to pay
tribute, they were independent within their own kingdom and that the Muhammadans did not interfere
with the internal administration. This claim is confirmed by the Muhammadan historians themselves,
who say that when Murshid Kuli Khan, the Nawab of Bengal, proceeded to introduce a more centralized
form of government in 1707-08, only two persons were exempted from his despotic regulations—the
chieftains of Birbhum and Bankura. The latter, it is expressly stated, "owed his security to the nature of
his territory, which was full of woods and adjoined the mountains of Jharkhand, whither, upon any
invasion, he retired to places inaccessible to his pursuers and harassed them severely in their retreat."
The country was also unproductive, and the expenses of collection would have exceeded the amount of
the revenue. "These two zamindars, therefore, having refused the summons to attend at the court of
Murshidabad, were permitted to remain on their own estates on condition of regularly remitting their
assessment through an agent stationed at Murshidabad." The status of the Raja of Bishnupur was thus
practically acknowledged as that of a tributary prince, exempted from personal attendance at the court at
Murshidabad and represented there by a Resident.

MARATHA RAIDS
The end of the 17th century left the Bishnupur Rajas at the summit of their fortunes. Their
territory lay beyond the direct control of the Muhammadan power, and as frontier chiefs they were of so
much importance as wardens of the marches, that the viceroys of Bengal treated them as allies rather
than subjects. The first half of the 18th century witnessed the beginning of the downfall of the house.
Their power suffered from the aggressions of the Maharaja of Burdwan, who seized the Fatehpur
Mahal, and from the invasions of the Marathas, who laid waste their country. Nor were the Rajas who
now ruled over Mallabhum fit to cope with their difficulties. Gopal Singh, who, we know from official

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records, held the Raj between 1730 and 1745, was a pious prince, whose memory is held in veneration
to this day by the people of Bishnupur. It was characteristic of this Raja that he issued an edict that all
the people of Mallabhum should count their beads and repeat the name of god (Harinam) every evening
at sunset; this evening prayer is still known as Gopal Singher begar. But his religious zeal was not
supported by military prowess. During his reign the Marathas under Bhaskar Rao appeared before the
southern gate of Bishnupur, and after the troops had made a spirited sally, Gopal Singh retreated inside
the fort and ordered both soldires and citizens to join in prayers to the god of his family to save the city.
This prayer was heard, and, legend relates, the guns were fired without human assistance by the god
Madan Mohan. The truth probably is that the Maratha cavalry were unable to pierce the strong
fortification and retired, leaving the Raja's levies to plunder their abandoned camp.

Baffled in their attempt to seize the fort and pillage the treasury, the Marathas harried the less
protected parts of the country. Their ravages have been graphically described in the Riyazu-s-Salatin:
"Sacking the villages and towns of the surrounding tracts, and engaging in slaughter and captures, they
set fire to granaries, and spared no vestige of fertility. And when the stores and granaries of Burdwan
were exhausted, and the supply of imported grains was also completely cut off, to avert death by
starvation, human beings ate plantain roots, whilst animals were fed on the leaves of trees. Even these
gradually ceased to be available. For breakfast and supper, nothing except the disc of the sun and moon
feasted their eyes. The whole tract from Akbarnagar (Rajmahal) to Midnapore and Jaleswar (Jalasore)
came into the possession of the Marathas. Those murderous free-booters drowned in the rivers a large
number of the people, after cutting off their ears, noses and hands. Tying sacks of dirt to the mouths of
others, they mangled and burnt them with indescribable tortures."

This encounter with the Marathas should probably be referred to the year 1742, when the first
Maratha invasion of Bengal took place. Defeated at Katwa, Bhaskar Rao retreated to the passes of
Panchet, but having lost his way in the hilly forest-clad tracts, he came back to the jungles of Bishnupur,
and thence made good his retreat to Chandrakona and emerged in the open country round Midnapore.
This was not the last appearance of the Marathas at Bishnupur, for in 1760 they made it their
headquarters during the invasion of Shah Alam. Proclaiming that he intended to support the cause of the
Emperor, Sheobhat, a Maratha chief who appears to have been ever ready to take advantage of any
troubles in Bengal, suddenly advanced to Midnapore, made himself master of the country and pushed
forward a detachment to Bishnupur, from which he threatened Burdwan. The Emperor marched south
towards Murshidabad, while Sheobhat came with the main body of Marathas to Bishnupur. Meanwhile,
the Nawab, Mir Jafar Khan, having advanced towards Burdwan, effected a junction with a British
force under Major Caillaud. The advance of the latter appears to have upset Shah Alam's plans. Instead
of forcing his way to Murshidabad, he drew off his troops, set fire to his camp, and retired with his
Maratha allies to Bishnupur, where the English, having no cavalry and receiving no support from that of
the Nawab, were unable to follow him. Thence the Emperor marched off with Sheobhat to Patna, after
receiving the homage of the Raja of Bishnupur. A small force was left at Bishnupur, but at the close of
the year was cleared out by an English force.

The effect of the Maratha raids has been graphically described by Sir William Hunter in the
Statistical Account of Burdwan: "Year after year the inexhaustible Maratha horse overflowed upon the
border. Under the Muhammadan system, a family was secure in proportion as it was near the frontier
and distant from Court; but now safety could be found only in the heart of the Province. The Marathas
fell with their heaviest weight upon the border principalities of Birbhum and Bishnupur. Tribute, free
quarters, forced services, exactions of a hundred sorts, reduced the once powerful frontier houses to
poverty; and their tenantry fled from a country in which the peasant had become a mere machine for
growing food for the soldier. Burdwan not only lay further inland, but its marshy and river-intersected
surface afforded a less tempting field for cavalry, and a better shelter for the people. The Marathas spent
their energy in plundering the intervening frontier tracts of Birbhum and Bishnupur, where the dry soil
and fine undulating surface afforded precisely the riding ground which their cavalry loved. There they
could harry the villages exhaustively, and in detail, by means of small parties."

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INTERNAL FEUDS
The Raja of Bishnupur at this time was Chaitanya Singh, who shares with Gopal Singh the fond
memories of the people; for he was also a pious ruler and made large grants to Brahmans, so much so
that, if a Brahman in the Raj had no rent-free grant, it was open to question whether he was a true
Brahman. But the religious and retiring disposition of Chitanya Singh made him unfit to deal with the
troubles which now arose. He was indifferent to his public duties, spent his time in religious discussion
and meditation, and entrusted the direction of State affairs to his favourite minister, Kamal Biswas,
better known by the proud title of Chhatrapati. This minister became the real ruler of Mallabhum, and
Damodar Singh, a cousin of the Raja and the head of a junior branch of the house, took advantage of his
unpopularity to advance claims to the Raj. He repaired to the Nawab's court at Murshidabad and
succeeded in obtaining a strong force from Siraj-ud-daula with which to establish his claims. This force
met with an ignominious defeat at Sanghatgola in the north of Mallabhum, and Damodar Singh
narrowly escaped with his life. On his return, he found Mir Jafar Khan set up in the place of his old
patron Siraj-ud-daula; but the new Nawab was no less favourable to his cause and furnished him with a
stronger force. He then advanced cautiously by stealthy marches and overcoming a feeble resistance on
the way, surprised the Bishnupur fort at the dead of night. Chaitanya Singh made good his escape with
the family idol of Madan Mohan and wandered from place to place till he reached Calcutta. There, it is
said, he pawned the idol to Gokul Mitra of Bagh Bazar in order to purchase the aid of Diwan Ganga
Gobind Singh. Through the intercession of the latter, he succeeded in being reinstated by the British.

According to another account, Gokul Mitra bought the celebrated image of Madan Mohan from
the Maharaja of Bishnupur, paying him three lakhs of rupees, and built a temple for it, the tasteful and
costly architecture of which has excited the admiration of experts in Hindu art. A host of men were
employed in the service of this deity—worshippers to perform the daily service, florists to supply
flowers and to string garlands, priests to recite the sacred books, songsters to sing hymns, and other men
and women too numerous to mention.

EARLY BRITISH ADMINISTRATION

Bankura was ceded to the British with the rest of the Burdwan chakla in 1760. The early days of
their rule were troubled ones; and we find Mr. Grant in his View of the Revenues of Bengal (1788)
referring to Bankura as "a district celebrated by modern speculative historians for the primitive
inoffensive manners of its inhabitants under an Utopian system of internal administration, and
distinguished in Bengal as a nest of thieves." The country was impoverished by the raids of the
Marathas, and in 1770 it was desolated by famine. A large portion of the population was swept away;
lands fell out of cultivation; distress and destitution drove the people to acts of lawlessness and
violence, in which disbanded soldiers lent a willing hand. The old Raja of Bishnupur had no power to
control these elements of disorder. He had been reduced from the position of a tributary prince to that of
a mere Zamindar, and being unable to collect his rents and pay his revenue, had been thrown into prison.
The state of affairs was as bad, if not worse, in Birbhum to the north, and there was no officer on the spot
to restore order, both tracts being governed from Murshidabad. In 1785 we find the Collector of
Murshidabad begging for troops to be sent against the banditti who were overrunning this outlying
portion of his district, and his representations had some effect. It was realized that anarchy prevailing
demanded the presence of a ravenue officer; and in 1786 Mr. Foley was placed in charge of
Birbhum and Mr. Pye in charge of Bishnupur. Next year Lord Cornwallis determined to unite Birbhum
and Bishnupur into a compact British district; and in March 1787 a notification was issued in the
Calcutta Gazette to the effect that Mr. Pye was "confirmed Collector of Bishenpore in addition to
Beerbhoom heretofore superintended by G. R. Foley, Esq." His tenure of office was brief, for he left the
district in April 1787; but even in this short time some towns in Bishnupur were sacked by banditti. His
successor was Mr. Sherbume, during whose administration of a year and a half the headquarters of the
united district were transferred from Bishnupur to Suri in Birbhum. Short, however, as was his term of
office, "the two frontier principalities had passed from the condition of military fiefs into that of a
regular British district administered by a Collector and covenanted assistants, defended by the
Company's troops, studded with fortified factories, intersected by a new military road, and possessing

34
daily communication with the seat of government in Calcutta."

Early in November 1788 Mr. Sherburne was removed under suspicion of corrupt dealings, and
after a short interregnum Mr. Christopher Keating assumed charge of the united district. Of his
administration Sir William Hunter has left a picturesque account in the Annals of Rural Bengal. "Mr.
Keating the first Collector whose records survive, had not enjoyed his appointment two months before
he found himself compelled to call out the troops against a band of marauders five hundred strong, who
had made a descent on a market town within two hours' ride from the English capital, and murdered or
frightened away the inhabitants of between thirty and forty villages. A few weeks later (February 1789),
the hillmen broke through the cordon of outposts en masse, and spread their depredations throughout
the interior villages of the district. Panic and bloodshed reigned; the outposts were hastily recalled from
the frontier passes; and on the 21st of February 1789, we find Mr. Keating levying a militia to act with
the regulars against the banditti who were sacking the country towns 'in parties of three and four
hundred men, well found in arms'...

"The disorders in Bishnupur would, in any less troubled time, have been called rebellion. The
Raja had been imprisoned for arrears of the land-tax; the head assistant to the Collector, Mr. Hesilrige,
was in charge of his estates, and the inhabitants made common cause with the banditti to oppose the
Government. In June 1789, a detachment was hurried out to support the civil power; eight days
afterwards a reinforcement followed, too late however to save the chief manufacturing town in the
district from being sacked in open day-light. Next month Mr. Keating reported to Government that the
marauders having crossed the Ajai in a large party armed with talwars (swords) and matchlocks had
established themselves in Birbhum, and that their reduction would simply be a question of military
force.

"The rainy season, however, came to the aid of the authorities. The plunderers laden with spoil,
and leaving a sufficient force to hold Bishnupur as a basis for their operations in the next cold weather,
retreated to their strongholds; and Mr. Keating took advantage of the lull to devise a more elaborate
system for warding the frontier. He represented to Lord Cornwallis, then Governor-General, that the
existing military force was insufficient to hold the district; that the contingents furnished by the
hereditary wardens of the marches were undisciplined, faint-hearted, more disposed to act with the
plunderers than against them; and that to secure peace to the lowlands, it was absolutely necessary to
station a guard of picked soldiers from the regular army at each of the passes. A nucleus would thus be
formed round which the irregular troops might gather. By return of post, came back an answer 'that the
Commander-in-Chief has been requested to detach' a sufficient force which the Collector 'will station at
the different ghats (passes), through which the dacoits generally make their inroads in the low country.'
In November, the six most important passes were occupied, a detachment was stationed in Bishnupur,
another occupied the chief manufacturing town on the Ajai (the one that had been sacked the previous
summer), to prevent the banditti from crossing the river. The Ajai divides the united district into two
parts, Bishnupur on the south, Birbhum on the north; and these measures, while they restored
comparative quiet to the former, left the latter defenceless.

''Mr. Keating's position was a difficult one. He had to guard Bishnupur on the south of the Ajai,
Birbhum on the north, and above all, the passes along the western frontier. Birbhum, as the
headquarters of the English power, was of the first importance; but if he called in the troops from
Bishnupur, the calamities of the preceding year would be repeated; and if he withdrew the outposts from
the western passes, the entire district, north and south, would be at the mercy of the hillmen. He decided
that it was better to let the marauders riot for a time on the south of the Ajai, than to open up his entire
frontier. An express summoned the detachments from Bishnupur by forced marches to the rescue of
Birbhum; but no sooner had they crossed the river than tidings came that Bishnupur was itself in the
hands of 'insurgents assembled in number nearly one thousand.'

"The rebellion spread into adjoining jurisdictions, and the Collectors on the south bitterly
reproached Mr. Keating with having sacrificed the peace of many districts for the sake of maintaining
intact the outposts along the frontier of his own. The more strictly these passes were guarded, the greater

35
the number of marauders who flocked by a circuitous route into the unprotected country on the south of
the Ajai. Their outrages passed all bounds; the approaching rains, by suspending military operations,
threatened to leave them in possession of Bishnupur for several months; till at last the peasantry,
wishing for death rather than life, rose against the oppressors whom they had a year ago welcomed as
allies, and the evil began to work its own cure. The marauders of Bishnupur underwent the fate of the
Abyssinian slave troops in Bengal three hundred years before, being shut out of the walled cities,
decoyed into the woods by twos and threes, set upon by bands of infuriated peasants, and ignobly beaten
to death by clubs. In mid-summer 1790, Mr. Keating ordered the senior captain 'to station a military
guard with an officer at Bishenpore, whose sole business I propose to be that of receiving all thieves and
dacoits that shall be sent in'."

At this time, we learn from Mr. Grant's Analysis of the Finances of Bengal (written in 1787),
the people of Bishnupur were known as Chuars or robbers, but were believed to have lived in a state of
pristine innocence. He describes them as being "chiefly of the tribe of Chuars or robbers, of a swarthy
black, like the neighbouring mountaineers on the north and west supposed to be the aborigines of the
country; and though "now for the most part received as converts to the blood-abhorring established
system of Hindoo faith, are classed among those who continue to follow the savage custom of offering
human sacrifices to their Bowanny or female deity named Kally. Mr. Holwell, and after him, the Abbe
Reynal, drew so flattering a picture of the simplicity, pure manners, regular and equitable government
which prevailed among the inhabitants of this little canton until within these few years past, that the
latter writer could not but entertain doubts himself of the existence of a state which seemed to realize the
fable of the golden age. Nor are we to be surprised that the Chuars of Bishenpour, under the influence of
so mild a religion as the Bramin, should respect the rules of hospitality among themselves, observe good
faith with strangers, who solicit and pay for personal protection in passing through their country, or
show the most profound veneration for their despotic chief, by yielding implicit obedience to his civil
ordinances. For it is only in respect to the inhabitants of neighbouring States, or as acting from a
principle of necessity to gratify natural wants, always so slender in Hindostan, that such people can truly
merit the epithets of savage or robber, with which they have been and are still usually distinguished."

With this happy state of affairs Mr. Grant compared in bitter terms "the tyranny of forcing men
in habits of slavery to receive the partial blessings of freedom, though to them the greatest curse, as
necessarily degenerating in an ungrateful soil to the wildest licentiousness and anarchy." His views on
the native revenue collectors were equally strong; for, he wrote in his account of Bishnupur, "the true,
effective, absolute sway over the persons and property of the people at large is committed, against all
the principles of humanity, reason, law, policy and justice, to the charge of a small junto of native
collectors, mistaken for princes and hereditary proprietors of lands, the most barbarously ignorant and
depraved of their species, being as tyrannically oppressive to their inferiors, forming the great mass of
useful subjects to the State, as they are themselves abject slaves to superior authority, especially when
employed in the basest schemes of corruption or merciless depredation on the private property of
individuals, unprotected and incapable of making any hostile resistance." It would appear that Mr.
Grant preferred the old Hindu system of administration by means of hereditary leaders of the people, for
elsewhere he wrote regarding the Raja of Bishnupur : "In truth, the possessor of this little district had
pretensions of heritable jurisdiction or territorial rights, with the exception of two or three other
individuals in the same predicament, infinitely superior to any in Bengal, and known by the ordinary
appellation of zemindar. It seems only unfortunate, though I do not deny the expediency of the measure,
that the strong hand of British power hath almost exclusively been exerted in reducing to the common
level those who could pride themselves on some real pre-eminence of birth or independence, while such
as had none to boast of have been negligently suffered presumptuously to raise their heads above the
standard of regal control and beyond law, right, equity, or policy."

The Raja of Bishnupur, reduced to the state of an ordinary zamindar, was soon to lose what
vestiges of former greatness he still retained. Already impoverished by the Maratha raids, the resources
of the family were still further reduced by the famine of 1770, during which more than half of its estates
relapsed into jungle. The earlier years of British administration intensified rather than relieved its
difficulties. The Rajas insisted upon maintaining a military force which was no longer required under

36
English rule, and for the support of which their revenues were altogether inadequate. The new system
protected them from Maratha raids and Muhammadan oppression, but, on the other hand, it sternly put
down their own irregular exactions from the peasantry, enforced the punctual payment of land revenue,
and realised arrears by sale of the hereditary estates. The Bishnupur family never recovered from the
indigence to which it had been reduced by the famine of 1770, and its ruin was completed by family
disputes, costly litigation, and a crushing revenue. As stated above, Damodar Singh had driven out
Chaitanya Singh and possessed himself of the estate, but a military force sent by Government
restored the fugitive. Afterwards, Damodar Singh was declared to be entitled to half of the Raj by
the decision of an officer resident at Murshidabad; but the Raja appealed to the Governor-General, and
in 1787 had a decree given in his favour, confirming him in possession and declaring Damodar Singh to
be entitled only to maintenance. This decree was dated 1787, but in 1791 a new decision was notified by
which the estate was again divided between the contending parties. Ruinous litigation ensued, and
eventually a compromise was effected by which the Raja secured the bulk of the property.

But, in the meantime, the Raja had still further involved himself by engaging at the decennial
settlement for the payment of a revenue of 4 lakhs of sicca rupees, a sum which he was utterly unable to
pay. Between 1730 and 1745 the Raja had paid to the Muhammadan Government a revenue of Rs.
1,29,803 and this was reduced in consideration of the Maratha devastations to Rs. 1,11,803. In 1759 it
had been raised again to its former standard, and in 1767 had been increased to Rs. 1,61,044. We next
find that in 1772 "under the auspices of a British Supervisor, the constitutional mode of settlement, by a
regular hastabud, seems to have been adopted with considerable advantage in point of income,
notwithstanding the ravages of the famine; and in 1773, the highest complete valuation of the whole
territory, capable of realization, appears to have been assertainced thus progressively, and then fixed
in gross at sicca rupees 4,51,750."

Before the decennial settlement of 1790, a special commission enquired into the assets of the
country, the result, according to the Collector of Burdwan, being that "many advantages enjoyed, it
is said, from time immemorial, either as appendages to the state of the ancient Rajas or
connived at by the Muhammadan Government, were abolished, or resumed as inconsistent
with the definition established of proprietary right; and the gross assets of the country being rated at
about sicca rupees 4,60,259, the proprietors were adjudged entitled to one-eleventh part only of the net
estimated collections. But under the khas collections of that year, the country yielded much less than the
estimated produce, viz., only sicca rupees 4,09,000. At this conjuncture, Chaitanya Singh being called
upon or make his decennial settlement, engaged for a net jama of sicca rupees 4,00,000, being fearful
that his adversary Damodar Singh might supersede him with an offer of that amount; but falling in
arrears at the end of the year, more than half the zamindari was sold to realize the balance, and thereby
his adversary, who in the interim had been declared entitled to half the estate, was equally involved."

The costly litigation in which they were engaged completed the ruin of the family, and
eventually in 1806 the estate was sold for arrears of land revenue and bought up by the Maharaja of
Burdwan. Their estates thus lost, the family were dependent upon small pensions granted by
Government and upon what little debottar property they had. Their descendants, who live at Bishnupur,
Jamkundi, Indas and Kuchiakol, are now in reduced circumstances; but they retain a strong hold on the
affections of the people, and it is not forgotten that their ancestors were the rulers of the land.

Bankura continued to form one district with Birbhum until 1793, when it was transferred to the
Burdwan Collcctorate. An idea of the duties devolving on the District Officer may be gathered from Sir
William Hunter's account in the Annals of Rural Bengal. "Mr. Christopher Keating, as Collector,
Magistrate, and Civil Judge, ruled with an absolute sway over 7,500 square miles, and made his policy
felt by the hill tribes many a day's march beyond his frontier. The district naturally divided itself into
two parts—the Raja or Birbhum's territory on the north of the Ajai and the Raja of Bishnupur's on the
south. Mr. Keating directed the movements of the troops, received the rent of the cultivators, decided
civil suits, purveyed for military detachments passing through his district, inflicted punishment on petty
offenders, sent heinous ones in chains to the Muhammadan law officer, and acted as cashier to a great
commercial company. It would be unreasonable to look for perfect finish in walls whose builders held

37
the plummet in one hand and the sword in the other; and if the administration of such men as Mr.
Keating was effective on the whole, it is as much as an after generation, which works at greater leisure
and with more complete machinery, has a right to expect."

THE CHUAR REBELLION

In the last two years of the 18th century the south-west of the district, which is now comprised
in the Raipur thana, was in a very disturbed state in consequence of what is known as the Chuar
rebellion. In May 1798 it was found necessary to send a party of sepoys to keep the peace in this tract.
Next month a body of 1,500 Chuars made their appearance at Raipur, set fire to the bazar and kachahri,
and overran the place. Reinforcements were sent up under a native commissioned officer, but were
beaten back by the banditti; and a company of sepoys was then detached under an European officer. But
the zamindars would neither supply them with provisions nor give information regarding the Chuars, to
whom they gave shelter in their mud forts. Not unnaturally, complaints were made that the sepoys sent
to repel the Chuars plundered the ryots; and after some time the force returned to Midnapore. The
principal leader of the rebels appears to have been one Durjan Singh, the ex-zamindar of Raipur, who
had at one time a following of 1,500 men, with whom he raided the country, effectually preventing the
purchaser from gaining possession of the estate. He was apparently once captured after he had attacked,
plundered and burnt some 30 villages; but when he was put on trial, he had to be released because no
one dared to appear against him. He resumed his marauding career and was a prominent figure in the
disturbances of 1799.

In that year we find that parganas Ambikanagar and Supur were also overun by the Chuars, and
the Collector reported that the country could not be effectually protected from their incursions till a
complete change was made in the police system. The darogas with a few attendants could not make any
resistance against the sardars or leaders of the Chuars, who lived in remote and almost inaccessible
places, and were sure to make their appearance whenever the country in their neighbourhood was
unprotected, and to commit all sorts of depredations. All they could possibly do was to send intelligence
to the Magistrate, and a detachment of sepoys was then generally deputed, with whom the Chuars never
ventured to engage. The result was that in the course of a fortnight the troops were recalled, leaving the
country worse than before.

JUNGLE MAHALS
At this time Bankura appears to have been known as part of the Jungle Mahals, a vague term
applied in the 18th century to the British possessions and some dependent chiefdoms lying between
Birbhum, Bankura, Midnapore and the hilly country of Chota Nagpur. As the system of administration
was not precise, inconvenience was caused by the vagueness of the jurisdiction in these tracts; and in
1805 a regulation (Regulation XVIII of 1805) was passed, by which the districts called the Jungle
Mahals, situated in the zilas of Birbhum, Burdwan and Midnapore, were separated from the jurisdiction
of the Magistrates of those zilas, and placed under the jurisdiction of an officer called the Magistrate of
the Jungle Mahals. The district thus formed was composed of 23 parganas and Mahals, of which fifteen,
including Panchet, were transferred from Birbhum; three were transferred from Burdwan, viz.,
Senpahari, Shergarh and Bishnupur, excepting the police circle of Kotalpur, and the contiguous pargana
of Balsi, which remained under the jurisdiction of the Magistrate of Burdwan; and five were transferred
from Midnapore, viz., Chhatna, Barabhum, Manbhum, Supur, Ambikanagar, Simlapal and Bhalaidiha.
It was further provided that the half-yearly jail deliveries for the Jungle Mahals should be holden by one
of the Judges of the Court of Circuit for the Division of Calcutta, and that the Jungle Mahals should
continue subject in all matters of civil cognizance to the courts of Diwani Adalat for the respective zilas
to which they had hitherto been attached.

Some interesting details of the district as thus constituted are given in a register of "The
established offices, places and employments appertaining to the Civil Departments under the Bengal
Government on the part of the Hon'ble the United Company of Merchants of England trading to the East
Indias" for 1813. The Judge and Magistrate of the Jungle Mahals zilla was Alexander Bruere Todd,
drawing pay of Rs.2,333, who was assisted by a Registrar. Thomas Pakenham, on Rs.500 and an

38
Assistant Surgeon on Rs.300. The headquarters were at Bankura, and there were seven thanas
transferred from Burdwan and two from Midnapore, viz., Chhatna and Bara Sarenga. The annual cost of
judicial establishment was Rs.7,347, including police and contingencies; and we find entries of Rs.l
1.160 payable to the zamindar of Bishnupur and his family, and of Rs.476 paid as allowances to 19
zamindars employed to act as police officers in Panchet (described as lately under the Birbhum
Magistrate). The revenue administration of the district was supervised by the Burdwan Collector, but
was under the direct control of Mr. Pakenham, who is described as ex-officio Assistant stationed at
Bankura, drawing pay of Rs.200 a month.

In the same register we find entries showing that Bankura played an important part in the commercial
department of the East India Company. Sonamukhi was a head factory with 31 subordinate aurungs,
among which were Surul and Ilambazar in Birbhum and Patrasayar in this district. There were also
sugar establishments at Sonamukhi, Bishnupur and Patrasayar, besides a large sugar factory at Surul.
All these commercial establishments were under the control of John Cheap, who is entered as Resident
of the head factory of Sonamukhi, the date of his appointment being shown as December 1797, while
his salary is shown as Rs. 500, besides house rent of Rs. 120 and commission, which in 1812-13
amounted to Rs. 2,493. This appears to be the John Cheap known as "Cheap the Magnificent", whom
Sir William Hunter has done so much to immortalize in the Annals of Rural Bengal. "The whole
industrial classes were in his pay, and in his person Government appeared in its most benign aspect. A
long unpaid retinue followed him from one factory to another, and as the procession defiled throughout
the hamlets, mothers held aloft their children to catch a sight of his palanquin, while the elders bowed
low before the providence from whom they derived their daily bread. Happy was the infant on whom his
shadow fell" Trade apparently flourished, and the change from the lawless state of affairs which
prevailed a generation before is apparent from the fact that in an article on the Jungle Mahals in
Hamilton's Hindostan (1820) it is stated that "the name of this district implies a waste territory in a
backward stage of civilization, yet it appears from the report of the Circuit Judge in 1815 that no
instances of gang robbery had occurred during the six previous months."

RISING OF 1832
Bankura continued to form part of the Jungle Mahals till 1833, when it was separated on
account of the disturbances which took place in 1832 in the west of the district. These disturbances were
caused by an outbreak of the Bhumijes of the Jungle Mahals, who enjoyed the nickname of Chuars or
robbers and had long been the terror of the surrounding districts. They were ready to rise at the slightest
provocation, whether to support a turbulent chief ambitious of obtaining power to which he was not
entitled, or to oppose Government in a policy of which they disapproved. The rising of 1832 was due to
a disputed succession in Barabhum, an estate claimed by Ganga Narayan. Aggrieved at the decision of
the courts, Ganga Narayan raised the standard of rebellion, and the Bhumijcs of Barabhum and the
adjoining estates rose in support of him. The officials and police fell back to Burdwan, and for some
time Ganga Narayan had the whole country at his mercy, sacking every place worth plundering. At last
a strong force was collected, and military operations against the insurgents commenced. They were
soon driven to take refuge in the hills, but, being pressed there also, Ganga Narayan fled to Singhbhum,
where he died. This rising is still known locally as the Ganga Narayani Hangama.

As a result of these disturbances, a change of administration was determined upon ; and by

Regulation XIII of 1833 the district of the Jungle Mahals was broken up. The court of the Diwani Adalat
of the Jungle Mahals was abolished, the estates of Senpahari, Shergarh and Bishnupur were transferred
to Burdwan, and remainder, with the estate of Dhalbhum, which was detached from Midnapore, were
formed into the present district of Manbhum. At the same time, the country was withdrawn from the
regular system of administration and placed under an officer called the Principal Assistant to the Agent
to the Governor-General for the South-Wcst Frontier. The effect of this measure was that practically the
whole of the west of the present district of Bankura was included within Manbhum; and a map of 1844
shews the eastern boundary of the South-West frontier Agency as extending close to Bankura town. The
remainder of the district as now constituted was formed into a district, known as West Burdwan, in
1835-36. The latter had its headquarters at Bankura, and extended as far east as Kotalpur, while to the

39
west, Chhatna, Supur, and Ambikanagar formed part of the South-West Frontier Agency.

MUTINY OF 1857
The subsequent history of Bankura presents little of interest. During the Mutiny the district
remained tranquil and free from disturbance. There was for some time much apprehension regarding the
Sheikhawati Battalion, of which a detachment was stationed at Bankura, an uneasiness increased by the
vicinity of Chota Nagpur, where the main body was, and by a fear of an outbreak amongst the Chuars
and Santals inhabiting the country about Bankura. The distrust of the Battalion appears, however, to
have passed away gradually; and in October, when there was again some fear of an outbreak among the
Santals, a wing was gladly welcomed at Bankura and served to allay the anxiety that was felt. Towards
the end of October confidence was so far restored that the Magistrate at Bankura proposed to dismiss an
extra establishment of barkandazes which he had been allowed to entertain.

FORMATION OF DISTRICT
The only other matter calling for mention is the formation of the district. At the time of the
Mutiny, Bankura included only the eastern half of the present district. The town of Bankura was on its
extreme western boundary, and the western half, including nearly all the country to the west of the
Bankura-Raniganj road and the Bankura-Khatra road, belonged to Manbhum. Subsequently, numerous
changes in the jurisdiction of the district took place, which need not be particularized; and it will be
sufficient to state that in 1872 the parganas of Sonamukhi, Indas, Kotalpur, Shergarh and Senpahari on
the east, were transferred to Burdwan, while on the west the police circle of Chhatna was separated from
Manbhum and added to Bankura. In 1877, when the Statistical Account of Bengal was published, the
district, as then constituted, contained an area of only 1,346 square miles; but in October 1879, the
thanas of Khatra and Raipur and the Simlapal outpost, corresponding with parganas Supur,
Ambikanagar, Raipur, Syamsundarpur, Phulkusma, Simlapal and Bhalaidiha, were transferred
from the Manbhum district, and thanas Sonamukhi, Kotalpur and Indas were re-transferred
from the Burdwan district. The district thus acquired its present dimensions. The District Judgeship,
however, was still known as West Burdwan, and it was not till 1881 that it was given the name of
Bankura.

BISHNUPUR OR MALLA ERA

"From an historical point of view," writes Dr. Bloch, "perhaps the most curious fact in
connection with the Malla Rajas of Bishnupur is that they used a separate era of their own, called Malla
Saka in the inscriptions. I have not found any information about this era either in Prinsep's
Useful Tables or in Cunningham's Book of Indian Eras. In one only of the temple inscriptions the
equivalent of Malla saka 1064 is given as saka 1680, and thus the difference between the Malla era and
the Bengali sal appears to be exactly 100 years. I suspect that the Malla year in other respects entirely
followed the fasli year of Bengal, and the Rajas of Bishnupur, out of vain glory, merely reduced the
Bengali year by one hundred in order to establish a special era of their own. But this conjecture remains
to be verified.

According to local reports, the Malla era, which also went by the name of Mallabdah and is
locally known as the Bishnupur era, dates back to the establishment of the Raj by Adi Malla, and the
difference between it and the Bengali era is 101 years, i.e., the first year of the Malla era is 101 of the
Bengali era. It is employed in all the twelve temple inscriptions that still remain at Bishnupur, and also
in the title deeds of the Raj preserved in the Government offices at Bankura.

ARCHAEOLOGY
The most interesting remains found in the district are at Bishnupur, where there are a number of
temples representing the most complete set of specimens of the peculiar Bengali style of temple
architecture. There are other temples of archaeological interest at Bahulara, Ekteswar and Sonatapol,
and remains of old forts are found at Karasurgarh, Asurgarh and Syamsundargarh.

40