Page:Ramtanu Lahiri, Brahman and Reformer - A History of the Renaissance in Bengal.djvu/28

 his head, the Raja received him with open arms, saying, “Sir, do not be anxious in the least, make my house yours,” and from that time regarded him as one of his own family. Whenever Mr Lahiri came to Krishnagar, he was invited to the palace, and shown great attentions. And finally, Raja Khitis Chandra’s regard for him was equally great. For some time they stood in the relation of guardian and ward; the Raja would afterwards often say, “When there was nobody to befriend me, it was Lahiri Mahashay alone that helped me.”

In the eighteenth century, Krishnagar was the capital of south Bengal. It is still one of the first-class towns, next to Calcutta in prosperity and civilisation, and having many interests in common with Calcutta.

The Rajas of Krishnagar, or of Nadia, are of long-standing celebrity. The whole of the district is indebted to them in many ways for its prosperity. The author remembers, in his boyhood, to have seen on the title-page of the old Bengali almanac, the name of Raja Satis Chandra, under whose auspices it had been got up, and, on inquiring who he was, to have been told that he was the then Raja of Krishnagar, descended from ancestry noted as the leaders of Hindu society, the guardians of Kulinism, and the encouragers of merit. When the country was under the Muhammadan rule, these Rajas, in defiance of the risk of incurring the displeasure of their rulers, defended the cause of Hindu religion and learning. At the time of which we are speaking, the Hindu Rajas were to some extent free from Imperial interference. As long as they punctually paid the revenue, they might do much as they liked in their own territories. They had armies, courts, and ministers of their own; and men of merit flocked to their palaces for rewards and distinctions.

Raja Krishna Chandra of Nadia created for himself an