Page:Ramtanu Lahiri, Brahman and Reformer - A History of the Renaissance in Bengal.djvu/29

 imperishable name as a great patron of literature and learning. The great poet Bharat Chandra flourished under his patronage, and left to posterity his Annada Mangal, a work that has placed him on a high pedestal of fame.

On the 23rd of December 1686, Job Charnock, of the East India Company, owing to a misunderstanding between himself and the Subadar of Bengal, removed from Hughli to Sutanati, which again he was soon obliged to leave, though for a short time. He returned and built a factory here on 10th August 1690. Modern Calcutta stands on the site of Sutanati. In those days Krishnagar was the chief city in Bengal; and the principal seat of learning and civilisation, owing to the power and public spirit of its Rajas. So I proceed to give a short history of this Raj family. Tradition says that in 1077, Adisur, the King of Bengal, invited five pure Brahmans of the highest class, from Kanauj, to offer sacrifices to the gods on his behalf. Bhattanarayana was one of these Brahmans. His descendant, named Kasi, who had grown into a wealthy landholder, was in Akbar’s reign driven from his native place, Vikrampur, by the Nawab. When seeking shelter in some other part of Bengal, he was waylaid and killed by the Nawab’s men; and his widow, then about to become a mother, took shelter in the house of Hara Krishna Sammadar, a Zemindar in the Bogwon Pargana. She gave birth to a male child, who in time was adopted by the childless Sammadar and invested with his title. The name of this adopted son was Ram Chandra; who in course of time became the father of four sons, of whom Bhabananda afterwards gained great distinction. It was he who rendered great service to Raja Mansing in quelling the insurrection headed by Pratapaditya of Jessore; and he was rewarded by Jehangir with the Zemindaries of Nadia and some other parganas, and the title of Mazumdar.