Page:Ramtanu Lahiri, Brahman and Reformer - A History of the Renaissance in Bengal.djvu/55



was, like all his brothers and sisters, save the eldest, Kesava Chandra, and the youngest Kalicharan, born in his maternal uncle’s house at a village named Baruihuda. Kesava’s birthplace was Shibnibash, and Kalicharan’s Krishnagar. Their mother, Jagaddhatri, was the daughter of Dewan Radhakanta Rai.

We have mentioned before, that the Rais or Dewan Chakravarttis, made themselves famous for their devotion to their masters, the Rajas. We have also said something of their ancestor Shashtidas, who is known as a great patron of the Kulins, and one of the first Dewans of Krishnagar. The Rais or Dewan Chakravarttis were men of high principle. Though their influence on the Raj was so great that they could have, like the Mahratta Peshwas, grown rich and powerful at the expense of their masters, yet they never took advantage of the trust reposed in them. They were so mindful of the interests of their masters, that no consideration of their own convenience would slacken their zeal in rendering them full service. Many of the landed properties of the Raj, sold by auction for the realisation of the Government rent, were bought “benami” by the Rais, for the benefit of those whose salt they ate. We read in Babu Kartik Chandra Rai’s autobiography that, not only did his ancestors scrupulously avoid enriching themselves by questionable means, but they sometimes, for the sake of duty, voluntarily drained