Page:The Bansberia Raj.djvu/15



Bansberia House occupies a very high place in the peerage of Bengal. Indeed, it yields to none in the antiquity of its origin, and may well be traced back at least to the time of Adisur, the last of the founders of independent Hindu dynasties. Its grand old parent was held in esteem by that famous king and was consulted on all important occasions. The family fared well during Hindu supremacy, but when like a bolt from the blue the 'canny' Afghan dealt a death-blow to the Sen dynasty, it removed to a safer place and having lurked there in dim obscurity for centuries together again emerged into light with the dawn of Mogul rule. While the family was still living at Patuli, in the district of Burdwan, it was ennobled by Emperor Akbar the Great who decorated it with the title of Rai, which in those days bore much higher significance than it does now. But this distinction, high as it was, was only an earnest of greater honors which were soon to come. Shortly after Akbar's demise, the next Emperor, Jehangir, raised the status of the Patuli family by conferring upon its then chief the title of Mazumdar. This was undoubtedly a much higher distinction than Rai or Zamindar, for while there were a goodly number of Rais and Zamindars, there were only four Mazumdars in all Bengal. Of this sacred Vedic number was Bhabananda the reputed founder of the Nadia Raj.