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 BANKURA.

8o

a further re-transfer of territories from Bard wan has nearly doubled the

former area of the District, which in 1872 was returned at 1346 square miles. Its present area is 2621 square miles.

— The

historical interest of the District centres in the town which formerly gave its name to the surrounding country. The Raja of Bishnupur is the descendant of one of the ancient Hindu petty dynasties which formerly held the Bengal frontier

History

.

of Bishnupur,

against the jungle tribes of the inner plateau

on the

account of the family, taken from their native chronicles, in

west.

A

full

be found

will

my Annals of Rural Bengal.

A

long

list

embanked

of kings

lakes



encouraged trade

is

recorded, one

of

whom

built

tanks

another raised temples and set up idols

and a fourth spent



nth

time in war.

his



and

a third In

the

we read that Bishnupur was the most renowned city in the world, and it became more beautiful than the beautified house of Indra in heaven. The buildings were of pure beginning of the

white stone.

centur}'

‘

Within the walls of the palace were theatres, embellished There were also houses

rooms, dwelling-houses, and dressing-rooms. for elephants, barracks for soldiers,

and a

stables, storehouses, armouries, a

Three hundred years later the fort was strengthened, the Governor had orders to prepare a new uniform for his army, and so on. In later history, the family figures in turn as the enemy, the ally, and It was exempted from the tributary of the Musalman Nawabs. personal attendance at the Court of Murshidabad, and appeared by During the i8th century, a representative or a Resident at the Darbar. Impoverished by Maratha raids and the Bishnupur house declined. Muhammadan extortions, it finally succumbed beneath the famine of More than 1770, which left the country almost bare of inhabitants. one-half of the estate relapsed into jungle, and the family was reduced to such poverty that the Raja was compelled to pawn his household idol, Madan Mohan (a remnant of aboriginal worship), with one Gokul Chandra Mitra of Calcutta. Some time after, the unfortunate treasury,

temple.’

prince with great difficulty managed to collect the amount required to redeem it, and sent his minister to Calcutta to obtain back the pledge. Gokul received the money, but refused to restore the idol. The case was brought before the Supreme Court at Calcutta, and decided in favour of the Raja whereupon Gokul caused a second idol to be made, The exactly resembling the original, and presented it to the Rajd.

earlier years of British administration intensified rather than relieved

the difficulties of the house of Bishnupur.

maintaining a military array which was

The Rajas insisted upon no longer required under

English rule, and for the support of which their revenues were altogether inadequate.

The new system

protected them from Maratha raids and