Of silks, sweets & strife
Situated on the banks of the Bhagirathi, Murshidabad in Bengal is famous for its colonial past, sarees and sweets, writes Ranjita Biswas

The entrance to Katgola Gardens. A beautiful Adinath temple built by Raja Dhanpat Singh Dugar and Lakshmipat Singh Dugar is located inside the gardens Photos by the writer

EVERY monsoon, Murshidabad in Bengal, situated on the banks of the Bhagirathi, features in the news due to devastating floods, erosion and displacement of people. Every Durga puja, Bengali women, shopping for festivities, would debate over buying a Murshidabadi silk saree or a South Indian silk saree. And more often than not they would settle for the light-bodied, beautifully printed garment with the stamp of Murshidabad. Indeed, this district, and the town have many facets.

Few people outside West Bengal know that Murshidabad was once the capital of Bengal and ‘Behar & Orissa’, and not Calcutta, now Kolkata. Murshid Kuli Khan, the Nawab of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa, founded the town (1706) and hence the name. Its old name was Maksudabad. It was a very prosperous place and its great wealth, as well as the fame of its silk, bell-metal and ivory works spread far and wide. English, Dutch, Armenian and French traders flocked to the place.

Murshidabad was also the battleground where Nawab Siraj-ud-Daula, a descendant of the clan, fought against the British as he fiercely opposed their growing attempts at colonisation. His defeat at the Battle of Plassey (1757), 40 km south of Murshidabad, due to the presence of huge British troops and betrayal by his close relatives and other conspirators, marked the cornerstone of the British empire in India. Murshidabad is regarded as the last capital city of independent Bengal. Later, the capital was shifted to Calcutta in 1773 and there it remained till it was again shifted to Delhi in 1911.

Today, Murshidabad may have lost its days of glory but the remnants of that glory still cling to its palaces and streets in the old city. The most famous is the Hazarduari palace, literally translated as the palace of thousand doors. Spread over 41 acres, the three-storey palace was built in 1837 by Duncan McLeod for the Nawab Najim, a descendant of Mir Zafar, reviled by many as a betrayer who colluded with the British colonisers to smother Siraj-ud-Daula. Among its thousand doors, only 900 are real. Built in European-style architectural, it has 114 rooms and eight galleries. Today, it is a museum and is protected by the Archaeological Survey of India.

The museum, though not very well maintained, has priceless artefacts from that era — armoury, paintings, silver ornaments, ornamental howdahs used by the nawabs on ceremonial elephant rides, palkis, etc. Another treasure-trove is a library containing more than 3,000 manuscripts in Arabic, Persian and Urdu and about 12,000 books in English, Arabic and Persian languages. The most famous of the collection is Ain-e-Akbari written by Abdul Fazal with beautiful calligraphy on each page.

In the palace ground, there is also a small mosque, Medina, with colourful tiled verandas. The mosque has an ornamented replica of Hazrat Muhammad’s tomb at Medina. The clock tower is another attraction.

Murshidabad’s historical circuit also includes a huge imambara, Katgola Gardens with a beautiful Adinath temple built by Raja Dhanpat Singh Dugar and Lakshmipat Singh Dugar. The main building has a museum too with valuable paintings, period furniture, etc.

While visiting Murshidabad, many prefer to be stationed in Berhampur, the district headquarter of Murshidabad district, which is an important railhead for Bhagirathi Express that leaves for Sealdah station in Kolkata.

Berhampur, too, has its own historical significance. In the centre of the town is the Barrack Square Field, where troops had barracks under the British. It is also said to be a place where the first spark of the Sepoy Mutiny was first lit in 1857. On February 24, 1857, the sepoys of the 19th Regiment Native Infantry at Berhampore Cantonment had revolted against the British.

For those with a sweet tooth, Berhampore’s chhanabora made with cottage cheese, and other sweets like manohara (made with fried boondi) and even savoury khaja (deep fried snacks), are things to die for. And then, of course, there are beautiful Murshidabad silk sarees.

It does not take more than two days to explore Murshidabad but it is a languid old-world place only six hours away from the hustle and bustle of Kolkata, and introduces the visitor to an era when the East India Company was yet to dominate the political map of India. Indeed, history and culture meet at Murshidabad.

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