|
The Pala dynasty and the Sena dynasty of Bengal believed to have ruled the area in and around Halisahar. Raja Man Singh, army-general of the Mughal emperor Akbar, had been here when he came to fight Raja Pratapaditya of Jessore. Being part of the Mughal Empire, Halisahar was part of the Satgaon sarkar of the then Subah Bangla which was upto Jessore. Abul Fazal at the court of Akbar recorded an annual revenue collection of one Haveli Sahar as 8093 sikka in his Ain-ee-Akbari and it is believed to be the old name for Halisahar. During the rule of Bengal's independent Nawab, Murshid-Kuli-Khan, this Satgaon area including Halisahar was considered as one of the Parganas of the total 166 Parganas of Murshid-Kuli's kingdom. The Sabarna Roy Choudhury family of Bengal got jagirdari of the place in and around Halisahar from the Mughals and their famous 22nd descendant Majumdar Lakshmi Kanta Roy Choudhury established a huge zamindari here.
At present Halisahar is a part of the North 24 Parganas district. The 24 Parganas were namely, Akbarpur, Amirpur, Azimabad, Baliya, Baridhati, Basandari, Kolkata, Dakshin Sagar, Gaar, Hatiyagaar, Ikhtiyarpur, Kharijuri, Khaspur, Maidanmal, Magura, Manpur, Maida, Muragachha, Paikan, Penchkuli, Satal, Shahnagar, Shahpur and Uttar Pargana, and these were given to the British East India company by Bengal's the then Nawab Mir Zafar as a part of the treaty. The 24 numbers of parganas were divided into north and south 24 parganas later for administrative benefit. Halisahar fell in North 24 Parganas part under the sub-division of Barrackpore. The District Head Quarter was established much later in Barasat.
Kumarapala of the Pala dynasty for the first time established a port at the bank of the confluence of the Jamuna and Hooghly rivers during the second half of the 11th century AD. It was around Tribeni and Satgaon (or Saptagram). There was a dock and shipyard around the river and the place nearby was buzzing with people. The place was thus aptly styled after him Kumara-hatta. Vijaysena (AD 1119-1158) of the Sena dynasty established his capital at Kumarhatta and the place was christened Vijaypura- the capital of a vast empire which consisted of Bengal, Bihar, Orissa and a larger part of Assam. The modern Bizpore has taken its name from the old Vijaypura. During the Muslim
|
invasion of Bengal led by Muhammad-bin- Bakhtyár-Khilji, general of Muhammad Ghori, many Hindus fled to this city of Kumarhatta from places around Tribeni and Saptagram on the other bank of Ganga; it led to the development of the age old civilization of the region. It is mentionworthy that by then the famous Sabarna Roy Choudhury family had established its jagirdari in and around Halisahar. Many Brahmin, Vaidya and Kayastha family came during this time to settle here.
It is believed that under the Muslim rule Kumarhatta-Vijaypura was renamed Haveli Sahar- the city of Palaces. There were palatial buildings here, of the zamindars Sabarno Roy Choudhury family. There was also a fort built by Ahmed Beg, a nephew of the Nawab Nizam of Murshidabad when he was sent to exile here.
Culturally it was famous for 'Toles' for Sanskrit teachings. There were other prosperous villages around Kumarhatta like Kanchan Pally (now Kanchrapara) – a home to many Vaishnav poets and bards; Bhatta Pally (now Bhatpara) and Kankinara – home to Brahmin Sanskrit scholars; Mulajor and Garulia (modern Shyamnagar) and home to famous bard Bharat Chandra RoyGunakar of King of Nadia Maharaja Krishna Chandra's court; Ichchapur (or Ishapore); Banki Bazar and Digangey; Chanak (present Barrackpore) and Burhaniyar Desh (present Titagarh). 'Halisahar Patrika' was published in the mid 19th century, 'Sangbad Prabhakar' in 1931.
... hide |
