Biswas Bari
Biswas Bari (Bengali: বিশ্বাস বাড়ি; meaning 'House of Biswas') was a landed estate based in the hamlet of Chandpur in Ishan Gopalpur Union, Faridpur Sadar Upazila, Faridpur District. The complex has several heritage buildings. It was the seat and birthplace of the Faridpur Biswas Estate, which was one of the most prominent Muslim zamindar families of Bengal.
The area was historically known as Chandpur. It is now officially known as Shibrampur village in government documents. The area lies adjacent to the Amirabad Railway Station.
Location
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The Faridpur Biswas Estate covered the southern bank of the Padma River (the main distributary of the Ganges). It included many deltaic islands as well as extensive farmland. It was mostly located in present-day Faridpur and Rajbari districts; but included landholdings in West Bengal, Manikganj, Mymensingh, Pabna, Gazipur, Rangpur, The Punjab, and Arabia. The Goalundo Ghat historically belonged to the estate. At its height, the estate covered 1 million acres of land during British rule. The estate covered 2.6% of territory in Bangladesh and 1.65% of territory in undivided Bengal.[1] It was one of the ten largest estates of the Bengal Presidency.
History
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According to the family historian Chowdhury Abd-Allah Quaseed, the Bengali Muslim family of the estate migrated from the Jaunpur Sultanate. They settled in the region of Fatehabad which hosted a mint of the Bengal Sultanate in what is now Faridpur.[2] The family has been settled in Bengal for 400 years. Arafat Ali was the first person from the clan to settle in the region. The family was given the custodianship of the northern part of Fatehabad.
The estate was originally a Mughal endowment. In the 17th century, the family gained the right to cultivate and govern the land after it was awarded a jagirdari during the reign of Emperor Jahangir. During the 18th century, the British East India Company fought against the lathial army of the estate. After defeat at the hands of the British, the estate was carved up and auctioned off. The family retained a small portion of the estate, which is now the hamlet of Biswas Bari. Most of the Hindu-owned zamindar estates in Faridpur emerged from the auctioned portions of the former Mughal jagirdari. The original Muslim family was given the surname Biswas by the locals of the area. They commanded their own army of rugged, athletic soldiers. Their tenants included Muslims, Hindus and Christians, including paydahs who served the household. The family eventually adopted Chowdhury as both a prefix and surname. Until the mid-20th century, female members of the family were styled as Chowdhurani. In the late 19th century, Chowdhury Moyezuddin Biwshash expanded the estate through his mercantile activities. He set up his own branch of the family in the town of Faridpur, where he built the Moyez Manzil. The estate was eventually divided into four branches, including the original Biswas Bari, Moyez Manzil, Biswas Bari II, and Chowdhury Bari.[1] The Zamindars of the Faridpur Biswas Estate were photographed towards the end of the 19th century and beginning of the 20th century. Biswas Bari is renowned for its woodwork, including classical zamindar beds, doors and wooden structures. A wooden structure known as the Baithak Khana still stands on the main grounds of the Biswas Bari. The structure was built with Burmese wood. Beds and doors from Biswas Bari are preserved in the Bangladesh National Museum.[3]
After Chowdhury Moyezuddin Biwshash left Biswas Bari in 1853, the estate passed on to the control of his nephews. By the turn of the century, the estate was being managed by brothers Tajuddin Chowdhury and Amir Ali Chowdhury. Amir Ali's important contributions were widely recognized and a railway station was named after him. Amir Ali did not have children. When Tajuddin Chowdhury died, the estate passed to the control of his young son Shamsuddin. During the 1940s, the estate's custodian Shamsuddin Chowdhury was enrolled in Islamia College and lived in Baker Hostel with Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in Calcutta.[4]
The Faridpur District Council and other local government bodies in the district have often been led by members of the clan of Biswas Bari. During British rule, a member of the clan was the Chairman of the council's predecessor, the Faridpur District Board, for 17 years.[5] The family played a key role in "keeping the entire district free from any communal violence although the whole of British India was affected by this scourge" in the run up to the partition of India.[6]
The estate was abolished by the East Bengal State Acquisition and Tenancy Act of 1950 after the partition of India. Ironically, land reforms in the 1950s were spearheaded by descendants of the estate, including Yusuf Ali Chowdhury.[7] Further land reforms after the creation of Bangladesh ended all traces of the zamindari system.[8] Under the Bangladesh Land Holding Limitation Order 1972, a family could not own more than 100 bighas of land.[9] On 29 April 1976, farmland nationalized by the state was returned to private owners through the Alienation of Land Ordinance. The family recovered many of plots land with the restoration of property rights. After 1975, Bangladesh moved away from the socialist policies of the early 1970s and promoted a market-based economy.
In 1954, former Prime Ministers of Bengal A. K. Fazlul Huq and Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy visited the estate during the United Front election campaign. Huq and Suhrawardy ate lunch on the grounds of the estate while campaigning for the East Bengali legislative election, 1954. Erstwhile Prime Minister of Bangladesh Moudud Ahmed also visited the estate during the presidency of Hussain Muhammad Ershad.[3] Former prime ministers Mizanur Rahman Chowdhury and Kazi Zafar Ahmed also visited the estate.
Major General Nazirul Aziz Chishti, the brother-in-law of the estate's patriarch Shamsuddin Chowdhury, was a key figure in the decentralization scheme of the Bangladesh government in 1984.[10] Chishti was the mastermind of the upazila system of local government.[11] His nephew, Imran Hossain Chowdhury, was elected as the first chairman of Faridpur Sadar Upazila. Imran's younger brother Kamran Hossain Chowdhury was elected as the Member of Parliament from Faridpur during the fourth parliament of Bangladesh. Chowdhury initiated important development works in Faridpur, including the creation of the Kanaipur Industrial Area, establishing the River Research Institute, expanding the highway between Jessore Road and Goalundo Ghat via Faridpur with the help of Mirza Ali Behrouze Ispahani, and bringing in more international aid for the Faridpur region, including from Sweden and the Netherlands.[12] Kamran Chowdhury also became the Chairman of Faridpur District Council with the rank and status of a deputy minister; he was the Vice-President of the Japan-Bangladesh Parliamentary Association and a member of the parliamentary standing committee on foreign relations.[13] During the 1988 floods, Kamran Chowdhury played a key role in coordinating relief efforts in Faridpur with the Bangladesh Army; President Ershad oversaw flood relief operations in Faridpur from his helicopter.[14] Both Imran and Kamran were sons of Shamsuddin Chowdhury.
Railway
[edit]The Amirabad Railway Station[3] in Faridpur is named after Amir Ali Chowdhury (also known as Amir Ali Biswas). Amir Ali Chowdhury was one of the important zamindars of the estate.
Notable members
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| Part of a series on |
| Zamindars of Bengal |
|---|
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- Chowdhury Moyezuddin Biwshash, 19th century merchant
- Chowdhury Abd-Allah Zaheeruddin, member of the Bengal Legislative Council
- Yusuf Ali Chowdhury, member of the Bengal Legislative Assembly
- Enayet Hossain Chowdhury, member of the National Assembly of Pakistan
- Shamsuddin Chowdhury, de facto head of the estate and custodian of properties since 1940s
- Chowdhury Kamal Ibne Yusuf, former cabinet minister of Bangladesh
- Imran Hossain Chowdhury, first chairman of Faridpur Sadar Upazila (1986–1990)
- Kamran Hossain Chowdhury, member of the 4th Parliament of Bangladesh
- Chowdhury Akmal Ibne Yusuf, member of the 8th Parliament of Bangladesh
- Eza Chowdhury, socialite and podcaster
- Shusmita Amin Chowdhury, socialite
- Chowdhury Abd-Allah Quaseed, media personality
- Umran Chowdhury, columnist
Chairmen of Faridpur District Council
[edit]See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ a b Chowdhury, Umran (September 19, 2024). "Podcast Episode 7: A Century of Public Service".
- ^ https://en.banglapedia.org/index.php/Mint_Towns
- ^ a b c "In memoriam: Kamran H Chowdhury". Dhaka Tribune.
- ^ https://www.dhakatribune.com/opinion/longform/367666/in-memoriam-kamran-h-chowdhury
- ^ https://www.thedailystar.net/news-detail-64906
- ^ https://www.thedailystar.net/news-detail-64906
- ^ "The Daily Star Web Edition Vol. 5 Num 535". archive.thedailystar.net.
- ^ https://www.fao.org/faolex/results/details/en/c/LEX-FAOC035569/#:~:text=(P.O%20No.-,98%20of%201972).,owned%20by%20family%20or%20individuals.
- ^ https://faolex.fao.org/docs/pdf/bgd35569.pdf
- ^ https://www.dhakatribune.com/opinion/longform/367666/in-memoriam-kamran-h-chowdhury
- ^ https://www.dhakatribune.com/opinion/longform/367666/in-memoriam-kamran-h-chowdhury
- ^ https://faridpur.substack.com/p/podcast-episode-2-aid-roads-and-development
- ^ https://www.dhakatribune.com/opinion/longform/367666/in-memoriam-kamran-h-chowdhury
- ^ https://faridpur.substack.com/p/podcast-episode-4-microcredit-decentralization