Article

Maharaja Krishnachandra: Indian Historical Review

38(2) 225–242

Religion, Caste and Polity in © 2011 ICHR

SAGE Publications
Los Angeles, London,
Eighteenth Century Bengal New Delhi, Singapore,
Washington DC
DOI: 10.1177/037698361103800204
http://ihr.sagepub.com

Ratan Dasgupta
University of Gour Banga, India

Abstract
Maharaja Krishnachandra, the intermediary zamindar in eighteenth century Nadia,
was famous for his liberal patronage to the Brahmins. He was a strict enforcer of
caste codes in his domain. He built temples and organised many costly religious rites.
However, such show off of liberality and lavish expenses for the religious rites coin-
cided with a financial crisis of the zamindari. This article tries to show that the efforts
of Krishnachandra, though appearing irrational or even suicidal from the economic
viewpoint, were necessary for the maintenance of social control. It also helped him
to retain his position of power among the rival big Hindu zamindars. This article tries
to show that politics, not economic considerations, was the driving force in a political
economy of crisis. The process engulfed the big zamindars in pre-colonial Bengal.

Keywords
Eighteenth century Bengal, zamindari of Nadia, Maharaja Krishnachandra Roy, rent-
free land grants, higher caste society in Nadia, control mechanism in a regional caste
society

The Zamindari of Nadia

Nadia under Krishnachandra Roy (1728–82) occupied an important place in the socio-
cultural history of Bengal in the eighteenth century. The rise and fall of the zamindari
house of Nadia almost covered the lifespan of Bengal Suba. Family legend of
Krisnanagore house states that the zamindari of Nadia (Krisnanagar) originated in
the days of Durgadas, a local collaborator, who helped Mughal expeditionary force
under Mansingh against Pratapaditya, the autonomous chief of Jessore. Durgadas
received the title of Bhabananda Majumdar, Kanoongoship and the charge of four
parganas as reward.1 However, two Sanads of 1606 and 1613 mention Bhabananda as

1
Kartikeya Chandra Roy, Khitish-Vamsavali Charit, ed. by Mohit Roy (henceforth KVC 1); pp. 50–52;
Khitish-Vamsavali-Charitam, ed. and tr. by W. Pertsch, Berlin (henceforth KVC 2) in Mohit Roy ed.,

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226 Ratan Dasgupta

a Chaudhuri.2 They are silent on Bhabananda’s relationship with Mansingh’s expedi-

tion. Khitish-Vamsabali Charitam (henceforth KVC), the family history of the Nadia
raj, narrates the incident of Bhabananda’s imprisonment in Jahingirnagar (Dacca),
established by Subadar Islam Khan during the reign of Emperor Jahangir, for default in
revenue payment.3 It appears that the family tradition of Nadia house confused the
period of Mansingh’s Subadarship with that of Islam Khan.4 Islam Khan broke the
resistance of the Bara Bhuiyan (autonomous chiefs of Bengal) and a vast stretch of
land was made over to the intermediary Kanoongo and Chaudhuri zamindars.5 Perhaps
the association of Mansingh, the Hindu Subadar, with the genesis legend of Nadia raj
was made to justify its role as an upholder of orthodox Hinduism at a later date, and to
dilute the role of the Mughal empire behind its origin.
The zamindari of Nadia continued to grow throughout the seventeenth century
under Gopal, Raghab, Rudra and Ramkrisna.6 Two firmans of Saha Jahan and Alamgir
show that the house of Krisnanagar often expanded its holdings by purchasing
defaultee zamindari rights and making over the arrears in revenue.7 Often the control
on the pargana was partial. Rudra Roy, the grandfather of Krishnachandra, got the
Choudhuriship of one-fourth part of the pargana of Calcutta with a revenue demand of
Rs 6,265.8 During Krishnachandra’s tenure, the number of mahals rose to eighty-four
of which forty-nine were parganas and thirty-five were Kismats (broken parganas/
mahals9). Grant puts the total number of mahals, ‘broken’ and ‘unbroken’, under the
house of Krisnanagar as seventy-three in Suja’s settlement of 1728.10 The revenue
account of Bengal Suba, given by Grant for the years of 1728 and 1765, shows that
the number of mahals under the zamindaries was subjected to periodical fluctuations.
The newly acquired mahals in a zamindari and the revenue demand were grouped
under the modakhil head while the dismembered mahals were termed as mokharij. For
the period 1728–1765, the house of Krisnanagar bore a total revenue demand without

ibid. (an earlier version by anonymous author that ends with the death of Raghuram, and accession of
Krishnachandra in 1728), pp. 248–50. Ghosh, The Modern History of the Indian Chiefs, Rajas and Zamindars,
p. 359, ‘An Account of the Origin and Progressive Increase of the Four Great Zamindaries’, Progs. of the
Bengal Revenue Committee, 1786, in Boughton-Rouse, Dissertation Concerning the Landed Property in
Bengal, pp. 249–51; WestMacott, ‘The Territorial Aristocracy of Bengal’, pp. 95–96.
2
KVC 1, Appendix, p. 143.
3
KVC 2, Appendix, p. 251.
4
The KVC 1, however, once mentions that Bhabananda received the title of ‘Majumdar’ and four parganas
from Islam Khan, the Subadar, p. 50.
5
For a detailed description of Islam Khan’s proceedings against the autonomous barons of Bengal, see
Nathan, Baharisthan-i-Ghayebi, passim; Bhattasali, ‘Bengal Chiefs’ Struggle’, pp. 36–37; Sarkar, The
History of Bengal, pp. 251–81. For the location of the domains of the Barabhuyian, see Blochmann, Contri-
butions to the Geography and History of Bengal, p. 22; Roychoudhuri, Bengal Under Akbar and Jahangir,
pp. 13–29.
6
KVC 1, pp. 52–58, passim.
7
KVC 1, Appendix, p. 144.
8
KVC 1, p. 3.
9
KVC 1, p. 2.
10
Grant, ‘Historical and Comparative Analysis of the Finances of Bengal’ (henceforth HCA), p. 196.

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Religion, Caste and Polity in Eighteenth Century Bengal 227

abwabs (i.e., added cesses) on the heads of modakhil and mokharij as Rs 81,597 and
Rs 49,394, respectively. Total mahals under the Nadia zamindari was seventy-two in
the settlement of 1765.11 It appears that the number of mahals under the zamindari of
Nadia, given in the KVC and some local sources, especially in Bharatchandra’s work,12
shows the height of the expansion for a brief period. The house of Krisnanagar did not
exercise direct control over all the mahals under its jurisdiction. In many cases, they
enjoyed superior intermediary rights over primary and other intermediary zamindars.
A parawana of the diwan of Bengal, dated 3 February 1699, discloses the existence
of such primary zamindars who sold their land to the East India Company.13 Similarly,
three land grants made by Santosh Roy and Manohar Roy, the intermediary zamindars
of Bansberia, in 1734 and 1738, bear the name of Krishnachandra Roy, as the superior
intermediary zamindar.14 We can conclude that house of Krisnanagar had far less num-
ber of mahals/parganas under its direct control. As intermediaries, the house held sway
over a greater number of primary and other intermediary zamindars.

Political Economy of Crisis

The house of Nadia was beset with financial insolvency throughout its existence.
Bhabananda, Ramjivan, Ramkrisna and Raghuram—the forefathers of Krishnachandra—
were imprisoned for default in revenue payment.15 Krishnachandra incurred a debt of
over 20 lakhs of rupees during the Subadarship of Alivardi. Raghunandan, one of his
employees, rescued him by forcing the zamindar’s relatives to pay their arrears reve-
nue, cutting up of administrative expenses and resuming many rent-free land grants.16
Krishnachandra’s financial position did not improve after the battle of Palashi. The
arrears in revenue payment continued. He, together with his son Shivachandra, was put
in prison by Mir Qasim.17 In 1771, the zamindari of Nadia was farmed out and in 1776,
some of his talukas (rent-free estates or estates bearing low rent) were sold for arrears.18
Only 100 or 150 rupees were left in the treasury after Krishnachandra’s death, though
a huge sum of debt remained unpaid.19 In short, the story of the Krisnanagar house
shows the weak financial foundation of the intermediary zamindari houses in Bengal
that became more visible after the battle of Palashi.

11
Grant, ‘Historical and Comparative View of the Revenues of Bengal’ (henceforth HCV), p. 363.
12
KVC 1, Bandopadhyaya and Das, Bharatchandra Granthavali, p. 13; Mallick, Maharaja, p. 5, Footnote.
13
Wilson, The Early Annals of the English in Bengal, p. 320.
14
‘Surathals and Sanads, June 1783 to August 1784’, entry no. 13, English and Bengali Registers Relating
to Baze Zamin Dafter, West Bengal State Archives, (henceforth WBSA), pp. 5–6.
15
KVC 1, pp. 58–62.
16
KVC 1, pp. 64–66.
17
KVC 1, p. 80.
18
KVC 1, p. 86. The taluks under Krishnachandra Roy of Nadia in AD 1740 contained 3,091 bighas of land
scattered in twenty-eight parganas. ‘Majkurat Papers of 1146 B.S. re-taluk of Krishnachandra Roy’. Progs
No. 61, Bundle Transferred from Mymensingh Collectorate, Bundle No. I, WBSA.
19
Choudhuri, ‘Sadar Dewani Adalat Records’, p. 14.

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228 Ratan Dasgupta

Economic factors alone could not explain the long-standing financial crisis of the
house of Krisnanagar. Grant described the situation of the Nadia zamindari quite aptly
but missed the social aspects. He observed:20

The district, though large and wonderfully fertile in all the dearer productions of Indian soil,
capable of easy, quick transportations by the river Houghly, to all the great foreign settle-
ments in Bengal, hath yet, from the tolerated corrupt practice, by fraudulent alienations on
lands, or exemption in the payment of established dues of government in favour of inferior
brother members of the some religious cast(e), ever remained prodigiously under-rented in
the general assessment of the province….

Grant, who monotonously argued against lower assessment of revenue, result-

ing from a widespread conspiracy of the zamindars, revenue officials of the govern-
ment and the ryots, however, noted two special features of the economy of the Nadia
zamindari. First, the region was well-productive and closely connected with the
external trade network in the eighteenth century Bengal through the European settle-
ments. Except a part containing the jungles of the Sundarbans, most of the parts of the
zamindari was well cultivated and fairly populated.21 The revenue records indicate
the existence of great number of big and medium-sized villages in the twenty-four
parganas and Nadia districts in 1774–1776, the core area of the Nadia zamindari.22
The second aspect, the granting of the rent-free lands, though a common feature in
Bengal,23 had a special importance in the case of the Nadia zamindari.
From an earlier period, the Nadia zamindars made liberal land grants to higher caste
people, especially to the Brahmins. They also granted service tenures in small-rent
(khuti) or rent-free (bekhuti) land. KVC states that one-fourth of the total cultivable
land under the Nadia zamindari was rent-free held by the zamindar’s relatives, ser-
vants, Brahmins and religious trusts.24 The Amini Commission Report of 1777 stated
that the total rent-free land under the Nadia zamindari was 475,751 bighas25 (four
lakh seventy-five thousand seven hundred and fifty-one bighas). James Grant, though
agreeing with the Amini report, about the total rent-free land under the Zamin Chakran
and the baze zamin heads, added some new heads to arrive at a far greater figure of

20
HCA, p. 196.
21
KVC 1, P I.
22
‘Village Registers’, in ‘Hust–O–bud and Revenue Accounts’, Accounts and Registers Relating to Land and
Land Revenue, Misc. Records, Board of Revenue, WBSA, passim. Also see the same, for great number of
hut, bazaar, and Gunges under the Nadia zamindari.
23
For such grants for a period covering 1684 to 1757 in different parts of western Bengal, ‘Sanads entered
into the Baze Zamin Dafter in months of January to March, 1783’, pp. 77–78, 264–65, 286–87, 292–93;
‘Sanads……..March to May, 1783, pp. 310–11’, ‘English Register Relating to Baze Zamin Dafter in 1783’,
Vol. 8, pt III, pp. 325–29. Surathals delivered at Midnapore and entered in the month of April, 1784, passim,
WBSA.
24
KVC 1, p. 4.
25
Ramsbotham, Studies in the Land Revenue History of Bengal, 1769–1787, Appendix, p. 132.

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Religion, Caste and Polity in Eighteenth Century Bengal 229

rent-free land. However, heads of rent-free land given by Grant should be taken with
caution. Among the heads given by Grant, the total bighas under the head Saranjami
was either rent-free or given at a small rent.26 But this was not true for the other two
heads under the Palataka and ‘concealed land’. Palataka meant disruption of cultiva-
tion caused by flight of the peasants and amount of revenue that formerly came from
the deserted land. In those cases, both the state and the zamindar lost revenue. But the
‘concealed land’, cultivated but not entered into the official rent-roll, could yield rev-
enue to the zamindar through local arrangements. If such was the case, the ‘concealed
land’ remained a hidden source of income to the zamindar and the state became the
actual loser. Therefore Grant’s account only indicates the total loss of revenue through
various reasons, all of which did not affect the zamindars (Table 1).

Table 1. Rent-free Land under the Nadia Raj in 1777

Heads Land in Bighas
1. Baze Zamin & Zamin Chakran 475,731
2. Palataka (deserted) 242,842
3. Concealed land in Amini investigation 1,342,956∗
4. Saranjami 364,147
Total 2,425,426
Source: Grant, ‘Historical and Comparative View of the Revenues of Bengal’, p. 364.
Note: ∗After deduction of Palataka.

The KVC states that generally the cultivated land in Nadia remained unassessed, the
ryots received no patta and usually paid crop-rent (Uthbandi). Patta bearing the sign
or seal of the zamindar was considered as a special favour. The report of the collector
of Nadia in 1788 corroborates the statement of the KVC. The collector stated that a few
of the ryots in Nadia possessed patta. There was no fixed rate of rent and no assess-
ment of rentable land was made during the previous thirty-six years.27 It is true that
the increasing pressure of the ijaradars and moneylenders after 1765,28 and the effects
of the great famine of 1769–1770, caused the great flight of the peasants and decline
of cultivation in Nadia. The dislocation of the peasant settlements can be seen in the

26
Bigger zamindars had greater number of officials holding land under Saranjami heads. Firminger,
Historical Introduction to the Fifth Report, pp. 53–54. Calkins, ‘Collecting the Rent in Early 18th Century
Bengal’. A survey report of Nadia zamindari on 1782 puts the Saranjami figure at 5,465 bighas; ‘5th August,
progs No. 16, 1782, Board of Revenue, WBSA.
27
Saha, ‘British Administration in a Bengal District 1785–1835’, p. 19.
28
The Risala-i-Zira’t mentioned the general presence of the ijaraders and moneylenders in Bengal in the
second half of the eighteenth century. J. Mallik, ‘Agrarian Structure of Bengal at the Beginning of British
Conquest’, Progs of the Indian History Congress, Jadavpur, 1974, pp. 183–84, for Nadia; Verelst, A View of
the Rise, Progress and Present State of the Government in Bengal, Appendix, p. 224; R. Saha, ‘British
Administration in a Bengal District 1785–1835’, p. 19; Dasgupta and Mukhoti, Iswar Gupta Granthavali,
p. 74.

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230 Ratan Dasgupta

incidence of Palataka in Nadia zamindari. Surely such situation aggravated the finan-
cial problem of the house of Krisnanagore.29 The house faced bankruptcy after the death
of Krishnachandra, who passed his total tenure through financial crisis. We have noted
earlier that arrear in revenue payment was a regular feature of the house of Krisnanagar.
Expansion of the Nadia zamindari in the seventeenth and early eighteenth century went
hand in hand with financial crisis. We shall try to see why the zamindars of Krisnanagar
failed to rationalise their economy? Why they, especially Krishnachandra, continued
the custom of liberal land grants instead of putting a heavy restriction on it?

The Brahmin Society and Polity in Nadia

Nadia was the chief centre of traditional Sanskrit learning in Bengal. The Nadia
scholars were pre-eminent in the studies of the Vedas, logic, Smriti texts, astronomy

29
The question that whether the economic decline and the dislocation of peasant settlements in late
eighteenth century Nadia displayed a symptom of environmental degradation is worth a discussion. The sub-
ject is vast and, presently, our observation is limited for the consideration of space and context. Geographers
and hydraulic engineers have noted that the decay of the Nadia rivers (Jalangi, Ichhamati, Bhairab, Churni
and Madhumati) had started with the eastward movement of the main channel of the Ganges in the sixteenth
century. (Majumdar, ‘Rivers of the Bengal Delta’, in K.R. Biswas, ed., Rivers of Bengal; J. Fergusson ‘On
Recent Changes in the Delta of the Ganges’, in ibid., p. 20; Bhattacarya, Bangladesher nad-nadi o pari
kalpna, pp. 12–14, 41–43; Basu and Chakraborty, ‘Some Considerations on the Decay of the Bhagirathi
Drainage System’, K.D. Chatterjee and N.G. Majumdar, ‘Drainage Problems of the Bhagirathi Basin, in
ibid., p. 79). In his seminal work, R.K. Mukherjee had placed the effects of the eastward movement of the
Ganges and the decline of the Bhagirathi River in a comparative historical and sociological framework that
encompassed eastern and western Bengal. Mukherjee noted the changes in the agricultural production, shift-
ing of the production base, pattern of demographic growth and the frequency of the epidemics that appeared
in association with the environmental degradation of western Bengal. But he was cautious enough to add
specific historical perspectives to a brilliant environmental discourse. He observed that epidemic (of malaria)
appeared in Nadia in the early eighteenth century, and continued throughout the better part of the century. His
point is supported by the statements made in KVC 1 and the accounts of Grant, mentioning Nadia in the eigh-
teenth century as a flat, fertile and healthy region. The KVC 1 further states that the epidemic (malaria) in
Nadia first appeared in 1832, and continued till 1867. Mukherjee included the man-made and ‘political’
causes behind the envir-onmental degradation of western Bengal in the nineteenth century. Problems arose
with the construction of new roads, embankments and railways, now directed towards Calcutta, the new cap-
ital. We can only add that Calcutta was not a central place in the ecosystem of Bengal, and disturbed its natu-
ral rhythm. [Mukherjee, The Changing Face of Bengal: A Study in the Riverine Economy, pp. 27–54, passim;
KVC 1, pp. 1–2; Grant, ‘Historical and Comparative View of the Revenues of Bengal’ for similar situation in
the Bardhaman zamindari on the right bank of the Bhagirathi (comprising modern districts of Howrah, Hugli
and eastern Bardhaman) that remained rich in agricultural production till early nineteenth century, see W.
Willcocks, ‘Lectures on the Ancient System of Irrigation in Bengal’, in K.R. Biswas, ed., Rivers of Bengal,
pp. 120–21]. Willcocks argued that the East India Company’s administrative indifference to regular repairing
works of the Zamindari embankments (poolbandy) caused increasing breaches, resulting in the recurring
floods of the Damodar river. He mentioned the harmful effects of the construction of the Grand Trunk Road
and the railways on the regional environment as well. We can reiterate that the high incidence of the Palataka
in Nadia at the last quarter of the eighteenth century originated from the great famine of 1769–70. Primarily
it was man-made and ‘political’, not to be taken as a case of environmental degradation.

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Religion, Caste and Polity in Eighteenth Century Bengal 231

and grammar.30 Almanacs, independently edited by the scholars of Vikrampur and

Bakla (Chandradwip or Bakharganj), were in vogue but were not so widely accepted
as authentic like those edited by the scholars of Nadia.31 Almanacs’ influence on the
medieval social life was supreme. It provided the time-tables of familial and social cere-
monies, starting of new undertakings and journeys, religious festivals and fairs, agri-
cultural and handicraft production rites—even political decisions were often made in
accordance with the stellar position of the stars and the satellites. Further, the Nadia
pandits were considered as the supreme authorities on social laws (smriti) spanning
social and individual rights on such diverse matters like the marriage, birth and death
ceremonies, upgradation and degradation in caste status, right to build a temple or
install and worship a deity, and so on. Two incidents, both related to Rajballabh, the
zamindar of Rajnagar in Bakharganj, may prove our point. In the first, Rajballabh was
successful in introducing the rites of wearing sacred threads32 (paita) in the Vaidya
community of East Bengal. At first, his effort was baffled by the Brahmin scholars of
Vikrampur, considered as the most important centre of Sanskrit scholarship in eastern
Bengal.33 Vaidya zamindars of eastern Bengal considered Rajballabh as an upstart and
interpreted his action as a ploy to monopolise the social leadership of the Vaidya com-
munity in eastern Bengal. They incited the opposition of the Brahmins who resented
Rajballabh’s attempt to encroach on their exclusive rights to wear sacred thread.
Against the teething opposition of local zamindars and Brahmin scholars, Rajballabh
got the necessary social sanction by the rulings of the pandits from Benaras and
Navadwip which cost him a fabulous sum of Rs 5 lakhs.34 Till that period, Krishnachandra
was close to Rajballabh and the prospect of the power tussle within the Vaidya society
in distant eastern Bengal did not trouble him. Without his consent, the scholars of
Navadwip could not afford to go to Rajnagar, the centre of Rajballabh’s power. The
second case concerns Rajballabh’s effort to introduce widow remarriage at a later date.
Rajballabh managed the necessary sanction from a large section of the Brahmins of
Vikrampur and even made strong lobbying in Nadia through liberal offerings. But at
the expressed command of Krishnachandra, the Brahmin lawgivers of Nadia vetoed
the attempted reform.35 Krishnachandra saw, from his point of view quite rightly, that
the attempt of Rajballabh involved the hegemonic position in a much wider space of
Hindu society in Bengal, transcending the limit of a specific caste.
Like his predecessors, Krishnachandra made liberal land grants to Brahmins and
scholars. He encouraged Sanskrit learning in seminaries and established many village

30
Bhattacharya, Bangalir Saraswat Avadana, p. 31 and passim.
31
Taylor, A Sketch of the Topography of Dacca, p. 27.
32
Ibid., p. 229.
33
Gupta, Maharaja Rajballabh O tatkalin itihaser Sthula Vivaran, p. 202.
34
Taylor, A Sketch of the Topography of Dacca, p. 229.
35
Gupta, Maharaja Rajballabh O tatkalin itihaser Sthula Vivaran, pp. 193–97; Majumder, Maharaja
Rajballabh, p. 91; Vidyaratna, Jatitatwa-Varidhi, p. 492.

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232 Ratan Dasgupta

schools. Many students from different parts of Bengal, and even from outside, flocked
to Krisnanagore to study under its learned teachers.36 Krishnachandra’s liberality
attracted many scholars and literary persons to his court. Srikanta, Kamalakanta,
Shankar, Deval, Madhusudan, Baneswar Tarkapancanan, Sharan Tarkalankar, Anukul
Bacaspati, Kali Siddhantabagis and Bharatchandra Roygunakar were prominent among
them. Ramprasad, the Shakta poet, also received his land grant.37 Krishnachandra was
known for his connoisseurship in literary matters. His court appeared as the foremost
academy and highest caste-court in the eighteenth century Bengal. In a eulogistic com-
position, Sharan Vidyalankar, one of the courtiers of Krishnachandra, compared the
qualities of his patron with the unlimited number of shiny stars in a night sky.38
Tantric Hinduism became dominant in Sarkar Satgaon, the core region of the
western Bengal at the fall of the seventeenth century. Bhabananda, Lakshmikanta
and Joyananda, the founders of the intermediary zamindari houses of Nadia,
Savarnachaudhuri house of the twenty-four parganas and Bansberia respectively,
ardently patronised tantric Hindusim. All of them were Rarhi Brahmins who held
together the core region of Rarhi Brahmins with Nadia at its centre.39 The development
coincided with the eviction of old zamindars, the rise of new intermediary zamindars
under the Mughals and the establishment of their social control. The orthodox trad-
ition of the Nadia zamindars continued during the tenures of Raghab Roy, Raghuram
or Ramkrisna, the predecessors of Krishnachandra. Krishnachandra performed the
‘Bajaspeya’ rite and took the title of ‘Agnihotri Bajaspeyi’. He introduced the ceremony
of Jagaddhatri and Annapurna worship and observed the ceremonies with great pomp.40
Krisnananda Agambagis, a famous exponent of tantricism of that age, introduced the
ceremonial worship of Shyama (Kali) with the patronage of Krishnachandra.41 Tight
financial situation did not prevent him from building seven temples and performing
costly Hindu rites between 1750 and 1770 AD.42 Prominent members of his court
began to ape their lord.43 Thus, Nadia remained the chief centre of orthodox Hinduism
in the eighteenth century Bengal.44
Traditionally, the zamindars of Nadia patronised the Shaiva and the Shakta cults.
The predecessors of Krishnachandra built Shiva temples exclusively. The practice was

36
KVC 1, p. 26; Bhattacharya, Bangalir Saraswat Avadana, pp. 284–319; Chakravarti, Bhrantivijaya,
pp. 165–66; Mallick, Maharaja, passim; Rarhi, Navadwip-Mahima, pp. 294–95; Adams, Reports on the
State of Education in Bengal, p. 46.
37
Hunter, A Statistical Account of Bengal, p. 156. KVC 1, pp. 95–98.
38
Rarhi, Navadwip-Mahima, p. 322.
39
Matilal, Bahubazarer Matilal Vamsa, p. 95.
40
KVC 1, p. 100; Rajiblochan Mukhopadhyay, ‘Maharaja Krishnachandra Rayasya Charitam’, in Mohit Roy,
ed., op. cit., pp. 220–21; Garett, Bengal District Gazetter, Nadia, p. 158.
41
Mallick, Maharaja, pp. 109–10.
42
Mukherjee, A Corpus of Dedicatory Inscriptions from West Bengal, Appendix I, p. 204. Two of the temples
were built by his wives.
43
Chandra, The Travels of a Hindoo, p. 47.
44
Kumar, Vamsa-Parichaya, p. 127.

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Religion, Caste and Polity in Eighteenth Century Bengal 233

continued by Krishnachandra till 1762 when he built the Maharajaniswara temple.

But at least from 1752, a change was noticeable in the religious outlook of the court
at Krisnanagar. Bharachandra, the court poet of Krishnachandra, who completed his
poetical work Annadamangal in 1752,45 strongly advocated for monistic Advaitism and
denounced narrow sectarian outlook in religious matters. In Annadamangal, Vyasa, the
sectarian devotee of Shiva was reprieved by his object of worship in the following
manner:46

‘We Two, Hari and Hara, is inseparable. He, who worships the inseparable is wise’.

Later, Vyasa was scolded by Annapurna, the Supreme Mother of Annadamangal in

almost identical language:47

‘Hari, Hara (and), Bidhi constitutes my being.

He, who worships the Unity, is wise.’

One temple constructed by Krishnachandra’s elder wife in 1762 was dedicated to

Vaishnava deity.48 It was a signal departure from the practices of Nadia zamindars,
who exclusively built temples of Shiva. Finally, the changing outlook of the court was
spelt out in an inscription of the ‘Hari-Hara’ temple built by Krishnachandra in 1766.
An inscription stated that the temple of the ‘Hari-Hara form of Advaita-Brahman’ was
built ‘to dispel wrong notion of the foolish people who were sinking into (a sense) of
the difference (Bhida), i.e., duality between Murari (i.e., Hari, Vishnu) and Tripurahara
(i.e., Hara-Shiva)’.49
Recently, a scholar tried to find political motive behind the change in the religious
outlook of Krishnachandra. According to him, the Nadia raj’s relationship with Bengal
Subadars became soured in the mid-eighteenth century. Krishnachandra got closer with
the East India Company. He tried to construct a more ‘Unitary meaning’ of Hinduism
to create a more independent power base in a troubled time. Thus, Krishnachandra
was understood as a leader of resilient Hindu opposition—a natural collaborator, who
waited eagerly for the revolution of Palashi. However, the author reminds us that the
company was more keen in finding collaborators in the ranks of higher officials of
the state50 (Jagirdars). But the so-called ‘Unitary meaning’ of Hinduism—actually the
monistic philosophy of Advaita—was not a novelty in Nadia, the premier centre of
learning in medieval Bengal. Second, adherence to the philosophical ideals of Advaita,
faith in particular religious sects and the caste system was not considered mutually
exclusive themes in medieval Bengal.

45
Bandopadhyaya and Das, Bharatchandra Granthavali, p. 16 (Introduction).
46
Bandopadhyaya and Das, Bharatchandra Granthavali, p. 109.
47
Bandopadhyaya and Das, Bharatchandra Granthavali, p. 137.
48
Mukherjee, A Corpus of Dedicatory Inscriptions from West Bengal, p. 205.
49
Mukherjee, A Corpus of Dedicatory Inscriptions from West Bengal, p. 164.
50
Curley, ‘Maharaja Krishnachandra, Hinduism and Kingship in the Contact Zone of Bengal’.

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234 Ratan Dasgupta

The Zamindars and the State

The process of political disintegration and economic dislocation that beset north
India at the fall of the eighteenth century bypassed Bengal. Bengal Subadars from the
days of Murshidquli Khan strengthened the emergent successor state. The rank of the
Jagirdars, the Mughal official nobility in Bengal, was thinned out in the wars of suc-
cession in north India and Bengal. Many of them were displaced with the changes of
the rulers, and some of them returned to their places of origin. The Subadars placed
their clansmen in the vacant administrative posts. The Afsar-Turks of Iran, who pro-
duced the rulers of Bengal from Murshidquli Khan to Mir Qasim, became the superior
official clan in Bengal. The new state broadened the scope of Hindu officials, espe-
cially in the revenue administration. The withdrawing process of the empire brought
upheavals in the ranks of the zamindars. The intermediary houses of Natore, Bardhaman,
Dinajpur and Rokinpur grew rapidly. Zamindari of Nadia that began to expand in the
seventeenth century retained its position among the big intermediary houses but lost its
premier position in western Bengal51 to the house of Bardhaman. The Maratha inroads
after the 1740s improved the political status of the zamindars as the state needed their
support. Yet the help of the zamindars was sought mainly in the economic front. The
zamindari levy was a poor auxiliary force only to be used in local trouble or against
other zamindars. The ease with which the revolt of Shova Singh and Rahim Khan in
1696, or the Maratha inroads after 1740, gripped almost the entire western Bengal
shows the little power of the zamindars.52 The East India Company faced no difficulty
in extending its authority over lower Bengal after the battle of Buxar. Only 150 years
plus earlier, the powerful local barons of lower Bengal defied the conquering machine
of Akbar. Mir Qasim tacitly recognised his insecure position and absence of secondary
line of resistance in Bengal when he transferred his capital to Munger. The rapid rise
and decline of the big intermediary zamindaries in eighteenth century Bengal shows that
their fate was intimately connected with the suba. The possibility of Krishnachandra’s
move to unite the Hindu sects, or projecting himself as leader of Hindu opposition,53
may be seen from that point.

Was Krishnachandra a Leader of Hindu Opposition?

The general history of the house of Krishnanagar and Krishnachandra, in particular,
poses some difficulty in understanding him as a leader of emerging Hindu opposition
to the Subadari state. The zamindari of Nadia was created, continued and prospered
during the Mughal rule. The zamindars of Nadia often provided auxiliary forces to

51
Salim, Riyazus-S-Salatin, pp. 248–67; Salimullah, Tarikh-I-Bangla, pp. 22–45; Sarkar, The History of
Bengal, pp. 408–12; Dasgupta, ‘Mercenaries and the Political Economy of Bengal, 1727–63’, passim;
Dasgupta, ‘“The Break” in the Eighteenth Century’.
52
Sarkar, The History of Bengal, pp. 393–95, 455–61.
53
KVC 1, pp. 72–73, 76–79; Rajiblochan Mukhopadhyaya, ‘Maharaja Krishnachandra Rayasya Charitam’,
pp. 323–32; Nandi, Bandar Kasimbazar, pp. 42–43.

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Religion, Caste and Polity in Eighteenth Century Bengal 235

the state against the neighbouring Hindu zamindars and sometimes fought them on
their own. The tradition of Bhabananda was continued during Raghuram, who fought
Udaynarayan and Sitaram, the Hindu zamindars of Rajshahi and Bhusna respect-
ively. He received some parganas as reward.54 Ramakrishna, the predecessor of
Krishnachandra, attacked and plundered the Hindu zamindar of Chanchra (Yusufpur).55
Krishnachandra snatched the parganas of Agradwip and Halda from the Hindu
zamindar of Banshberia (Mohammad Aminpur).56 His relationship with the fast-
growing intermediary house of Bardhaman57 was strained. Krishnachandra opposed
the efforts of Rajvallabh, another powerful Hindu zamindar of Bakharganj in introduc-
tion of widow remarriage.58 The Nadia zamindars, though lording over a regional
orthodox Hindu polity, did not hesitate to invite intervention of Subadars in matters of
succession. Krishnachandra invoked the help of Suja’s administration to oust his uncle
from power.59 The highly orthodox Maharaja used to recite parts of Mahabharata to
Alibardi, and gladly received Patta and Khelat.60 It is told that the draft of the invitation
letters to the Brahmin pandits, inviting them to the funeral of Alibardi, was done by
Baneswar Tarkalankar. Baneswar complied with the request of Krishnachandra, who
took the initiative at the behest of Siraj.61 He always tried to keep the superior power,
the Subadars and later the English, in good humour. The women in the seraglio of
Krishnachandra followed the trend of Lukhnow or Delhi in matters of dress and cos-
tume. Persian language and court etiquette was in common use among the higher polity
of Nadia.62 Prominent poets of Krishnachanra’s court used Persian in their works.63
Krishnachandra prayed and received the title of Maharajadhiraj (Lord of the kings)
and got it inscribed on a temple plaque.64 However, such eulogistic titles of temple
inscription, a well-known format of the Prashasti literature was often far off from the
actual situation involving power and space.65 Two temple inscriptions of Rahgab Roy,
the ancestor of Krishnachandra, described him as a ‘King’ almost a century earlier.66

54
KVC 1, pp. 60–61.
55
KVC 1, p. 271.
56
Dey, History of the Bansberia Raj, pp. 32, 38.
57
KVC 1, pp. 66–67.
58
KVC 1, pp. 56–57.
59
KVC 1, p. 63.
60
KVC 1, pp. 68–69.
61
Bandopadhyaya, Bangiya Sanskrita Adhyapark Jivani, p. 285. For a detailed discussion on Baneswar, one
of the great scholars living in eighteen century Bengal, Choudhuri et al., eds, Haraprasad Shastri
Rachanasamgraha, pp. 117–30. Bhattacharya, ‘Baneswar Vidyalankar’.
62
Mallick, Maharaja, p. 115; KVC 1, pp. 23 al 28.
63
Sen, History of Bengali Language and Literature, p. 167.
64
Curley, ‘Maharaja Krishnachandra, Hinduism and Kingship in the Contact Zone of Bengal’, p. 109.
However, three inscriptions, dated 1754, 1762 and 1766, show the changing epithets of Krishnachandra
between the years 1754 and 1766. In the first two, he was mentioned as ‘Rajaraja’ (King of Kings) and
‘Maharaja-Rajendra-Deva’ in the third. Mukherjee, A Corpus of Dedicatory Inscriptions from West Bengal,
pp. 143, 157, 164.
65
Pollock, The Language of the Gods in the World of Men, p. 246.
66
Mukherjee, A Corpus of Dedicatory Inscriptions from West Bengal, pp. 96, 99.

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236 Ratan Dasgupta

Actually, such epithets were simply honorific that promoted the status of the local
lords. The British raj continued the tradition when they doled out the title of ‘Raja’,
and ‘Rajabahadurs’ to petty zamindars. In fact, Krishnachandra’s adherence to monis-
tic Hinduism and his new-found titles was announced in 1762 and 1766 respectively,
when the suba passed its course. It is difficult to state whether Krishnachandra even
had the power to unite all his subjects. Traditionally, the Nadia zamindars were haters
of popular cults. Krishnachandra and his predecessors looked down Vaishnavism, espe-
cially the followers of Chaitanya, who were numerous in Navadwip.67 Sometimes their
apathy to lower castes reached to the depth of cruelty. It is told that Krishnachandra
pardoned a Brahmin who killed his lower caste servant.68 Nadia in Krishnachandra’s
time showed sure signs of decadence, a period not conducive to build a power base.
The zamindari was in arrears, the Marathas looted the countryside,69 the court of
Krishnachandra remained busy in observing the caste code and the Brahmin pandits
took pleasure in sublime and intricate points of nyaya (logic), smriti and caste rules.
Krishnachandra, like other contemporary big zamindars, though personally was not
responsible for all those developments, did little to remedy the situation. Gangaram,
the rural poet, viewed the decadence of the urban court societies in Bengal as result
of increasing vices that brought the curse of Maratha inroads in the mid-eighteenth
century.70

General Crisis and Politics of Control

We have noted earlier that the penetration of the Mughal rule coincided with the rise of
orthodox Hinduism in seventeenth century Bengal. The new zamindars patronised the
trend for strengthening their social control. The brewing insecurity and competition of
zamindars in the turbulent mid-eighteenth century Bengal increased their devotion to
the supernatural powers.71 The spurt in the temple-building activities and land grants to
the Brahmins by the zamindars in Bengal was not always a display of their new-found
security and prosperity.72 We have seen that Krishnachandra was not bidding for a

67
KVC 1, p. 19, for a general introduction to popular cults based on fertility rites and mother cult.
Chattopadhyaya, Lokayata: A Study in Ancient Indian Materialism, pp. 246–324. For Bengal, see Dasgupta,
Obscure Religious Cults, passim.
68
Rarhi, Navadwip-Mahima, p. 129.
69
For a general picture of Maratha inroads and its effects on western Bengal in 1740–52, Khan, Seir-
Mutakherin, pp. 409–75, passim; Salim, Riyazus-s-Salatin, pp. 338–61, passim; Tarikh-i-Bangla, op. cit.,
pp. 338–61; op. cit., pp. 191–210; Holwell, Interesting Historical Events, pp. 112–55, passim; Gangaram,
Maharasta-Purana, pp. 29–31. For Nadia, KVC 1, p. 69; Rarhi, Navadwip-Mahima, pp. 291–92.
70
Gangaram, Maharasta-Purana, pp. 2–3.
71
Sanyal, ‘Social Aspects of Temple Building in Bengal: 1600–1900’, p. 109 and Table 2 on p. 122.
72
For the all-pervasive feelings of insecurity in the eighteen century Bengal in the devotional poems of
Ramprasad, the devotee of Kali the dark-goddess, see Thompson and Spences, Bengali Religious Lyrics,
Introduction.

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Religion, Caste and Polity in Eighteenth Century Bengal 237

power base by uniting different sects of Hinduism. Actually, such division was based
upon the caste system, not on religion alone. We can even assume that the family factor
might have been the cause behind the conversion of Krishnachandra to a ‘Unitary’
exposition of Hinduism. One of his wives built Vaisnabha temple, an act unprecedented
in the annals of Krishnanagar raj. The monistic philosophy of Advaita was studied in
Nadia, as it was the most important centre of learning in pre-colonial Bengal and the
scholars of Krishnachandra’s court was well aware of it. Bharatchandra, the court poet
of Krishnachandra, wrote how Sundara, the princely hero of Vidyasundar, deftly used
the argument of monistic Advaitaism to win Vidya, the princess, in a duel. The debate
and the graded discussion of the different philosophical categories reached its finale in
asserting the supremacy of the monistic ideal of Advaita and Sundara, its exponent.73
Yet besides those philosophical fineries or hostility to the Subadari regime, more im-
portant factors propelled Krishnachandra to appear as a champion of Hinduism. Those
factors involved the relationship of Krishnachandra with his subjects in a caste society,
and his relationship with other powerful Hindu zamindars on the other.
Krishnachandra controlled the caste society under his jurisdiction like other zamin-
dars of the eighteenth century Bengal. The house of Krishnanagar enjoyed a special
position in that context. The zamindari of Nadia constituted the core region of the
Rarhi Brahmins, the most influential sub-division of Brahmins in western Bengal. At
the same time, it was the most important centre of traditional learning in medieval
Bengal. Raghab Roy, the ancestor of Krishnachandra, proudly declared his Brahmin
lineage in an inscription on Raghabeswar temple at Dignagar in 1669 AD. It described
Raghab as ‘A jewel among the Brahmins (and) the foremost among kings’.74 The
Nadia zamindars since the days of Raghab Roy tried to control the Rarhi Brahmins
as that would help them to establish hegemony over the other castes. For that purpose
they made ample land grants to the Brahmins, established marriage relationships with
respected Kulin lineages, even used force to cow down the dissident voices.75 From the
days of Raghab Roy, the headmanship of a particular sub-group of the Rarhi Brahmins
(Fulia Mela) passed to the Krishnanagar house.76 With that the Nadia zamindars began
to enjoy the unique status as headmen of a caste sub-group, lawgivers of a caste soci-
ety and patrons of the great academicians. Thus, the Nadia zamindars fulfilled the
traditional dual role of a king conceived in the caste society. They maintained the caste
code, punished the infringement and rewarded the righteous and the scholars, who
interpreted caste codes, and legitimised the action of zamindars. No higher authority
could reverse their decision on social matters. By controlling the domiciling regions of
the greatest academicians of medieval Bengal, and making land grants to Brahmins in

73
Bandopadhyaya and Das, Bharatchandra Granthavali, pp. 207–08.
74
Mukherjee, A Corpus of Dedicatory Inscriptions from West Bengal, p. 96. The ‘Rajaraja’ temple inscrip-
tion of 1754 describes Krishnachandra as a Brahmin, op. cit., p. 143.
75
Vidyanidhi, Samandha-Nirnaya, pp. 39–40.
76
Ibid.

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238 Ratan Dasgupta

other zamindaris, the house of Krishnanagar strengthened their hegemony over caste
societies outside their territorial control.77
Krishnachandra was called as the Chari Smajer Pati (chief of the four local
caste communities) that meant the premier position of the four great territorial caste
communities centred around Agradwip, Nabadwip, Chakradwip and Kushadwip.78 He
had the power to decaste or impose fine for infringing caste code.79 Similarly, he could
condone such acts or annul the outcaste status of a person.80 Krishnachandra lost his
power in the last years of life under the new regime of British East India Company. His
control on the Rarhi Brahmin community was broken when Jagannath Tarkapanchanan,
a great scholar, challenged his social authority. Armed with the covert help from the
zamindar of Burdwan, Jagannath, at a vast congregation of Rarhi Brahmins, annulled
the dictum of Krishnachandra, and returned back the caste status of some outcaste
Brahmins.81 After a long interval the Rarhi Brahmins regained their community
power. Before that, Krishnachandra held complete sway over them. The unchallenged
position of Krishnachandra within the Brahmin community of Nadia, especially
within the Rarhi Brahmins, helped him to influence the caste society of Bengal.82 It
provided a powerful tool against politically and financially more powerful Hindu
zamindars. He forestalled the attempt of Rajballabh for introduction of widow remar-
riage. Rajballabh, a powerful zamindar in Bakharganj, and highly placed official
enjoyed the patronage of the Subadar and Noazes Mohammad, the deputy Subadar of
Bengal. The neighbouring Hindu zamindars of Bardhaman and Rajshahi, though more
powerful and sometimes having strained relation with Krishnachandra, never showed
interest on the mahals of the zamindari of Krishnachandra. For these reasons, the con-
tradictory trends of financial trouble and the incidence of liberal land grants went hand
in hand during the tenure of Krishnachandra. Liberal land grants, the means of control
of the Krishnanagar raj thus became the cause of its financial problem. The cell-like
organisation of social power on a local or regional arrangement was a hallmark of the
caste society. The mechanism was intended to silence the opposition or recalcitrant
voices within it. Needless to say that the coercive social power of Krishnachandra,
his legendary fame as a lawgiver and enforcer, or a patron of culture, had no import-
ance in a high polity controlled and maintained by the warriors on horseback. It was

77
Krishnachandra made land grants to Brahmins living in the neighbouring zamindaris. He even made land
grants to the Brahmins of district Bakla and Vikrampur, the leading centres of Sanskrit learning in late-medi-
eval eastern Bengal. KVC 1, pp. 32, 95. For instances of land grants made to same person by the zamindars
of Nadia, Bardhaman and Natore, see Choudhuri, Agarpara Choudhuri Vamsa, pp. 28–29.
78
Mallick, Maharaja, p. 107; Chakravarty, Khanturar Itihas O Kushadwip Kahini, pp. 7–8.
79
Mallick, Maharaja, p. 108; Bhattacarya, Jagannath Tarkapanchanan, p. 24. For fine as a source of income
of the medieval European lords, see Coulton, The Mediaval Village, p. 128.
80
Bhattacarya, Jagannath Tarkapanchanan, pp. 25–26. For Jagannath Tarkapanchanan and his standing as
the foremost Sanskrit scholar in the late eighteenth century Bengal, see Bhattacharya, Bangalir Saraswat
Avadana, pp. 229–31; Panda, Appropriation and invention of tradition, pp. 202–05.
81
Basu, Banger Jatiya Titihas, p. 278.
82
Ibid.

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Religion, Caste and Polity in Eighteenth Century Bengal 239

limited to the Hindu society of a particular region having a concentration of scholars

and Brahmins. It filtered down on the other segments of the society83 and often, at dif-
ferent regions, through the Jajmani system. His name scarcely appears in the general
political annals of the troubled eighteenth century Bengal. The pattern was visible in
other parts of Bengal. There was a spurt of temple-building activities after the 1740s;
when the decline set in that became acute after the 1760s.84
Hindu society in Calcutta, the new centre of power and culture, often copied Nadia
under Krishnachandra till the first half of nineteenth century. The language and expres-
sion of babu culture—its leanings to conspicuous consumption, vulgar culture and
quest for the monistic view of Hinduism—had roots in the days of Krishnachandra.
The newly rich persons like Raja Nabakrishna maintained cohorts of paid Brahmins,
who explained caste codes at the commands of their patrons, discussed finer points of
religion and philosophy, and participated in the local feuds for social supremacy.85 Like
Krishnachandra, their political power was considered inconsequential. The English
never asked them to participate in the high politics, even in a humble role. They were
allowed to disturb and oppress their own community in the name of caste code. But
they lagged behind Krishnachandra in two important aspects. First, they were not the
traditional chiefs of their own caste, and second, they had no territorial control with
the power of land grant. Rival centres of money power and the superior administrative
control of the English in Calcutta produced a fractured social control that allowed some
space for the individual. The iron rule of caste codes, the symbol of the control on the
caste society continued for a long time in rural Bengal under the zamindars.86

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