TheTelihati-Amirabad Estate[a] was the largestzamindarestate inFaridpur District,Bengal,British India.[2] Within colonial-era Greater Faridpur (that included the present-day districts of Faridpur,Rajbari,Gopalganj,Shariatpur andMadaripur), the estate covered 72,000 acres of land. The estate owned lands outside Faridpur, including landholdings across the Bengal Presidency,Eastern Bengal and Assam (1905-1912),The Punjab and Arabia. The family of the estate has been an importantpolitical family which has produced members of theBengal Legislative Council, theBengal Legislative Assembly, theConstituent Assembly of Pakistan, theNational Assembly of Pakistan and theParliament of Bangladesh.
The family of the estate carry the title and surname ofChowdhury. They were locally described asBiswas. The legacy of the estate lives on in the name of theAmirabad railway station of theBangladesh Railway in Faridpur,Bangladesh. The estate also has a rich architectural legacy, including the mansion ofMoyez Manzil, the grounds of Biswas Bari and other hamlets.
The estate's recorded name isTelihati Amirabad. The name Telihati appears as a name for the area in the Mughal period. Telihati was an administrative unit of Fatehabad district (present-day Faridpur) under Mughal rule. By the 20th century, the name Amirabad became prevalent. The name is linked to the Zamindar Amir Ali Chowdhury.Amir is anArabic word meaning "ruler". The Persian suffix-abad may imply arealm, city or province. Amirabad hence translates as "realm of the ruler". In 1967, the historian N. K. Sinha noted the prevalence of zamindar lineages in the area dating from the decline of the Mughal Empire.[3][4]
According to the district gazette published by the colonial British anthropologistLewis Sydney Steward O'Malley, the Telihati-Amirabad Estate was the largest private estate in all of Faridpur (including Faridpur proper,Rajbari,Gopalganj,Shariatpur andMadaripur). It had 72,000 acres within the colonial district of Faridpur alone. The estate included geographically non-contiguous land, with pockets of landholdings spread across the district and outside the district. The estate was divided into four branches. According to O'Malley, "on the average, each estate is divided into five villages".[5] In the case of Amirabad, four households were shareholders of the estate system of theZamindari. A railway station of theEastern Bengal Railway was established in Amirabad. The first railway from Rajbari to Faridpur was built in 1899.
The estate's lands outside Faridpur were considerable. In 1923, the estate covered 4,000 sq km of territory in theBengal Presidency. It was one of the ten largest estates in British Bengal with landholdings in Faridpur, Rajbari, Madaripur, Shariatpur, Gopalganj,Manikganj,Mymensingh,Pabna,Gazipur,Rangpur,Dacca,Calcutta and24 Parganas. It also owned some landholdings inThe Punjab region ofNorth India and theHejaz region ofArabia. The core property of the family was in the Faridpur and Rajbari regions, particularly along the banks of thePadma River (the main distributary of theGanges). The estate covered extensive farmland and many deltaic islands. The estate measured 1 million acres by the time of its demise after thepartition of India. It included parts of bothEast Bengal andWest Bengal. According to the family historian Chowdhury Abd-Allah Quaseed, the estate covered 2.6% of the territory of Bangladesh and 1.65% of the territory of undivided Bengal.[6]
The estate can be compared with the smallestprincely states in British India. The smallest princely states in western India, includingVeja-no-ness State,Bhadli andNahara State, covered a few square kilometers and generated 500 rupees in taxes. In comparison, the Amirabad Estate was geographically larger and more populous. The village of Amirabad alone was estimated to have generated 2,500 rupees in tax revenue for the Bengal government in 1913.[7] Estates in Bengal under thePermanent Settlement were often wealthier and influential than some princely states.
Arafat Ali, a man from theJaunpur Sultanate, settled in Fatehabad (the former name of Faridpur). Fatehabad was a mint town of theBengal Sultanate.[8] His family was given an endowment by theMughal government to govern the northern part of Fatehabad. During the reign ofEmperor Jahangir in the 17th century, the family became thejagirdars of the northern part of Fatehabad along the banks of the mighty Ganges. Fatehabad was a district ofMughal Bengal. According to a British scholar, Fatehabad was the name of a mint town ofHussain Shah, which has been identified with the town of Faridpur; it was also the name of a largesarkar or division, which is believed to have been named afterJalaluddin Fateh Shah, king of Bengal from 1481 to 1486. This sarkar included part of Faridpur and portions ofDacca andBakarganj, as well as the islands of Dakhin Shahbazpur andSandwip.[9]
The nameTelihati is mentioned as a historical administrative unit of Faridpur in the Mughal period. The area was fertile and a bastion of zamindar estates. According to N. K. Sinha, "In the suburb of Telihati Pargana of Faridpur, villages like Vabrasur served as early settlements for zamindar lineages migrating from central Bengal during the Mughal decline (late 17th–early 18th century). These areas were integrated into British revenue surveys post-1793".[10]
During the British colonization of Bengal, the family resisted British expansion by deploying its privatelathial army. TheEast India Company divided the Mughal endowment into 23 segments. 22 segments were auctioned off to newly created estates, including Hindu estates. The original Muslim family from the Mughal period retained a portion in Biswas Bari. In the 19th century,Chowdhury Moyezuddin Biwshash greatly expanded the estate through his own mercantile activities. He acquired land in other parts of Bengal, as well as in Punjab and Arabia. He built theMoyez Manzil in the main town of Faridpur. InDhaka, the family owned property which was sold to theFrench East India Company which in turn sold it to theDhaka Nawab Family; theAhsan Manzil stands on the site of the former French factory.[11] The family was responsible for promoting many development works in Faridpur, including the introduction of electricity, cinema, a modern water supply; building roads, bridges, and schools; improving rail communications; and safeguardingBengali Muslim culture and civil rights. The Amirabad railway station was named in honor of Amir Ali Chowdhury.
In 1881, the family supported the formation of the People's Association of Faridpur, which was the first organized political party in what is now Bangladesh.[6][12] Chowdhury Moyezuddin Biwshash andAmbica Charan Mazumdar were the founders of the People's Association of Faridpur. They later supported theIndian National Congress which was founded in 1885. After thefirst partition of Bengal, the estate fell under the short-lived province ofEastern Bengal and Assam.
In 1908, the area was surveyed by the British government. The survey report stated that "Amirabad mauza [village tract] borders the Telihati pargana to the north; surveyed in 1908, showing alluvial soil suitable for multiple cropping. Population density: 1,040 per sq. mile".[13] In 1913, Amirabad was mentioned in the district gazette of L. S. S. O'Malley. The description was given as "Amirabad (village in Faridpur Sadar thana): Population 1,248 (1911 census); area 1,200 acres; chief crops: rice and pulses. Lies 8 miles southeast of Faridpur town, near the Kumar River; notable for a small mosque (built c. 1800) and as a minor trade post for jute. Revenue assessment: Rs. 2,500 annually under zamindari tenure".[14] The estate owned vast lands around theGoalundo Ghat which was the main river port connecting eastern and western Bengal.
In 1925, the Amirabad Estate was ranked as the largest private estate in all of Faridpur by the Bengal District Gazette written by the renowned colonial scholarLewis Sydney Steward O'Malley.[15] The estate had a population of several thousand people with considerable landholdings within and outside Faridpur. O'Malley noted that the district was remarkable for the great number of independent estates at the time of thePermanent Settlement in 1793.[16]
By the 1930s, the family began to move away from the Congress towards theAll India Muslim League following the path taken byMuhammad Ali Jinnah afterHindu-Muslim unity broke down.Chowdhury Abd-Allah Zaheeruddin became a member of theBengal Legislative Council in 1932. The Moyez Manzil hosted gatherings of the All India Literary Conference, All India Motion Pictures Conference, Bengal Education Policy Conference, All India Nationalist Muslim Conference,All India Muslim League andAll India Congress Committee.[17]Yusuf Ali Chowdhury was the Chairman of the Faridpur District Board between 1938 and 1953.[18] He was concurrently a member of theBengal Legislative Assembly and later a member of theEast Bengal Legislative Assembly andConstituent Assembly of Pakistan. Chowdhury played a key role in theland reforms which saw the enactment of theEast Bengal State Acquisition and Tenancy Act of 1950. Despite being a zamindar himself, Chowdhury supported the redistribution of wealth and land.[19]
In 1954, Biswas Bari hostedA. K. Fazlul Huq andHuseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy during theUnited Front election campaign.[20] Leaders from the family led efforts to build schools, roads and bridges in Faridpur.[19] During theBangladesh Liberation War in 1971, the grounds of the estate suffered raids and at least 10 people were killed in the hamlet of Chandpur.[21] Land reforms after the creation of Bangladesh ended all traces of thezamindari system. The Bangladesh Land Holding Limitation Order 1972 restricted a single family from owning more than 100bighas of land.[22] 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 decentralization reforms of the Bangladeshi government in 1984, Faridpur was divided into five districts, including Rajbari,Shariatpur,Madaripur, Faridpur proper, andGopalganj. Theupazila system of local government was also established. Imran Hossain Chowdhury became the first elected chairman ofFaridpur Sadar Upazila, which corresponds to Faridpur proper.[23]Kamran Hossain Chowdhury represented Faridpur in the 4thParliament of Bangladesh; he was also the Chairman of Faridpur District Council with the rank and status of a deputy minister.[20] In the 1980s, the estate was visited by Bangladeshi prime ministersMoudud Ahmed,Mizanur Rahman Chowdhury, andKazi Zafar Ahmed during the presidency ofHussain Muhammad Ershad.Chowdhury Kamal Ibne Yusuf represented Faridpur in the 2nd, 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th parliaments; he was also a cabinet minister from theBangladesh Nationalist Party.
Railways were introduced to Bengal in 1854. TheEastern Bengal Railway was established in 1862.[24] By the end of the 19th century, rail tracks connected Faridpur with Calcutta and Dacca. The Amirabad Railway Station was established on the grounds of the estate. It was the last stop before trains reachedGoalundo Ghat where passengers boarded ferries to cross thePadma River. At Goalundo, ships carried passengers as far away as Assam andBritish Burma.[25] Goalundo's role as a shipping hub increased the importance of the Amirabad Estate and railway station. A wooden pavilion on the grounds of the estate is made of Burmese timber, which was among the most expensive timber at the time. The timber was likely brought to Faridpur on boats which disembarked at Goalundo Ghat. Trains then transported Burmese timber to other places. Theghat had shipping links with Chittagong andArakan.
The estate has a rich architectural legacy. In Biswas Bari once stood a 172-room mansion which was burnt down during a fireworks accident.[26]Moyez Manzil is a zamindar house which was completed in 1885. It was built at a cost of 1,100,000 rupees. It is an early example ofIndo-Saracenic architecture. The building once hadjharoka balconies. Other buildings of the estate also reflect the architectural heritage of the region. The estate is notable for its woodwork. A wooden pavilion still stands in Biswas Bari, Amirabad. The pavilion is known as theBaithak Khana, or "meeting place". Large wooden four pole beds, with intricately carved sculptures of angels and fairies, are also a hallmark of the art of the estate. Wooden doors and beds from the buildings of the estate can be found in theBangladesh National Museum.[27][28]
In colonial times after thePermanent Settlement, it was customary for zamindar estates in Faridpur to be shared by a group of villages. On average, a single estate included properties in five villages. A single village contained properties of multiple estates. Seven villages also constituted an estate.[29] In Amirabad's case, four villages constituted the estate. These four villages emerged as four branches of the family. Thus, the clan of the Faridpur Biswas Estate has four branches.
The ancestral origins of the entire estate began in Biswas Bari which was the birthplace of the estate under British rule. It is located in the hamlet of Chandpur. It was the principal seat of the Faridpur Biswas Estate. The original estate includes several heritage buildings and intricately designed wooden structures. Furniture from Biswas Bari can be viewed at theBangladesh National Museum.
After leaving Biswas Bari, the merchant-zamindarChowdhury Moyezuddin Biwshash built theMoyez Manzil in the main town of Faridpur. Moyez Manzil became the leading house of Faridpur. The property is now administered as an Islamicwaqf.
Borobari is also known as Biswas Bari II. It is located in the hamlet of Chandpur. The family of Borobari has produced several local government leaders, including leaders ofunion parishad.
Chowdhury Bari is a branch of the family located in the hamlet of Chandpur.
