Murshidabad
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Murshidabad (24.18 lat, 88.27 long) is a city in West Bengal, India as well as a district in the state. The city of Murshidabad is located on the southern bank of the Bhagirathi, a tributary of the Ganges River.
Murshidabad City
The city of Murshidabad is one of the oldest cities of West Bengal, and has a rich heritage. It was the last capital of independent Nawabs of Bengal, and the first capital of Bengal under the British. However, the city has lost its prominence in modern times to bigger cities such as Calcutta. Today it is primarily a trading town for agricultural products and silk. Murshidabad is also an important educational center, with eight colleges affiliated to the University of kalyani located here.
The origins of Murshidabad are not entirely clear. According to Ghulam Hussain, author of the Riyaz-us-Salatin, a merchant named Makhsus Khan first improved the present site of Murshidabad. Makhsus Khan had been mentioned in Akbar's birography, the Ain-i-Akbari, as a nobleman who served in Bengal and Bihar during the last decades of the sixteenth century. In Valentyn's map (1658-64) Moxudabath is shown on an island formed by the two branches of the Ganges.
In 1704, Murshid Quli Khan, the Diwan (aprox. Chief Minister) of Bengal under Aurangzeb transferred the capital from Dacca (now Dhaka in Bangladesh), and renamed the city Murshidabad. In 1716, he attained the title of Nawab (ruler) of the Subah (province) of Bengal, and Murshidabad became his capital. It continued to be the capital under a succession of Nawabs, and also under the British until 1790. It was constituted as a municipality in 1869, which remains to the present day.
While it features extensively in history books, the large potential for heritage tourism has been somewhat neglected. Of historic interest are Nizamat Kila (the Fortress of the Nawabs), also known as the Hazaarduari Palace (Palace of a Thousand Doors), built by Duncan McLeod of the Bengal Engineers in 1837, in the Italianate style, the Moti Jhil (Pearl Lake) just to the south of the palace, the Muradbagh Palace and the Khushbagh Cemetery, where the remains of Ali Vardi Khan and Siraj Ud Daulah are interred.
The city today is a center for agriculture, handicrafts and sericulture. The famous Murshidabad Silk, much in demand for making saris and scarves, is produced here.
Murshidabad District
-->The district of Murshidabad - 2,062 sq mi (5,341 sq km), population 5.863m (2001 census) - has its district headquarters at Baharampur. The district comprises two distinct regions separated by the Bhagirathi River. To the west lies the Rarh, a high, undulating continuation of the Chota Nagpur plateau. The eastern portion, the Bagri, is a fertile, low-lying alluvial tract, part of the Ganges Delta. The district is drained by the Bhagirathi and Jalangi rivers and their tributaries. Rice, jute, legumes, oilseeds, wheat, barley, and mangoes are the chief crops in the east; extensive mulberry cultivation is carried out in the west. The district became part of the Gaur kingdom in 1197 and passed to the British East India Company in the 18th century.
External links
- Official site for Murshidabad district [here] contains extensive information about the district and its history, along with maps.
- [West Bengal Govt site for Murshidabad district]
- An excellent article from Banglapedia on Murshidabad [here]
- Lots of statistical information on Murshidabad district [here]
| Districts of West Bengal |
|---|
| Bankura | Bardhaman | Birbhum | Cooch Behar | Darjeeling | North Dinajpur | South Dinajpur | Hooghly | Howrah | Jalpaiguri | Kolkata | Malda | Midnapore East | Midnapore West | Murshidabad | Nadia | North 24 Parganas | South 24 Parganas | Purulia |
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