Sangam Rai According to the tradition of the family,
Sangam Rai, a
Khatri of the
Kapoor clan, from
Kotli, was the founder of the house of
Bardhaman. He, on his way back from a pilgrimage to Puri, being much impressed with the advantages of
Baikunthapur, a village near
Bardhaman town in present-day
Purba Bardhaman district of
West Bengal, settled there permanently and devoted himself to commerce and money lending.
Banku Behari Rai Sangam Rai's son
Banku Behari Rai was also a
Kotwal. The title of
Rai-Raiyan was conferred upon him. He was also involved in his family business. Not much is known about him.
Abu Rai Abu Rai, the son of Banku Behari Rai, was appointed
Choudhuri and
Kotwal of Rekhabi Bazar in
Bardhaman in 1657 under the
Faujdar of
Chakla Bardhaman. He is considered to be the patriarch of the Bardhaman Raj family as it was during his time the
zamindari started flourishing and the
zamindari was firmly established.
Babu Rai Babu Rai, the son of Abu Rai, was the first in the family to completely do away with the family business and invest more time in buying and managing profitable zamindari estates. He owned Pargana Bardhaman along with three other estates.
Ghana Shyam Rai After the death of Babu Rai, his son,
Ghana Shyam Rai, succeeded him. In 1689, he was honoured with a
farman from Mughal Emperor
Aurangzeb in the 38th year of his reign. This confirmed his title as the
Zamindar and
Choudhuri of
Pargana Bardhaman.
Kirti Chand Rai Kirti Chand Rai (1702–1740), the eldest among the two sons of Jagat Ram Rai, inherited the ancestral zamindari. He expanded it further by acquiring the Parganas of Chitua,
Bhurshut, Barda and Manoharshahi.
Maharajadhiraj Bahadur Tilak Chand Rai Chitra Sen Rai died in 1744 without issue and was succeeded by his cousin
Tilak Chand Rai (1744–1770), who was honoured by the emperor
Ahmad Shah with a
farman confirming his right to the raj and was after a few years, invested with the title of
Maharaj Adhiraj Bahadur and
Panj Hazari (commander of five thousand troops) by emperor
Shah Alam. Three years after the
battle of Plassey, on 27 September 1760, the zamindari of Bardhaman, together with the districts of
Midnapur and
Chittagong, was ceded to the
East India Company by
Nawab Mir Muhammad Kashim Khan, the governor of Bengal. At that time Bardhaman contained an area of 5,174 square miles and was considered the most productive district in
Subah of Bengal. But the country was in an unsettled state and the company didn't find the acquisition as profitable as they had hoped.
Maharajadhiraj Bahadur Tej Chand Rai When Tilak Chand Rai died at the young age of 26 in 1770, his son
Tej Chand Rai (b.1764 - d.1832) was just six years old. So, his mother
Maharani Bishan Kumari managed the estate with the help of
Dewan Ram Narayan Chowdhury The elder son of Mahatran Nakur Chandra Chowdhury (1664–1756) of Baikunthapur Chowdhury familial connection Since 1779, Tej Chand Bahadur started managing the estate by himself. In 1791, Maharaja Tej Chand's sixth wife
Rani Nanaki Kumari gave birth to his only surviving son
Pratap Chand Rai. After his mother died within 2 days of his birth, he was raised with much love and affection by his grandmother Bishan Kumari. He was called "Chota Raja" by his subjects and was universally loved and respected. Due to the conspiracies of Tej Chand's fifth queen
Kamal Kumari and her brother Paran Chand Kapur, Pratap Chand disappeared in 1821 during the lifetime of his father and was never heard afterwards. Several years later, a pretender impersonating him appeared but his claim, without a proper investigation, was dismissed by a civil court.
His Highness Maharajadhiraj Bahadur Mahtab Chand Rai In 1832, Tej Chandra died at the age of 68. In 1827, due to the insistence of his wife Kamal Kumari, Maharaja Tej Chand adopted the youngest son of
Paran Chand Kapur (Kamal Kumari's brother) named Chuni Lal Kapur, giving him a new name
Mahtab Chand Rai (b.1820), and leaving him his great landed and funded estates. In 1864, the Maharaja was appointed an additional member of the Viceregal Legislative Council, being the first native person of Bengal who was so honoured.
Maharajadhiraj Bahadur Aftab Chand Mahtab After Mahatab Chand's death, he was succeeded by his adopted son
Aftab Chand Mahtab, who only lived until 1885. Aftab Chand left a widow whom he had empowered to adopt and she exercised the right in July, 1887 in favour of Sir Bijay Chand Mahtab Bahadur, who became the zamindar of Burdwan. In 1899, Bijay Chand Mahtab passed the entrance examination of
Calcutta University, and was the first in the Raj family to obtain a formal educational qualification. In 1902, he came of age and was invested with full ruling powers to the throne of Bardaman Raj. Next year in 1903, the title of '
Rajadhiraj' was bestowed on him at the
Delhi Durbar. A pompous coronation was organised in the palace at
Bardhaman, where
Lieutenant Governor Bourdillon was present to bestow the honour.
Bijoy Chand Hospital was also founded by him during his reign in decade of 1910. He was a member of the Bengal Legislative Council from 1907 to 1918, and of the
Imperial Legislative Council from 1909 to 1912. He was associated with the state administration in subsequent years and Member of Executive Council of Bengal for the years 1919–1924. He was also the President of British Indian Association from 1911 to 1918 and again in 1925. In 1914, he was appointed as one of the members of the committee that investigated the riots of
Budge Budge and
Komagata Maru incident In 1924, he was one of the members of a committee headed by Sir
Charles Todhunter, which looked into taxation reforms in British India, which submitted its report in 1925. and was also the member of Indian Reforms Enquiry Commission of 1924. In spite of his loyalty towards the British, he provided warm hospitality to
Mahatma Gandhi, when he visited Bardhaman in 1925 and welcomed cordially
Subhas Chandra Bose when he visited Bardhaman in 1928 to campaign in the municipal elections. During the later part of his rule, however, there were allegations of financial corruption coupled with mismanagement and the affairs of the Raj were in shambles. The British administrator took over the complete management of Bardhaman Raj and Bijoy Chand was deprived of management from the years 1929–1936. In 1936, he was handed over the reign of his Estate back by British. In 1938, he was a member of the
Francis Floud Commission to suggest changes in the Permanent Settlement of 1793. The commission recommended the replacement of the
zamindari system by a
ryotwari (tenancy) system in which the ownership of land would vest with the ryot (tenant) and the land revenue payable by him could be revised periodically. The recommendations could not be implemented because of differences in the Fazlul Huq ministry. However, with the India's independence gaining momentum it was evident that the days of zemindars and
princely states were coming to an end. It was this realisation that led Bijay Chand Mahtab to extend indirect support to the
Congress. Bijay Chand Mahtab was deeply involved with Bengali literature. He was president of the reception committee in the 8th session of the
Bangya Sahitya Sammelan held at Bardhaman in 1914. From amongst the twenty books he wrote, mention may be made of
Impression,
The Indian Horizon,
Meditation,
Studies,
Vijaygitika (collection of songs composed by him),
Troyodashi (poem),
Ranjit (play), and
Manaslila (science-play). Mahtab died on 29 August 1941 at
Bardhaman. His reign which began in 1887 and lasted until 1941, was the longest in history of Bardhaman Raj. He left behind two sons Uday Chand and Abhay Chand and two daughters, Maharaj Kumari Lalitarani Devi and Maharaj Kumari Sudharani Devi, thereby ending the long history adoptions for succession in Bardhaman Raj. His elder son
Uday Chand Mahtab, succeeded him to the throne of Burdwan Raj.
Maharajadhiraj Bahadur Uday Chand Mahtab He was the eldest son of
Bijay Chand Mahtab. He did his graduation from
Presidency College, Calcutta and
Calcutta University. During the regency of his father he served as
Dewan-i-Raj for several years and succeeded to the throne of Burdwan Raj after the death of his father. During
British Raj, he headed and was a member of several committees like, member of the Damodar Canal Enquiry Committee 1938, Select Committee on Calcutta Municipal (amendment) Bill 1940; Chairman of Burdwan District Flood Relief and Bengal Central Flood Relief Committees 1943–44; Chairman of Indian Red Cross Appeal (Bengal) 1943-1946 and of Calcutta War Committee 1943-1946 and of Damodar Flood Central Enquiry Committee 1944; Member of Bengal Tanks Improvement Bill Select Committee 1944 and of Advisory Committee on Terrorist Convicts in Bengal 1944; Member of West Bengal Forest Denudation Enquiry Committee 1944 and of Select Committee on Bengal Agricultural Income Tax Bill 1944; Member of the
Indian Constituent Assembly - 1946–1947. He also presided the West Bengal group of Legislators, in 1946, which voted 58:21 in favor of partition of Bengal. He served as President of the non-Muslim block of the Bengal Partition meeting in 1947 and was a member of the Legislative Assembly of Bengal from years 1937 to 1952. In the first election after independence in 1952, Sir Uday Chand Mahtab lost to a freedom fighter,
Benoy Choudhury, in spite of a campaign in his favor by
Jawaharlal Nehru. The election defeat was followed by legislation for abolition of the
zamindari system in 1954. After the abolition of the zamindari system in 1955, he shifted from
Bardhaman to his family's house at
Alipur in
Calcutta. Here he became a director of
IISCO, and several other leading mercantile firms of the day, such as
Dunlop,
Metal Box and
Brooke Bond. He acceded to the request of the then
Chief minister of West Bengal,
Dr. Bidhan Chandra Roy and handed over his palace,
Mahtab Manzil and
Golap Bagh to the
University of Burdwan. He donated a piece of land in Bardhaman to the numerous employees of the Raj so that they could build accommodation there. With the end of the Raj, he immersed himself in his commercial and business interests. He was also a Steward of the
Royal Calcutta Turf Club. He instituted a fund for The Maharajadhiraja Uday Chand Mahtab Of Burdwan Memorial Cup at
Calcutta Race Course. He died on 10 October 1984 leaving behind three sons and three daughters. ==Raj Kumari Satyabati==