During the
British Raj, Samta was the power-hold of the local Roy
zamindars, subordinate to the
Burdwan Raj Estate, who was in turn subordinate to the British empire. Following
Indian independence, the village came to be governed by the
government of India. Festivals including
Dol purnima,
Durga puja,
Shivaratri,
Shitala puja, Itu puja, and
Janmashtami, among others, are celebrated in the village.
Gajan sessions are also held during festivals. The
terracotta temple of Madangopal jiu, built in the 17th century CE, is located in the neighbouring village of Mellak, south of Samta. It is locally known as Gopaler Mondir (literally, "the temple of
Gopala"). The temple was commissioned by Mukundaprasad Roychowdhury, a member of Mellak's then Roychowdhury zamindars. Samta was home to Bengali novelist, Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay, for twelve years, until he moved to Kolkata. His house in Samta, constructed in 1923 by local worker Gopal Das, is known as
Sarat Chandra Kuthi (or alternatively as, Sarat Smriti Mandir). He had fenced his house and the adjacent area, renaming it as Samtaber. Sarat Chandra Kuthi is a heritage-historical site under the West Bengal Heritage Commission Act (IX) of 2001. In 2009, the structure underwent renovation. An annual fair, by the name of Sarat Mela, is held in late January in Samta's neighbouring village Panitras, located north of Samta, in remembrance of the novelist. == Geography ==