Sitaram Ray and Pratapaditya – Why Bengali and Indian History books chose to ignore them – Part 1

 Very little is written about either Pratapaditya, the king of Jessore who stood upto Jehangir and his Rajput vassal Man Singh, or Sitaram Ray, a local king who had stood up to the mighty Mughal Empire and to its vassal the Nawab Murshid Kuli Khan, the tyrant of Bengal. The reason is obvious. They both had stood up against an aggressive Islamic invasion and any attempts to depict their lives would only encourage the so called Hindu Nationalists, a feat that no leftist liberal or the survivors on their remnants, would not dare to do. This is a humble attempt to portray the two great lives that stood against the Mughal aggressors and both of whom were betrayed, to meet a tragic end in the hands of their adversaries. Their stories reinforce the saga of treachery and self interest driven agenda that characterized many Hindu kings and landlords that led them to side with the conquerors against the ones who had rebelled and fought for independence. First let us discuss about Sitaram.

Sitaram was a historical character but made famous by the novel of Bankimchandra Chattopadhyay of the same name. Sitaram and Pratapaditya utsavs were in vogue in the early part of the twentieth century when Bengal was trying to salvage its own forgotten heroes and their glories to inspire the youth to fight against a tyrannical and oppressive foreign rule of British bureaucracy. Sitaram was also popular in folk tales and legends of Bengal. Bibhustibhusan Bandopadhyay’s epic tale Ichamati narrates how the villages of East Bengal preserved the memory of their great son even atleast 100 years after his demise through songs like “Dhanya Raja Sitaram Bangla Bahadur, Jar Bhayete Chor Dakate Hoye Gelo Dur ( Glory to Raja Sitaram the valorous son of Bengal, whose fear has driven away all thieves and bandits from the land.” Sitaram was born in Rarh Bengal in 1658 and his family of Kayastha Das’s came from original Gaud Banga (later known as Murshidabad). His father was Udaynarayan and mother Dayamayi. Udaynarayan was a landlord and a Tehsildar under the Faujdar of Bhusna. Dayamayi was an extremely brave woman. It is said that when Udaynarayan was away a Pathan dacoit had attacked his house. Dayamayi fought with the Pathan with her sword and her extreme dexterity with sword won the admiration of all. She, like Durga, killed the Asura Pathan dacoit and thus repelled the attack. So Sitaram inherited her traits. He was born in Mahipatipur. His childhood was spent in the Katwa in his maternal uncle’s house. Sitaram’s father Udayanarayan had shifted to Dhaka under Mir Jumla in the 1660s, to work under Dhaka Nawab Ibrahim Khan. During the reign of Shaista Khan he shifted to Bhusna. Sitaram had studied the prevalent languages of Urdu and Sanskrit and was well read. He also learnt to fight with lathi and swords.

Contemporary Bengal was going through a major turbulence. Under Aurangzeb’s brother Shah Suza and later under the subsequent Nawab’s, the whole attention was focused on getting more and more money through taxes on the fertile lands of Bengal, to fund Aurangzeb’s war chest. The Pathans who had been the traditional ruler of Bengal since the Turko Afghans had invaded during Lakshman Sen’s time, had been displaced by the Mughals, retired to the lower Bengal and earned their living by organized robbery. The Arakanis, also called Mogs, used to invade Bengal and earned notoriety for their ruthlessness. The Portuguese “Harmads” had terrorized the Gangetic Bengal because of their superior Naval power and powerful canons, for a long time. This was the time when Bengal needed another valiant son. Kedar Rai, one of her valiant sons, had died. So had Chand Rai, Satrujit Ray, Sangram Shah and other Hindu landlords who dared to defy the Islamic invaders and could establish their sovereignty.  

Shaista Khan was very impressed with Sitaram’s ability to fight. Sitaram’s teacher in Arabic and Parsian was a Fakir named Mohammad Ali, in whose name his capital Mohammadpur was established. During this time a Pathan bandit named Karim Khan had created enough trouble for the Nawab and the Mughals were unable to tame him. So Sitaram was entrusted with the task of capturing that bandit. He was given seven thousand infantry and three thousand cavalry and he marched against the rebel Pathan in Satair. Karim khan was defeated by the Dhali fighters of Sitaram and was killed and Shaista Khan was very pleased. The Nawab gave Sitaram the jaigir of the Naldi. Sitaram got an ally in Ramrup Ghosh. He also made friends with a Pathan bandit named Bakhtar Khan. With help from Ramrup Ghosh, Bakhtar Khan, Fakir Machkata and Rupchand Dhali, Sitaram decided to eradicate the menace of the organized banditry from lower Gangetic plains of Bengal and thus protect a large number of people. Many dacoits like Shyama, Ragho, and Kele, were subdued by Sitaram. Many of these bandits were noble souls who had taken to banditry without getting any honest means of sustenance. Sitaram took pity on them and awarded them with various professions under either the Nawab or himself. Because of his role in suppressing organizing banditry he was soon regarded as avatara of the village deity Nishanath, His father and mother passed away within a year of each other. Later Sitaram in their memory did a big Sraddha ceremony called Dansagar. He dug a huge lake for addressing the water crisis of Hariharnagar, spending a huge amount of money. He also saw the situation of Bengal where people were subjected to oppression and terror by the Assamis, the Arakanis, the Mughal Fauzdars and the Portuguese. He decided to help the people and bring back the rule of law. The Fauzdar of Bhushna, Abu Torap, was initially well dis[posed towards Sitaram but later he got scared by the growing might of Sitaram. Sitaram and his associates Ramrup and Muniram traveled as ascetics to different holy places of India and finally came to Delhi, to meet Aurangzeb. There Sitaram described to Aurangzeb the terrible condition in which people of Bengal were living and sought his help. Aurangzeb gave him his permit as Raja to establish his rule in lower Bengal. Although he thus became king, Sitaram had no capital of his own. There are certain myths associated with the construction of this capital that was located in a place called Narayanpur. One was that he asked a Fakir called Mohammad Ali who had his residence there to move out and Mohammad Ali asked him to construct his capital in his name. The other was that Mohammad Ali was actually his guru and advisor in whose name he named his capital. A third was that there was a Lakshmi Narayan temple in that area and hence Sitaram decided to construct his capital there. The reality probably was that Sitaram named it after Mohammad Ali, his advisor and constructed a Lakshmi Narayan temple later. The new capital was surrounded by large bodies of water, on the north was Chattravati river and further north Barasia or Madhumati river, on the east was Kaliganga river. The capital was constructed around 1698 AD. A lot of people came to live in the new capital city. Many artisans, carpenters and other professionals came and the place became a thriving center of trade. All communities lived in harmony together. He constructed a fort square in shape and surrounded by moats, making it impregnable from invasion by land route. Sitaram had constructed a number of reservoirs for meeting the drinking water needs of his subjects, in various areas. The most famous was Ram Sagar. Another reservoir called Krishna Sagar was constructed in the village of Harekrishnapur. Sitaram was a disciple of Krishna Vallabh Goswami of Murshidabad. He was originally a Shakta, but later got attracted to Vaishnavism. He had constructed a Lakshmi Narayan temple in his capital city of Mohammadpur. Sitaram was married to three wives and had five sons from them.

Sitaram’s general was Ramrup Ghosh, also known as Mrinmay or Mena Hati. He belonged to a Kayastha Ghosh family of Narail. He was huge, about 7 feet in height and equally proportioned in weight. He was interested in selfless work of suppressing the bandits and left his home for that purpose. In Dhaka he met Sitaram and became his trusted lieutenant from that day on. He was a great soldier and learnt archery and wrestling. He was equally comfortable with all forms of religion and worshipped God regularly. He did not take anything more than he needed and donated most of his wealth. He assumed different personalities like that of a Hindu, Muslim or non Bengali. The second lieutenant of Sitaram was Amol Beg, a Pathan. The third was Bakhtar Khan, the bandit turned ally. The leader of the Dhali brigade of Sitaram was Fakir Machkata. He was named so because he used to cut fishes and sell, but his strength was so much that Sitaram was impressed and took him in his army. The fourth lieutenant was Rupchand Dhali, a lower caste Namah Sudra. Sitaram’s bodyguards were mainly Muslims. He treated every person with equal respect and never discriminated along religious or caste lines. His Diwans included Govinda Roy, who was a Diwan of Sangram Singh, another hero who had died fighting against the Mughals. His other Diwan was Jadunath Majumdar. Another trusted employee was Muniram Roy.

The fort of Sitaram was well protected with strong garrisons. He had two large cannons called Kale Khan and Jhum Jhum Khan. He went on expanding his kingdom and annexed the small zamindary of Mukundaram Roy, descendant of Satrajit Roy. He also annexed Mahmudshahi from the zamindar of Naldanga. He thus conquered many of the feudal estates that were under the Pathan rule of Daulat Khan and became the ruler of a vast territory by 1705. At this time one zamindar Manohar Roy, conspired with the Mughal Fauzdar of Mirzanagar and together they attacked Mohammadpur, taking advantage of Sitaram’s absence. Sitaram’s Diwan Jadunath Majumdar however joined two rivers by a canal and checked the advancement of the enemy troops. The Zamindar was forced to sign a peace treaty and when Sitaram heard about the attack he immediately launched a counter attack and annexed the Zamindar’s territories. His kingdom thus comprised of almost the whole of South of undivided Bengal extending upto the Sundarbans, from the North of Padma river – including Pabna & Barisal districts. Around 44 parganas came under his reign. Sitaram’s kingdom extended from the northern banks of Padma to the Bay of Bengal in the south.

Abu Torap who had turned Sitaram’s arch enemy had asked Murshid Kuli Khan for help. But Murshid Kuli refused to help. With limited resources at his disposal, Abu Torap launched on attack on Sitaram’s border, but was defeated by his archers. In 1713 Abu Torap deputed his commander in chief, Pir Khan, to fight and capture Sitaram. Sitaram had adopted a guerilla tactics of fight against the numerically superior Mughal army. He met the Mughal troops on the banks of Madhumati and Barasia rivers and engaged them in the jungles in which he had laid his artillery. Abu Torap was defeated and was killed by Mena Hati. Sitaram’s army captured the fort of Bhusna. Sitaram himself was stationed in Bhusna fort and Mena Hati was in charge of the Mohammadpur fort.

As the news of death of Abu Torap reached Murshidabad, Nawab Murshid Kuli Khan appointed his brother in law Bux Ali as the Fauzdar of Bhusna. He sought the help of all rival zamindars of Sitaram to help him in fighting and capturing Sitaram. Sangram Singh was the commander in chief of the Provincial army of Bengal. Dayaram Roy, who was an aide of the founder of the Natore estate Raghunandan, marched along with Bux Ali and Sangram Singh. The Mughal army surrounded the fort of Bhusna and in the battle that followed the Mughal army was defeated. Dayaram marched to Mohammadpur and got Mena Hati killed through treachery. Not to be content with that act, he sent the severed head of his enemy to Murshidabad. Sitaram heard about the death of Mena Hato and proceeded with bulk of his troops to Mohammadpur. Bux Ali Khan also marched to Mohammadpur and both the army’s attacked the fort. Sitaram was defeated in the battle and was captured. Dayaram sent him in chains to Murshidabad. After a farcical trial Murshid Kuli Khan sentenced Sitaram to death, and his relatives were imprisoned for life.

Thus ended the glorious chapter of an independent king of Bengal who had dared to defy the ruling confederate and the aggressors. His chief accomplishment was establishment of an independent rule of law across most parts of South Bengal and elimination of the organized banditry from that area, including suppression of the Arakanis and the Assamese who used to rob and plunder. His rule was remembered for a long time and was popularized by local ballads – “Dhanya Raja Sitaram, Bangla Bahadur.”