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Shelaidah Estate: Where a History Hums

by Mohammad Amjad Hussain
THE raune Shefairfah has been associated songs. abort atortea and dramas of Rabindranath Tagore The place derived its name from two words Shell and Daha Mr Shell, an Englishman used to reside tn the area. He was. tn fact, an Indigo planter whose Nllkuthl had been washed away by the erosion of the river Padma. Daha' means a big pool of water The name of the village, therefore, means an abode formed on the pool. Two tombs on the grave of the two members of Mr Shelf's family which existed tn the village were also washed away by the erosion of the river. There is. however, a saying that Mr Shell was a ruthless tndigo planter tn the area
This estate (the village now in Kushtla district) was located tn Btrahimpur Pargana (collectkin of Milages) tn Nadia district. The formation of Bir-ahimpur Pargana was perhaps not very old as no reference of if had been made in the statistical account of Bengal by W W Hunter or the Nadia Kahtn! (Story) by Babu Kumar Nath Mulilck which, perhaps, arc the most authentic books on Bengal.
During Mughal period Pargana Btrahimpur wns a pari of the vast Zamlndary (estate) of the Raja Bahadur of Kris-hoanagar of Nadia. It may be recalled that the British Raj bestowed titles like Raja Bahadur. Maharaja. Roy Bahadur. Khan Bahadur on those who were, by and large, loyal aristocrat land lords of India. In Bengal. Zamlndary belonged to mostly Hindus while there were few Muslim Zamindars, too. The Zamlndary was established by Bhabananda Majumdar of Krtshnanagar. Meanwhile, there was rebellion of Zamindars of North Bengal under Raja Uday-narayan. Sitaram Roy and other which occasioned the transfer of the capital of Bengal from Jahangimagar (Dhaka) to Murshldabad The new capital was named after its founder Nawab Murshid Kull Khan, who was the first Nawab of Murshldabad Although Sitaram Roy had succeeded initially, he was defeated and executed In 1718.
It may be mentioned that Nawab Murshid Kull Khan was known as Jafar Khan, the Subadar of Murshldabad On successful suppression of the rebellion of the Zamindars of North Bengal, the extensive Zamlndary of Rajshahl. as con stituted at that time, was pre sented by the Nawab Murshid Kull Khan to his favourite Raghunandan. This Raghun and an was the founder of the Natore Raj family. In (act. Pargana Btrahimpur was part of the Zamindaries of Natore Raj family and remained as such for quite sometime.
Dwarakanath Tagore, grand
father of Rabindranath Tagore purchased the Zamlndary of Natore Raj tn an auction In 1800. The area of this estate was spread over to Patlsar of Rajshahl, Shahjadpur of Pabna and Btrahimpur of Nadia district. Rabindranath Tagore took over the administration of Tagore estate in 1891.
In the whole area of the estate, Kuthibari of Shelaidah was the only brick-build house. The existing Kuthlbarl of Shelaidah where Rabindranath Tagore had spent a good part of his life was rebuilt by Rabindranath himself after dismantling the one built by the indigo planters when it was about to be eroded by the might Padma. And with the re building of Kuthlbarl the last vestige of the English Indigo planters — whose ruthless act and oppression had left indelible mark In the minds of the people of Shelaidah — disap-
peared
The elegant three-storied building stands In the middle of a large courtyard which In eludes taro ponds, a mango grove and a host of other bk>s somlng trees. The Kuthlbarl has 17 rooms. Rabindranath Tagore used a room In the third floor for his creative writings. From this room one could watch fury of the Padma and the Ooral by the side of which Kushtla town is situated. Shelaidah Is only six miles
away from Kushtla town. Two bokul trees were planted by Rabindranath Tagore himself on two sides of the brick built bathing place. The pair of trees still hold the fragrance the poet loved so much. But the rivers Padma and Ooral which were a source of Inspiration to the poet — towards his contributing to the Bengali literature — are practically dead. The whole area has become a semi-desert. Once upon a time steamers plied between Shelaidah and Pabna
Gaganay garajay megh ghano
Kulay eka bosay aachhl naht bharosha
(Roaring thunder tn the sky — deep monsoon murk
Alone at the bank I am. by the river dark)
These lines are from Tagore s famous poem Sonar Tbrt which he wrote sitting tn a boat on the mighty wide Padma al Shelaidah During the period of Ta>>rv s Zamlndary. Shelaidah looked vibrant and young with the hubbub In the two full Roaring rivers — Padma and Ooral. As a matter of fact Padma had changed Its course during Tagore s time and flowed by the Shelaidah side The erosion of the river washed away some one-fourth of the Btrahimpur Pargana and nourishing and villages lying on the north of the Pargana
were engulfed
Shelaidah estate went to Surendra Nath Tagore in 1922 following apportionment of the asset of the Tagore family but Rabindranath Tagore still paid a few visits to Shelaidah after that. While he decided to slay In Zorashanko he felt the pang of separation from Shelaidah. Following his last visit to Shelaidah, Rabindranath reported to have written that Padma had divorced him. he did not find the Padma which was darling to him once.
Following a financial crisis, Tagore estate was sold. The estate went to Sreematl Shya-mrangtnl Roy Choudh-urany trust Babu Nandalal Roy and Babu Pulln Krishna Roy of Choudhurany trust purchased Tagore estate in mortgage sale in 1937 Babu Nandalal and Pulln were Zamindars and bankers of the Bhagyakul family which Lord Carmichael, Governor of Bengal, in a darbar held at Munshlganj, described as great.
Rabindranath Tagore was Invited by the sponsors of All Bengal Rural Literature Conference which held tn March, 1940 at Shelaidah. My Tufa (uncle — husband of father's sister) Munshl Nooruddln Ahmed, who was literary mln ded. was one of the sponsors of this Conference. He told me that Rabindranath could pot attend the conference because of 111 health, but wished the people of Shelaidah all the best to make the literary conference a success. Mr Ahmed was undisputed leader of Shelaidah as a Chairman of the Union Council for 20 years following his retirement from the services of the British Government in Burma. He was the Vice-Chairman of the organising committee of the conference proposed to make Kuthlbarl national asset to preserve the memory of the great poet Rabindranath Tagore. The proposal was finally unanimously adopted in the conference and an appeal was made to the authorities of Kuthlbarl to preserve It as a national
After Pakistan came into being Mr Nooruddln Ahmed pur sued the matter as Vice-Chairman of the District Board of Kushtla. During the Chief Ministership of the late Ataur Rahman Khan. Kuthlbarl was declared a protected monument under ancient Monum ent Act of 1904
Rabindranath Tagore was not only a great poet of international repute but also a successful businessman He had set up a ftrm under the name of Tagore and Co. in Kushtla town for jute baling and food grain storage This company supplied sugarcane grown by the farmers of Tagore estate to M/s Renwick and Co., the well known British sugarcane crushers. On receiving complaint about audacity of the British sugarcane crusher. Rabindranath Tagore decided to set up a similar ftrm.
With the assistance of his Bazar Sarkar (market assistant) and his engineer brother. Rabindranath established an engineering ftrm. Later it turned out to be M/s J ages war Engineering Works — named after the employee who received it as a gift from the poet. Adjacent to tt, one brick-built double storied self-contained building stands In the maintown Kushtla. it was known as Kushtla Kuthlbarl tn mouza Bahadurkhall Pargana under Jessore Collectorate. The area was 1.30 acres. It was requisitioned by the erstwhile Government of East Pakistan and people's expectation was that this Kuthlbarl should developed into a museum or re search library. As 111 luck would have tt. Kushtla Kuthlbarl now belongs to a private owner who reportedly bought It tn auction
There is hardly two opin tons about the saying that Shelaidah. Kushtla and luml naries of Kumarkhah like Lalan Shah. Gagan Harkara and Harlnath Majumdar contributed to Rabindranath's literary bent of mind. Rabindranath Tagore was more a man of Bangladesh than of India because of his tong as sociatton with this pari of the world. Getanjall (English version) which won Tagore the Nobe) Prize in literature In 1913. was translated by him at Shelaidah. Shelaidah and Padma were so close to his heart that once the poet was planning to set up Shanti-nlketan there, but he abandoned the idea because Shelaidah estate went to Surendranath Tagore one of the poet's brothers, as a result of apportionment of property of the Tagore family
There ts enough scope to make Shelaidah Kuthibari a place of unique historical Interest to attract poets and literatures from all over the world