Laksmikanta Roy Choudhury

Lakshmikanta Roy Choudhury's father, Jiya Gangopadhyay (1535–1620), was a famous classical Sanskrit scholar of Halisahar and who later came to be known as Saint Kamadeva Brahmachari. He was a Vidya Bachaspati. Jiya married a pious and charming lady named Padmabati Devi. They could not have children and were advised to pray before the Goddess Kalishetra (Kalighat) for Her blessings. They performed penance at Kalighat under the guidance of Thakur Atmaram Brahmachari, a renowned saint, the temple's chief priest, and a Divine Oracle. Padmabati gave birth to a boy on the day of Kojagori Laksmi puja in January 1570. Padmabati died shortly after giving birth. The child was named Laksmikanta.

Jiya, grieving for Padmabati, decided to renounce the worldly life and become an ascetic. He left the child with Thakur Atmaram Brahmachari. He was consecrated as Kamadeva Brahmachari and left for Varanasi.

Laksmikanta grew up at Kalishetra, under the guidance and utmost care of the family Gurudev Thakur Atmaram Brahmachari and soon became a scholar of Sanskrit, Arabic and Persian languages. He was also a warrior.[3]

At the age of 21 in the year 1591, Raja Basanta Ray of Jessore Estate (one of the Baro Bhuyans created by Emperor Akbar) with fatherly affection took Laksmikanta with him to Jessore and made him join at the work of the estate as the Revenue Minister. Pratapaditya, the nephew of Raja Basanta Ray and Laksmikanta working hand in hand, made Jessore one of the most prosperous estates.

However, Pratapaditya who was so much loved by Emperor Akbar, suddenly after the death of his father Vikramaditya, became a tyrant[4] and declared independence from the Mughal empire. Laksmikanta protested and tried to resist this unethical decision and treason[5] with the Mughal Emperor. Pratap didn’t pay any heed to Laksmikanta’s words. Very soon, out of high ambition Pratap murdered his uncle Raja Basanta Ray at Raigarh fort on the bank of river Hooghly near Kolkata.[6]

Being a pious Brahmin and an affectionate of Raja Basanta Ray, Laksmikanta couldn’t tolerate Pratapaditya anymore. He resigned from his services and came back to his birthplace Kalishetra and engaged himself in meditation.[7]

Emperor Akbar became sad with the turn of events in Jessore Estate and sent troops to suppress Pratap's rebellion. But for the next few years, every time the Mughal army failed to teach Pratap any lesson. After the death of Akbar in 1605, Emperor Jahangir sent Raja Man Singh to Bengal on the next expedition.

Raja Man Singh was a disciple of Kamadeva Brahmachari and while marching with a strong troop to Bengal, he met his Guru at Varanasi to seek his blessings. Kamadeva Brahmachari was also very much concerned about the tyrant Pratap and the ongoing anarchy in Bengal. He blessed Man Singh and asked him to restore peace in Bengal.

Man Singh ultimately was successful and he defeated Pratap. Then he met his Guru's son Laksmikanta at Kalishetra and requested him to take the charge of the administration, but Laksmikanta declined as he had become frustrated with politics and intrigues. Man Singh was determined that it was only Laksmikanta who with his knowledge and wisdom, could bring Bengal once again into the path of peace and prosperity. He then granted tax free jaigir of eight parganas, land extending on the east bank of river Hooghly, from Halisahar in the north to Diamond Harbour in the south to Laksmikanta as Gurudakshina.[8] He also conferred upon Laksmikanta the titles of Ray and Choudhury.[9][10] Emperor Jahangir was pleased with the fact that Laksmikanta had ultimately accepted the charges of administration, and the Emperor was confident that soon, peace and prosperity would be restored in South Bengal. The Emperor gifted Laksmikanta a diamond ring in appreciation. It's worth mentioning that both the Mughal and the Sabarna family had friendly ties since the days of Emperor Humayun. Laksmikanta's great grandfather Panchanan Gangopadhyay alias Panchu Shakti Khan was among the closest associates of Humayun.[11]

Laksmikanta remained the administrator of his jagir from 1608–1649 until his death. Within this time, Laksmikanta with his indomitable energy and wisdom developed the land into a highly civilized society with all sorts of infrastructural and economic development. He developed Sutaluti into an international trading post through which the Portuguese, the Dutch, and the Armenians used to trade mostly cotton yarn and other commodities. He built the first pucca road from Halisahar to Barisha and a two storied Kuchery Bari (office building) in Kalikatah, the exact place where the Writer's Building stands today. He introduced the very first Saparivara Durga Puja in autumn at Barisha in 1610. He also fought with Devibara, the head of the Hindu Samaj and banned polygamy in his dominion.[12] Laksmikanta was undoubtedly the first social reformer of Kolkata.[13] He donated 595 bighas of land to Mother Goddess of Kalighat and developed the place into a great pilgrimage site.[14]

Atul Krishna Ray in his book Laksmikanta – A Chapter in the Social History of Bengal published in 1928, comments "It should be remembered that much of the land thus bestowed upon Laksmikanta was an uninhabited jungle and unculturable waste. Laksmikanta converted the whole of the area by his own indomitable energy, unflagging industry and unrivalled sagacity into habitable and culturable land and fetched thousands of people belonging to different caste, creed and profession to settle there upon.

People who have some knowledge of the difficulties of reclaiming waste lands will understand the enormous cost, labour, industry, intelligence and attention to details which the reclamation of the total area within Laksmikanta's jagir and zamindaris must have entailed upon him. As the result of hard strenuous work spread over half a century, Laksmikanta managed to raise the comparatively small income of his landed properties to something over twelve lakhs of rupees per annum. He was recognised as one of the greatest Bhuyans of Bengal and was loved and honoured by all."[15]

After Laksmikanta's death, his descendants, better known as the Sabarna Roy Choudhury family[16], carried on his unfinished work and proved to be a zamindar family to whom welfare of the subjects was of highest priority. Some of his famous descendants include Swami Jogananda (one of the important disciples of Ramakrishna and Sarada Devi[17] and Pronob Roy[18] (The Wizard of Bengali Lyrics).[19] Still today, his family members (settled at Halisahar, Barisha, Uttarpara, Belgharia-Panihati-Nimta-Birati and also scattered all over the world including Bangladesh, having more than 20000 in strength) are engaged in social and cultural developmental work.

The family members have created a family organization by the name Sabarna Roy Choudhury Paribar Parishad in 1996–97 to carry on the different developmental works and upholding the family traditions along with research, historical study, and publishing.

The Parishad along with nine intellectuals of the city, which included renowned historians Dr. Bratindranath Mukherjee, Radharaman Ray, and Prof. Sudhindra Banerjee; eminent doctor Sri Subir Dutta; advocate Dipak Sen; Smt. Uma Devi, Smt. Sapna Roy, Smt. Chhanda Basak, and Smt. Sanchita Dutta, all lecturers of Barisha Vivekananda Mahila College, filed a Public Interest Litigation in 2001 asking the Honorable Calcutta High Court to determine whether the British trader Job Charnock is the founder of Kolkata, and if 24 August is the City's birthday. on 16 May 2003, based upon a high level expert committee report, the division bench of the Chief Justice Ashoke Kumar Mathur and Justice Jayanta Biswas declared that "neither Job Charnock can be regarded as the founder of Calcutta nor 24 August is the city's birthday". The myth of Job Charnock was thus exposed and the people of Kolkata ultimately came to know about the true history and the origin of the city. This is indeed a milestone achieved by the Sabarna Parishad.[20][21][22][23]

The Sabarna Sangrahashala at Barisha is a unique family museum that has been developed by Sabarna Roy Choudhury Paribar Parishad in 2005 to conserve, protect, and upheld the rich history, culture, and traditions of the family and also to create awareness among students and common people about the history and heritage of the land. The International History and Heritage Exhibition[24], held every year in the month of February at Sabarna Sangrahashala, showcase the history of the family, the city, and the evolution of the Bengali society through ages.[25][26][27][28]