The eastern part of Howrah, Hooghly and Burdwan Districts and the northern portion of Ghatal Subdivision of Midnapur District in eastern Ráŕh was once the kingdom Bhurishrestha⁽¹⁾. Today we colloquially call it Bhurshut. The capital Garh Mandaram was located where the Amurda River, which originates from Sumudrabandh Lake, converges with the Damodar.

During the Pathan rule, most of the kingdoms of Ráŕh were independent principalities. Only under the Mughals did these principalities accept the suzerainty of the Nawab of Bengal. They paid only a nominal tribute to him. In Bhurshut, the Mughal rulers had tremendous influence. Burdwan, in Bhurshut, was the capital of Bengal a number of times. [Some say] the word “Burdwan” came from [the Persian] bár-e-diiván. The British spelled it “Burdwan”. Previously the name of this admistrative division was Sharifabad.

In those days, the rulers of Bengal struggled hard to maintain their independence. King Pratapaditya of Jessore, King Kandarp Narayana of Chandradip, King Lakshman Manikya of Bhulua, and also Isha Khan, Kedar Roy and Sitaram Roy, all struggled hard to preserve their independence. It is difficult to say what the outcome would have been had all these kings cooperated with each other. But as each of them fought alone, they were defeated.

The king of Jaipur, Raja Man Singh, entered into an agreement with Akbar, the emperor in Delhi, and became the commander-in-chief of the Mughal army. There were twelve rulers of Bengal that were particularly prominent. Raja Man Singh took upon himself the onerous responsibility of subduing these twelve. He defeated Pratapaditya of Jessore and carried off the statue of Yashoreshvarii, the guardian deity of Jessore. He installed her in the Abar Fort of Jaipur, bringing the Bengali priest of the temple along with her. It was Raja Man Singh who built the Ramnákálii, or Dhákeshvarii, temple in Dhaka.

When King Jagatnarayan of Bhurshut saw other rulers of Bengal in rebellion against the Mughal rule, he too became encouraged to revolt. The Nawab of Bengal used to stay sometimes in Burdwan and sometimes in Dhaka. One commander [under the nawab] was posted in Dhaka, one in Gaoŕa, one in Burdwan and another in Azimabad (the present Patna). Emperor Akbar separated Suba Bihar from Suba Bengal, so Azimabad was no longer part of Bengal. A new nawab was posted in Azimabad. Many soldiers were transferred to this newly-established capital from the Burdwan Commissionary.

Dreaming of rebellion, King Jagatnarayan thought he would take advantage of this opportunity. Jagatnarayan officially declared independence. This decision was welcomed by his ministers, as well as his own queen, Bhavasundari. Everyone agreed that when Bhurishrestha was better than many other principalities and had a glorious heritage of its own – in art and architecture, in wisdom, in literature and in all spheres of life – then surely it should declare its independence to uphold its dignity. Bhurshut had reached the pinnacle of glory in agriculture and industry, trade and commerce, knowledge, etc. Why should such a kingdom remain under the bondage of the far-off Delhi emperor? Why should it not rise in rebellion and assert its own sovereignty and dignity?

This declaration was loudly acclaimed by the chivalrous, hard-working sons of the soil. The Ugra Kśatriyas, Sadgopes, Mahisyas and Bagdis of Bengal volunteered for the army. They shouted the slogan, “Outsiders stay out! We have never submitted and never will.”

Akbar took this revolt as a formidable challenge. Bhurshut was the most fertile and prosperous territory within his empire. Bhurshut produced the largest crops of sugar cane, the most raw sugar, the largest crops of cotton, the most cloth, the largest crops of rice paddy, the largest mining output and the most silk, all of which the merchants used to export abroad, making huge profits. Akbar would collect a huge fortune for the royal treasury by levying taxes on those merchants. As such, the important Bhurshut could not be allowed to secede from the empire.

The emperor sent his commander-in-chief Man Singh to suppress the rebellion. Even at that time the journey to Burdwan from Delhi or Agra was not difficult. There was a principality ruled by Shershah Suri, an intelligent ruler and valiant leader. (He introduced radical agrarian reforms by popularizing the system of leasing land.) He built a long, broad highway from Suvarna Gram in Dhaka via Kalighat, Sutanuti and Govindapur, and from there through Howrah and Burdwan to Delhi and up to Attak, Punjab. It used to be variously called the Benares Road, the Kashi Road, or the King’s Road. The British called it the Grand Trunk Road. Man Singh with his large army marched to Burdwan along this highway.

Man Singh pitched his tents at Shaktigarh. The news of the arrival of the Mughal army reached Mandaram. Mandaram is not very far from Shaktigarh. If one proceeds a little farther east along the bank of the Damodar, one soon reaches Mandaram. It was just at the confluence of the Damodar and Amodar rivers. The king’s courage was deflated when he heard the news of Raja Man Singh’s arrival. His bravery waned; he stopped bragging and boasting about his military strength. He called an emergency meeting of his ministers and said, “I am just a small castor-oil plant. How can I dare to fight against the huge banyan tree? I want you to send a messenger with a white flag to Man Singh at Shaktigarh. I want to unconditionally surrender.”

The ministers thought that the days of glory were past. Bhurshut would never again see the glorious dawn. The ministers’ faces fell. But the king’s subjects and soldiers had not yet heard of the king’s mental setback. What they would have done had they learned of it, is easily imaginable.

Queen Bhavasundari got the news through the prime minister. She immediately rushed to Jagatnarayan. She said, “It is not a question of your personal honour, neither is it a question of the honour of the kingdom. It is a question of the dignity of the whole country of Bengal. Moreover, it is not merely a matter of prestige, it is for the survival of the entire Bengalee race. I beg you to summon all your courage and rise to the occasion. We are all with you. Whether you win or lose, the honour of Bengal will be enhanced.”

King Jagatnarayan listened to his queen, but would not follow her advice. Rather he remonstrated saying, “You are just a woman who should keep to inner apartments. How little you know about warfare – don’t meddle into these delicate issues. It’s better to go back to the royal apartments and attend to the household.” Bhavasundari turned away with a heavy heart. A violent storm was raging in her mind. She could not bear to sit silent, so she called the council of ministers to the royal apartments.

The queen advised the ministers that the king had developed a mental derangement. “He wants to throw the prestige of Bengal on the ground. I am a daughter of Ráŕh and you are sons of Ráŕh . The honour and prestige of all Bengal depends on you and me. Under these circumstances, are you willing to go to Man Singh at Shaktigarh carrying a white flag in hand?”

The army generals cried out with one voice, “No! We will go welcome Man Singh with naked swords.”

Bhavasundari said, “Will you support me in the struggle for the freedom of Bhurshut?”

They responded, “Yes, Your Majesty.” Bhavasundari took upon herself the entire administration of Bhurshut. She immediately arrested the king with the help of the security forces. At her command, they put the king in prison. She organized her combat forces within three days.

The emperor’s forces had already reached Shaktigarh, a village just beside the Grand Trunk Road. I have said before that the Grand Trunk Road was a cobblestone road. There were no metalled roads in those days to be found either in India or anywhere else in the world. Some time after the death of Akbar, Shah Jahan surfaced the road with stones and gravel. That gravel was collected from the quarries of Birbhum.

As soon as the news of the arrival of the Mughal army reached Mandaram, the people sounded the war drums. However small Bhavasundari’s army might be, it was large in morale and conviction. Although her army chiefly consisted of recruits from the Tuntule Bagdis of Ráŕh, there were also a large number of young, brown-skinned soldiers from the Ugra Kśatriyas, Sadgopes and Mahisyas, the original inhabitants of Ráŕh. Their eyes glowed with joy at the coming victory and they were eager to uphold the dignity and prestige of Bhurishrestha or Bengal.

King Jagatnarayan, restless within the prison walls, sent out repeated warnings to Bhavasundarii to desist from the path of inevitable disaster. “Bhavi,” he said, “you are treading a dangerous path. I request you to give this way up. You are simply a noblewoman. It doesn’t become you to take to the warpath.”

Queen Bhavasundari went to meet the imprisoned king and spoke to him from outside the cell. She reprimanded him: “When the question of collective interest is involved, some people will have to sacrifice themselves, O King. You should understand that. I didn’t have much formal education; I was schooled only a little. You may say that ‘a little learning is a dangerous thing,’ but I cannot agree with that. I am convinced that there are times when one has to sacrifice self-interest to protect the interest of many others. The one who readily sacrifices his self-interest is the best among all. He is acclaimed and crowned king of the people. Yah rájate sah rájáh [‘He who rules is king’]. You were the king. This was your first duty. According to the scriptures, the king should take care of his subjects. You failed in your duty, so I have to succeed in mine.”

“Bhavi,” the king pleaded, “I implore you, I entreat you, to shun this path of war. If Emperor Akbar is like the Himalayas then our army is just the small Shushunia hill of Bankura. Who and what is your source of strength in treading such a risky path?”

“Ideology is my source of strength,” she replied; “the honour of Bengal is my pride. The blood of the fighters for Bengal, and my own, too, is the offering.

“You can continue to indulge in your dreams of doom, I’m off to the battlefield. I am not fighting merely for my prestige; I am waging war so that the future generations of my motherland can dream of a glorious future. I am going to war. This isn’t the time to decorate my feet with red ochre and draw a veil over my head. I leave those things behind for you.”

The king continued trying desperately to dissuade her, so she left there. The king had tried to coax and cajole her, but she was adamant and unmoved.

Bhavasundari advanced towards Burdwan along the southern bank of the Damodar. She and her forces met the Mughal army on the way. The Mughals had arrayed themselves where Amirpur and Manikahati now stand on the left bank of the Damodar and Natrigram stands on the right. It was an unequal battle. The fighting went on for two days. Amar Ghosh, the leader of the Sadgopes, led the troops along the right bank, and Nityananda Singh, the leader of the Bagdis, came down the left bank. At a place near Shunde-Kalna, the Ráŕh fighters were routed. Amar Ghosh and Nityananda Singh died on the battlefield.

Queen Bhavasundari found herself alone. There was no one either to her left flank or her right, in front or behind. Her sword was already unsheathed; she would not retreat to Mandaram. Akbar and Raja Man Singh had given orders that Bhavasundari should not be physically harmed, and she was taken captive untouched.

Man Singh said to her, “You were born and brought up in a noble family, you married royalty, so why did you take such grave risks in bloody battle?”

“Yes, I was born into the nobility,” Bhavasundari replied, “and I married royalty. Because of that, I took to battle.”

“Now there is no one to help you,” Man Singh taunted. “What of that? I am here to help me!” she said. Man Singh found himself in a very awkward position. He sent a detailed report stating the situation.

Akbar wrote back. “I accept the independence of Bhurishrestha, but let Bhurishrestha accept the supremacy of the Delhi Emperor. Bhurishrestha need not pay any tribute to Delhi. It shall be independent within its boundaries. I have never known anyone as great as Bhavasundari. She is not only the pride of Bengal, she is the pride of the whole of India. I order her release and confer the royal title ‘Raybháginii’”.

The title “Raybháginii” has three meanings. One meaning is “a lady of the Ray family having the prowess of a bháginii [tigress]”, the second is “the queen of tigers”, and the third is “a queen who is as powerful as a tigress”.

For a long time afterwards, the story of Raybháginii Bhavasundari continued to be popular among the people. The word “Raybháginii” came to denote a high-spirited lady. It gained a permanent place in the popular rhymes of Ráŕh.⁽²⁾

After her release, she triumphantly returned to her capital Mandaram. The subjects gave her a tremendous welcome, with conches blowing and women ululating and throwing parched rice. Bhavasundari released her husband from prison and said to him, “Bhurishrestha is your kingdom; you should rule it as the king. But remember that women are not to take care of the kitchen twenty-four hours a day. They must come out whenever the needs of the nation call them. They must face the clashes of life with or without the men.”

The king said, “You are right, Bhavi, I now realize my mistake.” King Jagatnarayan lived for seven more years. He consulted Queen Bhavasundari on every important matter, particularly in correspondence with the Delhi Emperor or the Nawab of Bengal. He would not make any decisions alone.

It is related that before her death she said, “The tree which I planted for the future women of Bengal should not be allowed to wither or be cut down by anyone.”

Footnotes

(1) In this area, bhuma [“land”] was never suffixed to a name.

(2) A Bengali song omitted here. –Trans.