RAJMAHAL
It is situated on the eastern
fringe of Bihar, on the western bank of river Ganga, Raja
Maan Singh, the famous 16th century Rajput general in Akbar's
army, founded this city.
Rajmahal Hill named after the town of Rajmahal and situated
at the head of the Ganges Delta near the border of Bihar
and West Bengal of India in a north-south elongated narrow
belt. They occupy the area between latitude 24°30' N
and 25°15' N and roughly along the longitude 87°30'
E. The average height of the range is about 1,000m. The
volcanic activity during the Jurassic Period was confined
to the area at the head of the Ganges delta in the Rajmahal
Hills that forms the type area for the Rajmahal Group.
Rajmahal Basin Jurassic
trap rocks interbedded with the beds of sedimentary rocks
of the Rajmahal Hills area are known as the deposit of the
Rajmahal Basin and the sequence mentioned as the Rajmahal
Group (Series) from the hill ranges (24°30' N: 87°30'
E) that takes it's name from the town of Rajmahal. The rocks
of the Rajmahal Basin have been encountered in the foreland
shelf of north-western Bangladesh and referred to as the
Rajmahal Formation. [Mujibur Rahman Khan]
HISTORY
Rajmahal a historic town, is situated on the west bank of
the Ganges and located in the hills known as daman-i-khoh
during the Muslim rule. The hill runs north south for 193
km from Sahibganj of Santal Pargana to Rampurhat Railway
Station of Dumka. The earlier name of the place was Agmahl.
mansingh, on his return from the conquest of Orissa in 1592,
named it Rajmahal and on 7 November 1595 laid the foundations
of a new capital of Bengal subah there and named it Akbarnagar,
after akbar, the emperor.
It appears to have been
chosen as the site of the capital on account of its central
position with reference to Bengal and Bihar and for its
commanding both the rive Ganges and the Pass of teliagarhi.
Mansingh built there a palace, a fort and also a Jama-i-Masjid
(known as Hadafe Mosque). Soon, being a healthier site than
Gaur, a choice city sprang up there. The city, however,
lost its strategic value soon. The river Ganges having receded
nearly a kros, the city was no longer accessible to war-boats
and could not be defended on land and water. In 1608-09
Islam Khan transferred the capital to Jahangirnagar (Dhaka)
in order to suppress the bara-bhuiyans and resist more effectively
the growing power of the portuguese and the Maghs. But Rajmahal
regained its administrative position in 1639 when shah shuja
(1639-1660) fixed his capital there. The prince built there
the famous palace called Sang-i-dalan (Stone Palace) for
his own residence with an attached diwan khana (audience
hall).
On 20 January 1640, a fire
caused immense destruction to the palace complex and claimed
seventy-five lives of Shuja's harem. Shuja crowned himself
in November 1657 in this city. It appears that it had extensive
construction works done. At a considerable distance from
the Sang-i-dalan is a ruin called the Phulbari (flower garden).
Near this is the tomb of Bakht-Homa, widow of shaista khan.
In the second half of the eighteenth century the city was
2.41 kilometre in length and 0.80 kilometre in breadth with
numerous mosques and monuments.
The city's decline began
when mir jumla (1660-1663) transferred the capital again
to Dhaka to cheek the Arakanese and the Portuguese pirates.
The ruins of the old city are now covered with luxuriant
jungle extended for about four miles to the west of the
present sub-divisional town. [Md Akhtaruzzaman]
TOURIST PLACES
The Sangi Dalan
Built on river bank,
is a part of the place of shah shuja, son of Shah Jehan.
was built in 1556 to enable emperor Akbar to pray.
Jami Masjid
It was built by Raja maan Singh in a combination of the
Imperial and Bengal styles. There are number of other monuments
in town.
HOW TO GET THERE
