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Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Jinjira Palace and palace tragedy


Mitford

Jinjira - other side of river

Swarighat (minaret of Shahi Chawk bazaar masjid seen)

Badamtali - paddled steamer 'ostrich' anchored

Jinjira main road towards bazaar

Municipal pond and main masjid, Jinjira


Jinjira graveyard

Palace wall, surrounded by habitation





Dilapidated walls and entrance

Narrow alley to the site

Monument for the Martyrs of the war of liberation

Jinjira Palace, situated on the southern bank of the Buriganga river opposite to the ‘Bara Katra, Dhaka was built by the Mughal subahdar Ibrahim Khan II (1689-1697) as recreation resort. It is now in total ruins.

The palace site, once surrounded by rivers had the natural characteristics of an island, and hence the palace was named Qasr-i-Jazirah, meaning 'palace of the island'. The palace is said to have been connected with Dhaka city by a wooden bridge across the river at ‘Bara Katra’ point (see pic of Swarighat). The palace remains are dilapidated walls of octagonal side towers, the gateway (dewri) on the south and the remains of its broad foundation with the surrounding moat. The site of the palace indicated as howli (corruption of the word haveli) by the local people is encircled by dense habitation and commercial establishments making it almost inaccessible.

The palace became the residence of Murshid Quli Khan on his getting the Diwani of Bengal. Later, it had been the family residence of Husain Quli Khan, a deputy to Nawazish Mohammad Khan, absentia Naib Nazim of Dhaka.

The palace had played a tragic role during the closing years of the Murshidabad nizamat. After the fall of Nawab Sarfaraz Khan (1739-1740), his mother, wife, sister and children along with some women of his ‘harem’ were kept confined in the palace. On the murder of Husain Quli Khan (1754) in Murshidabad, his family members in Jinjira palace suffered similar fate.

The Battle of Plassey was fought on June 23 in 1757 between the forces of Nawab Sirajuddaula and the British forces of East India Company, in which the Nawab suffered defeat and Bengal its independence. Sirajuddaula’s wife Lutfunnesa Begum and daughter Qudsia Begum alias Umme Zohra and Alivardi Khan’s daughters Ghaseti Begum and Amena Begum were sent to the Jinjira Palace and kept under strict surveillance. Tradition goes that they were taken out in a barge and drowned into the Dhaleswari (June 1760) at the instance of Mir Sadeq Ali Khan alias Miran, son of Mir Jafar whom the British made the tituliar ruler (Ref: Banglapedia).

9 comments:

  1. Thank very much for this. I never even knew this place existed. There are so many historical places in our country, and some people, like me, are not even aware of it. It is a real eye opener. Thank you for your wonderful site. Each time I visit, I learn something new.

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  2. Hello Sir,

    While browsing for sirajuddaula, I stumbled on your blog. Interestingly, there is a place called Murud-Janjira fort in India which is also a Island fort in Maharashtra.

    Rgds.
    Sangeetha

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  3. অনেক ভাল লাগল লেখাটি। বাংলা উইকিতে জিঞ্জিরা প্রাসাদ নামে একটা প্রবন্ধ আছে, যেটাতে ছবি নেই। আপনি কি দয়া করে সেখানে কিছু ছবি দিতে পারেন? অথবা কপিরাইট মুক্ত করে দিলে এখান থেকে ছবি কপি করে নেয়া যেত।

    আরেকটা কথা, Jazira আরবি শব্দ, যার মানে হলো peninsula বা উপদ্বীপ; তিন দিকে পানি আর এক দিকে ভূমি থাকলে তাকে জাযিরা বলা হয়। জাযিরা মানে 'দ্বীপ' নয়। ধন্যবাদ।

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  4. Mr. Mazharul Islam,

    This blog does not prohibit visitors to share any image for their personal use, as a courtesy, please acknowledge this blog / author for the images used.

    Thanks for visiting the blog site.

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  5. sepoy mutiny was not fought by nawab sirajud dowla....siraj ud dowla was killed circa 1757 and sepoy mutiny happened literally a 100 years later. thanks

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  6. @imran chowdhury,
    Nowhere in the article reference of Sepoy Mutiny has been made.
    Bengal came under the ambit of British power after the fall of Nawab Siraj-ud-dowla at the hands of Clive in 1757.
    Thanks for the comments and visiting site.

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  7. Amazing! thanx a lot for this blog.I am from Jinjira. We call the palace " Nogora "

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  8. Why does not the government make any serious effort to restore the palace and restore the history of our land and people,in the process?

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