Glorious History of Barasat Town of West Bengal
HnExpress Mayank Chakravarty, Barasat : Finding it’s first mention and origins during Mughal era to Indigo revolut to home of Several Bengali renaissance figures Barasat has glorious history of it’s own. During the reign of the mighty Mughal Empire, Ram Sundar Mitra had got the Laminar at Barasat town. Sankar Chakrabrorty, commander of Pratapaditya, the king of Jessore (At present in Bangladesh), came to Barasat in 1600s and established himself in Barasat town. Pratapaditya made his way to Kolkata from Jessore.
Sirajudullah went to Kolkata from Murshidabad via Barasat on a road which became two national highways.
In 1700 AD, Hazrat Ekdil Shah, the Muslim saint, started residing at Kazipara, Barasat. He was known as a social reformer. His tomb, located in Kazipara, is a pilgrimage site for the Muslim community. Later Under the British Raj, East India Company officials from Calcutta (Kolkata) made Barasat a weekend retreat and built houses with gardens.
Warren Hastings built his villa in the heart of Barasat and Bankim Chandra Chatterjee was the town’s first Indian deputy magistrate. Indigo cultivation was a major industry and indigo merchants were known for their inhumane treatment of farmers. Titumir, a farmer, fomented a revolution against indigo merchants in Barasat. Titumir, a farmer of indigo cultivation, had declared revolution against british Indigo merchants for torturing the farmers and ultimately,
he can able to stop the torture against scarification of his life. Iswar Chandra Vidyasagar, Pyari Charan Sarkar and Kalikrishna Mitra were known for social reformation in the town, including women’s education and widow remarriage. During the early nineteenth century, Barasat Cadet College trained new recruits and cadets from Europe; the college closed in 1811. From 1834 to 1861, Barasat was the seat of Barasat District.
The district became a subdivision of the Twenty-four Parganas district in 1861, and Barasat is the headquarters of North 24 Parganas district In 1861, the joint magistracy was abolished, and the Barasat District became a sub-division of the Twenty-four Parganas district. At present it is the district headquarters of North 24 Parganas district. Barasat Municipality was established on 1 April, 1869, but up till 1882, it did not have any independent existence. Like other offices it was controlled by the Magistrate Office. After 1882,
Barasat Municipality became an autonomous body. Barasat Association, a citizen’s organization, had helped Barasat Municipality by donating land for the construction of the Municipal building. Previously, there were 4 no of wards under Barasat Municipality, which were increased to 18 nos. In 1995, after amalgamating with the surrounding Panchayat areas within Barasat Municipality, a total of 30 municipal wards were created.
After that before 2010 municipal election that was increased to 32 no of wards and before Last election, the wards increased to 35 no of wards. Today Barasat is thriving with bustling crowds and business everywhere but City has kept her heritage which need to be told, retold and preserved.