Natore Rajbari

Natore Rajbari (also known as Pagla Raja's Palace, Natore Palace) was a royal palace in Natore, Bangladesh. It was the residence and seat of the Rajshahi Raj family of zamindars. The famous queen Rani Bhabani lived here and after the death of her husband, expanded both the estate and the palace.

In the mid seventeenth century one Kamadev Moitra served as tehsildar to the Puthia Raj family. Kamadev's second son Raghunandan Moitra was selected by the Raja to be his agent at the court of Nawab Murshid Quli Khan, the overlord of all Bengal. When the Nawab moved his court from Dhaka to what became known as Murshidabad he took Raghunandan with him and appointed him his Dewan or minister. The Nawab proceeded to confiscate the estates of zamindars who failed to conform to his new regulations, and a number of such estates were acquired by Ramjivan Moitra, the elder brother of his Dewan Raghunandan. In due course Ramjivan was given the title of Raja and set up his headquarters in Natore. His estate was generally referred to as the "Rajshahi Zamindari".

The estate had an area of nearly 13,000 square miles and included not only much of North Bengal but also large parts of the areas later comprising the administrative districts of Murshidabad, Nadia, Jessore, Birbhum and Burdwan. To rule this extensive Zamindari and collect revenue properly, he divided all Zamindaris into three centers. These were Sherpur in Bogra district, Baranagar in Murshidabad district and Natore. Baranagar was located half a mile north of Azimnagar railway station by the administrative advantages. Rarely Raghunandan had to go to Nawab Darbar, so he stayed at Baranagar most of the time. Staying at Baranagar helped him to maintain the royal duty of Natore.

The first palace or Rajbari at Natore was built by Raja Ramjivan Moitra. The palace was surrounded by two sets of moats which are still extant. After the division of the estate a separate palace was built for the junior branch of the dynasty. Many of the original buildings were destroyed by the earthquake of 1897 and subsequently rebuilt or replaced.

Ramjivan's Dewan Doyaram was granted landed estates and the title of Ray Raiyan by Nawab Murshid Quli Khan in recognition of his service in apprehending a recalcitrant zamindar named Sitaram Roy.

Text adapted from “Natore Rajbari” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Natore Rajbari ranks #4,243 of 8,133 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #6 of the 7 mapped in Bangladesh. Its Wikipedia articles were opened 1,441 times in the last 60 days, more than 58% of the atlas. See how Bangladesh compares in the castle statistics.

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