Historic Bangaon zamindar in sordid state
Moulvibazar Correspondent :
The traditional zamindar house in Bangaon village, Sindurkhan Union No. 4, Srimangal Upazila of Moulvibazar, carries a history of approximately 350 years. Locals know this dilapidated house as ‘Zamindar Kamini Bhaban’.
Around 1675 AD, Zamindar Kunja Bihari Sen moved to Balishira Pargana of Srimangal from Bangaon, Jessore, and West Bengal after obtaining zamindari.
He settled in Sindurkhan Union of the upazila, near the Indian border, and started the zamindari rule of the pargana by constructing a zamindari building in the area.
Later, the area was named Kunjaban village after Zamindar Kunja Bihari Sen.
A few years later, Kamini Bihari Sen, the eldest son of the great Zamindar Kunja Bihari Sen, moved to another area of the pargana and built a charming house called ‘Kamini Bhavan’. Later, this area was named Bangaon village after their original residence in Bangaon, Jessore, then West Bengal.
The single-storey, three-room house was built in the Assamese architectural style.
The materials used to build the house and the ironwork on the veranda were brought from Assam and Kolkata, India.
After the construction of the main building, a kachari house was built on the eastern side to collect rent and a charity house to provide first aid to residents.
A Jalsa Ghar was built on the western side of the medical centre. In this Jalsa Ghar, Baijis from Kolkata would captivate everyone with their enchanting dance and singing.
Next to the Jalsa Ghar was a paved pond ghat where members of the zamindar family would bathe.
Kamini Sen continued the ancestral landholding from the house he built in Bangaon, called ‘Kamini Bhavan’.
Although the system of landholding was abolished long ago, this house still carries the ancient tradition in a dilapidated state.
Although the 350-year-old house still stands, there is no trace of the Jalsa Ghar, the kachari house for tax collection, the charity medical centre, or the landlord’s hospital. These structures have merged with the ground over the centuries.
Next to the house, the giant banyan tree still provides shade for passersby, but the large pond dug by Zamindar Kunja Bihari Sen for the community’s drinking water has been filled in.
The zamindar house in Bangaon, Balishira Pargana, has succumbed to the dust of time. It is now a haunted house. None of the descendants of Zamindar Kunja Bihari Sen live there anymore, and most family members are now permanent residents of the United States.