Bikrampur Explained

Bikrampur
Official Name:	Vikramapura
Native Name:	বিক্রমপুর
Nickname:	City of Courage
Pushpin Map:	Bangladesh Munshiganj district#Bangladesh
Pushpin Map Caption:	Location of Munshiganj in Bangladesh
Population Demonym:	Bikrampuri (Dhakaiya)

Bikrampur (Vikramapura, City of Courage) was a sub-division of Dhaka district of Bengal Presidency of British India. It was a historic region of Bengal. It lay on the banks of the Ganges (Padma River) of Bengal. In the present day, it is known as the Munshiganj District of Bangladesh (East Bengal).

History

Pala Era

The region is successively ruled by Vigrahapala I, Narayanapala, Rajyapala, Gopala II, Vigrahapala II, Mahipala, Naya Pala, Vigrahapala III, Mahipala II, Shurapala II, Ramapala, Kumarapala, Gopala III and Madanapala.^[1] Pala empire disintegrated in 1174 weakened by attacks of the Sena dynasty.^[2]

Chandra Era

During the rule of Srichandra (reigned 930 – 975 AD), the administrative centre of the Chandra kingdom was established at Bikrampur.^[3] The Varman Dynasty (1035-1150 CE) replaced Chandras and established their independent kingdom.^{[4] [5]}

Varman Era

After the fall of Chandras, The Varmans Dynasty became powerful in East Bengal. The Varmans claimed that they descended from a branch of Yadava Dynasty of Simhapur.^{[6] [7]} Jat Varman, Hari Varman Samala Varman were the powerful rulers, who ruled in Bikrampur. Bhoja Varman was the last independent ruler of Varman Dynasty who was defeated by Vijaysena of the Sena dynasty.^[8]

Sen Era

A copper-plate inscription from the time of the ruler Vijay Sen (ruled 1097–1160), founder of the Sen Dynasty, was found in Barrackpore, in 1911. In this inscription, Bikrampur was mentioned as the capital of that region.^[9] It continued to be the capital throughout the, Sena Dynasty. In 1205, Turkic invader Bakhtiyar Khalji defeated the then-ruler Lakshman Sen in Nadia. Lakshman fled to Bikrampur.^[10] His two sons Vishwarup Sen and Keshab Sen kept ruling from here until 1230.^[11] However the copper-plate inscriptions during their reign do not mention Bikrampur as the capital.^[12] Another Hindu ruler, Danuj Rai, defeated a successor of Keshab Sen and started ruling from here. In early 1280 he moved the capital to Suvarnagrama (later named Sonargaon).^{[12] [13]}

Mughal Era

Emperor Akbar established Bikrampur as one of the 52 parganas of Sonargaon sarkar in Bengal subah during his administrative reforms in 1572–1580.^[14] During his time, Chand Rai^[15] and Kedar Rai^[16] were the Zamindars of Bikramapur. In the expeditions against Bara-Bhuiyans, Mughal Subahdar Man Singh killed Kedar Rai in the early 1600s.^[17]

In post-Aurangzeb era, during the time of Nawab Murshid Quli Khan, Bikrampur was divided into eight taluks – Bhagyakul, Sreenagar, Maijpara, Sinhapara, Taltala, Sirajdikhan, Louhajong and Baligaon. Each taluk was represented by one zamindar. Muhammad Azim Khan became the Zamindar of Louhajong who held the title of "Khan Bahadur". Gobinda Prasad Roy became the Zamindar of Maijpara.^[18]

Notable people

• Fakhruddin Ahmed (born 1940)
• Iajuddin Ahmed (1931–2012)
• Atiśa (CE)
• Humayun Azad (1947–2004)
• Bhanu Bandopadhyay (1920–1983)
• Manik Bandopadhyay (19 May 1908 – 3 December 1956)
• Pratima Bandopadhyay (1934–2004)
• Atin Bandyopadhyay (1934–2019)
• Kedareswar Banerjee (1900–1975)
• Rameshwar Banerjee (8 February 1925 – 21 November 1945)
• Benoy Basu (1908–1930)
• Samaresh Basu (1924–1988)
• Jagadish Chandra Bose (1858–1937)
• Nripen Chakraborty (1905–2004)
• Moushumi Chatterjee (born 26 April 1948)
• Sabitri Chatterjee (born 22 February 1937)
• Aghorenath Chattopadhyay
• Nishikanta Chattopadhyay
• Soorjo Coomar Goodeve Chuckerbutty (1826–1874)
• Brojen Das (1927–1998)
• Chittaranjan Das (1870–1925)
• Durga Mohan Das (1841–1897)
• Narayan Debnath (1925-2022)
• Dwarkanath Ganguly (1844–1898)
• Suhasini Ganguly (1909–1965)
• Kaliprosanna Ghosh (1843–1910)
• Prafulla Chandra Ghosh (1891–1983)
• Badal Gupta (1912–1930)
• Dinesh Gupta (1911–1931)
• Jogendranath Gupta (1883–1965)
• Chashi Nazrul Islam (1941–2015)
• Radhu Karmakar (1919–1993)
• Muhammad Hamidullah Khan (1938–2011)
• Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis (1893–1972)
• Imdadul Haq Milan (born 1955)
• Ashutosh Mukhopadhyay (1920–1989)
• Shirshendu Mukhopadhyay (born 1935)
• Sarojini Naidu (1879–1949)
• Kedar Ray
• Siddhartha Shankar Ray (1920–2010)
• Mokshadacharan Samadhyayi
• Laboni Sarkar
• Asit Sen (1922–2001)
• Soham Swami (1858–1918)
• Sarada Ukil (1888–1940)

See also

• Munshiganj Vihara

External links

• Historical Bikrampur

23.55°N 123°W

Notes and References

1. Book: Chowdhury, AM . 2012 . Pala Dynasty . http://en.banglapedia.org/index.php?title=Pala_Dynasty . Islam . Sirajul . Sirajul Islam . Jamal . Ahmed A. . Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh . Second . Asiatic Society of Bangladesh.
2. Scott . David . Buddhism and Islam: Past to Present Encounters and Interfaith Lessons . Numen . 42 . 2 . 141–155 . May 1995 . 10.1163/1568527952598657 . 3270172.
3. Book: Chowdhury, AM . 2012 . Chandra Dynasty, The . http://en.banglapedia.org/index.php?title=Chandra_Dynasty,_The . Islam . Sirajul . Sirajul Islam . Jamal . Ahmed A. . Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh . Second . Asiatic Society of Bangladesh.
4. Book: Le, Huu Phuoc. Buddhist Architecture. 2010. Grafikol. 978-0-9844043-0-8. en.
5. Book: Sayeed, Ahmad. Know Your India: "Turn a New Page to Write Nationalism". 2014-10-04. Vij Books India Pvt Ltd. 978-93-84318-68-0. en.
6. Book: Hazra, Kanai Lal . The Rise and Decline of Buddhism in India . 1995 . Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers . 978-81-215-0651-9 . en.
7. Book: Division, Publications . THE GAZETTEER OF INDIA Volume 2 . Publications Division Ministry of Information & Broadcasting . 978-81-230-2265-9 . en.
8. Book: Raatan, T. . Encyclopaedia of North-East India . November 2003 . Gyan Publishing House . 978-81-7835-068-4 . en.
9. http://www.munshigonj.com/MgonjSection/HistoryOldBangla.htm Proof of Bikrampur as the ancient capital of Bengal
10. Book: Misra, Chitta Ranjan . 2012 . Laksmanasena . http://en.banglapedia.org/index.php?title=Laksmanasena . Islam . Sirajul . Sirajul Islam . Jamal . Ahmed A. . Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh . Second . Asiatic Society of Bangladesh.
11. Web site: Far East King Lists. 30 December 2013.
12. Book: Chowdhury, AM . 2012 . Vikramapura . http://en.banglapedia.org/index.php?title=Vikramapura . Islam . Sirajul . Sirajul Islam . Jamal . Ahmed A. . Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh . Second . Asiatic Society of Bangladesh.
13. Book: Taher, MA . 2012 . Raja Ganesha . http://en.banglapedia.org/index.php?title=Raja_Ganesha . Islam . Sirajul . Sirajul Islam . Jamal . Ahmed A. . Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh . Second . Asiatic Society of Bangladesh.
14. Abul Fazl-I-'Allami (1949, reprint 1993). Ain-I-Akbari, Vol.II (tr. H.S. Jarett), Calcutta: The Asiatic Society, p.151
15. Book: Khan, Muazzam Hussain . 2012 . Chand Rai . http://en.banglapedia.org/index.php?title=Chand_Rai . Islam . Sirajul . Sirajul Islam . Jamal . Ahmed A. . Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh . Second . Asiatic Society of Bangladesh.
16. Book: Khan, Muazzam Hussain . 2012 . Kedar Rai . http://en.banglapedia.org/index.php?title=Kedar_Rai . Islam . Sirajul . Sirajul Islam . Jamal . Ahmed A. . Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh . Second . Asiatic Society of Bangladesh.
17. Book: Bangladesh. 9788176484695. 29 September 2015. Ahmed. Salahuddin. 2004. APH .
18. Web site: :: Munshigonj District – Heritage Places – Maijpara Math :: . munshigonj.com . 29 September 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150930000907/http://www.munshigonj.com/heritage/Maijpara.htm . 30 September 2015 . dead.