BY Riyadh Anwar Shubho
Published 17 June 2025,
Since the permanent settlement introduced by the East India Company in 1793, the landlords and landowners of this region started building garden houses, kachari ghars or kutchis in modern Rangpur (present Rangpur city) centered on Nawabganj-Radhaballav. It was at this time that the present Rangpur was developed from the original Rangpur centered on Big Rangpur (Mirganj, Tampat) and Mahiganj. At that time, there were a total of 18 landlord houses or kachari kutchis of the landlords.
** Dimla was a famous landlord estate in North Bengal. The landlord of Dimla, Raja Janaki Ballav Sen, built the Rangpur Municipality Building in 1892 in the garden house in the center of Rangpur city, which is now the City Corporation. He was the Chairman of Rangpur Municipality from 1892 to 1894. However, Raja Janaki Ballabh Sen will remain immortal to the people of Rangpur for his extraordinary feat of Shyama Sundari Canal.
What is now Lal Kuthi Girls School was also the home of the Dimla landlords. This house was very grand. Buddhadev Guha's autobiography Ribhu mentions this Dimla landlord's house repeatedly. I also found a description of this landlord's house in the unpublished writings of my great uncle, the late Adv. Mohammad Jaglul. When he was a student of the primary school opposite Lal Kuthi School, the landlord system was still in operation. However, the original three-story building was at the site of the Eternal Bengal Liberation War Military Museum.
** The present Bangladesh Bank has been built by filling a large pond. The pond belonged to the Dimla landlords. Next to that pond (where the bank gate is now) was 'Pairaband House'. The landlord of Pairaband, Begum Rokeya's father, Zahiruddin Mohammad Abu Ali Haider Saber's house in Rangpur city.
** The 'Manthana House' is still inside the Kamal Kachna Fire Service Campus. The building, a monument of great architectural style, is the house and kachari of the zamindar of Manthana, Bhav Sundari Devi Chowdhurani. The building has been abandoned for a long time. It is worth mentioning that the predecessor of these zamindars is the famous landowner Joy Durga Devi Chowdhurani.
** The century-old dilapidated 'Shaheed Moslem Uddin' hostel located on Shaheed Mubarak Sarani (Central Road). It was actually the residence of the famous zamindars of Naldanga, Guru Prasanna Lahiri, Bhavani Prasanna Lahiri.
** The area where the Government City College is located today was the kachari and residence of the zamindar of Bamandanga, Babu Bipin Chandra Roy Chowdhury. In the nineties, it was heard that many gold ornaments were recovered from the ruins of that house surrounded by the 'Chotra Patar' forest.
** The current Central Point (North View Hotel) is located exactly where the two-story or three-story Kacharibari of the Panga landlords, 'Panga House', was located. That too was used as a hostel for Rangpur College for a long time. Many people call the current Jatiya Party office 'Panga House'. Which is not correct. I myself have been to 'Panga House' many times.
** Inside the beautiful gate of Sonali Bank, the main building of the bank was the kachari and residence of the landlord of Tepa (Tepa Madhupur, south of Kaunia Upazila) Annada Mohan Roy Chowdhury. This landlord gave Carmichael only one lakh taka because he accidentally wrote an extra zero instead of 10 thousand.
** Located in the Radha Ballabh area of the city, ‘Rahmatpur Kuthi’, which is now the Diabetic Society. This building was the kachari house or business office of the landlord of Rahmatpur Estate, Nripendra Nath Rudra. Hence the name of the building ‘Rahmatpur Kuthi’! The landlords of the Rangpur region used to hold their colourful and entertaining jalsha in this Rahmatpur Kuthi.
** Approximately two hundred yards south of this Rahmatpur hut (opposite the Rifles Club) is the kachari of the landlord of Mahipur, Maulvi Abdul Aziz Chowdhury. Which is now known as the house of the late Shamsur Rahman Babu Mia. Shamsur Rahman Babu Mia is the descendant of the landlords of Mahipur.
** The picturesque building adjacent to the mosque of the Rangpur College campus was the kachari and residence of the landlord Annada Prasad Sen of Badha Ballabh. The landlord's house was later purchased by the late Mashiur Rahman Jadu Mia, a well-known face in the political arena of Rangpur and the country, a leader of the Muslim League, NAP and BNP, a minister of the Government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh. Now the house is known as Jadu Mia's house. The house is also now called 'Jadu Nibas'.
** Opposite ASP's bungalow on Bangabandhu Road (next to Shahan International School) was 'Bardhan Kuthi'. Which was the town residence of the landlords of Bardhan Kot in Gobindaganj Upazila of Gaibandha. The last landlord of this zamindari was Shailesh Chandra.
** The place of Teachers Training College was the garden house of the landlords of Nal Danga. Tulsi Lahiri, the son of the landlord family of Nal Danga, was a famous theater personality.
** The famous landlord estate of North Bengal was the Kakina House. The Kakina House area was from the present Bangladesh Bank in Rangpur city to the DC's residence. There was a big pond in Kakina House. There was a one-story brick building. There were 5-6 rooms. There was also a servant quarter. There was also a beautiful garden. Their kachari in Rangpur was the old Arcadia School building in Kerani Para. That is why the road from the gate of the Deputy Commissioner's residence towards Kerani Para is called 'Kakina Kuthi Road'.
** Where the picturesque multi-storey building of the Press Club Complex is now, there was the kachari and residence of the landlord of Kasimpur Estate, Maharaja Manindra Nandi. It is worth noting that the KB (Kashim Bazar) hostel of Carmichael College was built with the funding of these landlords.
** There was a tin shed building inside the Rangpur District Education Office campus, between the Rangpur Telephone Office and the Table Tennis Complex, with a wooden floor. The building was the garden house of Raja Kumar Gopal Lal Roy of Tajhat.
** One of the oldest structures in Rangpur, a little before the bridge on the way from Betpatti to Gomasta Para in the city, is the traditional 'Dewan Bari'. Which was actually the Kachari house and residence of Dewan Narsingh Majumdar. He was the Serestadar of the Rangpur Collectorate (1821-1827). Later, around 1840, he purchased numerous small taluks and established the Dewan Bari Zamindari Estate.
** On the banks of Manthana Pond was the house of Shri Kulda Gobind Talukdar Babu, the landlord of Chaitrakol Estate in Pirganj. At that time, the house was called 'Talukdar Lodge'. It is very likely that during the partition, he exchanged the house with the father of ophthalmologist Dr. Hasan Saheb. Now the house is called Hasan Villa.
** The main building of the Police Circle Office in Keranipara was the residence of Parling Sahib, the first District Collector of Rangpur. In 1773, on the eve of his transfer, he sold the house to the Maharaja of Cooch Behar. After the establishment of the District School in 1832, the school house burned down in a fire. At that time, the activities of the District School were conducted in this house for some time.
** The Tajhat Palace is located in the Tajhat area of old Rangpur. Raja Gopal Lal Roy built the palace at the beginning of the last century. Which is now being used as a museum. It is an attractive place for tourists in Rangpur.
Also, there were probably some more landlord houses in Rangpur city. Because, in the old Rangpur Sahitya Parishat newspaper, the words 'Zamidar, Nawabganj Rangpur' are written next to the names of many. This suggests that there were some more landlord houses in the city.
References:
Various books on the history of Rangpur and information I have heard from my elders since childhood.
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