Andul Dutta Chaudhury Family

Dutta Chaudhury family (Devanagari: दत्तचौधरी परिवार, Bengali: দত্তচৌধুরী পরিবার, Farsi: دوت چوودی) or the 'Duttas of Andul' were the erstwhile Chaudhury (-ies) & zamindars, during Sultanate and Mughal periods, of Muzaffarpur pargana of the administrative unit of the 'Sarkar of Satgaon' (present-day Howrah and Hooghly districts) of Subah Bangla. The pargana further consisted of several revenue collection units referred to as moujas, namely Andul, Mahiary, Alampore, Dhulagore, Sankrail, Kendua, etc. The Dutta Chaudhury family was founded by zamindar Debdas (Tekari) Dutta, in the late 14th century CE. Since zamindar Tekari acquired almost the entire pargana as his estate ownership, from his father, he was designated as 'Chaudhury' (Farsi: چوودی) (Collector) of the pargana by Sikandar Shah, the second Sultan of Bengal.

It is believed that name of the place 'Andul' was derived from the word Anand-er-Dhuli (আনন্দের ধূলি), meaning 'dust of joy', coined by Krishnananda Dutta, the fourth Chaudhury & Zamindar of the pargana.

The family is an offshoot of Duttas of Bally of Southern – Rarh region, founded by Bharadwaja clan Purushottam Dutta, a Kshatriya by race and Kayastha by caste, who arrived from Kannauj in the tenth century CE.

Once upon a time, the functional title of 'Chowdhury' for a collector of a pargana is no more functional but the family members of present-day still use it, as a legacy, along with their original surname 'Dutta' thus forming a composite surname - 'Dutta Chowdhury'. The present descendants of the family are scattered throughout India, Bangladesh and United States. A large genealogical tree of this family is there at the residence of Banbehari Datta Chowdhury at Chowdhury Para in Andul.

Ratnakar's Philosopher's stone
There is a saying of getting a Philosopher's stone (Bengali: পরশ পাথর) from the river Ganga in Bally when zamindar Tekari's elder son would-be-Chaudhury Ratnakar Dutta was busy cleaning up his copper utensils on the bank of the river.

Kuladevta temple of the family
Kashiswar Jiu temple (কাশীশ্বর জিউ মন্দির) is in Andul of Howrah district near the Saraswati river, West Bengal in India. The presiding deity is a Banlinga which was recovered from the river in mid-17th century CE by family's Kashiswar Dutta Chowdhury (b.1607 CE). In 18th century CE a stone made yoni-like structure commonly known as Gauripatta, symbolizes goddess Shakti, has been attached with the Linga.

There are other Shiva linga temples in the debottur premises, namely Bisheshwar (Lord of the Universe), Nakuleswar (Destroyer of ego) and Saurendra Mohaneshwar (Shiva is the lord of every material things of the Solar system).

Chowdhury MadhavChandra RayBahadur, the 22nd descendant of the family installed Madhaveshwar Shiva temple at Chowdhury para in Andul in the year 1757 CE.

Durga puja in the family
Family celebrates autumnal festival (Durga puja) since the time of their forefather Ram Sharan Dutta Chowdhury (1548–1606 CE); he initiated the annual festival in the Saka era of 1490, which corresponds to 1568 CE in the Gregorian calendar      at the ancestral village. 

Family's Radha-Madhava deities are presently located in Odisha, which was taken from Andul to Chhoti village of Odisha by Ramsharan's grandfather Krishnananda.

As Diwan
Golok Chandra Chowdhury was the Diwan of Andul Raj Estate under Raja RajNarayan RoyBahadur and Biswambar Chowdhury was the Diwan of the Mullick family of Andul.

Notable personalities of the family

 * Krishnananda Dutta Chaudhury
 * Akshay Chandra Chaudhury
 * Basanta Choudhury

Dutta Chowdhury clan at Hatkhola
Kolkata-based Hatkhola Dutta family is a branch of the Chowdhury family.

Books

 * 1) Dutta Chaudhuri Chronicles - Our Ancestry, 2020, By Hemotpaul Chaudhuri.ISBN-13 : 979-8616610058
 * 2) Chowdhury Bongsher Itibritto,  2020,By Dhruba Dutta Chaudhury. Blue Rose Publishers, New Delhi, ISBN 978-9390380893 of ROC no. L-97526/2020 dated 11 Dec 2020 vide Copy Right office, Government of India.