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Bhadra House of Kamalapur

History and Genealogy

Bhadra (Bengali:ভদ্র) House of Kamalapur (Bengali:কমলাপুর), now in Bangladesh, was one of the prominent aristocratic households during the British regime and eventually has become one forgotten family, thanks to the machineries of the Partition of 1947. However, the Partition made the family scattered and disconnected, and many of their authentic documents are lost. It is very tough a task to restructure the ancestral history of this bonedi(Bengali: বনেদি) family of undivided Bengal as the only source available now is the broken memory of the olden generation of the family still living. The next generations are uprooted and amnetic. Bhadra family was not a royal family but they had regular connections and business with many royal families of both the pre-British and the British period. Being a family of Barujibi(Bengali: বারুজীবি) origin; a cast which is lower than Brahmins and Kayasthas but belongs to the higher casts, does business of pan mainly along with paddy,areca nut, lentils, banana and coconut, has huge fortune and strong cultural influence over the east Bengal society; Bhadras were successful exporters of pan, areca nut, lentils, fine rice, banana and coconut. The Sen family migrated to the royal estate of Narail or Naral around early 1740s from the town of Chunchura(British.Chinsurah; Bengali: চুঁচূড়া) in effect of a marital establishment and also for earning a better living. The person under whose patronage the shifting happened was named Ramanarain or Ramanarayan Sen who became, in a meanwhile, a favourite at the court of the king of Naral estate and was conferred with the honorifics like Dewan and Rajah by the Naral Rajah and was granted with the power of collecting independent revenue from some handsome acres of land. Dewan Ramanarayan Sen earned due respect in his contemporary society and was conferred with the honorific 'Bhadra' meaning a person with greatness by the societal authority and replaced his surname with the new title. However, the number of girls he married or the number of children he had is still unknown except one Rama Rama Bhadra. Rama Rama Bhadra was not a good ruler and eventually he lost his land but he and his son Kaliprasanna Bhadra did not impoverish because of their good income from their business. But, however, they led lavish lifestyle and left the family in debt. The question lies with the nomenclature of Kaliprasanna because his name is entirely different and unusual in a devoted Vaishnava family who are reported to have been guided by the Radha, the lover consort of the Krishna, legendarily. The name of the wife(-ves) and the number of the children Rama Rama Bhadra and Kaliprasanna Bhadra had are also yet unknown. However, a son of Kaliprasanna, Rama Bhadra, was a devoted person with least luxuries who cleared all the debts his father and grandfather left and remoulded the whole business. He had built a palatial house in Shobha bazar, which presently lacks trace, and reported to have sent his son, Dwarikanath, to Kolkata for studying the legal stuffs. Dwarikanath's alma matter is unknown but he was a senior prosecutor in the civil court of Faridpore district headquarter. He had an extensive relationship with his ancestral patron, the Rajahs of Naral and mostly Dwarikanath lived in the time of Maharajah Kali Narain Rai of Naral. Dwarikanath was a legal advisor of the Rajahs and most probably defended some of their major causes in the civil court(s). He was known to be the Dewan, a regal official of high rank primarily providing legal advice to the royal authority. Though we do not know,yet, the number of wives he married and her/their name(s) but we do surely know that Dwarikanath had seven children, first four being daughters and the last three sons. The first two daughters, Bindubasini and Raikishori, were widowed at the age of 1.5 and 5 respectively and lived a life of ascetics according to the traditional Hindu law of widowhood! The other two daughters, Brindeshwari and Binshnupriya, were also married off to the wealthy families in a tender age but no report of their post-marriage life is available now. The first son of Dwarikanath, Kailaschandra Bhadra, left home in his young age and became a Vaishnava ascetic taking the name Srimad Gopaladas Babaji and spent all his life at Nabadwipdham. Either his marriage ceremony took place while he was home or not that is not confirmed. Late Kushal Nath Bhadra's third daughter, Ms. Chaitali Bhadra, proclaimed that Kailaschandra was not married before leaving his home for ever. The second son of Dwarikanath, Bishnucharan, retained his father's position at the court of the Naral estate, thrived more and donated money for building a Middle English School at their residential village, namely Kamalapur, and also frequently donated huge amounts for building temples, mosques and dargahs. He died in the year of 1930, after one year of his only son Kushal Nath's birth. His birth year falls under the approximate span of 1875-78. Bishnucharan married three ladies, Basanti Devi, Rajlakshmi Devi and Pankajini Devi. Basanti Devi was mother to three daughters: Rukmini, Satyabhama and Manitara. Rukmini was married off to Parvati Charan Dash, a medical practitioner, and bore two sons Nitaipada Dash and Gourpada Dash. Nitaipada Dash was a famous magistrate of his time. Satyabhama and Manitara's information are available but yet have not been acquired by the present author. The mother of the three daughters, Basanti Devi, died shortly after her third child's birth. Rajlakshmi Devi, whose hands were taken by Bishnucharan after his first wife's demise, bore him a daughter who died a youngling. Bishnucharan had adopted a son, whose name is being searched for, but under outrageous circumstances he disinherited him and married his third wife, Pankajini, a girl from a poor subject family. Late Kushal Nath Bhadra, and Ms. Maya Bhadra told that Pankajini was 13 at the time of the marriage and Bishnucharan was 52 and his second wife was still living. Pankajini bore the desired son, namely Kushal Nath, after eight years of her marriage in the year of 1929. Bishnucharan died in the following year leaving behind his two widows, three married daughters, two widowed elder sisters, a minor and infant son, and huge amount of money with honorifics, lordship of Telihati, Bhabrasur and Joynagar gifted to them by the Naral Rajah and the pattanidari of tauzee no. 34 conferred upon him by the British government. Bishnucharan's sisters and his second wife, Rajlakshmi Devi, all died by the following ten years, i.e., 1940. Thus, little Kushal Nath and his mother were left only to maintain their estate, cherish the honorifics and defend the court cases. Dwarikanath's third son, Gopalakrishna Bhadra, was also a share-holder in this property whose family is still existing under the auspices of Mr. Chitta Bhadra. Their information are available and will shortly be published. Bhadras had houses at Kamalapur, their main residence and also in Dhaka, Shantipur and Shobha bazar of Kolkata.

Family Tree

Ramanarayana (Sen) Bhadra (?-?)+ ? Son. Rama Rama Bhadra (?-?)+ ? Son. Kaliprasanna Bhadra (?-?)+ ? Son. Rama Bhadra (?-?) + ? Son. Dwarikanath Bhadra (?-?)+ ? Daughters. Bindubasini [Early widow] (?-?)+ ?          Raikishori [Early widow](?            -?)+ ? Brindeshwari (?-?)+ ? Binshnupriya (?-?)+ ? And Sons. Kailaschandra Bhadra (?-?)[Sannyasi/ Marriage happened or not?] Bishnucharan Bhadra (?1875/-78-      1930)+ 1. Basanti Devi(?-?);2. Rajlakshmi Devi(?-?);3. Pankajini Devi(?-?) Gopalakrishna Bhadra (?-?)+ ? Bishnucharan+ Basanti Daughters. 1. Rukmini (?-?)+ Parvati Charan Dash (?-?) Sons. Nitaipada Dash (1922-1994)                Gourpada Dash (?-?) 2. Satyabhama (?-?)+ ? 3. Manitara(?-?)+ ? Bishnucharan+ Rajlakshmi Daughter. ?(?-?: Died youngling) Bishnucharan+ Pankajini Son. Kushal Nath Bhadra(1929-2012)+ Maya Bhadra(1942-) Daughters.1. Syamali Bhadra+ Priyabrata Pramanik Son. Priyadarshi 2. Manasi Bhadra+ Pralay Chakraborty Son. Shilbhadra 3. Chaitali Bhadra+ Atish Nandy Son. Nirban Nandy 4. Mahuya Bhadra+ Ratan Chakraborty Son. Samyak Gopalakrishna+ ? Son. Chitta Bhadra+ ? Son. Anupam Kumar Bhadra

Source: Book(s) 1. Bhadra, Kushal Nath. "Smritir Otol Theke". Madhyamgram: Maya Bhadra, 2009. 2. "Smarane Shraddhaye Acharya Kushal Nath". Ed. Anandaprasad Roy & Purnendu Basu. New Barrackpore:Sahityika, 2013.

Personal acknowledgement 1. Late Kushal Nath Bhadra 2. Ms. Maya Bhadra 3. Ms. Chaitali Bhadra 4. Dr. Syamali Bhadra 5. Mr. Anupam Kumar Bhadra 6. Mr. P. Raha 7. Mr. Sagar Saikat Sen 8. Mr. Pradip Das 9. Mr. Tapan Das