Mallabhum (The country originally known as Mallabhoom or Mallabani Bengali: মল্লভূম or Bishnupur kingdom) was the kingdom ruled by the Malla kings of Bishnupur, primarily in the present Bankura district in Indian state of West Bengal.
History
Territory of the Mallabhum
Mallabhum was a territory which included Bankura, a part of Burdwan, Birbhum, Santhal Parganas, Midnapur and also a part of Purulia. The Malla Rajas ruled over the vast territory in the south-western part of present West Bengal and a part of southeastern Jharkhand.
Extent
From around 7th century CE until the advent of British rule, the history of Bankura district is identical with the rise and fall of the Hindu Rajas of Bishnupur.
Administration
Mahals
According to Bhattacharjee, Tarun Dev (1982) During the Malla period, society was primarily organised around the village. The tax collectors were known as Gumasta, with their assistants called Aat Pahari or Paik. The village headman, responsible for overseeing the community, was referred to as the Mukhiya or Mandal, and was considered the protector of the village.
The Malla kings maintained several service groups, and due to a shortage of money, they often compensated these groups with land rather than salaries. This land was of two types: Panchaki jamin, which had a small tax, and Bepanchaki jamin, which was exempt from tax. The lands were named based on the services provided, such as.
1. Senapati Mahal: Land for the head of the soldiers.
2. Mahalbera Mahal: Land for the sentries.
3. Chharidar Mahal: Land for the bodyguards.
4. Jungle Mahal
According to LSS O’Malley:
Large portions of the old estate of Bishnupur were under jungle and the timber, firewood, honey, wax, etc., which they yielded, formed a valuable source of revenue. The right of collecting these jungle products was farmed out by the Raja, and the revenue he obtained thereby was called the Jungle Mahal, and had nothing to do with arable land.
The Bishnupur Raj maintained a distinct Jungle Mahal, which consisted solely of forested areas, where forest resources were regularly harvested and sold.
5. Ghatwals Mahal
The ghatwals were a ‘quasi military body of men employed by the Rajas of Bishnupur’ who
were posted as guards at various strategic Ghats or passes in hills and uplands. They also did
police duties and acted as peacekeepers. Rent-free lands given to the ghatwals by the Rajas
from time to time came to be known as Ghatwali lands. Though at the time of the Permanent
Settlement (between 1791 and 1802) the area of lands held by ghatwals was not known later
surveys of 1854-56 and 1879-1887 estimated the area of the ghatwali land in the Bishnupur
Estate to be about 170,000 acres
Bishnupur and His Alliance with the Mughals
In the late 16th century, Bir Hambir, the ruler of Bishnupur, allied with Mughal general Man Singh during Akbar's campaign against Qutlu Khan Lohani, the Afghan ruler of North Orissa. Despite being ignored by Jagat Singh, Man Singh's son, Bir Hambir bravely rescued him from an Afghan ambush, solidifying his alliance with the Mughals. This act highlighted Bir Hambir's courage, strategic brilliance, and enduring legacy as a wise leader.
Decline Under British Rule
Great Bishnupur famine of 1770
Around 1770–71, as the "great famine" swept through the region, the South Western Highlands of Bengal had transformed into a land of the dead.
According to W.W. Hunter, the situation was summed up in his famous Annals of Rural Bengal:
“Before the end of 1770, one-third of the population was officially calculated to have disappeared; in June the deaths were returned as ‘six is to sixteen of the whole inhabitants’, and it was estimated that ‘one half of cultivators and payers of revenue will perish with hunger.’…in 1771, it was discovered that the remnant of the population would not suffice to till the land”.
The greatest threat to the company was depopulation, which, despite the famine, led them to continually pressure the local rulers—the now-weakened Rajas of Bishnupur (referred to as Bishenpore by Hunter). In Bishnupur, hundreds of villages were completely abandoned, and even in the larger towns, fewer than one-fourth of the houses remained occupied. Purnia and Bishnupur were the two districts in Bengal that suffered the most from the famine. In 1772, Warren Hastings estimated that by that time, one-third of the population had perished.
Rebellion at Bishnupur (1788-1809)
Between 1788 and 1809, the Chuars and Paiks of the Bishnupur and Midnapore parganas revolted against the British East India Company under the leadership of Madhav Singha Dev.
List of Malla kings
Malla's started their own calendar that is Malla era (Mallabda). It is told that Malla era started from Indra Dwadasi day in the year 102 Bengali calendar of the month Bhadro (August- September).
Temples
According to Dr. Bloch, Superintendent of the Archaeological Survey of India, Eastern Circle, the twelve date temples range
in chronological order as follows:
In popular culture
Film
- Eastern Zonal Cultural Centre, Kolkata, brings you the Fourth Documentary from 𝗢𝗻𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗔𝗿𝗰𝗵𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗗𝗼𝗰𝘂𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝗙𝗶𝗹𝗺 𝗙𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗮𝗹. The video is a presentation on the dhrupad gharana of Bishnupur kingdom.