SHRIRAMPORE-The Heritage City / শ্রীরামপুর শহর/Danish collonies in India

Описание: SHRIRAMPORE-The Heritage City
Serampore (also called Serampur, Srirampur, Srirampore, Shreerampur, Shreerampore, Shrirampur, Shrirampore) is a famous and historical city in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is the headquarter of the Srirampore subdivision. It is a part of the area covered by Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority.[2] It is a pre-colonial town (city) on the west bank of the Hooghly River. It was part of Danish India under the name Frederiknagore from 1755 to 1845.
The city is several centuries old and has witnessed both the growth and decline of the feudal system, the coming of the Danes and their settlement and then a cultural renaissance (known as the Bengal Renaissance) initiated by the British following the construction of the east Indian railway, along with subsequent industrial development.

There were three main phases in the process of urbanisation of Serampore:

The Pre-urbanisation phase (the period before 1755);
The Urbanisation phase (from 1755 to 1854); and
The Industrialisation phase (1854 to 1947).
Before the Mughal era, the region between the Saraswati and Hooghly rivers was a thriving local community.

After this there arose the need for local artisana along with "service class" people who came from the neighbouring villages and settled on granted land. In this way, colonies such as Patuapara, Kumarpara, Dhulipara, Goalpara, Dutta Bagan, Khash Bagan were formed. This along with the fact that Sheoraphuli was a distribution point for local marketable goods produced in different parts of Hughli, induced many families - the Barujibis, Duttas, Deys, Das etc. - to come to settle here before 1755. The cultivating classes settled in such places as Sadgoppara, Mannapara, Lankabaganpara. The Jele-Kaibarta and 'Sani' Muchi, were already in the locality from the beginning, and had their own areas. The local Sunni Muslims, descendants of Mughal soldiers, traders and artisans, lived in Mullickpara, Mussalman Para and here a mosque still bears witness to their existence.

During the Mughal period, Akna (today's Akra Bati Lane) and Mahesh were heavily populated. The hot humid climate of the area suited the textile industry and the local land was well known for its cotton and silk weaving. The Hindu weavers used to manufacture fine cotton pieces, while the Muslim weavers monopolised silk manufacture. In the fertile land, paddy, jute and betel-leaf were grown in abundance. The Kaibarta used the marshy land for fishing.

In pre-urbanisation age, communication was mainly by way of the river. Besides this, there was the 'Badshahi Sadak' or the grand trunk road. Before Danes arrived in this region, the Sheoraphuli Hat was the main internal trade centre and had close commercial links with Barisal, Khulna, Dhaka, Mymensingh, Rajshahi and other districts of East Bengal (now Bangladesh).

Between the 14th and 18th centuries, many foreign merchants, such as the French, Portuguese and Dutch - established their trading outposts, or "Kuthis", here and were involved in trade and commerce.

During the Muslim period, the villagers on the bank of the Hooghly and Saraswati were included in the zamindaries of Sheoraphuli; these feudal lords not only collected rent but also dispensed justice.
This city is prouded to Marshman and William Carey. Various Hindu temples can be found in the Serampore area, such as:

The temple of Radhaballabh at Ballavpur (18th century)
The temple of Lord Jagannath at Mahesh (1396 A.D.)
The Rath Yatra of Mahesh
The Ram-Sita temple, Sripur
Gauranga at Chatra (16th century)
Hari Sabha at Battala (Near Battala Crossing & Battala Police Station)
Sashan Kali Mandir at Ballavpur
Henry Martin's Pagoda, Ballavpur
Sitalatala Mandir [Chatra Sitalatala]
Nistarini Kali Bari, Sheoraphuli Ghat
The Jagannath temple of Mahesh is dated to 1755. When Bengal came under the command of Sri Chaitanya's Vaisnavism in the 15th century, these places became pre-eminent as a Hindu pilgrim centre.

Raja Manohar Roy Zaminder of Sheoraphuli(North Serampore) built the temple of Ram-Sita in Sripur in 1753, and his son Ram Chandra Roy then later dedicated the villages of Sripur, Gopinathpur and Manoharpur as devottara land in the service of the deity. Subsequently, the temple was taken care of by Raja Nirmal Chandra Ghosh and the 'Seoraphuli Raj Debuttar Estate, Serampore'. In present times, the temple and its premises fall under the surveillance of the 'Serampore Seoraphuli Rajbari'.