Faridpur Biswas Estate

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The Faridpur Biswas Estate was a vast zamindar estate in the Faridpur region of Bangladesh for 400 years. It was originally a Mughal endowment. It later became an estate after the Permanent Settlement. The British substantially reduced the size of the estate by auctioning off most of the land. The family retained a small portion of the original estate under British rule, which was based in Biswas Bari in Chandpur. In the 20th century, several members of the family contributed to politics and public service.

By the end of the 19th century, the estate was divided into four branches, including Biswas Bari, Moyez Manzil, Borobari, and Chowdhury Bari. It was one of the ten largest estates in the Bengal Presidency.

In 1923, the Faridpur Biswas Estate covered 4,000 sq km of territory in the Bengal Presidency. It was one of the ten largest estates in British Bengal with landholdings in Faridpur, Rajbari, Manikganj, Mymensingh, Pabna, Gazipur, Rangpur, and 24 Parganas. It also owned some landholdings in The Punjab and the Hejaz region of Arabia. The core property of the family was in the Faridpur and Rajbari regions, particularly along the southern banks of the Padma River (the main distributary of the Ganges). The estate covered extensive farmland as well as many deltaic islands. The estate measured 1 million acres by the time of its demise after the partition of India. It included parts of both East Bengal and West Bengal. According to the family historian Chowdhury Abd-Allah Quaseed, the estate covered 2.6% of the territory of Bangladesh and 1.65% of the territory of undivided Bengal.^[1]

Arafat Ali, a man from the Jaunpur Sultanate, settled in Fatehabad (the former name of Faridpur). Fatehabad was a mint town of the Bengal Sultanate.^[2] His family was given an endowment by the Mughal government to govern the northern part of Fatehabad. During the reign of Emperor Jahangir in the 17th century, the family became the jagirdars of the northern part of Fatehabad along the banks of the mighty Ganges. Fatehabad was a district of Mughal Bengal.

During the British colonization of Bengal, the family resisted British expansion by deploying its private lathial army. The East India Company divided the Mughal endowment into 23 segments. 22 segments were auctioned off to newly created estates, including Hindu estates. The original Muslim family from the Mughal period retained a portion in Biswas Bari. In the 19th century, Chowdhury Moyezuddin Biwshash greatly expanded the estate through his own mercantile activities. He acquired land in other parts of Bengal, as well as in Punjab and Arabia. He built the Moyez Manzil in the main town of Faridpur. In Dhaka, the family owned property which was sold to the French East India Company which in turn sold it to the Dhaka Nawab Family; the Ahsan Manzil stands on the site of the former French factory.^[3] The family was responsible for promoting many development works in Faridpur, including the introduction of electricity, cinema, a modern water supply; building roads, bridges, and schools; improving rail communications; and safeguarding Bengali Muslim culture and civil rights. The Amirabad Railway Station was named in honor of Amir Ali Chowdhury.

In 1881, the family supported the formation of the People's Association of Faridpur, which was the first organized political party in what is now Bangladesh.^[4][5] Chowdhury Moyezuddin Biwshash and Ambica Charan Mazumdar were the founders of the People's Association of Faridpur. They later supported the Indian National Congress which was founded in 1885. By the 1930s, the family began to move away from the Congress towards the All India Muslim League following the path taken by Muhammad Ali Jinnah after Hindu-Muslim unity broke down.

Chowdhury Abd-Allah Zaheeruddin became a member of the Bengal Legislative Council in 1932. The Moyez Manzil hosted gatherings of the All India Literary Conference, All India Motion Pictures Conference, Bengal Education Policy Conference, All India Nationalist Muslim Conference, All India Muslim League and All India Congress Committee.^[6] Yusuf Ali Chowdhury was the Chairman of the Faridpur District Board between 1938 and 1953.^[7] He was concurrently a member of the Bengal Legislative Assembly and later a member of the East Bengal Legislative Assembly and Constituent Assembly of Pakistan. Chowdhury played a key role in the land reforms which saw the enactment of the East Bengal State Acquisition and Tenancy Act of 1950. Despite being a zamindar himself, Chowdhury supported the redistribution of wealth and land.^[8]

In 1954, Biswas Bari hosted A. K. Fazlul Huq and Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy during the United Front election campaign.^[9] Leaders from the family led efforts to build schools, roads and bridges in Faridpur.^[10] During the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971, the grounds of the estate suffered raids and at least 10 people were killed in the hamlet of Chandpur.^[11] Land reforms after the creation of Bangladesh ended all traces of the zamindari system. The Bangladesh Land Holding Limitation Order 1972 restricted a single family from owning more than 100 bighas of land.^[12] On 29 April 1976, farmland nationalized by the state was returned to private owners through the Alienation of Land Ordinance. The family recovered many of plots land with the restoration of property rights.

After decentralization reforms of the Bangladeshi government in 1984, Faridpur was divided into five districts, including Rajbari, Shariatpur, Madaripur, Faridpur proper, and Gopalganj. The upazila system of local government was also established. Imran Hossain Chowdhury became the first elected chairman of Faridpur Sadar Upazila, which corresponds to Faridpur proper.^[13] Kamran Hossain Chowdhury represented Faridpur in the 4th Parliament of Bangladesh; he was also the Chairman of Faridpur District Council with the rank and status of a deputy minister.^[14] In the 1980s, the estate was visited by Bangladeshi prime ministers Moudud Ahmed, Mizanur Rahman Chowdhury, and Kazi Zafar Ahmed during the presidency of Hussain Muhammad Ershad. Chowdhury Kamal Ibne Yusuf represented Faridpur in the 2nd, 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th parliaments; he was also a cabinet minister from the Bangladesh Nationalist Party.

The clan of the Faridpur Biswas Estate has four branches.

The ancestral origins of the entire estate began in Biswas Bari which was the birthplace of the estate under British rule. It is located in the hamlet of Chandpur. It was the principal seat of the Faridpur Biswas Estate. The original estate includes several heritage buildings and intricately designed wooden structures. Furniture from Biswas Bari can be viewed at the Bangladesh National Museum.

After leaving Biswas Bari, the merchant-zamindar Chowdhury Moyezuddin Biwshash built the Moyez Manzil in the main town of Faridpur. Moyez Manzil became the leading house of Faridpur. The property is now administered as an Islamic waqf.

Borobari is also known as Biswas Bari II. It is located in the hamlet of Chandpur. The family of Borobari has produced several local government leaders, including leaders of union parishad.

Chowdhury Bari is a branch of the family located in the hamlet of Chandpur.

• Chowdhury Moyezuddin Biwshash, 19th century merchant
• Chowdhury Abd-Allah Zaheeruddin, member of the Bengal Legislative Council
• Yusuf Ali Chowdhury, member of the Bengal Legislative Assembly
• Enayet Hossain Chowdhury, member of the National Assembly of Pakistan
• Shamsuddin Chowdhury, de facto head of the estate and custodian of properties since 1940s
• Chowdhury Kamal Ibne Yusuf, former cabinet minister of Bangladesh
• Imran Hossain Chowdhury, first chairman of Faridpur Sadar Upazila (1986–1990)
• Kamran Hossain Chowdhury, member of the 4th Parliament of Bangladesh
• Chowdhury Akmal Ibne Yusuf, member of the 8th Parliament of Bangladesh
• Eza Chowdhury, socialite and podcaster
• Shusmita Amin Chowdhury, socialite
• Chowdhury Abd-Allah Quaseed, media personality
• Umran Chowdhury, columnist

• Zamindars of Bengal
• Dhaka Nawab Family
• Padamdi Nawab Estate
• Singranatore family
• Nawab Faizunnesa
• Prithimpassa family
• Gunahar Zamindar Bari