Rajmahal is a subdivisional town and a

notified area A nagar panchayat (town panchayat; ) or Notified Area Council (NAC) in India is a settlement in transition from rural to urban and therefore a form of an urban political unit comparable to a municipality. An urban centre with more than 12,000 ...

Rajmahal subdivision Rajmahal subdivision is an administrative subdivision of the Sahibganj district in the Santhal Pargana division in the state of Jharkhand, India. History As a result of the Santhal rebellion, Act XXXVII of 1855 was passed by the British Raj, and a ...

of the

Sahebganj district Sahibganj district is one of the twenty-four districts of Jharkhand state, India, and Sahibganj is the administrative headquarters of this district. Divisions Sahibganj district is divided into two subdivions: Sahibganj subdivision and Rajmaha ...

in the

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

Jharkhand Jharkhand (; ; ) is a state in eastern India. The state shares its border with the states of West Bengal to the east, Chhattisgarh to the west, Uttar Pradesh to the northwest, Bihar to the north and Odisha to the south. It has an area of . I ...

. It is situated at the banks of

Ganges The Ganges ( ) (in India: Ganga ( ); in Bangladesh: Padma ( )). "The Ganges Basin, known in India as the Ganga and in Bangladesh as the Padma, is an international river to which India, Bangladesh, Nepal and China are the riparian states." is ...

and was former capital of

Bengal Subah The Bengal Subah ( bn, সুবাহ বাংলা; fa, ), also referred to as Mughal Bengal ( bn, মোগল বাংলা), was the largest subdivision of the Mughal Empire (and later an independent state under the Nawabs of Be ...

under Mughal governor,

Man Singh I Man Singh I, popularly known as Mirza Raja Man Singh (21 December 1550 – 6 July 1614) was the 29th Kachwaha Rajput Raja of Amer, later known as Jaipur state, in Rajputana. He was the most powerful and trusted general of the Mughal em ...

Geography

Area

Rajmahal has an area of .

Overview

The map shows a hilly area with the

Rajmahal hills The Rajmahal Hills are located in the Santhal Pargana division of Jharkhand, India. They were located on the northern margin of the Gondwana supercontinent, and its hills are today inhabited by the Sauria Paharia people whilst its valleys are ...

running from the bank of the

in the extreme north to the south, beyond the area covered by the map into Dumka district. ‘Farakka’ is marked on the map and that is where Farakka Barrage is, just inside West Bengal. Rajmahal coalfield is shown in the map. The entire area is overwhelmingly rural with only small pockets of urbanisation. Note: The full screen map is interesting. All places marked on the map are linked and you can easily move on to another page of your choice. Enlarge the map to see what else is there – one gets railway links, many more road links and so on.

History

Rajmahal region was earlier ruled by Raja Mal sub-group of Mal Paharia tribes. Earlier this place was known as "Agmahal" and is surrounded by

on one side and river

on another side. The region was also known as ' Daman-i-Koh' during Mughal rule. In 1576,

Battle of Rajmahal The Battle of Rajmahal ( bn, রাজমহলের জঙ্গ) was a battle that took place between the Mughal Empire and the Karrani Dynasty that ruled the Sultanate of Bengal in the 16th century. The battle resulted in a decisive victory f ...

was fought between

Mughal Emperor The Mughal emperors ( fa, , Pādishāhān) were the supreme heads of state of the Mughal Empire on the Indian subcontinent, mainly corresponding to the modern countries of India, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh. The Mughal rulers styled ...

Akbar Abu'l-Fath Jalal-ud-din Muhammad Akbar (25 October 1542 – 27 October 1605), popularly known as Akbar the Great ( fa, ), and also as Akbar I (), was the third Mughal emperor, who reigned from 1556 to 1605. Akbar succeeded his father, Hum ...

and Sultan of Bengal, Daud Khan Karrani of Karrani Dynasty. After war, Daud Khan was captured and later executed by the Mughals. Later, after the conquest of Odisha in 1592, Raja Man Singh I, Mughal governor of

came to Rajmahal. He chose the site for his capital in 1595–96 because of its strategic command of the

Teliagarhi Teliagarhi (also written as Teliagarih) is a village in Mandro CD block in Sahibganj subdivision of Sahibganj district in the Indian state of Jharkhand. History Teliagarhi became the main gateway for Muslim armies coming from northern India and ...

Pass and the Ganges River. Raja Man Singh I, also renamed the town in 1595 as 'Akbarnagar' in tribute to

Emperor Akbar Abu'l-Fath Jalal-ud-din Muhammad Akbar (25 October 1542 – 27 October 1605), popularly known as Akbar the Great ( fa, ), and also as Akbar I (), was the third Mughal emperor, who reigned from 1556 to 1605. Akbar succeeded his father, Hu ...

and he also constructed palace, garden and mosque on behalf of Mughal rulers. In 1610, the capital of Bengal was transferred to

Dacca Dhaka ( or ; bn, ঢাকা, Ḍhākā, ), formerly known as Dacca, is the capital and largest city of Bangladesh, as well as the world's largest Bengali-speaking city. It is the eighth largest and sixth most densely populated city i ...

(now Dhaka, Bangladesh) by Islam Khan. In 1639, Rajmahal regained its glory and was once more made the capital of Bengal by

Shah Shuja Shāh Shujā' ( fa, شاه شجاع, meaning: ''brave king'') may refer to the following: * Shah Shoja Mozaffari, the 14th-century Muzaffarid ruler of Southern Iran *Shah Shuja (Mughal prince) (1616-1661), the second son of Shah Jahan *Shah Shujah ...

, governor of

and second son of Emperor Shah Jahan. It continued as the seat of the Mughal Viceroy up to 1660 and a mint town till 1661. In 1757,

Battle of Plassey The Battle of Plassey was a decisive victory of the British East India Company over the Nawab of Bengal and his French allies on 23 June 1757, under the leadership of Robert Clive. The victory was made possible by the defection of Mir Jafar ...

was fought between

Robert Clive Robert Clive, 1st Baron Clive, (29 September 1725 – 22 November 1774), also known as Clive of India, was the first British Governor of the Bengal Presidency. Clive has been widely credited for laying the foundation of the British ...

and Nawab of Bengal,

Siraj-ud-Daulah Mirza Muhammad Siraj-ud-Daulah ( fa, ; 1733 – 2 July 1757), commonly known as Siraj-ud-Daulah or Siraj ud-Daula, was the last independent Nawab of Bengal. The end of his reign marked the start of the rule of the East India Company over Beng ...

where Nawab lost the war due to treachery of

Mir Jafar Sayyid Mīr Jaʿfar ʿAlī Khān Bahādur ( – 5 February 1765) was a military general who became the first dependent Nawab of Bengal of the British East India Company. His reign has been considered by many historians as the start of the expa ...

and he fled from

Murshidabad Murshidabad fa, مرشد آباد (, or ) is a historical city in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is located on the eastern bank of the Bhagirathi River, a distributary of the Ganges. It forms part of the Murshidabad district. Durin ...

towards

Patna Patna ( ), historically known as Pataliputra, is the capital and largest city of the state of Bihar in India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Patna had a population of 2.35 million, making it the 19th largest city in India. ...

. During his halt at Rajmahal,

was captured by Mir Jafar's son Miran and was murdered at the site. Battle of Udhwa nala at Rajmahal was fought between

Mir Qasim Mir Qasim ( bn, মীর কাশিম; died 8 May 1777) was the Nawab of Bengal from 1760 to 1763. He was installed as Nawab with the support of the British East India Company, replacing Mir Jafar, his father-in-law, who had himself been su ...

, and British in 1763. Nawab Mir Qasim was defeated by the British and fled with his family to the Rohtas (Bihar), but was not able to hide at the Rohtasgarh Fort. During British rule,

Permanent Settlement The Permanent Settlement, also known as the Permanent Settlement of Bengal, was an agreement between the East India Company and Bengali landlords to fix revenues to be raised from land that had far-reaching consequences for both agricultural met ...

was passed in 1793 and it forced the landlords to improve productivity of the land. The

Santals The Santal or Santhal are an Austroasiatic speaking Munda ethnic group in South Asia. Santals are the largest tribe in the Jharkhand and West Bengal state of India in terms of population and are also found in the states of Odisha, Bihar a ...

were increasingly used for land reclamation and improvement and further Santals got permanently settled in the region. British also constructed Neel-Kothi for process and storage of Neel (

Indigo Indigo is a deep color close to the color wheel blue (a primary color in the RGB color space), as well as to some variants of ultramarine, based on the ancient dye of the same name. The word "indigo" comes from the Latin word ''indicum'', ...

) which was used for dying cotton cloth. Later, Daman-i-Koh became the origin of

Santhal Rebellion The Santhal rebellion (also known as the Sonthal rebellion or the Santhal Hool), was a rebellion in present-day Jharkhand and West Bengal , Eastern India against both the British East India Company (BEIC) and zamindari system by the Santhal. ...

and leaders like

Sidhu and Kanhu Murmu Sidhu Murmu and Kanhu Murmu were the leaders of the Santhal rebellion (1855–1856), the rebellion in present-day Jharkhand and Bengal ( Purulia,Birbhum and Bankura) in eastern India against both the British colonial authority and the corrupt zam ...

, Chand and Bhairab, etc. and they fought against the British colonial authority and the corrupt zamindari system mobilizing more than 10,000 Santhals.

Geology

Plant Fossil bearing Inter-trappean beds of Rajmahal Formation nearby has been declared the

National Geological Monuments of India National Geological Monuments are geographical areas of national importance and heritage, as notified by the Government of India's Geological Survey of India (GSI), for their maintenance, protection, promotion and enhancement of geotourism.

by the

Geological Survey of India The Geological Survey of India (GSI) is a scientific agency of India. It was founded in 1851, as a Government of India organization under the Ministry of Mines, one of the oldest of such organisations in the world and the second oldest survey ...

(GSI), for their protection, maintenance, promotion and enhancement of

geotourism Geotourism is tourism associated with geological attractions and destinations.Dowling, R. & Newsome, D. (Eds.)(2006) ''Geotourism'' ; Elsevier, Butterworth-Heinemann, Oxford Geotourism deals with the abiotic natural and built environments.Sadry ...

.National Geological Monument, from Geological Survey of India website
/ref>national geo-heritage of India

INTACH The Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) is a non-profit charitable organisation registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860. In 2007, the United Nations awarded INTACH a special consultative status with Uni ...

Demographics

According to the

2011 Census of India The 2011 Census of India or the 15th Indian Census was conducted in two phases, house listing and population enumeration. The House listing phase began on 1 April 2010 and involved the collection of information about all buildings. Informatio ...

, Rajmahal had a total population of 22,514, of which 11,755 (52%) were males and 10,730 (48%) were females. Population in the age range 0–6 years was 3,985. The total number of literate persons in Rajmhal was 11,618 (62.70% of the population over 6 years).

Infrastructure

According to the ''District Census Handbook 2011, Sahibganj'', Rajmahal covered an area of 7.5 km². Among the civic amenities, it had 10 km roads with both open and closed drains, the protected water supply involved hand pump, uncovered well. It had 4,025 domestic electric connections, 456 road lighting points. Among the medical facilities, it had 3 hospitals, 2 dispensaries, 2 health centres, 1 family welfare centre, 6 maternity and child welfare centres, 1 maternity home, 1 TB hospital/ clinic, 1 nursing home, 1 charitable hospital/ nursing home, 1 veterinary hospital, 20 medicine shops. Among the educational facilities it had 15 primary schools, 6 middle schools, 2 secondary schools, 2 senior secondary schools, 1 general degree college, 1 non-formal education centre (Sarva Sikhsha Abhiyan). Among the social, cultural and recreational facilities, it had 2 cinema theatres, 2 auditorium/ community halls, 2 public libraries, 2 reading rooms. Three important commodities it produced were china clay products, electrical goods, wooden goods. It had the branch offices of 3 nationalised banks, 1 private commercial bank, 1 cooperative bank, 2 agricultural credit society.

Tourist attractions

* Teliagarhi Fort, It was built by family of Teli Zamindar before Islamic rule in the region. Teliagarhi is also called 'Ancient Gateway of Bengal'. *The Jami Mosque, built in reign of

at Mangalhat *Baradari, build by Fateh Jung khan, a wealthy zamindar of Bengal. Half of the structure was bombed by Mughal governor, Man Singh. *Akbari Mosque built in 1556 by Mughal governor,

*Palace of

, consists Singhi Dalan, a marble pavilion facing the river Ganges *Palace of Mīr Qasīm, Nawab of Bengal. *Tomb of Maina-Bibi, built in 1779. Historian H.M Qureshi has identified the tomb with Munni Begum, who was a Begum of the harem of Nawab Mir Jaffer of Bengal *Tomb of Miran, son of

, Nawab of Bengal *Neel Kothi, built by British *Taksal of Jagat Seth, notable banker of Bengal *Kanhaiyasthan, It is believed that the place was visited by

Chaitanya Mahaprabhu Chaitanya Mahaprabhu (; born Vishvambhar Mishra) was a 15th-century Indian saint who is considered to be the combined avatar of Radha and Krishna by his disciples and various scriptures. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu's mode of worshipping Krishn ...

*Shivgadi, a cave temple of Hindu god, Shiva * Bhognadih, the place where

initiated, a monument is also erected on the place and every year Shaheed Mela is organised *

Moti Jharna Moti Jharna is a village in Taljhari CD block in Rajmahal subdivision of Sahibganj district in the Indian state of Jharkhand. Geography Location Moti Jharna is located at . Moti Jharna has an area of . Overview The map shows a hilly area wi ...

waterfalls * Udhwa Bird Sanctuary

Rajmahal paintings gallery

File:AkbariMosqueOverlookingGanges-Sita-Ram1804.jpg, Akbari mosque overlooking the Ganges at Rajmahal File:William Hodges - Tomb and Distant View of the Rajmahal Hills - B1978.43.1765 - Yale Center for British Art.jpg, ''Tomb and Distant View of the Rajmahal Hills'',

William Hodges William Hodges RA (28 October 1744 – 6 March 1797) was an English painter. He was a member of James Cook's second voyage to the Pacific Ocean and is best known for the sketches and paintings of locations he visited on that voyage, incl ...

Yale Center for British Art Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the worl ...

File:'Tomb and Distant View of Rajmahal Hills' (1782) by William Hodges.jpg, Tomb with a distant view of the Rajmahal hills by

File:William Hodges - A View of the Gate of the Caravan Serai at Raje Mahel (Rajmahal) - B1978.43.1726 - Yale Center for British Art.jpg, ''A View of the Gate of the Caravan Serai at Rajmahal'',

File:Gateway to the caravanserai at Rajmahal, Bihar. Coloured etc Wellcome V0050431.jpg, Gateway to a caravan serai at Rajmhal by

File:Sontalvillage.jpg, Santal village at Rajmahal (wood etching) File:William Hodges - View of a Mausoleum at Rajmahal - B1978.43.1781 - Yale Center for British Art.jpg, ''View of a Mausoleum at Rajmahal'', 1781,

File:William Hodges - View of the Rajmahal Hills - B1978.43.1768 - Yale Center for British Art.jpg, ''View of the Rajmahal Hills'', 1782,

File:William Hodges - View of the Rajmahal Hills With a Sentenial in the Foreground - B1978.43.1740 - Yale Center for British Art.jpg, ''View of the Rajmahal Hills With a Sentenial in the Foreground'',

File:William Hodges - Ruins of Prince Shuja's Palace at Rajmahal - B1978.43.1773 - Yale Center for British Art.jpg, ''Ruins of Prince Shuja's Palace at Rajmahal'',

File:Samuel Davis - Old Mosque at Rajemahl (Rajmahal) - B1977.14.271 - Yale Center for British Art.jpg, ''Old Mosque at Rajemahl'', Samuel Davis,

File:Samuel Davis - River View near Rajmahal - B1977.14.181 - Yale Center for British Art.jpg, ''River View near Rajmahal'', Samuel Davis,

Administration

Assembly segments

Presently, Rajmahal Lok Sabha constituency comprises the following six

Vidhan Sabha The State Legislative Assembly, or Vidhan Sabha, or also Saasana Sabha, is a legislative body in the states and union territories of India. In the 28 states and 3 union territories with a unicameral state legislature, it is the sole legislati ...

(legislative assembly) segments:

Members of Parliament

The Rajmahal (Lok Sabha constituency) is centered around the city and Vijay Kumar Hansdak is the M.P of the region from Jharkhand Mukti Morch.

References

{{Santhal Parganas Division Sahibganj district Pakur district History of Jharkhand Former capital cities in India Cities and towns in Sahibganj district