Maharani Saratsundari Devi (1849-1886) was a queen and Bengali landed aristocrat of the

Puthia Raj family The Puthia Raj family was created by the Mughals in the early seventeenth century and is one of the oldest feudal estates of Bengal. A lord named Nilambar received the title of Raja (''King'') from the Emperor Jahangir (reigned 1605-1627 CE). In ...

based in the

Rajshahi District Rajshahi District () is a district in mid-western Bangladesh. It is a part of Rajshahi Division. The metropolitan city of Rajshahi is in Rajshahi District. Geography Rajshahi District is bounded by Naogaon District to the north, Natore Distric ...

Bengal Presidency The Bengal Presidency, officially the Presidency of Fort William in Bengal until 1937, later the Bengal Province, was the largest of all three presidencies of British India during Company rule in India, Company rule and later a Provinces o ...

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...

(which now a part of

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

Background

The

was established in Rajshahi by Mughal Emperor

Jahangir Nur-ud-din Muhammad Salim (31 August 1569 – 28 October 1627), known by his imperial name Jahangir (; ), was List of emperors of the Mughal Empire, Emperor of Hindustan from 1605 until his death in 1627, and the fourth Mughal emperors, Mughal ...

in the early 17th century after the title was given to Nilambar. In 1744 the estate was partitioned among four brothers. The estate continued united it was abolished in 1950 in East Pakistan by the government of Pakistan.

Biography

She assumed control of the Panchani estate in 1865 and carried out the management of the estate with great skills. She gained some renown for her philanthropic activities and was popular among her subjects. In 1874 the

British Raj The British Raj ( ; from Hindustani language, Hindustani , 'reign', 'rule' or 'government') was the colonial rule of the British The Crown, Crown on the Indian subcontinent, * * lasting from 1858 to 1947. * * It is also called Crown rule ...

awarded her the title Rani and two years later, in 1877 the British Raj awarded her the title of Maharani. In 1883, after the death of her adopted son, Jatindra Narayan Roy, her daughter-in-law, , was awarded the will and took over the estate. Hemanta Kumari was a notable philanthropist as well.

Death

Saratsundari Devi died in 1886 in

Kashi Kashi or Kaashi most commonly refers to: * Varanasi (historically known as "Kashi"), a holy city in India Kashi may also refer to: Places **Kingdom of Kashi, an ancient kingdom in the same place, one of the sixteen Mahajanapadas **Kashi Vishwana ...

, when she was 37 years old.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Devi, Saratsundari 1849 births 1886 deaths Bengali Hindus People from the Bengal Presidency 19th-century Indian monarchs 19th-century Bengalis People from Rajshahi District People from Varanasi