Bot at 08:09, 25 September 2022

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{{Infobox Military Structure
|name = Buxa Fort
|native_name =
|partof =
|location = [[Alipurduar district]], [[West Bengal]]
|image = File:Buxa fort gate.JPG
|caption = Buxa Fort
|map_type=India West Bengal# India
|map_size = 200
|map_caption = Location in West Bengal
|type = Hill Fort / Prison
|coordinates = {{coord|26|45|17.86|N|89|34|49.04|E|region:BT}}
|built =
|builder = [[British Empire]]
|materials = Bamboo (original), Stone
|height = {{convert|867|m|ft}}
|used = Abandoned in 1951
|demolished =
|condition = Ruins
|ownership =
|open_to_public = Yes
|controlledby =(formerly) [[British Raj]]
|garrison =
|current_commander =
|commanders =
|occupants =
|battles = [[Bhutan War]]
|events =
|image2 =
|caption2 =
}}

'''Buxa Fort''' is located at an altitude of {{convert|867|m|ft}} in the [[Buxa Tiger Reserve]], in the [[Kalchini]] [[Community development blocks in India|CD block]] in the [[Alipurduar subdivision]] of the [[Alipurduar district]], in [[West Bengal]], [[India]]. It is located {{convert|30|km|mi}} from [[Alipurduar]], the nearest town. The Bhutan King used the fort to protect the portion connecting [[Tibet]] with [[India]], via [[Bhutan]]. Still later during the unrest in the [[Annexation of Tibet (1950)|occupation of Tibet]], hundreds of refugees arrived at the place and used the then abandoned fort as a place of refuge.

==History==
Its origin is uncertain. Before the occupation of the fort by the British, it was a point of contention between the [[King of Bhutan]] and the [[Koch dynasty|Cooch Kings]].

===British occupation===
The British on invitation of the Cooch King intervened and captured the fort which was formally handed over to the British on November 11, 1865 as part of [[Bhutan War|Treaty of Sinchula]].<ref>{{cite book|title=Bhutan: a Kingdom in the Himalayas : a study of the land, its people, and their government |first1=Nagendra |last1=Singh |edition=2 |chapter=Appendix VII – The Treaty of Sinchula |page=243 |publisher=Thomson Press Publication Division |year=1978 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TSRuAAAAMAAJ |accessdate=2011-08-25}}</ref> The British reconstructed the fort from its bamboo wood structure to stone structure. The fort was to later be used as a high security prison and detention camp in the 1930s;<ref>{{cite web|title=West Bengal Forest Development Corporation|url=http://s222299194.onlinehome.us/rvk/what-to-see.html|accessdate=9 May 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120422005703/http://s222299194.onlinehome.us/rvk/what-to-see.html|archive-date=22 April 2012|url-status=dead}}</ref> it was the most notorious and unreachable prison in India after the [[Cellular Jail]] in Andaman. Nationalist revolutionaries belonging to the Anushilan Samiti and Yugantar group such as Krishnapada Chakraborty were imprisoned there in the 1930s. Forward Bloc leader and ex-Law Minister of West Bengal, Amar Prasad Chakraborty, was also imprisoned at Buxa Fort in 1943. Besides, some communist revolutionaries and intellectuals like Nirad Chakraborty, Shibshankar Mitra and Satish Pakrashi. The poet [[Subhash Mukhopadhyay (poet)|Subhash Mukhopadhyay]] was also imprisoned here in the 1950s. Later he gave a vivid description of this jail in one of his stories - মেঘের গায়ে জেলখানা (Megher Gaye JailKhana) in his আমার বাংলা কাব্যগ্রন্থ।

===Tibetan refugee crisis===
[[Drepung]] was one of the most celebrated monasteries in Tibet, and with over 10,000 monks before the [[Incorporation of Tibet into the People's Republic of China|Chinese invasion]]. But in March 1959, Chinese troops tasked with quelling the Tibetan uprising moved aggressively against the monastery; Only a few hundred monks escaped to India. These expatriate monks, representing all the diverse Tibetan orders, first set up a monastic study center and refugee camp in Buxa Fort, on the grounds of the jungle-bound former prison camp.<ref>{{Cite web |title=About The Re-establishment of Drepung Gomang Monastic University in India|url=http://www.drepunggomang.org/about-us/77-re-establishment-of-drepung-gomang-monastic-university-in-india |author= |date= |website=Drepung Gomang Monastery|publisher= |accessdate=2014-04-29 }}</ref>

In 1966, the Indian Ministry of External Affairs was alerted to the conditions of the Buxa refugee camps, and it became apparent that the Tibetan refugees would have to be relocated to a more hospitable place. Initially reluctant, a message from the Dalai Lama, urging them to think of the future and to strive for sufficiency, and the option of settling near other Tibetan refugees convinced the monks to move, and in 1971 the monks moved to their new locations at [[Bylakuppe]] and [[Mundgod]] in the state of Karnataka.<ref>{{cite web|title=Buxa Refugee Camp|url=http://www.monkstour.info/v/vspfiles/downloadables/drephistedited.pdf|accessdate=9 May 2012}}</ref>

==Geography==
{{OSM Location map
| width=450| height=380| zoom=10
| coord={{coord|26|38|0|N|89|37|0|E}}| float=left|caption='''Places and tea estates in the eastern portion of Alipurdar subdivision (including Kalchini, Kumargram and Alipuduar II CD blocks) in Alipurduar district''' CT: census town, R: rural/ urban centre, N: neighbourhood, A: Air Force Station, NP: national park/ wildlife sanctuary, TE: tea estate, H: historical site Abbreviations used in names – TG for Tea Garden (town/village), TE for Tea Estate Owing to space constraints in the small map, the actual locations in a larger map may vary slightly

|mark-coord1={{coord|26|50|20|N|89|22|48|E}}| label-pos1=left|label1= Jaigaon | numbered1=CT| mark-title1= [[Jaigaon]] (CT)|label-color1= #800000 |label-size1=11| mark-size1=12|shape1=l-circle|shape-color1= #A40000|shape-outline1=white|label-offset-x1=2
|mark-coord2={{coord|26|29|1|N|89|48|55|E}}| label-pos2=top|label2=Laskarpara| numbered2=CT| mark-title2= [[Laskarpara]] (CT)
|mark-coord3={{coord|26|49|40|N|89|22|20|E}}| label-pos3=bottom|label3=Mechiabasti| numbered3=CT| mark-title3= [[Mechiabasti]] (CT)
|mark-coord4={{coord|26|32|37|N|89|41|0|E}}| label-pos4=left|label4=Samuktala| numbered4=CT| mark-title4= [[Samuktala]] (CT)
|mark-coord5={{coord|26|28|48|N|89|32|24|E}}| label-pos5=bottom|label5=Sobhaganj| numbered5=CT| mark-title5= [[Sobhaganj]] (CT)
|mark-coord6={{coord|26|28|48|N|89|43|48|E}}| label-pos6=left|label6=Uttar Kamakhyaguri| numbered6=CT| mark-title6= [[Uttar Kamakhyaguri]] (CT)
|mark-coord7={{coord|26|40|48|N|89|26|24|E}}| label-pos7=left|label7=Uttar Latabari| numbered7=CT| mark-title7= [[Uttar Latabari]] (CT)
|mark-coord8={{coord|26|28|2|N|89|48|55|E}}| label-pos8=bottom|label8=Dakshin Rampur| numbered8=CT| mark-title8= [[Dakshin Rampur]] (CT)
|mark-coord9={{coord|26|42|50|N|89|21|47|E}}| label-pos9=right|label9=Uttar Satali| numbered9=CT| mark-title9= [[Uttar Satali]] (CT)
|mark-coord10={{coord|26|45|0|N|89|21|0|E}} | label-pos10=right|label10= Hasimara| numbered10=A| mark-title10=[[Hasimara]] (A)|shape-color10=#AA6666
|mark-coord11={{coord|26|29|35|N|89|31|37|E}}| label-pos11=right|label11=Alipurduar| numbered11=M| mark-title11= [[Alipurduar]] (M) | shape-color11=#800000
|mark-coord12={{coord|26|42|3|N|89|26|58|E}}| label-pos12=right|label12=Kalchini| numbered12=R| mark-title12= [[Kalchini, Alipurduar]] (R)|shape-color12= #A42222
|mark-coord13={{coord|26|30|38|N|89|37|45|E}}| label-pos13=right|label13=Jashodanga| numbered13=R| mark-title13= [[Jashodanga]] (R)|shape-color13= #A42222
|mark-coord14={{coord|26|42|25|N|89|36|40|E}}| label-pos14=right|label14=Jayanti| numbered14=R| mark-title14= [[Jayanti, Alipurduar]] (R)|shape-color14= #A42222
|mark-coord15={{coord|26|37|0|N|89|49|45|E}}| label-pos15=left|label15=Kumargram| numbered15=R| mark-title15= [[Kumargram, Alipurduar]] (R)|shape-color15= #A42222
|mark-coord16={{coord|26|36|50|N|89|31|48|E}}| label-pos16=left|label16=Rajabhatkhawa| numbered16=R| mark-title16= [[Rajabhatkhawa]] (R)|shape-color16= #A42222
|mark-coord17={{coord|26|46|0|N|89|30|13|E}}| label-pos17=bottom|label17=Raimatang| numbered17=R| mark-title17= [[Raimatang]] (R)|shape-color17= #A42222
|mark-coord18={{coord|26|37|40|N|89|24|35|E}}| label-pos18=right|label18=Uttar Mandabari| numbered18=R| mark-title18= [[Uttar Mandabari]] (R)|shape-color18= #A42222
|mark-coord19={{coord|26|40|25|N|89|49|34|E}}| label-pos19= left |label19= Kumargram TE | numbered19=TE| mark-title19= [[Kumargram and Sankos Tea Estates]] (TE)| shape-color19=#87A96B
|mark-coord20={{coord|26|39|47|N|89|51|19|E}}| label-pos20= left |label20= Sankos TE | numbered20=TE| mark-title20= [[Kumargram and Sankos Tea Estates]] (TE)| shape-color20=#87A96B
|mark-coord21={{coord|26|45|17|N|89|34|49|E}} | label-pos21=bottom|label21= Buxa Fort| numbered21=H| mark-title21= Buxa Fort (H)|shape-color21=black| label-size21=13|label-color21=black 
|mark-coord22={{coord|26|39|0|N|89|34|48|E}}| label-pos22=bottom|label22=Buxa |labela22= Tiger| labelb22= Reserve| numbered22=NP| mark-title22= [[Buxa Tiger Reserve]] (NP)| shape-color22=#228B22
|mark-coord23={{coord|26|38|0|N|89|21|35|E}}| label-pos23=bottom|label23=Chilapata |labela23= Forest| numbered23=NP| mark-title23= [[Chilapata Forests]] (NP)| shape-color23=#228B22
|mark-coord24={{coord|26|46|50|N|89|19|0|E}}|label24= Torsha River| label-color24 = #77A1CB| label-angle24=95| label-pos24=top| label-size24=10| mark-size24=0| mark-title24=none
|mark-coord25={{coord|26|34|40|N|89|24|0|E}}|label25= Kaljani River| label-color25 = #77A1CB| label-angle25=100| label-pos25=top| label-size25=10| mark-size25=0| mark-title25=none
|mark-coord26={{coord|26|33|30|N|89|28|50|E}}|label26= Dima River| label-color26 = #77A1CB| label-angle26=70| label-pos26=top| label-size26=10| mark-size26=0| mark-title26=none
|mark-coord27={{coord|26|39|0|N|89|38|0|E}}|label27= Jayanti River| label-color27 = #77A1CB| label-angle27=55| label-pos27=top| label-size27=10| mark-size27=0| mark-title27=none
|mark-coord28={{coord|26|39|0|N|89|52|0|E}}|label28= Sakos River| label-color28 = #77A1CB| label-angle28=85| label-pos28=top| label-size28=10| mark-size28=0| mark-title28=none
|mark-coord29={{coord|26|33|0|N|89|47|20|E}}|label29= Raydak River| label-color29 = #77A1CB| label-angle29=110| label-pos29=top| label-size29=10| mark-size29=0| mark-title29=none
|mark-coord30={{coord|26|33|0|N|89|49|40|E}}|label30= Chikjora River| label-color30 = #77A1CB| label-angle30=85| label-pos30=top| label-size30=10| mark-size30=0| mark-title30=none
|mark-coord31={{coord|26|33|0|N|89|45|0|E}}| label31= Raydak |labela31= Forest | label-color31 = #C42222 | label-angle31=0| label-pos31=top| label-size31=10| mark-size31=0| mark-title31 =none
|mark-coord32={{coord|26|45|50|N|89|34|30|E}}| label32= Buxa Hill Forest | label-color32 = #C42222 | label-angle32=0| label-pos32=top| label-size32=10| mark-size32=0| mark-title32 =none
|mark-coord33={{coord|26|43|45|N|89|23|30|E}}| label-pos33=right|label33=Madhu TG| numbered33=R| mark-title33= [[Madhu Tea Garden]] (R)|shape-color33= #A42222
|arc-coordA={{coord|26|37|0|N|89|54|0|E}}|arc-textA= ASSAM| arc-text-colorA=hard grey| arc-angleA=80| arc-gapA=6.5| arc-radiusA=0.4
|arc-coordB={{coord|26|50|0|N|89|34|0|E}}|arc-textB= BHUTAN| arc-text-colorB=hard grey| arc-angleB=0| arc-gapB=6.5| arc-radiusB=0.5}}

===Location===
Buxa Fort is located at {{coord|26|45|17.86|N|89|34|49.04|E|region:BT}}.

===Area overview===
Alipurduar district is covered by two maps. It is an extensive area in the eastern end of the [[Dooars]] in West Bengal. It is undulating country, largely forested, with numerous rivers flowing down from the outer ranges of the [[Himalayas]] in Bhutan. It is a predominantly rural area with 79.38% of the population living in the rural areas. The district has 1 municipal town and 20 census towns and that means that 20.62% of the population lives in the urban areas. The scheduled castes and scheduled tribes, taken together, form more than half the population in all the six community development blocks in the district. There is a high concentration of tribal people (scheduled tribes) in the three northern blocks of the district.<ref name="handbook">{{cite web |url = http://wbpspm.gov.in/publications/District%20Statistical%20Handbook |title = District Statistical Handbook 2014 Jalpaiguri |work = Tables 2.2, 2.4b |publisher = Department of Planning and Statistics, Government of West Bengal |accessdate = 29 June 2020}}</ref><ref name=census2011>{{cite web| url = http://censusindia.gov.in/pca/cdb_pca_census/Houselisting-housing-WB.html |title = CD block Wise Primary Census Abstract Data(PCA) | work= 2011 census: West Bengal – District-wise CD blocks|publisher= Registrar General and Census Commissioner, India | accessdate = 29 June 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url = https://censusindia.gov.in/2011census/dchb/DCHB_A/19/1902_PART_A_DCHB_JALPAIGURI.pdf| title = District Census Handbook, Jalpaiguri, Series 20, Part XIIA| work= Census of India 2011, page 13 Physiography| publisher = Directorate of Census Operations, West Bengal |accessdate = 18 June 2020}}</ref>

Note: The map alongside presents some of the notable locations in the subdivision. All places marked in the map are linked in the larger full screen map.

==Trekking==
The following routes are popular among tourists and nature lovers –
*Santalabari to Buxa Fort {{convert|5|km|mi}}
*Buxa Fort to Rovers point {{convert|3|km|mi}}
*Santalabari to Roopang valley {{convert|14|km|mi}}
*Buxa Fort to Lepchakha {{convert|5|km|mi}}
*Buxa Fort to Chunabhati {{convert|4|km|mi}}

==Buxa Fort picture gallery==
<gallery widths="200px" heights="150px">
File:Buxa Fort WLB DSC 0350.jpg|Buxa Fort
File:Buxa Fort, Alipurduar.jpg|Buxa Fort
File:Buxa Fort Memorial, Alipurduar.jpg|Buxa Fort Memorial
File:Buxa Fort WLB DSC 0353.jpg|View of Buxa Fort used as Bengal Native Infantry Barrack and later as prison camp by the British Government. India used it as camp for Tibetan refugees.
File:Buxa Fort WLB DSC 0351.jpg|Inside Buxa Fort
File:Buxa Fort stone Tablet WLB DSC 0342.jpg|Buxa Fort stone tablet
File:Grace Assembly of God Church Santhalbari WLB DSC 9736.jpg|Grace Assembly of God Church Santalabari
</gallery>

==References==
{{reflist|3}}

{{commons category}}

{{Alipurduar topics}}

[[Category:British colonial prisons in Asia]]
[[Category:Forts in West Bengal]]
[[Category:Museums in West Bengal]]
[[Category:Tourist attractions in Alipurduar district]]

Buxa Fort - Revision history

Bot at 08:09, 25 September 2022