>Amkgp at 05:39, 27 November 2020

2020-11-27T05:39:22Z

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{{short description|Place in West Bengal}}
The '''Hijli Kingdom''' existed between 1687 and 1886 in the eastern part of [[India]]. Initially Hijli was a small island village on the banks of the [[Rasulpur River]] as it flows to the [[Bay of Bengal]]. It developed into a port town in 1687. Slowly, it converted into a province or kingdom covering parts of [[Bengal]] and [[Orissa, India|Orissa]]. The [[Contai]] basin also belonged to this kingdom. Mansingh is believed to be the founder King of Hijli. It had important towns like [[Tamluk]] or [[Tamralipta]], [[Panskura]], along with Keleghai and Haldi rivers on the north, the south and east sides bounded by the [[Bay of Bengal]] and [[Kharagpur]], [[Keshiary]], [[Dantan]] and [[Jaleswar]] on the west. The capital of Hijli was in [[Bahiri]] up to 1628 and afterwards it was shifted to [[Hijli]]. This kingdom was ruled for some years by [[Taj Khan]], a disciple of Guru Peer Mackdram Sha Chisti. It was also ruled sequentially by Kushan, Gupta and Pal dynasties and also by [[Mughal Empire|Mughals]]. It is known that Hijli had excellent business and trade centers during the reign of Hindu Kings and continued during the Mughal dynasty.

[[Captain Nicolson]] was the first British colonialist to invade Hijli and captured the port only. Afterwards, in 1687, [[Job Charnock]], with 400 soldiers, captured Hijli, defeating [[Hindu]] and [[Mughal Empire|Mughal]] Emperors. A war broke out with the Mughal Empire, and a treaty was signed between Job Charnock and the Mughul Emperor. The loss suffered by Job Charnock, forced him to leave Hijli and proceed towards [[Uluberia]] while the Mughal Emperor continued to rule the kingdom. From there they finally settled at Sutanuti, and slowly established [[Calcutta]] (which is currently known as [[Kolkata]]) for their business in eastern [[India]]. This was the start of [[British East India Company|East India Company]] in India. It was at its peak in 1754 and the prosperity of Hijli Province during this period was beyond description.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Sarkar |first1=Jadu-Nath |last2=Majumdar |first2=Ramesh Chandra |title=The History of Bengal, Etc: Vol. 2. Muslim period, 1200-1757. Edited by Sir Jadu-Nath Sarkar. 1973. pp. xiii |date=1973 |publisher=University of Dacca History of Bengal Publication Committee |page=532 |edition=2 |url=https://www.google.co.in/books/edition/The_History_of_Bengal_Etc/LvwnMwEACAAJ?hl=en |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Book Excerptise: History of Bengal (v.II) - Muslim Period 1200-1757 AD by Sir Jadunath Sarkar and Ramesh Chandra Majumdar (ed) |url=https://www.cse.iitk.ac.in/users/amit/books/sarkar-1948-history-of-bengal.html |website=www.cse.iitk.ac.in |publisher=IIT Kanpur}}</ref>

Towards the second half of the 18th century, another Port town [[Khejuri II (community development block)|Khejuri]] came into existence, primarily set up by the British for carrying out trade with European countries. Khejuri was also an island set up on the banks of River Koukhali. Development of this region because of Khejuri and Hijli Port can be gauged by the fact that the first Indian [[Telegraph]] Office was established in 1852, connecting Khejuri with [[Kolkata]] ([[Calcutta]]). In the devastating [[cyclone]] of 1864, both the ports got destroyed.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Saihgal |first1=Tanya |title=154 years ago, this infamous cyclone in Calcutta took over 60,000 lives and flooded the entire city |url=https://www.indiatoday.in/education-today/gk-current-affairs/story/calcutta-cyclone-1864-1356569-2018-10-05 |work=India Today |date=5 October 2018 |language=en}}</ref> The islands have since got merged with the main land. Hijli as we know it today, in [[Kharagpur]], is only a very small part of erstwhile Hijli Province and was created for establishing administrative offices and a jail known as [[Hijli Detention Camp]] by the [[British Empire|British]] in the 19th century. It is curious that almost the entire [[Kharagpur]] subdivision of today has boundaries identical to the Hijli Province. In May 1950, the first [[Indian Institute of Technology]], [[IIT Kharagpur]] was established surrounding the area of [[Hijli Detention Camp]].

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Paschim Medinipur topics}}

[[Category:Medieval India]]
[[Category:History of Bengal]]

Hijli Kingdom - Revision history

>Amkgp at 05:39, 27 November 2020