Loreto House - a school that has catered to thousands of women from elite Bengali families over generations. A school that still stands in all glory and was founded in an era when women's education was almost unheard of in India. Mary Ward (1585-1645) founded
Part 5: Illustrious descendants of Siraj Sourindrakishore’s first wife, Tripureswari Devi, died under mysterious circumstances. They had one son, Upendra Kishore Roy Choudhury who was brought up at his maternal uncle’s home. Does the name sound familiar? After Tripureswari Devi’s demise, Prasanna Kumar married twice to
Part 3: Watershed Chalan Beel destroyed by Railways The north-western segment of the Eastern Bengal Railway (EBR) contributed to the deterioration of the water regime of Northern Bengal by the way the railway exposed itself to the Chalan Beel. The Chalan Beel was a vast deep
Part 4: Why Jugalkishore asked his son to relocate to Shillong Jugalkishore’s youngest son, Prankrishnanath Roy Choudhury chose to stay with his parents, Jugalkishore and Yamuna Devi in Kajalsha (or Kajal Sahar) in Sylhet. During this phase, Jugalkishore gradually transformed into an ascetic and led a
Part 2: Problems in Bengal Railways The root of the problem appears to lie not in the erection of the railway itself but in the fact that the government and different railway companies, while encouraging the construction of the railways, failed to appreciate the relative importance
Part 3: Why Jugalkishore had to move his estate from Myemenshingha to Sylhet A pandemic had ravaged the zamindari of Jugalkishore at Jafarshahi, Myemenshingha and he decided to relocate to neighbouring Gouripur -- then a thick, impenetrable jungle. Under his supervision, Gouripur soon developed into a
Part 1: Why Bengal Railways was confronted with a resistance from River Trade Triangulating India with railway at a cost of about fifty million pounds was indeed an ambitious plan of the British for the sake of their own trade development. After conducting a year-long survey
In this 3-episode series, GB delves into the past and present of Dhaka University, that has remained as an epitome of freedom and historical landmarks JOn July 19, 1905, the then-Viceroy of India, Lord Curzon announced the British government’s decision to implement a territorial reorganization of
Seventy-five years ago on October 10, 1946, it was the day of Kojagari Lakshmi Puja, when Bengali Hindus of Bangladesh were offering prayers to the goddess of prosperity. It was a full moon night and devotees were busy making last-minute preparations for the puja when
In this 3-part series, GB brings a fascinating tale of Rabindranath Tagore’s ancestors, the Pirali Brahmins and how they descended from a converted Muslim of Jessore We all know that Rabindranath Tagore and his family were ‘Pirali’ Brahmins. The term ‘Pirali’ historically carried a stigmatized and