PREDECESSORS AND SHORT HISTORY:
The original name was Raghabpur, named after its zamindar,
Raghab Roy, who served the Rajas of Rajnagar, and after he
rebelled they called in Murshid Quli Khan, Nawab Nazim of
Bengal to bring him to justice. Raghab Roy was defeated
and he fled. He was followed as zamindar by Hatem Khan,
who gave his name to the estate. Later he sheltered, so
the story goes, a soldier named Hafeez Khan, who had an
affair with a Princess of Delhi. He duly succeeded as the
zamindar of Hatempur. Some time afterwards he brought
Chaitanya Charan Chakravarty to Hetampur, who eventually
died in poverty, though his son succeeded as the new
zaminder of Hetampur. The Chakravarty family of Hetampur
was founded by Buddha Nath Chackravarti, whose son or
grandson, Muralidhar Chakravarty, migrated from Bankura
District to Birbhum in the late seventeenth century and
found work in a menial job under the Muslim Zamindar of
Rajnagar. His son, Chaitanya Charan Chakravarty, was
brought to Hatempur by Hafeez Khan, who was then the
Faujdar of Hatempur Fort. Estate holders were....
- Maharaja RADHANATH
CHACKRAVARTI, 1st Zamindar of Hetampur
-/1838, son of Chaitanya Charan Chakravarty, he was
founder of the family's fortunes due to his 'dash,
zeal, and intelligence'; he subdued the Roy family of
Hetampur, who were then Gomasta (Secretary) and
Ijaradar (Lease Holder) of Birbhum Raj, and together
with the decline of Rajnagar, his fortunes began to
rise; between 1781 and 1799 he undertook the lease of
19 mouzas of Birbhum Raj and captured more property
from the Rajas of Birbhum; he also purchased several
mahals from the Nawab of Murshidabad when they were
put up for auction; later during his tenure he won a
decisive battle with Rajnagar and became independent
Raja of Birbhum and nearby areas; he was granted the
title of Maharaja as a personal distinction in about
1796; married and had issue. He died 1838.
- Maharaja Bipracharan Chackravati (qv)
- Maharaja
BIPRACHARAN CHACKRAVARTI, Zamindar of
Hetampur 1838/-, he was the most successful ruler of
the Hetampur Raj family and surpassed his father in
ambition, enterprise and ingenuity, within seven years
of his father�s death, he made Hetampur Raj, the
largest estate in Birbhum, he lent 50,000Rs to Bibi
Rajibunissa of Rajnagar Raj family and in return
secured more lands, he also ruled over extensive areas
in the Santhal Parganas; he was granted the title of
Maharaja as a personal distinction in 1838; married
and had issue.
- Maharaja Krishna Chandra Chackravarti (qv)
- Maharaja KRISHNA
CHANDRA CHACKRAVARTI, Zamindar of Hetampur
-/1862, married and had issue.
- Maharaja Ram Ranjan Chackravarti Bahadur
(qv)
- Maharaja RAM RANJAN
CHACKRAVARTI Bahadur, Zamindar of Hetampur
1862/-, born 18th January 1851, educated, under the
supervision of the Court of Wards, in the Benares
College; he built and endowed several temples at
Hetampur and Brindaban, as well as a fully equipped
Arts College named after his father, an English High
School and a Sanskrit Tol at Hetampur, he also
established and maintained the Hetampur Raj Dispensary
where medical aid was given free; he was granted the
title of Raja in 1875, by Lord Northbrook for the help
rendered by him to the Government and the people
during the famine of 1874, and subsequently on 1st
January 1877, during the administration of Lord Lytton
he was invested with the additional title of Bahadur
(as a personal distinction), and in June 1912, he was
elevated to the title of Maharaja; married Maharani
Padma Sundari Debi, and had issue. He died after June
1912.
- Kumari (name
unknown), married 1897, Raja Pannaga
Bhushan Dev Rai, Zamindar of Naldanga, born 1882,
and had issue, three daughters.
- Maharajkumar Nritya Niranjan Chackravarti
- Raja Satya Niranjan Chackravarti Bahadur (qv)
- Maharajkumar Mahimaranjan Chackravarti
- Raja SATYA NIRANJAN
CHACKRAVARTI Bahadur, Zamindar of Hetampur,
he died before 1952.
- Raja NIRANJAN
CHACKRAVARTI Bahadur, Zamindar of Hetampur
-/1954
OTHER MEMBERS:
- Kumari of Hetampur, married Rai Bahadur Ram Ran
Vijay Sinha, Thakur of Reypura.
- Kumari Malaya Devi, married Gountia Samaresh Chandra
Mukherjea, Zamindar of Bamra, and had issue, one son.
- Kumar Swapanesh Mukherjea, married Chandra
Mukherjea, and has issue, one son and one daughter.
- Kumar Samarjit Mukherjea, married Kumarani
Dipanjana Mukherjea, and has issue, one son.
- Kumari Sagarika Mukherjee, married Adhiraj
Ghosh.
- Kumar Biswaranjan Chakravarty
- Maharajkumar Kamala Niranjan Chakravarty
The help of John Duncan McMeekin, is gratefully
acknowledged, February 2013.
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