Raja Sitaram Ray

Raja Sitaram Ray Biography

Raja Sitaram Ray was a Bengali Hindu Raja of Bhusna who fought against the Muslim invaders with his few loyal soldiers, but ended with a tragic death. Though he belongs to the list of forgotten heroes he definitely deserves a place among brilliant warriors like Sivaji and Rana Pratap. A vassal to the Mughal Empire, though couldn’t win against Muslim invaders he was able to establish a short-lived sovereign Hindu dominion in Bengal. He lived during the period, 1658 and 1714 and died at the age of 56 at Murshidabad.

He belonged to Kashyap Das clan settled in the Fatehsingh region of Murshidabad. Though belonged to a powerful clan, many of his ancestors suffered death due to poverty. The clan once again rose to power through Sriram Das who gained the title of Khas Biswas from Man Singh, the then Mughal governor of Bengal. Later his son, Harish Chandra Das got the title of Rai Raiyan from the Mughals. Sitaram Ray was the grandson of Harish Chandra Das. His father Udaynarayan served as a tehsildar under the faujdar of Bhusna. Thus Sitaram’s grandfather and father worked as revenue-collectors under the Mughals. Sitaram was born in Mahipatipur, the first child of Udaynarayan and Dayamayi in 1658. When his father built a residence at Hariharanagar near the banks of Madhumati, his family stayed here.

Sitaram studied Sanskrit at school and his childhood days were spent at Katwa till he permanently settled at Hariharanagar. He received the jagir of Naldi pargana for his courage from Shaista Khan and then Sitaram concentrated on building an army. He built some forts and eventually rose to power and wealth. He defeated the Magh and Firingi pirates with the help of his troupes and extended his kingdom. His annual revenue was 78 Lakhs. He also took advantage of declining Mughal Empire.

Through his policy in 1687-88 he was able to convince Aurangzeb to maintain the peace and prosperity of that area. Then he defied Murshid Kuli Khan. Saiyad Abu Torap was send by him with troops and got defeated by Sitaram - the first major victory of Sitaram against the Mughals. It also resulted in conflicts between these two. Though he was able to gain initial wins, he lost Fort of Bhusna. Later he got trapped by the main conspirator Dayaram, the Zamindar of Dighapatia. He was captured, sent to Murshidabad in a cage. According to some sources, he was killed while another source says, he committed suicide by having poison.

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Updated: September 24, 2017