Natore district is a district of Rajshahi Division located in northern Bangladesh. It borders the metropolitan city of Rajshahi and used to be a part of Rajshahi District.
Rani Bhabani, also known as Ardhabangeshwari(অর্ধবঙ্গেশ্বরী) and Natorer Rani or the Queen of Natore, was a Hindu zamindar during the British colonial era in what is now Rajshahi, Bangladesh. She became the zamindar after the death of her husband Raja Ramkanta Moitra (Ray), 'Zamindar' of Natore estate.
The Bardhaman Raj, also known as Burdwan Raj, was a zamindari Raja estate that flourished between 1657 and 1955 in the Indian state of West Bengal. Maharaja Sangam Rai Kapoor, a Punjabi Khatri from Kotli mahalla in Lahore, Punjab, who was the first member of the family to settle in Bardhaman, was the original founder of the house of Bardhaman, whereas his grandson Abu Rai, during whose time the zamindari started flourishing, is considered to be the patriarch of the Bardhaman Raj family.
Sahibzada Mīrzā Mu'hammad Jalāl ud-Dīn Mridha Sahib, better known as Jalaluddin Mirza (1898–1975), was a Bengali Indian aristocrat in the erstwhile British Empire who served as the fifth and last hereditary Zamindar of Natore from the House of Singra and Natore before it was abolished in 1951.
The Singranatore family is the consanguineous name given to a noble family in Rajshahi of landed aristocracy in erstwhile East Bengal and West Bengal that were prominent in the nineteenth century till the fall of the monarchy in India by Royal Assent in 1947 and subsequently abolished by the newly formed democratic Government of East Pakistan in 1950 by the State Acquisition Act.
Natore Rajbari was a royal palace in Natore, Bangladesh. It was the residence and seat of the Rajshahi Raj family of zamindars. The famous queen Rani Bhabani lived here and after the death of her husband, expanded both the estate and the palace.
Gol-e-Afroze Government College, also called Gule Afroze Degree College, is the only public residential, coeducational, institute of higher learning of Singra in Natore, Bangladesh. It is one of the five government colleges in the Natore District, and the third oldest, established before the War of 1971 and the Independence of the country. Although it was a private college of the aristocratic Singranatore family, in 1986, the then President and former military ruler, HM Ershad announced that it would be made into a public college. Since then it is under the Ministry of Education of the Government of Bangladesh.
Mian Muhammad Rahmatullah, was a former East Pakistani and later Bangladeshi bureaucrat and politician. He was the former chief engineer of the Public Works Department and later the chairman of the Capital Development Authority of the Government of Bangladesh. In 2000, he was an electoral candidate from Natore Area for the Parliament of Bangladesh.
Rajshahi Raj was the largest zamindari which occupied a vast position of Bengal. The Royal Family of Rajshahi used the title Ray/Rai.
The East Bengal State Acquisition and Tenancy Act of 1950 was a law passed by the newly formed democratic Government of East Bengal in the Dominion of Pakistan. The bill was drafted on 31 March 1948 during the early years of Pakistan and passed on 16 May 1951. Before passage of the legislature, landed revenue laws of Bengal consisted of the Permanent Settlement Regulations of 1793 and the Bengal Tenancy Act of 1885.
Sarat Kumar Ray (1876–1946) was a member of the royal family of Dighapatia. A noted scholar, he was the son of the Raja (King) Pramathanath Ray and lived in the Maharaja's Palace. Along with historian Ramaprasad Chanda, he co-founded the Varendra Research Museum, which Lord Dundas the Governor of Bengal, inaugurated in November 1919. He was well traveled, and visited England in 1900. He was a friend of Rabindranath Tagore.
Zamindars of Natore were influential aristocratic Bengali Zamindars, who owned large estates in what is today Natore District in Bangladesh .
Gulbadan Begum was a Bengali social worker, and former head of the princely Singranatore family, the eldest daughter of Jalaluddin Mirza, the Zamindar of Natore.
Mullah Mu'hammad Shamez-ud'din Ahmed was the hereditary Qadi of Natore, seated at Singra Upazila in the erstwhile Indian Empire.
Mirza Mu'hammad Zahir ud-Din Shah known as Mirza Zahir Shah was a Mughal Prince through the Nineteenth Mughal Emperor Akbar II lineage descendant who was the Great-Grandfather of Mirza Zahir Shah and an Indian Zamindar in the erstwhile British Empire who was the first Zamindar of Natore and Patriarch founder of the House of Singra and Natore. He was the son of Prince Mirza Jalal Shah, who was the son of Prince and ruler of Assam Mirza Jahan Shah, who was the son of Emperor Akbar II.
Maharaja Jagadindra Nath Roy Bahadur (Moitra) (20 October 1868- 5 January 1925) known as the Maharaja of Natore was a noted zamindar of Natore from Bengal. He is also noted for his contribution to the game of cricket in British India.
The Nawabs of Dhanbari, also known as the Chowdhury family of Dhanbari, were a Bengali aristocratic family of feudal landowners. The zamindari estate encompassed parts of the Tangali, Jamalpur, Mymensingh and Pabna District, particularly around Dhanbari. Although their aristocratic status was lost with the East Bengal State Acquisition and Tenancy Act of 1950, the Dhanbari estate remains an important part of the history of Tangail and tourist attraction.
The zamindars of Mahipur were a Bengali aristocratic family of feudal landowners. The zamindari estate encompassed the Chakla of Qazirhat under the Cooch Behar State since the Mughal period. Although their aristocratic status was lost with the East Bengal State Acquisition and Tenancy Act of 1950, the Mahipur estate remains an important part of the history of Rangpur and belongs to one of the eighteen ancient zamindar families of Rangpur. The zamindari palace was lost as a result of flooding from the Teesta River, although the mosque, cemetery, polished reservoir and large draw-well can still be seen today.
Nawabzadi Umdatunnissa Begum was the queen consort of Nawab Syed Ahmed Hassan of Kharui Raj. She served as the regent of Kharui for 20 long years i.e. from 1892 to 1912. Nawab Begum gave up purdaah and went to the Court of Wards, Calcutta to fight against the arbitrary economic policies introduced by the British, because of which her estate had suffered severe losses. She challenged the British government in their own court and won the legal battle against them, making her one of the first woman royalties in British Bengal to do so.
The Chowdhuries of Natore are a notable Bengali Muslim family who have played important roles throughout the history of North Bengal.
