Tamli Rajar Bari, a nearly 300 year old palace at Baragachi village in Poba upazila of Rajshahi, is now in ruins as a locally influential family is gradually occupying the site.
The palace, locally known as the palace of King Tamli, is located 19 kilometres from Rajshahi city. Locals said the local Gobra Hakim family was dismantling the structure, selling the bricks and growing crops on the land.
The palatial ground is now overrun by all kinds of forage, making it difficult to get inside. It is also waterlogged. This is a real frustration for visitors who come from different areas to visit the palace.
Shamshuzzoha, a local resident, said there was a paved road connecting the palace to the main road but that was turned into a rice field by the local Gobra Hakim family.
While visiting, our correspondent found that on the southern part of the historical site radish was being cultivated on a piece of land filled with brick chips. Rita, a housewife from the neighbourhood, said that part of the house was knocked down by the current owners to turn the site into arable land.
Villager Piarul Islam said the actual history of the palace is still unknown but some large copper pots full of cowry shells were found while digging the soil around it nearly 30 years ago, making people speculate that the structure dates back to shell money era.
Dr Saifuddin Chowdhury, former director of Varendra Research Museum and also a professor of Folklore department in Rajshahi University, said many local kings and land lords emerged during the initial period of British rule in the subcontinent. The zamindar’s house in Baragachhi village shows characteristics of European architectural style, which suggest that it is 250 to 300 years old. Archeology department should take initiatives to protect the historical site, he opined.
Founder of Heritage Rajshahi Mahbub Siddiqui said a number of traders from West Bengal used to deal in betel and also would operate as loan sharks in this part of Rajshahi during the age of the Mughals.
“The business thrived and they quickly became very rich. The Persian word for betel is Tambul and that is how the locals named it Tamli palace,” he said.
Asir Uddin Ahmed alias Gobra Hakim was a chairman in the area at the time of the king’s rule, and he and his brother used their power to take ownership of the estate, locals said, adding that their heirs now own the property.
Assistant Officer of the Baragachi union land office Sajjad Ali said the palace was built on a 1.7-acre land.
“The SA ledger of 1962 contains Gobra Hakim’s name while the RS ledger has three names – Abu Bakkar Siddiq, Abdus Salam and Shamsul Alam. They all are Gobra Hakim’s sons,” he said.
Abu Bakkar Siddiq’s son Mahmudunnabi Uzzal, however, refused to talk about the ownership and demolition of the palace.
Assistant Commissioner (land) of Poba upazila Shahadat Hossain Kabir said the government generally becomes the owner of a zamindar’s property.
“We will examine how the ownership of the palace went to a family, and would take necessary steps to protect the historic structure,” he added.
Badrul Alam, regional director of the Department of Archaeology, said the 300-year-old palace is not included in the official list of heritage sites of the department.
“Based on media reports, we will conduct a survey of the site before including it on the list,” he said.
“However, we often take care of a property even if it is absent on the official list. In this case, we are unable to do so because of a manpower shortage,” he added.
