More than a 100 year old ledger from the bank founded by Rabindranath Tagore known as Krishi Bank in Patishar of Naogaon, has been left uncared for at Naogaon Deputy Commissioner’s office for an extended period of time. Enclosed in the ledger there is a zamindari statement of Shilaidaha Estate in Kushtia.
Tagore enthusiast Matiur Rahman Mamun of Patishar village under Atrai upazila in Naogaon recovered the ledger from a college teacher Abdul Hamid from Bilkrishnapur village of Raninagar upazila in the district a few years ago and handed it over to former deputy commissioner Dr Nazmunnara on 9 May, 2009, as government property.
The 18-page ledger had been maintained by Ahmed Ali Shah, an employee of Shilaidaha Estate, which was used to collect accounts of the estate along with related statements of the Krishi Bank at Patishar. The bank was founded by Tagore with the Nobel Prize money to modernise and develop the agricultural practices through technology such as power tillers.
“We still expect that the Department of Archeology will take an initiative to display it in the Patishar Museum but Naogaon district administration is yet to take a decision,” said Mamun. He has been collecting Tagore memorabilia since 2003 as a hobby.
Among the Tagore memorabilia there is a six-page short biography of Tagore which has already been handed over to the Department of Archaeology.
Naogaon Deputy Commissioner Md Enamul Haque said a decision would be made soon as top officials had been informed.
“I will hand over the ledger as per the decision of the authority,” he said.
Md Badrul Alam, incumbent Regional Director of the Department of Archeology in Bogra, said they had taken an initiative to collect the document for the purpose of displaying it in the museum.
“I think the ledger is very important for research on modern banking as well as for visitors,” he said.
The document shows that the bank transactions had been maintained for at least 25 years as per Bengali calendar from 1320 to 1345. The ledger was written and verified by Raboti Kanto Bhowmik who was an employee of the Tagore estate.
Naheed Sultana, former custodian of Rabindra Memorial Museum at Shahjadpur upazila in Sirajganj, said the ledger needed further research to be deciphered.
“It shows a boy with a bow and arrow mounted on a lion,” she added.
