রাজা কেশব রায়ের বসতভিটা

Boro Katra (বড় কাটরা) was built between 1644 and 1646 AD to be the official residence of Mughal prince Shah Shuja, the second son of emperor Shah Jahan. The prince endowed it to his diwan and the builder of the serai, Abul Qasim. The word Katra may have originated from Arabic word Katara which means colonnaded building.

It is a historical and architectural monument located in Old Dhaka, Bangladesh.‘Katra or katara’ in Arabic and Persian means ‘Caravan (Karwan) Sarai’ or simply a ‘Sarai’. It is a palatial building dating to the reign of the Mughal dynasty in the Bengal region. It is situated to the south of Chowk Bazar close to the north bank of the river Buriganga.

Words from the Second inscription of north gateway: “Sultan Shah Shuja Bahadur was famed for deeds of charity-Wherefore being hopeful of the mercy of God his slave Abul Qasim al-Husainia-Tabtaba, As Simnai, Built this sacred edifice endowing it with twenty two shops attached to it, o the rightful and lawful condition that the official in charge of the endowment should expend the income derived from them upon the repairs of the building and upon the poor, and that they should not take any rent from any deserving person alighting there in, so that the pious act may reflect upon the monarch in this world and they should not act otherwise, or else they would be called on the day of retribution. This inscription was composed by Sad-ud-din Muhammad Sherazi” (Dacca, p.193 by prof. A.H. Dani)

Architectural Property: The building's architecture follows the traditional pattern of the Central Asia's caravanserai and is embellished as per Mughal architecture. It originally enclosed a quadrangular courtyard surrounded by shops and was overlooked by a row of 22 living cells in each wing. Two gateways were built in the northern and southern wing. The southern wing is a two-storeyed structure and extends 223' along the river. It is marked in the middle by the southern gateway, an elaborate three storied central archway framed within a projected rectangular bay that provides access to the courtyard. The underside of the arched alcove of the gateway is adorned with intricate plasterwork. The wall surface around the spandrels with plastered panels in relief contain a variety of forms such as four-centred, cusped, horse shoe and flat arches. Each wing is two storied and the corners are marked by tall octagonal towers.

Few of the attractions in Bangladesh are as stately, large and beautiful as the Tajhat Zamindar Palace. This historical palace was built near the beginning of the 20th century. It is situated roughly three kilometers south east of Rangpur’s city center and currently serves as a museum for the public.

The front of this impressive edifice is about 76 meters long and two stories high. A ribbed conical dome supported by a tall octagonal neck is located in the center of the roof and crowns the palace. These are just some of the extraordinary features that continue to attract visitors from around the world to this small corner of the globe. The incredible architectural skill that went into the building and design of this 100-year-old palace is truly something special and visitors often find themselves stunned by the craftsmanship that is found in this amazing structure. It is hard to believe that all this, and the surrounding city, all started as a simple bit of trade involving hats.

Sometime during the 18th century a man by the name of Manna Lal Roy traveled from Punjab in India as a cap or hat merchant.There was a massive cap bazaar where trade was regularly conducted about half a kilometer southwest of Mahiganj and this was where he set up shop. The area was known appropriately as taj (cap) hat (bazaar) and the name has always stuck. Manna Lal Roy was a shrewd businessman who managed to amass quite a bit of wealth through his cap sales. In fact he became so rich that he was able to loan many of the viceroys in the region money during the famine of 1770-1790. This gave him immense power and influence and eventually led to him becoming the founder of the Tajhat dynasty. In the 1900s, one of his indirect heirs, GobindaLal Roy, became the last viceroy and Raja of Tajhat. GobindaLal Roy was the most educated viceroy to ever take his position and under his authority Tajhat flourished. It is thought that the Tajhat Palace was built under his rule.

There are a number of features of the palace that testify to the incredible wealth of the Lal Roy viceroy. Apart from the building’s immense size, the wide stairs that climb to the second story on the front of the building are made of marble. Beautiful pictures can be found on doors and windows.

Horipur Boro Bari, also known as Horipur Zamindar Bari is a mammoth mansion that is located at the Horipur village of Nasirnagar Upazila of Brahmanbaria district. This is exactly adjacent to the bank of the river Titash. From outside it’s hard to get any essence of its antiquity and beauty. This is a capacious mansion having plenty of rooms at the both floor.

From the inscription from a Moth near the area it is found that the owner was Zamindar Krishna Prasad Ray Choudhury (জমিদার কৃষ্ণ প্রসাদ রায় চৌধুরী) who built that around 1343 of Bengali Calendar. At the front side it has a Ghat for taking bath (also may be for taking part in a family gossip during after noon).

Right now, the situation of the building is not good. This is now occupied by lot of poor families (Hindu people from their dress up and religious practice). Due to lack of care, most of the walls are decaying. It’s a two stored building and few portion of the second floor is risky. But still people are living at the ground floor.

The mammoth size, stylish architecture, etc simply implies that how sumptuous the owner was. Though most of the parts are diminished but still there is a portion of a Pasha Ghor exists at the second floor. Probably the owner used to play Pasha with his mates. May be it was a dance floor where the rich Baijee (Dictionary: Dancer) used to perform every night.

Since this is exactly beside the river Titash, lot of people use to visit here with a boat as a part of their picnic. As per the local, this type of picnic party uses to visit frequently during the weekends. And still people from Dhaka know very little about this place. You can explore the river after visiting this old Zamindar Bari. But you may not find any boat for hiring around there. Most of those are the private boats. May be you can request them to use for a while. Just about few hundreds meter apart from the building you'll find a cremation place which was built by the same owner.

R N Saha House is located at Nawabganj, which is now owned by a local businessman, under renovation.  This house is situated just beside the river Isamati. The name of the house is named after a rich Merchant named Radha Nath Saha. It is believed that, this place will be turned into a tourist attractive spot very soon.

Sree Dulal Chandra Saha owned this palatial house, informed that the house was built in the middle of 1825 to 1850 at the time of Late Nagendra Chandra Saha (a Merchant).This house was built by Nabo Kumar Saha, father of Nagendra Kumar Saha. This family was a Merchant Family, Trading was their main business. They have established more business center in Kolkata, Madangonj, Barisal, Serpur and Murshidabad.

The merchants of this Palatial house once maintained family relation with many elite Zamindar familys of undivided India, i.e Baliaty, Nagarpur, Chadda rashi, Vaggo kul and Mr.R.P.Saha.