Devi Caudhuranir Jamindar Bari[edit]

The Landlord-King of Pirgacha sub district HRH Rajah Narendro Narayan Roy Choudhury, son of HRH Rajah Raghabendra Narayan Roy Choudhury died in 1765 without any legacy. Then the wife of the late King, HRH Maharani Joy Durga Devi Chaudhurani of Rangpur managed the kingdom for three decades. HRH Maharani Joy Durga Devi Chaudhurani is popularly known as Devi Chaudhurani in history and was one of the most successful and popularly known rulers of the kingdom. During the time of Sanyasi Bidroho (ascetic revolution) for the independence of India, she along with Bhabani Pathak raged war against the British. In this insurgency Collector Richard Gudland and army commander Lieutenant Brenan, scared of the war situation, forfeited the kingdom from Devi Chaudhurani. However the imperial British could not keep the kingdom forfeited from the illustrious Maharani, and soon after she again came to manage the kingdom and she ruled until 1791. Later in history, the famous Bengali novelist, Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay, who also happened to be the Collector of Rangpur and under the employment of the British rule, wrote the famous novel Devi Chaudhurani to portray her as a dacoit-queen. The novel has been adapted into very famous movies with the 1974 movie starring Suchitra Sen in the lead. And National Award winning director Rituporno Ghosh is adapting the novel into another movie in recent times, in which Aishwarya Rai Bachchan will play the lead role of Devi Chaudhurani. However the novel has tarnished the characted and image of Her Royal Highness Maharani Joy Durga Devi Chaudhurani to a great extent. His Royal Highness Rajah Bhupendra Narayan Roy Choudhury of Rangpur was the last king of the kingdom-estate. An earthquake damaged much of the palace built by Devi Chaudhurani. However the palace was rebuilt several times and is a sprawling structure spread over several hundreds of acres. The property, land and the assets of the estate kingdom is presently legally owned by Her Royal Highness Princess Kabita Rani Roy Choudhury of Rangpur, who lives in Kolkata, India. Her son His Royal Highness Prince Rupendra Narayan Anirban Roy Choudhury of Rangpur who commonly uses the name Anirban Roy Choudhury is the present Titular Crown Prince of the estate-kingdom. HRH Prince Anirban Roy Choudhury is currently studying the law at Symbiosis Law School and lives in PuneMumbai, New Delhi and Kolkata.