COSSIMBAZAR

About Cossimbazar

Kasim Bazar or Cossimbazar, or Kasimbazar is a census town in Murshidabad in the Indian state of West Bengal. The town on the river Bhagirathi in the Murshidabad district of West Bengal, India, at one time included in the Berhampore municipality. In 1901 its population was just 1,262.Cossimbazar is located at 24.12N 88.28E.[1] It has an average elevation of 17 metres (56 feet). As of 2001 India census, Kasim Bazar had a population of 10,175. Males constitute 52% of the population and females 48%. Kasim Bazar has an average literacy rate of 78%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 83%, and female literacy is 72%. In Kasim Bazar, 9% of the population is under 6 years of age.[2] Though the history of the place cannot be traced back earlier than the 17th century, it was of great importance long before the foundation of Murshidabad. From the first European traders set up factories here, and after the ruin of Satgaon by the silting up of the mouth of the Saraswati river it gained a position, as the great trading centre of Bengal, which was not challenged until after the foundation of Calcutta. In 1658 the first English agent of the East India Company (EIC) was established at Cossimbazar, and in 1667 the chief of the factory there became an ex officio member of council. In English documents of this period, and till the early 19th century, the Bhagirathi was described as the Cossimbazar river, and the triangular piece of land between the Bhagirathi, Padma and Jalangi, on which the city stands, as the island of Cossimbazar. The proximity of the factory to Murshidabad, the capital of the Nawabs of Bengal, while it was the main source of its wealth and of its political importance, exposed it to a constant risk of attack. Thus in 1757 it was the first EIC factory to be taken by Siraj-ud-dowlah, the Nawab; and the resident with his assistant Warren Hastings were taken as prisoners to Murshidabad.[3] At the beginning of the 19th century the city still flourished; as late as 1811 it was described as famous for its silks, hosiery, koras and beautiful ivory work. However, its once healthy climate gradually worsened,and, probably because of endemic malaria, the area of cultivated land round it shrank drastically. Jungle took its place, and in 1813 its ruin was completed by a sudden change in the course of the Bhagirathi. A new channel formed 3 miles from the old town, leaving an evil-smelling swamp around the ancient wharves. Of its splendid buildings the fine palace of the Maharaja of Cossimbazar alone remained, the rest being in ruins or represented only by great mounds of earth. The first wife of Warren Hastings was buried at Cossimbazar, where her tomb with its inscription still remained till the early 20th century.[3]