Remembering the Agarwalas of Biswanathghat

Biswanathghat, an almost unknown sleepy town of today, situated in Central Assam, on the northern banks of the Brahmaputra, dates back to the Ancient period. The ruler of Bishwanath was Butu Pal, son of Dharma Pal of the Pal Dynasty who ruled in Assam in the ancient times. Pratap Chandra, a king of that dynasty, made Bishwanath the capital of his kingdom. He constructed huge stockades (Garh) – such as Pratap Garh, Majuli Garh, Mukhar Garh – that surrounded his capital in order to protect it from the invaders. Biswanathghat held its importance even during the times of the Ahoms. The Bordol Shiva temple was reconstructed after the destruction of the ancient one by earthquake and floods. Also, during the days of Rudra Singha a court was set up in Biswanathghat to settle friendly relations with the Kachari king. The Jayantiya king also accepted Rudra Singha's hospitality in the same court. The beauty of Biswanathghat is enriched by a small island which is known as Umatumuni.

In the old days there was no other town along the Brahmaputra between Biswanathghat and Sadia, and it was the only trading post on the north bank after Tezpur, as was recorded by British medical practitioner D.A. Macleod. Biswanathghat also used to be an important boat making center for certain types of boats (Naos) such as Hollong nao, Soosianao, Khel nao, Maar nao, Pansnoinao, Pal nao, Mayurpankhinao etc. As the demand for larger boats gradually reduced with the plying of steamers between Guwahati and Dibrugarh from 1861, Biswanathghat transformed into an important river port (out of the total of 14 ports between Dhubri and Dibrugarh), servicing a large number of tea gardens of the North bank. These steamers were operated by Indian General Steamship Company (IGSNC) of Dwarkanath Tagore (grandfather of Rabindranath Tagore) and RSNG.

On their trip downstream, the steamers assisted in exporting the large production of tea, and on the return trip they brought the labour force for the tea gardens, as well as outside traders with their goods, since local traders were very few. Around the year 1880, it was on one such steamer that a young Marwari lad from Ladnun in Rajasthan, named Chandulal Agarwala (born sometime between 1850 to 1860) arrived in Bishwanathghat.

He was quick to observe and understand that every Assamese woman was a weaver and that they needed a steady supply of large quantity of readymade spun thread. Therefore, he started supplying them with thread in their homes. His business picked up very well and he was soon able to open a Gola – a general store. Once well established, he got married twice, first to Hira, who bore him no heir and later to Jamuna Rajput of nearby Borengabari and started a family. Their first child (a son was born in 1893) was named Ramprasad. Then came Sibaprasad and Durgaprasad, followed by the youngest Jwalaprasad, born in 1904. As the family grew, the old thatch house was rebuilt into a new two storied timber, Assam type house in 1918. Later, in 1933, two more modern houses with steel 'I' joists were built about 200 metres away for the sons and their individual families known as the NatunBongola'. The earlier two storied house came to be known as the Puranibongola . All the sons were married to the same family of three sisters, except for Sibaprasad, who left for England to be a barrister. Jwalaprasad was married to the youngest sister Ahallya. Today these houses are not in very good condition and are in need of immediate restoration.

Their firm - ChandulalRamprosad – was an authorized 'Hundi Agent' for the North Bank region, servicing all the tea estates. Hundi was like a credit note and the agents used to supply the cash against the hundi notes, which were later reimbursed by the head offices in Calcutta. The brothers Ramprasad and Jwalaprasad had joined the Swadeshi movement and were freedom fighters along with Chabilal Upadhyaya, Nabin Chandra Bhattacharya and many more workers of the region.

Also Read: Spearheading Civic Infrastructure Development in Guwahati

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