The Principality of Sidli

SOCIAL AND POLITICAL HISTORY

Today the remnants of Sidli Kingdom remain within the simple Assam type house with large round 'sal' pillars at Bidyapur. The house still has some collections of antiques which are now being taken care by Kumar Joyesh Narayan Deb - the present descendent of the Sidli Royal family - who lives in his ancestral palace site in Bidyapur.

A little to the north of the highway after North Salmara, while going towards Dhubri from Guwahati on the Talguri-Basugaon PWD Road, is the small village town of Bidyapur.Here, beside the road, one comes across an outstanding old arched gateway. This gateway leads one on a journey to discover more about the erstwhile Koch Kingdom of Sidhili or Sidli.

Towards the end of the Kamatapur Kingdom of the Koch dynasty and after the death of Chilarai, the Kamata Kingdom was split into two parts as Koch Kamata (also Koch Behar) and Koch Hajo (Kamrup), between Raghudev Narayan - son of Chilarai - and Naranaryan. This partition weakened the power of the Koches. The Koch Hajo kingdom suffered several partitions in the later period and smaller kingdoms like Bijni, Darang and Beltola emerged from Koch Hajo. Some of the other such smaller kingdoms to emerge were Sidli Kingdom, Khaspur (in Cachar) and Panga (in Rangpur, which is now in Bangladesh).

The Kingdom of Sidli was founded by Koch leader Sikan Narayan Dev during the early 17th century, in what constitutes the present Assam and Bhutan border. The kingdom flourished during the reign of Bishu Koch (later Biswa Singha). The area was mostly known as Siknajhar and the name Sidhili is sometimes used synonymously with Siknajhar. Though the size of the kingdom was small compared to some other Koch Kingdoms, Sidli played a very important role within its geographical location, due to its importance in the politics of the Bhutan Kingdom till 1865.

It is said that Sidli, the small principality, came under the Moghuls during their expansion towards Assam. The entire tract, of which Sidli formed a part, lay at the Bhutan foothills and was occupied by the Bhutan Government. The Bhutan King permitted the possession of the title of 'Raja of Sidli' in 1809 to the 10th or 11th descendant of the dynasty, for possessing the land continuously for all generations and by virtue of being a descendant of Bishu Koch (Biswa Singh), the Koch Prince.

This tract passed over to the British administration in 1865, when the King of Bhutan ceded it to the British at the close of the Bhutan war at Buxa Duar in 1864-65. Raja Gauri Narayn Deb who was the chief then, claimed from the British the Sidli Kingdom. It was settled with them in 1870 and was permitted to retain 30% revenue collection and the title of Raja. The revenue collection management went through bad times and was withdrawn and taken over by the British Administration. The Principality was converted into Zamindari Raj like the other existing estates of Goalpara district.

Raja Gauri Narayan died in 1901 and his son Abhay Narayan succeeded as the Raja. Abhay Narayn died in 1948 and was succeeded by the last Raja, Raja Ajit Narayn Deb. Raja Ajit Narayan Dev, who maintained his official title of Raja till 1956, was elected as an MLA in 1952 and also appointed as Chairman of Oil India Limited. Ajit Narayan Deb was married to Princess Manjula Devi, who was the elder daughter of Maharaja of Pithapuram, Kakinada, Andhra Pradesh. The last Queen of Sidli Kingdom was born in 1912. She was a social activist and played a vital role for the social upliftment of woman. However, she is hardly remembered by the people today. In India's second general election in 1957, Manjula Devi was elected as an M.P from Dhubri constituency. Manjula Devi was the President of Assam Pradesh Mahila Samiti from 1952-57, which was founded in 1926. It is worth noting that during that time, other than in Assam, there was no such Mahila Samiti in the entire India. Manjula Devi was also very fond of literature and had a great respect for Rabindranath Tagore. Interestingly, the house named 'Solomon Vila' in Shillong, where Tagore had spent more than two months, was purchased by her when it was being disposed of by its Italian owner. She renamed it 'Sidli House' and at the entrance of the house, a plaque engraved in the name of Tagore was installed as a memorial.

Manjula Devi's younger sister Sita Devi was very well known for her beauty and became the Maharani of Baroda. Manjula Devi died in the year 1993 and she was preceded by Raja Ajit Narayan Deb, who died in 1984.

Today the remnants of Sidli Kingdom remain within the simple Assam type house with large round 'sal' pillars at Bidyapur. The house still has some collections of antiques which are now being taken care by Kumar Joyesh Narayan Deb - the present descendent of the Sidli Royal family - who lives in his ancestral palace site in Bidyapur.

By: Arijit Choudhury

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