মালদা - বাংলার গৌরব / Realistic Malda

English Bazar or Ingraj Bazar (Bengali: ইংরেজবাজার), better known as Malda, called the "Mango City", is a city and a municipality in the Malda district in the state of West Bengal, India. Malda is located on the banks of the Mahananda River and is the fifth largest city (after Kolkata, Howrah, Asansol, and Siliguri) in West Bengal. Malda is nominated for becoming a municipal corporation (both English Bazar municipality and Old Malda municipality), and is the second largest city (after Siliguri) in North Bengal. It serves as the district headquarters.

Malda became the first Indian city to have a women's court.
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Geography:-

English Bazar is located at 25°00′N 88°09′E / 25.00°N 88.15°E. It has an average elevation of 17 metres (56 feet). It is located on the western bank of the Mahananda River. Usually the weather, as in much of Bengal, is extremely humid and tropical. Temperatures can reach as high as 46 °C in the hot and dry months of May and June but can plummet to about 4 °C in the chilly nights of December and January.
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History:-

English Bazar is situated in between the ancient historical cities of Gaur and Pandua. The city, however, came to be much later, around mid 18th century. It was once known as Engelzavad established by the British rulers. In 1813 a joint magistrate and deputy collector were appointed, and in 1832 a treasury was opened.

The gateway of North Bengal, Malda was once the capital of Gour-Banga, with 3456 km² of land classified as Tal, Diara, and Barind. Malda awaits the advent of tourists and people of archaeological interest with its wealth to be enjoyed and its huge potential to be explored.

This portion of the earth is washed by the waves of the rivers Ganges, Mahananda, Fulahar, and Kalindri. It has witnessed different empires which were raised, flourished, and then cast down near oblivion by a successor kingdom built up on the relics of its predecessor. Panini mentioned a city named Gourpura, which by strong reason may be identified as the city of Gouda, ruins of which are situated in this district. Examples are legion of the relic of a predecessor kingdom being used in the monuments of the successor kingdoms.

It had been within the limits of ancient ‘Gaur’ and ‘Pandua’ (Pundrabardhana). These two cities had been the capital of Bengal in ancient and medieval ages and are equidistant, north and south, from the town of English Bazar (once known as Engelzavad, established by the British rulers).

The boundary of Gour was changed in different ages since 5th century BC. Its name can be found in Puranic texts. Pundranagar was the provincial capital of Maurya Empire.

Gour and Pundrabardhana formed parts of the Mourya empire as is evinced from the inscriptions, Brahmilipi on a seal discovered from the ruins of Mahasthangarh in the Bogura District of Bangladesh. Hiuen Tsang saw many Ashokan stupas at Pundrabardhana.

The inscriptions discovered in the district of undivided Dinajpur and other parts of North Bengal along with the Allahabad pillar inscriptions of Samudragupta clearly indicate that the whole of North Bengal as far east as Kamrup formed a part of the Gupta empire.

After the Guptas in the early 7th century AD, king Sasanka of Karnasubarna as well as the king of Gaur ruled independently for more than three decades. From the middle of 8th century to the end of 11th century, the Pala Empire ruled Bengal and the kings were devoted to Buddhism. It was during their reign that the Jagadalla Vihara (monastery) in Barindri flourished paralleling with Nalanda, Vikramshila, and Devikot.

The Pala Dynasty yielded to the emergence of Sena Empire. The Sen rulers were Hindus and in the habit of moving from place to place within their kingdom. At the time of Lakshman Sen Goud was known as Lakshmanabati. The Sen kings ruled Bengal till Bakhtiyar Khilji conquered Bengal in 1204 AD.

Thereafter the Muslim rule lasted for about five hundred years. Sirajuddaulah was defeated by Lord Clive at the battle of Plassey in 1757, which marked the beginning of British rule. From ancient times, rulers of various origins, religions, and dynasties left imprints of their times on the earth in this district. Those who left ruins and relics speak of past pomp and grandeur, and hold interest for archaeologists and tourists.

This district formed in 1813 out of the outlying areas of Purnia, Dinajpur, and Rajshahi districts. At the time of Dr. B. Hamilton (1808–09), the presents thanas of Gazole, Malda, Bamongola, and part of Habibpur were included in the district of Dinajpur and the thanas of Harischandrapur, Kharba, Ratua, Manikchak, and Kaliachak were included in the district of Purnia. In 1813, in consequence of the prevalence of serious crimes in the Kaliachak and Sahebganj thanas and also on the rivers, a joint magistrate and deputy collector were appointed at English Bazar with jurisdiction over a number of police stations centered around that place and taken from the two district. Thus the district of Malda was born. The year 1832 saw the establishment of a separate treasury, and in 1859 a full-fledged magistrate and collector was posted.

Up to 1876 this district formed part of Rajshahi Division, and from 1876 to 1905 it formed part of Bhagalpur Division. In 1905, it was again transferred to Rajshahi Division, and until 1947 Malda remained in this division. In August of 1947 this district was affected by the Partition of India. Between August 12th to 15th, 1947 whether the district would become part of India or Pakistan was unknown, as the announcement of the Radcliffe Line did not make this point clear. During these few days the district was under a magistrate of East Pakistan until the details of the Radcliffe award were published and the district became part of West Bengal on the 17th of August 1947. Five thanas were given to Pakistan by mistake.
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Civic Administration:-

There are 2 municipalities in English Bazar; the English Bazar municipality and the Old Malda municipality.

English Bazar municipality is divided into 25 wards. Currently, the Indian National Congress with ten councilors shares power in alliance with the four councilors representing the Trinamool Congress.
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Transport:-

Public transport includes cycle rickshaws, auto rickshaws, and local buses. There is no metered vehicular transport. Six-seater city autos shuttle between English bazar and Old Malda at a rate fixed by the municipal authorities.

Rail-

Malda Town - English Bazar is well connected by rail. Its notable railway station is named as Malda Town (station code: MLDT). It is the Divisional Headquarters of Eastern Railway's Malda Division; about 70% of this division is in Bihar and Jharkhand (Junction Point - KIR/NJP/NFK). Financial department officials like Sr.DFM, Sr.DRM, and ADFM have offices there. Almost all trains bound for North Bengal and the North Eastern States of India pass through Malda Town station.

Bus-
The city is located on National Highway 34, the North-South arterial road of West Bengal some 347 km north of Kolkata and 256 km south of Siliguri. It is also connected to National Highway 81, which links Kora in Bihar to Malda in West Bengal.A Central Bus Terminal has been set up.

Air-
Malda Airport (IATA: LDA, ICAO: VEMH) was closed in 1972 due to the Bangladesh War.Before that there were direct daily flights from Malda to Kolkata, Delhi, and Guwahati. The Indian government is relocating the airport 5–6 km away from the town, though the land acquisition has been taken up.
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Demographics:-

As of the2011 census, English Bazar municipality had a population of 216,083 and the urban agglomeration had a population of 324,237. The municipality had a sex ratio of 877 females per 1,000 males and 14.9% of the population were under six years old. Effective literacy was 84.69%; male literacy was 85.44% and female literacy was 83.86%.

Communities that inhabit Malda include the Bengalis, Gorkha, Marwaris, Biharis and Rajbangsis. Some local forms of Bengali, Maithili, Rajbangsi, Hindi and Urdu language are spoken along with original forms. Commonly spoken languages include Bengali and Hindi. Some regional languages are Pabnai, Nawabgangi, Kamtapuri, Shershahabadia, Santali, Khotta, etc. Old Maldah has a number of Shikh population who suffered in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots.
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Economy:-

Malda has been long a neglected area since independence of India. However, it became a prominent place in West Bengal after A. B. A. Ghani Khan Chowdhury (1927-2006), one of the prominent personalities of eastern India, took steps within his various capacities being minister of different portfolios from state to national ministries of India to develop Malda.

For 28 years, West Bengal was ruled by the opponents of Mr. Khan Chowdhury, who succeeded to establish a unique relation with him, and the district witnessed the fruit of this coalition in the industrial sector. Sukhjeet Starch Ltd, East End Silk Ltd. and many other enterprises have increased. East India Agro at Rishipur Anchal, which deals with mango pulp and raw jute. There is also a GO-NGO partnership on the card, especially artisan-based business cluster development and SME establishment is within the mission. Malda has good potential in agricultural products like mango, jute, and silk.