The Brief History of Guniauk Zamindari
The Guniauk Zamindari was a Zamindari family based in Guniauk, East Bengal, India. Later, this location included to the district Tipperah in 1790 during the British rule. Currently, Guniauk is a union of Nasirnagar sub-district of Brahmanbaria district in the division of Chattogram, Bangladesh. This Zamindari was founded in the early 1600s to 1700s by Pir Mahmud Shaheb who came to this country with his followers and people from the other country and dynasty. From some reliable sources, it can be stated that they came to this country for preaching the religion Islam as well as for ruling this state from the the outside of Indian subcontinent.
He established the Guniauk Zamindar Palace (Guniauk Zamindar Palace, also known as Shaheb Bari). The palace was huge and beautiful. Pir Mahmud Shaheb acquired a vast amount of lands, water-lands and ponds and others. The local people admired Him and his family. They became one of the most powerful, influential and respected Zamindars. Back then, they belonged to the finest class in Tippera region. At first, they control a vast territory later they became the controller of 39 mouzas (several villages typically form a single mouza).[1] But the palace was devastated by one of the most powerful earthquakes, named Great India Earthquake with the magnitude of 8.8 that took place on Saturday, June 12, 1897, in Assam.[2] Dozens of aftershocks were felt in and around the region with the last event being felt on 9 October 1897 at 01:40 UT in Calcutta.[3] Before and after the year 1897 several earthquakes happened 1812, 1889 and 1918 as a result, the palace became uninhabitable after 1930. After 1930 the palace had been abandoned and got destroyed in the years to come. Now, there is no solid structure of this Zamindar bari, just some of the ruins are available there.
Figure: Bangladesh during The Great India Earthquake 1897
'' The tremor was felt throughout Bengal, from the south Lushai Hills on the east to Shahbad on the west. In Mymensingh, many public buildings of the district town, including the Justice House, were wrecked and very few of the two-storied brick-built houses belonging to Zamindars survived. Heavy damage was done to the bridges on the Dhaka-Mymensingh railway and traffic was suspended for about a fortnight. The river communication of the district was seriously affected (Brahmaputra). Loss of life was not great, but the loss of property was estimated at five million Rupees. In Tippera masonry buildings and old temples suffered a lot and the total damage was estimated at Rs 9,000.'' [3]
Lifestyle
They were Sunni Muslim by origin. They used to speak in Persian at first. Later, they learned Bengali for external communication. Yet, they used Persian for their internal communication. Most of the male members could speak in Persian, Urdu, English and Bengali and the female members of this family could speak in Persian, Urdu and Bengali at that time, though some of the female members also knew English. They had quite a different and sophisticated life than that of the local well-known families in the past. Because of their lifestyle, the locals used to call them "Shaheb or Shab" and their palace was entitled as "Shaheb or Shab Bari."
Prominent Persons of the Family
Barrister Abdur Rasul/ Abdul Rasul, Moulvi Molazem Rasul, Moulvi Monjur Ali, Moulvi Atikur Rasul, Saidul Hossain, Samiul Ahmed Khan were well-known persons of this family.
Present Descendants
After leaving the palace the family members started living in new three houses. They never cared about the establishments, as a result, they did not recreate their palace again after it got destroyed. As the family got bigger, they needed three houses for living. Still, now these three houses are like living witness of the Guniauk Zamindar family. Names of the three houses are Big (Boro) Shaheb Bari, East Shaheb Bari and West (New or Nowa) Shaheb Bari. Some of the descendants of Guniauk Zamindarbari are still living there. Others are living in abroad and other parts of Bangladesh.
Relationship
The Guniauk Zamindar family always maintained good terms with the prominent zamindars, nawabs and families. They never compromised when it came to a matrimonial relationship. The house always made the finest choice. As a result, most of the prominent zamindars and families became their relatives. Among them Chowdhury Bari Satgaon from Brahmanbaria; Dhanbari from Tangail; Furura Khan Bari from Kishoreganj; Machhihata's Pir Shaheb Bari from Brahmanbaria; Mia Bari from Kishoreganj; Nawab Bari from Dhaka; Panni family (Karatia Zamindar) from Tangail; Kha Bari Pairtala from Brahmanbaria; Syed Bari, Khandura from Brahmanbaria; Mazumdari from Sylhet and so on are notable. They had quite a reputation for maintaining their status and aristocracy at that time.
Abolition
The Zamindari system was mostly abolished in independent India soon after its creation with the first amendment to the constitution of India which amended the right to property as shown in Articles 19 and 31. This allowed the states to make their own "Zamindari Abolition Acts". In Bangladesh, the East Bengal State Acquisition and Tenancy Act of 1950 had a similar effect of ending the system.[4] In 1950 Guniauk Zamindari was no longer in state of power after the system was abolished during land reforms in East Bengal (Bangladesh).
