{{Short description|Zamindar of Krishnagar, Nadia from 1728 to 1783}} {{Use dmy dates|date=October 2018}} {{Use Indian English|date=October 2018}} {{Infobox Royalty | name = Raja Krishnachandra | full name = Krishnachandra Roy | birth_date = {{circa}} 1710 | birth_place = [[Krishnanagar, Nadia|Krishnanagar]], [[Nadia Raj]] (now in West Bengal, India) | death_date = {{circa}} {{death year and age|1783|1710}} | death_place = [[Nadia Raj]] (now in West Bengal, India) | religion = [[Hinduism]] | father = Raghuram Ray | title = Maharaja & Zamindar of Nadia | succession = [[Nadia Raj|Raja of Nadia]] | reign = 1728 – 1783 | house = Krishnanagar Rajbari | predecessor = Raja Raghuram Ray | successor = Śiva Chandra Roy }}
'''Raja Krishnachandra''' (born '''Krishnachandra Roy'''; 1710–1783) was a [[raja]]<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qckUAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA14|title=Social Ideas and Social Change in Bengal 1818-1835|author1=A. F. Salahuddin Ahmed|author2=Aly Fouad Ahmed|publisher=Brill Archive|year=1965|page=14}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=The Cultures of History in Early Modern India: Persianization and Mughal Culture in Bengal|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=53UwAQAAIAAJ|author=Kumkum Chatterjee|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2009|page=100|isbn = 9780195698800|quote=Maharaja Krishnachandra Roy of Nadia, one of the most powerful zamindars of eighteenth century Bengal.}}</ref> and [[zamindar]] in [[Nadia district|Nadia]]{{efn|now in [[West Bengal]]}} from 1728 to 1782.<ref name="Rodrigues2003">{{cite book|last=Rodrigues|first=Hillary|title=Ritual Worship of the Great Goddess: The Liturgy of the Durga Puja with Interpretations|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=onyaEhwhJBUC&pg=PA20|year=2003|publisher=SUNY Press|isbn=978-0-7914-8844-7|page=20}}</ref> He belonged to the [[Nadia Raj|Nadia Raj family]] and [[Shakta]] [[Brahmin]] tradition. He is credited not only with his resistance to the [[Mughal Empire|Mughal]] rule, but with his expansion and patronage of the arts in his kingdom.<ref name="Rodrigues2003"/> He was also a part of the group that conspired against [[Siraj-ud-Daulah|Siraj ud-Daulah]], which eventually lead to establishment of British rule in India.
==Reign== According to Atul Chandra Roy, Krishnachandra was "the most important man of the period in the Hindu society of Bengal."<ref name="Roy1968">{{cite book|last=Roy|first=Atul Chandra|title=History of Bengal: Mughal period, 1526-1765 A.D.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AacsAAAAMAAJ|year=1968|publisher=Nababharat Publishers|page=362}}</ref> During his reign, Krishnachandra was highly influential for Hindu religious practices, for which reason [[Rajballabh Sen|Raja Rajballabh Sen]] of [[Bikrampur]] sought the assistance of Krishnachandra's [[pandit]]s in supporting the overturning of the prohibition on Hindu widows' remarriage after his own daughter was widowed young.<ref name="Bidyāsāgara2013">{{cite book|last=Bidyāsāgara|first=Īśvaracandra|title=Hindu Widow Marriage|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=91xAzuqbha0C&pg=PA15|date=13 August 2013|publisher=Columbia University Press|isbn=978-0-231-52660-9|pages=14–15}}</ref> However, Krishnachandra strongly opposed the measure. To illustrate his feelings, legend relates, he had the visitors served the meat of a buffalo calf. Offended, they rejected the food on their honor as orthodox Hindus, and when challenged indicated that though it was not explicitly prohibited it was not practice nor custom. Krishnachandra's courtiers pointed out that they had taken umbrage at being presented something not forbidden but against custom, but that they expected Krishnachandra to accept their own unorthodox proposal.<ref name="Bidyāsāgara2013"/> With the opposition of Krishnachandra, Rajballabh failed to achieve the change he sought.<ref name="Pruthi2004">{{cite book|last=Pruthi|first=R.K.|title=Brahmo Samaj and Indian Civilization|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7cG3JbOdPHAC&pg=PA43|date=1 January 2004|publisher=Discovery Publishing House|isbn=978-81-7141-791-9|page=43}}</ref>
Another legend connected to Krishnachandra involved the conflict between his [[Diwan (title)|Dewan]], Raghunandan, and Manikchandra, then Dewan of [[Bardhaman Raj]] but in future to become [[Raja]] himself.<ref name="McLane2002">{{cite book|last=McLane|first=John R.|title=Land and Local Kingship in Eighteenth-Century Bengal|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YH6ijJnUPmcC&pg=PA169|date=25 July 2002|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-52654-8|page=169}}</ref> After Raghunandan and Manikchandra quarreled, Manikchandra accused the other man of theft and had sufficient power to order and see to his execution. John McLane speculates that the root of the disagreement may have been Manikchandra's well-known resentment of Krishnachandra's patronage of the poet [[Bharatchandra]], who had insulted the Burdwan raj family in a poem in retaliation for their depriving him of his own family estate.<ref name="McLane2002"/>
Krishnachandra is also legendarily associated with the popularization of the worship of the goddess [[Jagaddhatri]].<ref name="Charleston2004">{{cite book|last=Charleston|first=June McDaniel Associate Professor in the Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies College of|title=Offering Flowers, Feeding Skulls : Popular Goddess Worship in West Bengal: Popular Goddess Worship in West Bengal|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=caeJpIj9SdkC&pg=PA220|date=9 July 2004|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-534713-5|page=220}}</ref> According to the story, Krishnachandra had been imprisoned by [[Alivardi Khan]] for not paying tribute, causing him to miss the celebration of [[Durga Puja]]. Durga appeared to him in the form of Jagaddhatri and ordered him to worship her in one month, which he did, commissioning a sculptor to create a statue of the goddess. [[Bharatchandra Ray]] is said to be the court poet of Krishnachandra.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Roy |first=Tapti |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rrF5DwAAQBAJ&dq=ramprasad+sen+court+poet+of+krishnachandra+roy&pg=PT68 |title=Print and Publishing in Colonial Bengal: The Journey of Bidyasundar |date=2018-11-13 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=978-0-429-67351-1 |language=en}}</ref> He was also the patron of Sadhak [[Ramprasad Sen]].
Krishna Chandra was part of the group, which included [[Jagat Seth]], [[Mir Jafar]], [[Omichund]], Yar Lutuf Khan, Rai Durlabh and others, which conspired against Siraj ud-Daulah and colluded with [[Robert Clive]], which lead to defeat of Siraj ud-Dullah in [[Battle of Plassey]] and eventual foundation of [[British Raj|British rule in India]].<ref>{{cite book|title=The Calcutta Review|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xKugAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA97|accessdate=4 April 2017|year=1874|publisher=University of Calcutta.|page=97}}</ref><ref name="Banu1992">{{cite book |last=Banu |first=U. A. B. Razia Akter |year= 1992 |title=Islam in Bangladesh |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XyzqATEDPSgC&pg=PA26 |publisher=BRILL |page=26 |isbn=90-04-09497-0}}</ref> It is arguable that Krishnachandra or other members of the conspiracy group had no particular intention to found British rule in India, rather they were purely interested in their own political futures.<ref name = ""conspiracy">{{cite book |last=Ray |first=Rajatkanta |year= 1994 |title= Palashir Sharajantra O Sekaler Samaj |url=https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6108164-palashir-sarajantra-o-sekaler-samaj}}</ref> Krishnachandra remained on friendly terms with the British and especially with [[Robert Clive]]. This relationship served him well in the 1760s when Bengal Nawab [[Mir Qasim]] ordered Krishnachandra's execution, for Clive not only overruled it but gifted Krishnachandra five cannons, the title [[maharaja]], and governance as zamindar of the area of [[Krishnanagar, Nadia|Krishnanagar]].<ref name="Chatterjee2010">{{cite book |last=Chatterjee |first=Pranab |year=2010 |title=A Story of Ambivalent Modernization in Bangladesh and West Bengal: The Rise and Fall of Bengali Elitism in South Asia |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lAR1D0Wi2rsC&pg=PA166 |publisher=Peter Lang |page=166 |isbn=978-1-4331-0820-4}}</ref>
==In popular culture== {{no citations|section|date=June 2023}} Raja Krishnachandra features in all stories depicting the wit of the famous court jester [[Gopal Bhar]]. While it is debated whether Gopal Bhar was real or fictitious, the corpus of stories paint a vigorous portrait of Krishnachandra, as a ruler who was whimsical but humble, sometimes eager to display his punitive power and at other times accepting the lessons that Gopal taught him through his jokes. His depiction also shows character depth in the sense that, while the king is clearly in awe of Gopal's wit, he is also jealous and seeking revenge due to past embarrassments caused by Gopal's scathing remarks, and this dichotomy often creates comic situations.
==Notes== {{notelist}}
==References== {{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Roy, Krishnachandra}} [[Category:1783 deaths]] [[Category:1710 births]] [[Category:People from Krishnagar]] [[Category:Bengali zamindars]] [[Category:Bengali Hindus]] [[Category:Shaktas]] [[Category:Krishnanagar]] [[Category:People from the Bengal Subah]] [[Category:18th-century Bengali people]]