Nabakrishna Deb

Maharaja
Nabakrishna Deb
Bahadur
Maharaja Nabakrishna Deb and his servant on the banks of the Hooghly river
1st Maharaja of Sovabazar and Sutanuti
In office
1766–1797
Succeeded byRaja Gopi Mohun Deb
Personal details
Born10 October 1733
Died22 December 1797(1797-12-22) (aged 64)
Calcutta, British Raj

Maharaja Nabakrishna Deb Bahadur (also known as Raja Nabakrishna Deb, archaic spelling Nubkissen; 10 October 1733 – 22 December 1797), was the King of Sovabazar and Sutanuti from 1766 until his death in 1797, founder of the Sovabazar Raj family and close confidant and friend of Robert Clive.

Deb was instrumental in a plot against Siraj-ud-Daulah.

Early life

Nabakrishna was born into middle-class family to Ram Charan Deb, who was a businessman and a Dewan under the Nawab Of Cuttack. He was a teacher of Persian to Warren Hastings.

Administration

In 1757, Deb began construction of Shobhabazar Rajbari. It was a large house with a public courtyard, and was designed to flaunt his wealth and status. There he hosted an annual Durga Puja at Sovabazar Palace. Clive attended after his victory at the Battle of Plassey. Deb performed intellgent service for the Company during the military campaign against the Nawab of Bengal, supplied aid to the Company's army, and derived immense material benefits from the consequent dissolution of power in Murshidabad.

References

  1. ↑ SELECTIONS FROM THE RECORDS OF THE GOVERNMENT OF INDIA, Calcutta (1882) Original from Oxford University p. 122
  2. ↑ Sengupta, Subodh Chandra; Basu, Anjali, eds. (1998) [First published 1976]. নবকৃষ্ণ দেব [Nabakrishna Dev]. Saṃsada bāṅāli caritābhidhāna সংসদ বাঙালি চরিতাভিধান [Parliament Bengali Biographical Dictionary] (in Bengali). Vol. 1 (4th ed.). Kolkata: Sahitya Samsad. p. 242. ISBN 81-85626-65-0. নবকৃষ্ণ দেব (১৭৩৩ - ২২-১১-১৭৯৭) ... শোভাবাজার রাজবংশের প্রতিষ্ঠাতা। ... লর্ড ক্লাইভের চেষ্টায় তিনি 'মহারাজা বাহাদুর' উপাধি [Nabakrishna Dev (1733 - 22-11-1797) ... Founder of the Shobhabazar dynasty. ... He was given the title of 'Maharaja Bahadur' through the efforts of Lord Clive]
  3. ↑ Mukherjee Pandey, Jhimli (30 September 2006). "Shobhabazar Raj Bari". Family tradition alive in the City of Joy. Times of India. Retrieved 18 February 2007.
  4. ↑ Cotton, H. E. A. (1980) [First published 1907]. Calcutta Old and New (Revised ed.). Calcutta: General Printers and Publishers Pvt. Ltd. pp. 288–289.
  5. ↑ "Durga puja's colonial roots - Latest News & Updates at Daily News & Analysis". 21 October 2012. Retrieved 30 April 2018.
  6. ↑ "Indian School, Early 20th Century". Bid and Hammer. Retrieved 31 December 2025.
  7. ↑ Badal, M. N. C. (11 June 1949). ZAMĪNDĀRS OF EARLY BAṄGĀL AND EAST PĀKISTĀN AND DECLINE OF ZAMĪNDĀR SYSTEM. Baṅgāl Granthālaya Prakāśan.
  8. ↑ "Shobhabazar Rajbari".{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  9. ↑ "Heritage Commission, West Bengal". www.wbhc.in. Retrieved 1 September 2026.
  10. ↑ Ghosh, Bishwanath (March 2026). Longing, Belonging: An Outsider at Home in Calcutta. Westland Non-fiction. ISBN 978-93-7197-459-2.
  11. ↑ Beattie, Martin (2004). "Hybrid identities: 'Public' and 'private' life in the courtyard houses of Barabazaar, Kolkata, lndia". In Menin, Sarah (ed.). Constructing Place: Mind and the Matter of Place-Making. Routledge. p. 156. ISBN 978-1-134-37909-5. Retrieved 4 April 2017.
  12. ↑ Constructing Place: Mind and the Matter of Place-Making (2004) by Sarah Menin (ed) Taylor & Francis